GUWAHATI: Union minister of state for food processing industries Rameswar Teli has assured full support to the food processing sector of the Northeast, informing that a project development cell has been formed to help entrepreneurs in the Northeast to take their ventures forward.
Attending a stakeholders’ meet on food processing here on Tuesday, Teli said proper guidelines regarding the establishment of food processing units in the Northeast were not available in most cases.
“In order to solve this problem, a project development cell has been formed in the ministry of food processing industries (MoFPI), which provides help to interested entrepreneurs in regard to counselling, and preparing detailed project reports, etc,” the Union minister said at the meet organised by the ministry of food processing industries in association with the Assam government.
He further said that the ministry has been allocating 10 percent of its budget for implementation of schemes and programmes in the Northeastern region for the development of the food processing sector in accordance with the Centre’s policy and in line with the priorities of the sector.
“As of today, 15 food processing units are in operation in Assam with a project cost of around Rs 200 crore,” the minister said.
The minister informed that agro processing cluster (APC) projects worth about Rs 60 crore has been sanctioned in Assam while APC projects for the same amount are in the pipeline and will be sanctioned later.
“The Northeast mega food park in Nalbari district has increased employment opportunities and improved the economy of the region,” he said.
On the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY), a flagship scheme of the ministry, the minister said that special benefits were available to the Northeastern states in terms of higher rate of subsidy and other relaxations to attract investors.
He also said that the Krishi Udaan Yojana has been specifically designed keeping the Northeast region in mind.
Teli urged the Assam government to make the PMKSY and Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Enterprises (PMFME) scheme accessible to the people.