Bengal to launch food processing scheme with 35% subsidy for cold storage, pack houses from Aug

Kolkata: The Bengal govt is set to roll out a new food processing scheme from Aug 1, offering a 35% subsidy to agri-entrepreneurs for setting up cold storages, post-harvest facilities, pack houses and secondary processing units of up to 100 metric tonnes capacity, according to state IT, food processing industries and horticulture minister Kalyan Chakraborti.The govt has initially planned 500 such units to serve production clusters at the block level, Chakraborti told TOI.“Bank-linked finance will ensure interest subvention under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund,” he said. The AIF offers 3% per annum interest subvention on loans up to Rs 2 crore.The state budget had allocated Rs 100 crore for the subsidy scheme and around Rs 230 crore overall to the food processing and horticulture department.The govt is also working on a natural farming framework for fruits and vegetables covering the Hills, Sundarbans and Paschimanchal — a six-district belt comprising Birbhum, Bankura, Purulia, West Midnapore, Jhargram and West Burdwan. Chakraborti said the framework is expected to be rolled out within six months.Other initiatives in the pipeline include NHB-accredited nurseries in every district within two years, promotion of private nurseries in horticulture-dominant blocks, and 50% financial support for agri-entrepreneurs to set up small polyhouses for protected cultivation of vegetables.

Testing facilities for export promotion of horticulture produce are also planned in Kolkata, north Bengal and Kalyani within a year, alongside upgradation of MRL labs.Bengal’s food processing sector — dominated by MSMEs — recorded a turnover of around Rs 5,000 crore last year, with private investment in new projects estimated at Rs 900 crore.