Scheme for Creation or Expansion of Food Processing Units

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFP) has launched the Scheme for Creation or Expansion of Food Processing Units (CEFPU) under the guidance of Pradhana Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana. This scheme aims to provide financial assistance in the form of loan for setting up of new units and for expansion of existing food processing units. In this article, we look at the Scheme for Creation/Expansion of Food Processing Units in detail. To apply for FSSAI license in India, click here.

Objectives of the Scheme

To create new processing units and expansion of existing food processing units, which will help in increasing the level of processing, value addition, reducing wastage and increase in farmer’s income.

Eligible sectors

The following food processing sectors are qualified to get financial assistance under the Scheme:

Fruits and vegetable processing units.
Milk Processing units.
Meat, poultry, fish processing units.
Food Products, Snacks, bakery, breakfast cereals, and other food products, including nutritional health foods.
Grains or pulses, oilseed milling and processing units based on the latest technology.
Modern Rice milling placed in Eastern (Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar & Jharkhand) and the North Eastern States.
Other agri-horti products including spices, coconut, soybean, mushroom processing, honey processing etc.
Fruits or Honey based wines.
Natural Food flavours, food additives, food extracts and colours, oleoresins, guar gum, cocoa products etc.
Processing plants that make food products fit for human and animal consumption to be set up in Mega Food Parks and Agro Processing Clusters approved by the Ministry from time to time.

Note: The activities related to the manufacture of aerated water, packaged drinking water and carbonated drinks will not be qualified for financial assistance under the Scheme. Also, the Sugar Mills and farming activities such as dairy farming, poultry farming, mushroom farming, hatcheries, etc., are not eligible under the scheme. However, the units proposing for manufacturing value-added products from jaggery (as raw material) will be eligible under the scheme.

List of Eligible Processing Activities

The list of processing activities which are covered under the scheme is given below:

Sorting, grading, washing, peeling, cutting, sizing.
Blanching, crushing, extraction, pulping.
Drying, de-husking, splitting, depoding, de-hulling, deseeding, colour sorting, pulverization, extrusion, freeze drying or dehydration, frying, etc.
Pasteurization, homogenization, evaporation, concentration, etc.
Packaging equipment like canning, aseptic packaging, vacuum packaging, bottling, edible packaging, labelling, any other specialized packaging etc.
Preservation activities such as pickling, chemical preservation, fermentation or any other specialized facility required for.
Individual Quick Freezing (IQF), plate freezing, blast freezing, quick spiral freezing etc.
Controlled temperature transport like coolers, refrigerated, insulated and ventilated transport.
All other processing, preservation, storage, transport facilities etc. to increase food products and value addition would be eligible.

Note: Standalone activities like temperature controlled transportation or storage facilities etc. will not be allowed under this scheme.

Eligible Organizations

The below following are the entities eligible for financial assistance under the scheme.

Public and Private Companies
Limited liability Partnerships
Corporate entity
Proprietorship firms
Partnership firms
Joint Ventures
Central and State Public Sector Undertakings
Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs)
Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
Cooperatives
Self-Help Groups (SHGs)

Scale of Assistance

The assistance of 35% of the eligible project cost not exceeding Rs.5 crores will be provided to the general areas. The assistance of 50% of the eligible project cost not exceeding Rs.5 crores will be provided to the North Eastern States including Sikkim and Difficult areas including Himalayan States (Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand), State Notified ITDP areas and Islands.

Documents required

The following documents are to be submitted at the time of applying:

Application in the prescribed format (Appendix-A).
Detailed Project Report (DPR).
Bank appraisal indicating techno-economic viability parameters of the project.
Sanction letter of term loan from the bank or financial institutions.
Certificate of incorporation/registration of the organization, Memorandum and Articles of Association and Bye-laws of the society/partnership deed etc.
In the case of expansion/modernization of existing processing units, the latest annual report and audited statement of accounts have to be enclosed.
Item wise and cost wise details of Technical civil works duly certified by authorised Civil Engineer have to be enclosed.
Item wise and cost wise details of Plant and Machinery duly certified by authorised Mechanical Engineer have to be enclosed.
An undertaking by the applicant as per Appendix-F(x) has to be furnished.
Copy of Registered land allotment/ownership document in the name of the applicant firm.
In case of lease deed of the land, the registered lease deed for at least 15 years in the name of the applicant firm is required to be submitted.
IEM registration, Entrepreneur’s Memorandum, Udyog Aadhar registration etc.
In case of SC/ST promoters, caste certificate issued by the authorised officer.

Online Application Procedure

To apply for Creation/Expansion of Food Processing Units, follow the steps which are mentioned below:

Step 1: Please, visit the official portal of Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI).

Step 2: Now, select the name of the scheme from the list.

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Food Processing Units

Step 3: Enter the user name and password to access the particular application form.

Step 4: Fill the application form with the necessary details and submit the form online along with the required documents.

Step 5: On successful submission of the completed application on the Ministry’s portal, an acknowledgement number of the application will be sent on registered email IDs to the applicant for future reference.

Note: Subsequently, hard copy has to be sent by the applicant directly to MOFPI within 10 working days after successful uploading of the online application.

Approval for Financial Assistance

The application submitted will be evaluated by the Project Management Agency (PMA) based on the assessment criteria. The proposals evaluated by the PMA will be examined by the Technical committee for recommending merit based on marks and preference. The proposals recommended by the Technical Committee will be placed before the Inter-Ministerial Approval Committee (IMAC). As per the decision of the IMAC, the approval/rejection/modification of application will be communicated to the applicant with suitable instructions.