Indian Govt sanctions 337 food infra projects

The Government of India is building a vast network of infrastructure to boost the nation’s agricultural and food processing output. The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) said on February 4 that it has sanctioned 39 mega food parks and 298 Integrated cold chain projects throughout the country to fill in the gaps across the value chain and establishing the cold chain grid. Agriculture, encompassing activities related to land cultivation, livestock farming, forestry, and fishery, is a critical component of the Indian economy. While the agricultural sector’s contribution to national income has dropped to around 17.5 per cent owing to the emergence of modern tertiary industries, it continues to be the nation’s largest employer. Meanwhile, India has remained one of the world’s largest producers of food products. 

In 2019-20, the Government of India is targeting a foodgrain output of 291.1 million tonnes or an annual rise of 2.7 per cent. Since the sector secures nutritional supply for not just the world’s second-largest population but a vast export market, private and foreign investment in it has been guarded, however, participation in allied sectors have been broadly encouraged by the Indian Government. Meanwhile, the agricultural allied sector, or the agricultural supply chain space, has seen a steady rise in capacity given the demand of a growing consumer base, resulting in a rise of investment in the sector. Supply chains are principally concerned with the flow of products between — procurement of materials, transformation of materials into finished products, and the distribution of those products to end customers.

To strengthen output, MoFPI is focusing on building cold chain infrastructure across the country, to allow seamless transfer of perishables from production to consumption areas, through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY). The scheme proposes building of (i) Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure, (ii) Mega Food Park, (iii) Creation of Backward & Forward Linkages, (iv) Creation/ Expansion of Food Processing and Preservation Capacities (v) Agro-Processing Clusters and (vi) Operation Greens. These schemes are aimed at arresting post-harvest losses of horticulture and non-horticulture produce by encouraging the creation of cold storages/ primary processing/ and transportation facilities across the country. A State/UT-wise list showing the approved cold chain and mega food park projects as on date under the PMKSY is placed below: