The government on Tuesday said that about 6.66 lakh direct and indirect jobs have been generated by 22 operational Mega Food parks.
Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Prahlad Singh Patel, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, said as per the Mega Food Park Scheme Guidelines, each park on being fully operational, would create direct and indirect employment for about 5,000 persons.
However, the actual configuration of a project may vary depending upon the business plan.
The ministry has accorded final approval to 38 mega food parks and in-principle approval to three such parks under the Mega Food Park Scheme.
“About 6,66,000 direct and indirect employment have been generated by the 22 operational Mega Food Parks,” he said.
The ministry has been implementing Mega Food Park Scheme to create modern infrastructure for the food processing sector. The proposals under scheme for setting up of mega food parks are invited through Expressions of Interest.
Patel said the ministry has been implementing a central sector umbrella scheme — Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) for overall development of the food processing sector.
In another development, over 30 crore loans amounting to Rs 15.97 lakh crore have been disbursed since April 2015 under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
Banks and financial institutions have disbursed over 11.29 crore loans amounting to Rs 6.41 lakh crore during 2019-20 and 2020-21, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
Under PMMY, institutional credit up to Rs 10 lakh is provided for entrepreneurial activities to micro/small business units by Member Lending Institutions (MLIs), that is Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs), Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), he said.
He also said a sample survey was conducted at the national level by the Ministry of Labour and Employment to estimate employment generation under PMMY.
(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)
