Maharashtra Wins National Award for PMFME Food Processing Scheme
Maharashtra has received a national award for outstanding performance under the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme. State Agriculture Minister Dattatray Bharane accepted the award from Union Food Processing Industries Minister Chirag Paswan on Tuesday at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi.
Agriculture Department Director Vinaykumar Awate and PMFME State Lead Manager Amol Chidrawar were also present at the ceremony. Bharane stated that the recognition reflects the sustained efforts of the state's farmers, women, youth, self-help groups, farmer producer organisations, micro-entrepreneurs, and the Agriculture Department.
Maharashtra has approved 31,956 food processing projects under the PMFME scheme. Women beneficiaries account for 17,941 of these projects, representing 56 per cent of the total. The state has also approved 522 group projects and 75 common infrastructure projects.
The total value of individual, group, and common infrastructure projects stands at approximately Rs 2,893 crore, Rs 36 crore, and Rs 216 crore respectively. The overall cost of approved projects is approximately Rs 3,155 crore, with subsidies worth Rs 715 crore sanctioned under the scheme. Subsidies have already been disbursed for 25,007 individual projects, 388 group projects, and 25 common infrastructure projects.
Under the seed capital component, financial assistance of Rs 221.77 crore has been provided to 61,323 members of self-help groups. In beneficiary training, 47,544 individuals completed training under the scheme in the state. The approved ventures are projected to create around 2.64 lakh direct jobs, 7.92 lakh man-days of indirect employment, and a processing capacity of roughly 17.79 lakh metric tonnes.
Seven districts from Maharashtra featured among the 10 best-performing districts across India. Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Ahilyanagar districts received dedicated honours for their performance under PMFME, collected by District Superintendents of Agriculture Deepak Gawali and Sudhakar Borale respectively. District resource persons from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar also won first and second prizes.
In addition, Maharashtra received awards in the large-state category for the implementation of both the Maharashtra State Rural Livelihood Mission and the State Urban Livelihood Mission.
