Union Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday said the food processing sector offers a huge potential for export of value-added items from the country which will not only earn foreign exchange, but will also create employment in the domestic market.

Inaugurating a food processing unit located in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, through video conference, Badal said that the food processing sector is witnessing robust growth and has been identified as a champion sector by the government.

The unit namely Organic India Pvt Ltd is set up with a total cost of ₹55.13 crore. Grant in aid of ₹4.80 crore has been provided by the Ministry. The unit will process agro produce worth ₹350 crore. It will manufacture products such as tulsi green tea, sweet lemon green tea, lemon ginger green tea, and pomegranate green tea among other products.

The unit will export some of its organic products to other countries.

She added that the diverse basket of agricultural raw material base and agro-climatic attributes of UP provide the requisite platform for the State to develop a vibrant food processing industry, an official statement added.

Badal pointed out that in order to improve Ease of Doing Business, MOFPI (Ministry of Food Processing Industries) has implemented several initiatives using IT tools. She said that all information about the Ministry’s schemes, important reports about the sector, investment related information and options to apply under the relevant scheme online has been made available on the MoFPI website.