The winds of change are all set to blow across the food processing industry in India. While the GST announced the beginning of the One Nation, One Tax concept, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) is all set to roll out a “One Country, One Policy” plan. What this essentially means is that there will be a uniform code of safety and operations for producing any and every food item.
Speaking to The Pioneer, the Minister for Food Processing Industry, Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal, says, “In food we want ‘one country one policy’ by which we would encourage states to have a single window clearance system for food processing units and treat them at par with agriculture. Also, if it is agricultural land then a change of land Use (ClU) should not be necessary.”
She has other grandiose plans for the portfolio that she handles. First up is a World Food India, an event that is being organised at Vigyan Bhawan which will see participation by 80+ countries between November 3 and 5. “It will be showcasing the entire agricultural economy from farm to fork,” she says.
The event is an outcome of the attempt to bring India to a level of having the potential to become the world food factory. “We were always one of the largest producers of food. Actually, the largest producer of milk and the second largest producer of fruits, vegetables and cereals. That is the kind of raw materials we have,” she says and goes on to add that only 10 per cent of the material is processed which results in a lot of wastage. This stands in contrast to smaller countries like Indonesia and Malaysia which process about 70 per cent of it. Because of the small percentage of processing, there is very high wastage.
So initially, it was decided to get on board one partner country and one focus country to enable learning. But the scope gradually grew, given the potential of Indian markets. The partner countries now include Japan, which imports 40-50 per cent of its food, Germany, which has the best technology, and Denmark that feeds the three countries surrounding it. Netherlands and Italy are the focus countries while 80 more are participating in the mega event.
“The Prime Minister and President, 28 ministerial and business delegations as well as 60 top CEOs from across the globe, policy-makers both from national, international and level as well as stakeholders, including farmers, will be there under one roof which has never happened before,” says the Minister.
While the world has seen the benefits of superfoods like quinoa, the Indian ones seem to lag behind. But the minister is trying to rectify that as well. “The superfoods of India will be highlighted. On Day 2 of Food Street, we will break a record of what I think is one of our superfoods,” she says without divulging the name of the superfood or how she intends to do it.