In a bid to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) into food processing sector, the government is working out a strategy for giving tax holidays to foreign investors for the next five years.
According to Subodh Kant Sahai, Union minister for food processing, the focus would be to ensure that the average annual growth of 13.5% in the sector at present will be doubled over the next few years.
?We are emboldened by the rising paying capacity of the middle class and we are now concentrating on how to reach to the farmers through demand-driven, market-oriented policies to build the economic sustainability of our farmers,? Sahai said after meeting industry leaders in the food processing sector.
He said the proposed policy would seek to ensure that the food processing sector receives fiscal benefits on the lines of sectors such as telecom and information technology.
Industry representatives also informed Sahai that the government needs to taken immediate steps towards dealing with the issues such as increasing the processing levels, decreasing wastages, inadequate cold chain infrastructure, regulatory constraints, fiscal incentives, and cross departmental issues concerning the APMC Act and modern retail.
?We are now working on a scheme to train the farmers so that they become entrepreneurs by adopting scientific practices and technical know-how,? Sahai said at the meeting organised by Ficci. He also urged industry to support government in raising technical standards, research & development efforts.