As per the data maintained by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the installed capacity of fruits & vegetables processing units (FPO licensed units) has increased. At present, the fruits and vegetables processing level is expected to be around 2.20 per cent in the country.
“In order to increase the level of processing and to promote food processing industries to exploit both the domestic and international market potential, Vision 2015 document has been finalised by the ministry which envisages tripling the size of the processed food sector by increasing the level of processing of perishables from six per cent to 20 per cent value addition from 20 per cent and 35 per cent and share in global food trade from 1.5 per cent to three per cent by 2015. An integrated strategy for promotion of agribusiness-vision, strategy and action plan for the food processing sector has also been approved by the government,” the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) said in its statement.
Currently, there are about 5,166 fruits and vegetables processing units licensed under fruits products order, 1955, in the country. According to the MoFPI, during the 11th Five Year Plan the ministry has received some proposals from areas like Kamrup, Karimganj district of Assam for financial assistance for setting up of fruits and vegetables processing units.
According to FSSAI, Maharashtra has the largest number of fruits and vegetables processing units (1,048) followed by Tamil Nadu (544), Uttar Pradesh (485), Kerala (445), Karnataka (328), Gujarat (305) and Andhra Pradesh (296).