New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) The government on Saturday said the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme has surpassed sanctioning of loans to more than two lakh micro food processing enterprises.

While crossing 2 lakh loan sanctions, the scheme has leveraged project investments of over Rs 20,300 crore, informed Chirag Paswan, Minister for Food Processing Industries.

Speaking at an event here to celebrate the historic milestone, the minister said nearly 90 per cent of beneficiaries are first-generation entrepreneurs and 44 per cent are women entrepreneurs, while over 75,000 PMFME-supported enterprises have entered the formal economy through registrations such as Udyam Aadhaar, Udyam Assist, FSSAI and GST.

The scheme has generated nearly 11 lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities, he informed.

Paswan said the achievement of two lakh beneficiaries “demonstrates that this vision is translating into measurable outcomes across the country,” describing the participation of women entrepreneurs, at nearly 44 per cent of all beneficiaries as “the true spirit of women-led development, a cornerstone of Viksit Bharat.”

The minister also highlighted the Scheme’s Seed Capital support, under which more than 4.18 lakh Self Help Group members have been supported and the Ministry’s network of 80 Common Incubation Centres approved across 27 States/UTs, of which 32 have been commissioned.

More than 1.76 lakh beneficiaries have been trained under the Scheme, of whom 77 percent are women.

Devesh Deval, Joint Secretary, MoFPI, while announcing the launch of a nationwide multimedia awareness campaign, conveyed the importance of PMFME scheme that provides the end-to-end support to the micro-food processing entrepreneurs starting from the financial assistance, training, handholding, branding and marketing to the market linkage.

Deval noted that “PMFME is not merely supporting enterprises; it is transforming livelihoods, strengthening local value chains and creating sustainable employment opportunities across the country.”

Officials also highlighted the Scheme’s One District One Product (ODOP) approach and its support for 40 common brands covering nearly 200 products, through which PMFME is building local value chains around products such as Makhana, millets, spices and GI-tagged products across the country.

–IANS

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