With cereals, pulses and other perishable food products contributing Rs 55,000 crore to the State’s economy, Odisha holds significant scope for food processing industries.
This has come to fore in a meeting organised for tapping investment in food processing sector in the State. Odisha Investment and Export Promotion Office (OIEPO) chief Sanjeeb Kumar Mishra chaired the meeting, which was attended by investors, top officials of the State Government and the FICCI.
Principal Secretary MSME Satyabrat Sahu, Principal Secretary Industries Hemant Sharma, Managing Director IPICOL Nitin B Jawale, Director of Industries Md Sadique Alam, Co-Chair FICCI Food Processing Committee Mohit Anand and others joined the webinar.
Sahu said there is a significant scope for growth, capacity expansion and value addition in food processing sector. Providing an insight to the food sector, he said estimates indicate that cereals and pulses contribute Rs 15,000 crore to the State economy, while perishable food products contribute another Rs 40,000 crore. Only around 10 per cent of perishables are processed with a value addition of around 20 per cent. Looking at the huge scope for food processing sector, the Odisha Government has undertaken strategic initiatives to intensify the industrial promotion and investment facilitation through several policy frameworks, said Sahu. The policy support is providing new direction to the ongoing industrial process by providing infrastructural, institutional and fiscal support to food processing sector, pointed out Sahu.
The Prime Minister Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME), a centrally sponsored scheme launched by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, partners with States for providing financial, technical and business support for up-gradation of existing micro food processing enterprises, self-help groups (SHG) and food producers’ organization as well as cooperatives.
The PMFME is to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro enterprises in the unorganised segment of the food processing industry and promote formalisation of the sector, said Sahu.
He said the Odisha Government has adopted One District One Product (ODOP) approach to reap benefit of scale in terms of procurement of inputs, availing common services and marketing the products. New units for individual enterprises would only be supported by the ODOP products, said an official.
Principal Secretary Industries Hemant Sharma gave details on the various policy frameworks such as Industrial Policy Resolution-2015, MSME Development Policy-2016, Odisha Food Processing Policy-2016, which are extending support for the investors.
IPICOL MD Nitin B Jawale presented the industrial environment in the State, which is attracting huge investments, even during Covid-19 pandemic. Deputy Secretary General FICCI Arun Chawla presented the vote of thanks.
