Centre plans pack houses across India

Kisan Sampada

- MoFPI launched Operation Greens scheme in Nov 2018

- Initially, it's for stabilizing the supply of tomato, onion, and potato (TOP) crops and control price volatility

- Ministry has extended the scheme to all crops

- 7 clusters will be set up in Maharashtra

- 6 in UP, 5 each in AP, MP

- 4 in Gujarat, 3 in TN, 2 each in Bihar and Meghalaya

- 1 each in Assam, HP, J&K, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura and West Bengal

New Delhi: Pack houses have emerged as the focus area of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY), with the government inviting expressions of interest (EoIs) for setting up pack houses or integrated pack houses under the scheme. The 41 projects under the sub-scheme, 'Operation Greens – Long Term Infrastructure Scheme,' are for setting up pack houses or integrated pack houses, officials told Bizz Buzz.

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) launched the Operation Greens scheme in November 2018 in order to stabilize the supply of tomato, onion, and potato (TOP) crops and control volatility in their prices. The Ministry has extended the scheme to all crops.

The objectives are to enhance value realization, stabilize prices, protect the growers of fruits and vegetables from making distress sale, and reduce the post-harvest losses. The eligible crops are mango, banana, guava, kiwi, litchi, papaya, mousambi, orange, kinnow, lime, lemon, pineapple, pomegranate, jackfruit, apple, almond, aonla, passion fruit, pear, mandarins among fruits.

The vegetables covered under the scheme are French beans, bitter gourd, brinjal, capsicum, carrot, cauliflower, chili (green), okra, cucumber, peas, garlic, onion, potato, tomato, and turmeric (raw).

The entities eligible to avail the scheme are food processors, farmer producer company (FPCs), farmer producer organizations (FPOs), co-operative societies, individual farmers, licensed commission agents, exporters, state marketing and co-operative federations, retailers, etc.

The (MoFPI) will provide subsidy at the rate of 50 per cent of the cost of the transportation of eligible crops from the surplus production cluster to the consumption centres. The subsidy will also be available for the hiring of appropriate storage facilities for eligible crops (for the maximum period of three months).

The maximum number of clusters, seven, will be set up in Maharashtra. Uttar Pradesh will have six, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh five each, Gujarat four, Tamil Nadu three, Bihar and Meghalaya two each, and Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura, and West Bengal will have one cluster each.