NEW DELHI: The Central Government is considering extending the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme until 2029 owing to its success.
Over the past six years, the scheme has benefited 200,000 individual entrepreneurs across the country by assisting them in establishing micro food processing businesses. So far, the government has approved a subsidy of Rs 6,000 crore and allocated over Rs 14,000 crore in credit-linked loans.
“We are conceptualising PMFME 2.0 to further support micro-entrepreneurs in the food processing sector,” said Chirag Paswan, Union Minister for Food Processing Industry, when asked about the potential extension of the scheme until 2029.
“To date, the scheme has directly generated at least 8 lakh jobs by supporting 2 lakh micro food enterprises. Out of these, 44 per cent are women-led enterprises,” Paswan stated during a special event celebrating the achievements of the PMFME Scheme.
With these 2 lakh loan sanctions, the scheme, which launched in 2020, has leveraged project investments exceeding Rs 20,300 crore.
Nearly 90 per cent of the beneficiaries are first-generation entrepreneurs, and 44 per cent are women entrepreneurs. Furthermore, 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 created nearly 1.1 million direct and indirect employment opportunities.
Beneficiaries from across the country attended the event, sharing how the scheme has helped them establish their enterprises.
Stories included an apple packaging enterprise from Himachal Pradesh focused on increasing shelf life, a chocolate enterprise from Tamil Nadu, chip manufacturers from Bihar, and ready-to-cook curry entrepreneurs from Maharashtra.
The leading performers under the scheme include Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh.
Officials also highlighted the scheme's One District One Product (ODOP) approach and its support for 40 common brands covering nearly 200 products.
Through PMFME, local value chains are being developed around products such as Makhana, millets, spices, and GI-tagged products across the country.
Paswan also pointed out the scheme's Seed Capital support, which has aided over 418,000 Self Help Group members. Additionally, the Ministry has established a network of 80 Common Incubation Centres across 27 states and Union Territories, of which 32 have been commissioned.
More than 176,000 beneficiaries have been trained under the scheme, with 77 per cent of them being women. During the event, the Minister honoured the 200,000th beneficiary, Inderjeet Singh from Ranchi, Jharkhand, presenting him with the sanction letter as well as a certificate.