Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala's rich and diverse microenterprises in the food processing sector have received a boost by adopting the One District One Product (ODOP) approach to promote a wide range of ventures.

ODOP helped facilitate credit with a subsidy component to scale up production and marketing under the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme.

As per the scheme, micro entrepreneurs starting food ventures can avail 35 per cent of the available project cost as subsidy, up to a maximum of Rs 10 lakh, an official statement said.

So far, the subsidy has been sanctioned for 1,233 enterprises. Of them, a total of 581 entrepreneurs have received a subsidy totaling Rs 15.09 crore in the individual category in the state, it said.

Moreover, the PMFME scheme envisages a seed capital assistance of Rs 40,000 for working capital and purchase of small tools for each member of a Self-Help Group (SHG) engaged in food processing activities through the Kudumbashree Mission.

The component under PMFME for providing seed capital to SHGs is implemented with the support of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) and its network of the State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) and State Urban Livelihood Mission (SULM), it said.

The scheme was launched by the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) in June 2020 under the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' with the aim of enhancing the competitiveness of existing individual microenterprises in the unorganised segment of the food processing industry and promoting formalisation of the sector.

The scheme is to be implemented over a period of five years from 2020-21 with a total outlay of Rs 10,000 crore, the statement added.