The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown did bring the country and economy to an abrupt and unplanned standstill. Having entered second stage of unlocking India and relief measures announced by government, many industries, including MSMEs in food and allied sectors, have resumed operations, albeit still far below pre-Covid-19 levels. In view of the current scenario in the food processing sector during the pandemic, a B3C – Leaders Roundtable Discussion Series on “Food Processing Industries and Building Atmanirbhar Bharat is being arranged here on Thursday.

Financing and viability of food processing enterprises is a perennial issue. This puts smaller players, particularly new entrepreneurs and MSMEs, at a disadvantage because of the higher cost of capital for a given output capacity of the enterprise. The recent demands of waiving off the interest costs of enterprises to recover from the Covid-19 lockdown requires a deeper thinking so as to ensure that the structural problem of universal access to affordable finance is addressed.

The issue of raw material procurement and quality assumes significance for food processing enterprises. Even though India is a leading producer of many of the agricultural products, the levels of value addition are still suboptimal as compared to other countries. Apart from procurement issues, the challenges in supporting the infrastructure ecosystem meant for facilitating the food processing sector are a major structural bottleneck for this sector. These include the cost of warehousing and cold storages, both of which are highly capital-intensive ventures.

Availability of skilled labour is another challenge in the sector, whereby, with effective skill training and capacity enhancement programmes, the value for a worker can be enhanced.

To help enterprises in ‘pressing the reset button’ of their business, UNIDO with input from its partners such as UN India Business Forum, Empretec India Foundation and India SME Forum, put together a knowledge and collaboration platform to Build Back Business from Crisis (B3C). This collaboration platform is receiving encouraging feedbacks from industries. It could provide strategic advices for undertaking appropriate readiness activities as a post-lockdown phase.

As part of this collaborative initiative, UNIDO and its partners, are therefore, organising a special leadership series, named as ‘B3C- Leader’s Roundtable Discussion Series’, which will empower industries and its stakeholders in undertaking unlockdown activities and building back businesses.

In the current edition, RameswarTeli, Minister of State, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, will be sharing his vision and insights in ‘Getting Back to Business-Food Processing Industries in India’.