Govt simplifies regulatory mechanism for food products

Keen on making giant strides in the food processing sector, India has simplified the regulatory mechanism for food products, globally benchmarked standards and speedier clearances for projects.

The Centre is also launching a special portal Nivesh Bandhu to assist investors by providing information about government's policies, agro-producing clusters, infrastructure and potential areas of investment in the food processing sector.

"All the information about production hubs, mega food parks, cold storage facilities will be geo-tagged so that the investor is aware of their exact location and plan accordingly," J P Meena, secretary, Department of Food Processing said here.

Food Processing Minister Harsimarat Kaur Badal said the government has earmarked Rs 6,000 crore over the next three years to create infrastructure in the sector that will attract investments.

She said only 10% of the food produced in India was processed and the aim was to increase it three-fold to 30%.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI), the food regulator, has come up with set standards that meet the global benchmarks that are simple and easy to understand.

"We have also shifted from product-based approval to recipe-based approvals," FSSAI chief executive officer Pawan Kumar Agarwal said here.

Badal said she had already received commitments of investments to the tune of 10 billion dollars from both domestic and foreign investors in the food processing sector that could lead to the creation of 10 lakh jobs.

The minister said the three-day mega event World Food India, that starts on Friday in New Delhi, is expected to showcase the country's strengths in the food processing sector to global investors.

More than 40 countries, 27 states governments are participating in the event. Germany, Denmark and Japan are the partner countries, while the Italy, the Netherlands are the focus countries of the event.