. Various incentives are provided by the Government of India for promoting investment in the Food Processing sector. Some of the key incentives are outlined below:
- Establishment of a sustained and lasting linkage between the farmers and the processors based on mutual trust, understanding and benefits by utilizing the existing infrastructure of cooperative, village panchayats and such other institutions.
- Section 80-IB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 provides a deduction for profits and gains derived by eligible businesses. One of the eligible businesses is business of processing, preservation and packaging of fruits, vegetables, meat, meat products, poultry, marine, dairy products or the integrated business of handling, storage and transportation of food grains.
- Development of area-specific agro food parks dedicated to processing of predominant produce of the area e.g., apple in J&K, pineapple in North East, lichi in Bihar, mango in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, etc.
- Development of new technologies in food processing and packaging and also to provide for the mechanism to facilitate quick transfer of technologies to field through a network of R&D institutions having a central institute at the national level with satellite institutions located strategically in various regions to cover up the whole country and to make available the required testing facilities. This could be done by establishing a new institution or by strengthening an existing one.