Telangana bets big on micro food processing units

State has identified 8,000 such facilities under PM-FME Scheme, along with 4,000 farmers and 13 crops for the same

Hyderabad: With the aim of making Telangana a leading State in food processing industry, the government has identified 8,000 micro processing units under the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PM-FME) Scheme and has already identified 4,000 farmers and 13 crops for the same.

“The food processing industry in Telangana has doubled in the last few years and big players like ITC have evinced interest in setting up units in the State by offering to investing about Rs 800 crore. Apart from this, many other players are looking at setting up big processing units. However, the government is also supportive of small scale food processors and want to work with primary food processing enterprises who are basically farmers,” said Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, IT and Industries Department, Telangana.

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Under the PM-FME scheme, 35 per cent subsidy is provided to farmers who wish to setup micro food processing unit out of which 60 per cent is given by the Centre and remaining by the State.

Providing details on the scheme in Telangana, Sushma G Dharamsoth, director business development, Telangana Food Processing Society said, “The Centre has declared that under the scheme one crop one district will be recognised and so far in Telangana we have recognised 13 crops – mostly perishable goods – to be included under the scheme. About 8,000 micro processing units come under the scheme and we have identified 4,000 farmers who are eligible for the scheme”.

She added that under the scheme the average loan size varies from Rs 4 to Rs 7 lakh as these are mostly small farmers.

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