Food Processing Ministry holds consultation on next phase of incentive scheme

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) on Wednesday held a high-level Stakeholder Consultation to deliberate on the future roadmap for fiscal support to the food processing sector and to formulate the next phase of the incentive and subsidy schemes, an official statement said.

In his address, Avinash Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, emphasised that the Government is committed to building an “evidence-based, industry-driven framework for the next generation of food processing incentives.” He stated that the future policy architecture would focus on strengthening domestic manufacturing, enhancing India’s global competitiveness, promoting innovation and technology adoption, encouraging value addition and ensuring greater benefits for farmers, MSMEs and agri-value chains.

Senior officials of the Ministry, representatives of IFCI Ltd, Invest India, industry leaders, sectoral associations and beneficiaries of the PLISFPI scheme participated in the consultation. "The objective was to obtain structured industry feedback on the design, scope, implementation framework and incentive architecture for the proposed expansion of the scheme,” the Ministry noted.

Under the ongoing PLI scheme for the food processing sector, beneficiary companies have surpassed initial commitments by 20 per cent, with investments exceeding ₹9,207 crore across 212 manufacturing locations in 22 States against the originally committed investment of ₹7,722 crore. “Sales of PLI-supported products have grown at a CAGR of 10.82 per cent, increasing from ₹58,758 crore in FY 2019-20 to ₹1,08,854 crore in FY 2025-26, while exports registered a CAGR of 11.05 per cent, reaching ₹20,840 crore during the same period,” the Ministry noted.

“Sector-specific deliberations were held across major food processing segments including Ready-to-Cook/Ready-to-Eat Foods, Bakery and Confectionery, Processed Fruits & Vegetables, Beverages and Spices, Marine Products, Dairy, Nutraceuticals, Functional Foods, Plant-Based Proteins, Animal Feed and Food Processing Machinery,” it added.

Industry representatives recommended that the next phase of the scheme should adopt a more flexible and outcome-oriented incentive framework. Suggestions included broadening the scheme’s coverage to encompass emerging food categories, introducing differentiated incentive structures based on strategic objectives such as exports, import substitution, research and development, innovation and technology adoption and linking incentives with employment generation and capital investment.

Industry players also highlighted the need to strengthen support for overseas branding and marketing, improve reimbursement mechanisms, facilitate backward integration for critical raw materials, simplify implementation processes, rationalise eligibility criteria and encourage automation, quality enhancement and product innovation, the statement added.

The consultation further underscored the importance of creating a globally competitive innovation ecosystem through dedicated research infrastructure, clinical validation facilities, Centres of Excellence, export promotion initiatives and regulatory support. Industry also advocated greater policy support for import substitution, development of indigenous ingredients, strengthening supply chains and promoting globally competitive Indian food brands.