Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, held video conferences with the promoters of the ongoing Agro-processing Clusters (APCs) supported by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) under the Scheme for Creation of Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters. Union Minister of State for FPI, Sh. Rameshwar Teli was also present in the meetings.

36 Projects approved by the Ministry spread across in the states of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh were reviewed. The promoters interacted with the Union Minister of Food Processing Industries and shared their experience gained/ problems faced in the implementation of the projects.

Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that MoFPI devised a new mechanism to substitute the need for physical site inspection required in these projects. Monthly Virtual inspections are being carried out by leveraging the Information technology tools. The monitoring and evaluation of the progress of a project are carried out by a team by adopting a virtual inspection model.

The review meetings for APC Scheme held on 17.06.2020 & 18.06.2020, were in continuation of a series of online meets coordinated by MoFPI to closely review existing projects.  Other concerns related to operations, labor, and logistics issues were also taken into consideration to help out the promoters of the projects. Therefore, many projects have been given an extension of completion date as the installation of plant and machinery had suffered delays on account of lockdown restrictions.

Earlier this year, MoFPI was awarded for integrating IT tools and commendable work in e-office implementation by the Government.

MoFPI has been holding Inter-Ministerial meetings for approval and review of projects through online mode and other virtual means. Along with this, the ministry has been addressing various issues and concerns raised by the industry associations, various stakeholders, and promoters of the projects with the proactive approach with its dedicated task force.

The Ministry has a dedicated investment portal, Sampada portal for receiving, processing, and sanctioning applications for Subsidy under the relevant schemes.

****

RJ/NG