Lucknow: A grand ceremony was held in Sector 1 of the Prayagraj Kumbh 2025 at the Information Department’s Cultural Pavilion, where women self-help groups and entrepreneurs in the food processing sector were honored. The event was inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh’s Deputy Chief Minister, Keshav Prasad Maurya, who cut the ribbon and lit the ceremonial lamp. During the event, he recognized the efforts of women groups and entrepreneurs, appreciating their contribution to the sector.
The exhibition showcased products such as fruits, vegetables, spices, dairy, bakery items, pasta, noodles, jaggery, chips, food supplements, and solar plants. Shri Maurya toured the display and praised the initiatives undertaken by the women’s groups. He highlighted the Uttar Pradesh government’s continuous efforts to promote the food processing industry, calling it one of the largest employment-generating sectors in the state after the IT sector. He further stated that the growth of this industry has positively impacted related sectors as well.
Speaking about the immense potential in the food processing sector, Maurya emphasized that the Uttar Pradesh government is running several ambitious schemes. Presently, more than 65,000 food processing units are operational across the state, directly and indirectly employing over 2.55 lakh people. Active sectors within food processing include flour, rice, fruits and vegetables, spices, health foods, bakery, dairy, and meat processing.
Through the Uttar Pradesh Food Processing Industry Policy-2023, the state government has taken significant steps to attract investment. Entrepreneurs are being offered grants of up to ₹10 crore to establish units. So far, investments exceeding ₹3,000 crore have been attracted, and grants amounting to ₹85 crore have been distributed to 70 units in the fiscal year 2024-25.
While discussing the achievements of the Prime Minister’s Micro Food Processing Industry (PM-FME) scheme, Shri Maurya shared that Uttar Pradesh ranked third nationally in the scheme’s implementation. Banks have approved grants of ₹4,500 crore for 14,300 units, generating over 1.5 lakh jobs. Additionally, the scheme has trained 2,000 women self-help groups under the State Rural Livelihood Mission, providing ₹12 crore in seed capital.
Maurya also emphasized the need for cold chain infrastructure and urged entrepreneurs to bring in high-quality proposals to benefit farmers and youth. Referring to the PM-FME scheme’s subsidy policy, he assured that subsidies would be granted within 30 days of project approval and loan disbursement.
The ceremony was attended by several dignitaries, including MLA of Fafamau Guru Prasad Maurya, Director of Horticulture and Food Processing Vijay Bahadur Dwivedi, Deputy Director S.K. Chauhan, and Kavita Patel, among others.
