Elaborate the policy taken by the Government of India to meet the challenges of the food processing sector.

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Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

Government policy meets the food processing sector's challenges link by link: PM Kisan SAMPADA and Operation Greens for infrastructure, PLI and PMFME for scale and micro units, FDI and FSSAI for capital and quality. Yet only 42% of the ₹2,000 crore Special Food Processing Fund was disbursed by March 2025.

**Introduction**

India leads the world in milk, onions and pulses (PIB, 2025), yet post-harvest losses cost about ₹1.53 lakh crore a year (NABCONS, 2022). Policy has moved from isolated incentives to a farm-to-fork approach.

**Policy for Infrastructure and Supply-Chain Challenges**

SKETCH: flow | Farm-to-Fork Policy Chain
- Farm aggregation
- Cold chain
- Processing units
- Testing and safety
- Brand and export

1. **PM Kisan SAMPADA (2017)**: It funds Mega Food Parks, cold chains and agro-processing clusters, and 1,608 projects were sanctioned by February 2025.
2. **Cold chain**: To cut perishable wastage, 291 of 395 approved cold-chain projects were running by June 2025 with 25.52 lakh tonnes of capacity.
3. **Operation Greens (2018)**: It funds storage and processing to steady tomato, onion and potato prices, and was extended to all fruits and vegetables in 2020.

**Policy for Investment, Informality and Quality Challenges**

1. **PLI scheme (2021)**: An outlay of ₹10,900 crore over six years rewards sales growth of Indian food brands, with a separate millet PLI.
2. **PMFME (2020)**: It backs micro units through One District One Product clusters and a 35% credit-linked subsidy, with 1,44,517 loans sanctioned (PIB, 2025).
3. **Capital and regulation**: Manufacturing allows 100% automatic-route FDI, a ₹2,000 crore NABARD fund offers cheaper loans, and FSSAI's 2026 reforms raise the registration threshold to ₹1.5 crore.

**Way Forward**

1. **Faster spending**: Only 42% of the Special Food Processing Fund was disbursed by March 2025 (Standing Committee, 2025), so time-bound release must come first.
2. **Clusters and standards**: Link ODOP clusters with FPOs and e-NAM, and align FSSAI norms with Codex for exports.

**Conclusion**

Policy now tackles the sector's challenges link by link. Faster delivery and export-grade quality will cut waste, create rural jobs and raise farm incomes for Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Elaborate the policy taken by the Government of India to meet the challenges of the food processing sector.

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