An Inter-Ministerial Approval Committee (IMAC) under the chairmanship of Minister of Food Processing Industries Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal has approved projects worth Rs 271 crore under the Creation/Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities (CEFPPC) scheme.

Despite the fact that the CEFPPC projects cover over 100 agro-climatic zones in the country, the projects were approved in a time span of 270 minutes. During the meetingdetailed presentations were made by the respective Programme Management Agencies (PMAs) on the proposals and subsequent clarifications submitted by the applicant. IMAC examined if the applicants have complied with the basic eligibility criterion, total project cost, eligible project cost and means of finance.

During the meeting the Minister said “The emphasis is to create direct employment for youth as well as contribute towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal to double farmers’ income by 2022”.While clearing the new projects worth Rs 270 crore, Smt Badal has given focus on rural areas and generating direct employment. The projects would create direct employment of about 9 thousand and would emphasize on linking agriculture and marketing with modern food processing technologies.

Besides this the Ministry is also implementing the PM Krishi Sampada Yojna with a total outlay of Rs 6,000 crore wherein capital subsidy in the form of grants-in-aid ranging from 35 per cent to 75 per cent of the eligible project cost is being provided to investors. This is being done to undertake infrastructure and logistic projects besides setting up of food processing units in the country.

RM/SS