Odisha urges Centre to hike allocation under NMFP to Rs 20 cr

Reported by Chinmaya Dehury
Bhubaneswar, AUG 16:

Aiming to boost the small and medium food processing industry sector in the State, the Odisha government has urged the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industry (MoFPI) to enhance the budgetary allocation for the state under the National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP) from Rs 9 crore to Rs 20 crore in 2014-15 financial year.

“We have requested the Union ministry to enhance the State allocation under the NMFP to Rs 20 crore from Rs 9 crore in the current fiscal. Since the present allocation would not be enough for our plan, we have appealed to the ministry and it has assured us that it would do the needful,“ said MSME secretary Panchanan Das.

While the Centre will provide 75 per cent funding under the scheme, the state government would have to contribute the remaining 25 per cent

The NMFP scheme, launched in 2012-13, is aimed at maintaining the requisite synergy between agriculture plans of states and development of food processing sector, which in turn would help in increase in farm productivity, thereby increasing farmers’ income.

The State government had raised this issue with the MoFPI Secretary Siraj Hussain during his recent visit to State. On August 12, Hussain had attended a review meeting on implementation of the NMFP scheme in the State under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary.

The State had also requested the Secretary to consider the proposal by State PSU Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) to set up mega food parks in the State.

Two proposals were sent to the Centre by IDCO and Oodisha Agro Industries Corporation Limited (OAIC) to set up mega food parks at Deras in Khurda district and Koraput respectively. The State government has agreed to provide all fiscal incentives to the projects under the Odisha Food Processing Policy, 2013.