With the inauguration of Organic India’s food processing unit, 5,000 farmers will be benefitted and it is expected to leverage an investment of Rs 50.33 crore, according to Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Minister for Food Processing Industries.

Inaugurating the food processing unit located in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, through video conference on Wednesday, Badal said that the food processing sector is witnessing robust growth and has been identified as a champion sector by the Government of India. She added that the diverse basket of agricultural raw material base and agro-climatic attributes of UP provide the requisite platform for the state to develop a vibrant food processing industry.  Rameswar Teli, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries; Pushpa Subrahmanyam, Secretary, MoFPI; and promoters of Organic India were also present during the virtual inauguration.

Badal urged the promoters of the unit to experiment and invest further into new innovative products in the organic segment of food processing sector. She appreciated the promoters for setting up a manufacturing plant in UP to export an array of tea products to about 30 countries. She said that with the promoters having obtained all necessary global certifications, their mission of making organic products of India globally famous, will be a boost to India’s vision of Atmanrbhar Bharat and Make in India campaign. She added that the food processing Sector offers a huge potential for export of value-added items which will not only earn foreign exchange but will also create employment in the domestic market. She shared that the FDI data for 2019-2020 shows a whopping increase of 44% over 2018-19. She informed that the sector has grown at the AAGR of around 8.41%. 

The unit is likely to generate direct employment of 100 and indirect employment of 250 persons. It is set up with a total cost of Rs 55.13 crore. Grant in aid of Rs 4.80 crore has been provided by the ministry. A processing capacity of 3 MT per day has been created and the unit will process agro produce worth Rs 350 crore. Products manufactured in this unit are Tulsi green tea, sweet lemon green tea, lemon ginger green tea, pomegranate green tea, sweet rose, tulsi masala. It is spread over an area of 12,903 sq.m / 3.18 acre in Agro Park Phase-II, UPSIDC Industrial Area, Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh.

Highlighting the food processing potential in Uttar Pradesh, the minister said that the diverse basket of agricultural raw material base and agro-climatic attributes of UP provide the requisite platform for the state to develop a vibrant food processing industry. She added that the food processing sector can become important link between two main sectors of the state economy, agriculture and industry. She said that this sector could address the major challenges in agriculture such as post-harvest losses, lack of marketing options & low income of farmers along with providing employment opportunities to rural population.

Speaking about the initiatives of MoFPI, she shared that in order to improve Ease of Doing Business, MoFPI has implemented an array of initiatives using IT tools. She said that all information about the schemes, important reports about the sector, investment related information and options to apply under the relevant scheme online has been made available.