New Delhi, February 24 The government aims to double its food processing capacity over the next 6-7 years, from the current 12-13 per cent, a top official said on Tuesday.
Secretary in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Avinash Joshi, made the remarks while addressing a press conference here.
The doubling of food processing capacity is bound to create a lot of employment opportunities and will also help increase farmers' income, he noted.
"Today, we process around 12 to 13 per cent of our agricultural products, and we are targeting that we will double that in the next six to seven years. What does that mean? That means that everything we have done in the last 80 years will be replicated in the next 6 or 7 years," the Secretary said.
Harinder Singh Oberoi, Director at NIFTEM-Kundli, said: "We are the second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables, and among that, we are the largest producer of mangoes. In terms of processing, we are slightly behind many countries, including Thailand, Mexico, and the Philippines; they are far ahead of us".
He was speaking on the sidelines of an event to announce the "Advanced Next Generation Vision for Emerging and Sustainable Healthy Foods (ANVESH)" which is being organised from February 26-28 at NIFTEM, Kundli.
NIFTEM is a premier food technology institution under the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
Speaking to reporters here, the Secretary said that "an International show in NIFTEM Kundli is a large-scale international conference, which will attract 33 speakers from 25 countries, and 61 exhibitors are also set to participate in the exhibition being held at the show".
