Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in food processing sector declined 57 per cent to USD 393.4 million (around Rs 2,926 crore) in 2020-21 as compared to the previous year, the government said on Tuesday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Prahlad Singh Patel said the FDI policy and data are the under purview of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
"As per extant policy, 100 per cent FDI for FPI sector is permitted under the automatic route implying that no prior approval of the Government or RBI is required. As per the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the Indian recipient company has to report the inflow of FDI to Reserve Bank of India," he said.
The FDI received by food processing industries (FPI) sector during 2020-21 stood at USD 393.4 million as against USD 904.7 million in the previous year.
During 2018-19, FDI in FPI sector stood at USD 628.24 million.
Patel said the ministry has been implementing Central Sector Umbrella Scheme - Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY) since 2016-17 for overall growth and development of the food processing sector, including processing of agroproducts and thus increasing the income of farmers.
The component schemes of PMKSY are -- Mega Food Park, Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure, Creation /Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities, Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Clusters.
Besides, Creation of Backward & Forward linkages, Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure, Human Resource and Institutions and Operation Greens are part of PMKSY.
Underthese schemes, the ministry provides mostly credit linked financial assistance (capital subsidy) in the form of grants-in-aid to entrepreneurs for setting up food processing/preservation industries.
"So far, Ministry has approved 41 Mega Food Parks, 353 cold chain projects, 63 agro processing clusters, 292 food processing units, 63 creation of backward & forward linkages projects and 6 Operation Green projects across the country," Patel said.
These sanctioned projects are estimated to benefit about 34 lakh farmers on completion, he added.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU