No. 1 in production, UP brings policy to tap food processing

Lucknow: The state government promulgated the UP food processing industrial policy-2023 on Thursday, paving the way to provide major concessions and incentives for setting up units under the sector.The policy will be applicable for the next five years and states that compared to the state’s production capacity, food processing needs to be increased. Food processing in India’s context refers largely to tertiary processing, which means ready to eat food commercial production. “The state is first in the country in the production of mango, peas, milk, sugarcane, wheat and potato. However, in terms of processing, it is on the sixth position for mango, fourth for peas, fourth for milk, second for sugarcane, third for wheat and sixth for potato,” the policy states, indicating that there is a major scope for food processing in the state.Among the major provisions of the policy, the government has provided for a waiver of 2% fee for conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural. In case there is a reserved land coming in the middle of the project, the proponent has to give an equal amount of land to the government in exchange for this land, along with 25% of the circle rate of the reserved land. Now this charge of 25% is being waived. An additional 50% rebate will be provided in change of land use charges.Other provisions include 75% rebate in external development charges, 100% rebate in stamp duty charges, waiver of mandi fee and cess to be imposed on agricultural products brought from other states into UP for food processing industry, waiver of mandi fee or cess on farmers who sell their produce directly to a food processing unit, subsidy of 50% on setting up a solar power plant of up to 75 KVA. This subsidy will be 90% for women entrepreneurs.With UP being a landlocked state, a subsidy of 25% has been provided on transport from the point of production to the port of the export country. This will not be valid for transport to Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. A 35% subsidy up to a maximum of Rs 5 crore will be given on capital expenditure, 35% subsidy up to a maximum of Rs 1 crore on expansion and modernisation of existing plants, a grant of 35% up to a maximum of Rs 10 crore for cold chain and value addition infrastructure and 50% for deep freezer, frozen storage etc.To promote decentralised storage, purchase and processing, a grant of 50% or up to a maximum of Rs 50 lakh will be offered to SHGs, FPOs and farmers.