The Addition Infrastructure Scheme by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has significantly cut wastage in the vegetables, dairy, and fisheries sectors, according to a study by NABARD.
Since 2016-17, the MoFPI has been implementing the Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY) to create post-harvest infrastructure and processing facilities, aiming to reduce post-harvest losses and boost the food processing sector. According to Minister of State Ravneet Singh, the schemes under PMKSY provide credit-linked financial assistance in the form of grants-in-aid to entrepreneurs for establishing food processing/preservation infrastructure, including cold storages and refrigerated vehicles.
The PMKSY was designed as a comprehensive package to create modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet. It aims to enhance the growth of the food processing sector, improve the capacity of food processing units, provide better returns to farmers, create employment opportunities in rural areas, reduce agricultural produce wastage, increase processing levels, and enhance the export of processed foods.
In addition to the MoFPI’s efforts, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare launched the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) Scheme in July 2020 under the Atmanirbhar Bharat package. The AIF Scheme facilitates medium to long-term loans by banks and other lending institutions for setting up cold storage facilities, warehouses, and processing units to reduce crop wastage and enhance value addition.
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is also implementing a plan for constructing steel silos under a public-private partnership (PPP) model to upgrade and modernize storage facilities. Silos with a capacity of 24.25 million metric tonnes (MMT) are under implementation across the country, with 17.75 MMT completed and 6.5 MMT in various stages of development. Additionally, 5.5 MMT capacity silos have been constructed and put to use between 2007-09 under the circuit base model.
Furthermore, under phase-I of the hub and spoke model, silos with a capacity of 10.125 MMT at 14 locations on FCI-owned land have been awarded, and 24.75 MMT at 66 locations on private land are in the development stage, according to the minister.
