Now, PLIs to organic food, millet products

Financial Nutrition

- Minimum sales of Rs1cr in FY20

- Apeda certification mandatory

- Rs250-cr minimum turnover for large entities and Rs2cr for SMEs

- July 29 is deadline for applying

New Delhi: The government has decided to extend the production-linked incentives for food processing industry (PLIFPI) to organic and millet-based products. The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has invited expressions of interest (EoIs) from the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) engaged in the production of organic food products, official sources told Bizz Buzz.

The MoFPI has also invited applications for availing the sale-based incentives for millet-based products having more than 15 per cent millet content by weight or volume under the production-linked incentives scheme for millet-based products (PLISMBT).

The entities must have a minimum sale of Rs1 crore for 2019-20 for each of the organic products they want to be incentivized under PLIFPI. They should also have certification from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority or Apeda.

To avail benefits under the PLISMBT, the large entities must have a minimum sale of Rs250 crore for all products in 2019-20. For SMEs, they should have the minimum sale of all food products of Rs2 crore in 2019-20 and the Udyam registration certificate. Udyam is an online system for registration for micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs. The Ministry of MSMEs launched it on July 1, 2020. It is a self-declaration scheme which helps MSMEs avail such benefits as the Credit Guarantee Scheme and public procurement policy that is provided by the government. For both PLIFPI and PLISMBT, the interested parties can apply till July 29.

Two years ago, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore for the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes across 14 key sectors. The objectives included creating national manufacturing champions and generating 60 lakh new jobs. For the food processing sector, Rs 10,900 crore has been earmarked.

According to official estimates, the Indian food industry is poised for huge growth, increasing its contribution to the world food trade every year due to its immense potential for value addition, particularly within the food processing industry. The Indian food processing industry accounts for about a third of the country's total food market, one of the largest industries in India. It is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export, and expected growth.