Union Minister Pashupati Paras launches five new food processing units

Pashupati Kumar Paras, the Union Food Processing Minister, has launched five new food processing units today through the virtual platform. The newly launched food processing units are:- Phoenix Frozen Foods, Gujarat, Athos Collagen, Gujarat, Hain Future Natural Products, Karnataka, Greentech Foods, Assam and Vasant Masala, Gujarat.

New Delhi: Pashupati Kumar Paras, the Union Food Processing Minister, has launched five new food processing units today through the virtual platform. The newly launched food processing units are:- Phoenix Frozen Foods, Gujarat, Athos Collagen, Gujarat, Hain Future Natural Products, Karnataka, Greentech Foods, Assam and Vasant Masala, Gujarat.

The union minister has said that these projects will bring prosperity to the farmers and create employment opportunities for the youth. He added that the Ministry of Food Processing is commemorating the "Amrit Mahotsav of Independence", and these new units have been launched under the program.

The union minister also added that the Food Processing Ministry is ready with financial assistance to encourage people associated with food processing to set up different types of food processing units. He added that the Ministry is operating various schemes. One of these schemes is 'Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana'. The main objective of this scheme is to promote cluster-based development of food processing activities.

The minister said that this scheme will help to develop a modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management, right up to the retail outlets. He further added that the scheme is giving a better impetus to the development of the food processing sector in the country but will also help in providing better prices to the farmers and is a big step towards doubling their income. The objective of this scheme is to reduce the wastage of agricultural products, increase the processing level and increase the export of processed foods.

One of the main reasons for price fluctuations of food products especially perishables has been the lack of adequate and appropriate food processing. An increased level of processing and preservation can stabilise the prices of agricultural products.

Pashupati Paras also said that 42 Mega Food Parks were approved across the country out of which 19 are operational. The ministry will open the remaining mega food parks. The Ministry will also open Mini Food Parks. So far 250 crores have been spent on the Mega Food Park projects, he said.

Giving more details about the Mini Food Parks, the minister said 50 acres of land is required. 25 crore will be spent in these Mini Food Parks. In the food park, there will be a system for storing and processing the crops after production by the farmers and supplying them to the market. It is also the aim of the farmers to get the right price for their produce. The minister also said that their effort is also to promote the food processing industry with the participation of private sector companies. Recently, 792 projects were approved by the private sector to start food processing industries. For this, a grant-in-aid of 5792 crores has been approved.