The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) is a federal ministry of the Government of India responsible for the formulation and administration of the rules, regulations, and laws related to food processing in India.
The ministry was established in 1988 with the objectives of developing a flourishing food processing industry, bolstering employment in the rural regions, and enabling farmers with modern technology.
Cabinet Ministers Note: I/C Independent Charge
PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To PeriodMinister of Food Processing Industries Jagdish Tytler(Minister of State, I/C) 25 June 1988 2 December 1989 Indian National Congress Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi Sharad Yadav 6 December 1989 10 November 1990 Janata Dal Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh Hukmdev Narayan Yadav 21 November 1990 21 June 1991 Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar Giridhar Gamang(Minister of State, I/C) 21 June 1991 17 January 1993 Indian National Congress (I) Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao Tarun Gogoi(Minister of State, I/C) 17 January 1993 13 September 1995 Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo (Minister of State, I/C) 15 September 1995 16 May 1996 Atal Bihari Vajpayee(Prime Minister) 16 May 1996 1 June 1996 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Atal Bihari Vajpayee H. D. Deve Gowda(Prime Minister) 1 June 1996 6 July 1996 Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda Dilip Ray(Minister of State, I/C) 6 July 1996 25 December 1997 Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral S. Jaipal Reddy 25 December 1997 19 March 1998 Atal Bihari Vajpayee(Prime Minister) 19 March 1998 3 February 1999 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee Pramod Mahajan 3 February 1999 13 October 1999 Minister of Food Processing Industries Chaman Lal Gupta(Minister of State, I/C) 1 September 2001 1 July 2002 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee III Atal Bihari Vajpayee N. T. Shanmugam(Minister of State, I/C) 1 July 2002 15 January 2004 Pattali Makkal Katchi Atal Bihari Vajpayee(Prime Minister) 15 January 2004 17 January 2004 Bharatiya Janata Party Rajnath Singh 17 January 2004 22 May 2004 Subodh Kant Sahay(Minister of State, I/C until 22 May 2009) 23 May 2004 22 May 2009 Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh 28 May 2009 19 January 2011 Manmohan II Sharad Pawar 19 January 2011 26 May 2014 Nationalist Congress Party Harsimrat Kaur Badal 27 May 2014 17 September 2020 Shiromani Akali Dal Modi I Narendra Modi Modi II Narendra Singh Tomar 17 September 2020 7 July 2021 Bharatiya Janata Party Pashupati Kumar Paras 7 July 2021 19 March 2024 Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party Kiren Rijiju 20 March 2024 10 June 2024 Bharatiya Janata Party Chirag Paswan 10 June 2024 Incumbent Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) Modi III
Ministers of State
PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Arun Subhashchandra Yadav 19 January 2011 12 July 2011 Indian National Congress Manmohan II Manmohan Singh Harish Rawat 28 October 2012 Charan Das Mahant 12 July 2011 26 May 2014 Tariq Anwar 28 October 2012 Nationalist Congress Party Sanjeev Balyan 27 May 2014 9 November 2014 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi Niranjan Jyoti 9 November 2014 30 May 2019 Rameswar Teli 31 May 2019 7 July 2021 Modi II Prahlad Singh Patel 7 July 2021 7 December 2023 Shobha Karandlaje 7 December 2023 9 June 2024 Ravneet Singh Bittu 10 June 2024 24 Jul 2026 Modi III
Functions of the ministry Policy support and developmental Promotional and technical Advisory and regulatory
Goals of MOFPI Better utilization and value addition of agricultural produce for enhancement of income of farmers. Minimizing wastage at all stages in the food processing chain by the development of infrastructure for storage, transportation and processing of agro-food produce. Induction of modern technology into the food processing industries from both domestic and external sources. Maximum utilization of agricultural residues and by-products of the primary agricultural produce as also of the processed industry. To encourage R&D in food processing for product and process development and improved packaging. To provide policy support, promotional initiatives and physical facilities to promote value added exports
Roles of MOFPI
The strategic role and functions of the Ministry fall under three categories: Policy support developmental & promotional Technical & advisory Regulatory.
It is concerned with the formulation & implementation of policies and plans for all the industries under its domain within the overall national priorities and objectives. Its main focus areas include—development of infrastructure, technological up gradation, development of backward linkages, enforcement of quality standards and expanding domestic as well as export markets for processed food products.
The Ministry acts as a catalyst and facilitator for attracting domestic & foreign investments towards developing large integrated processing capacities, by creating conducive policy environment, including rationalization of taxes & duties. It processes applications for foreign collaborations, Export Oriented Units (EOUs) etc. and assists/guides prospective entrepreneur in his endeavour.
Post liberalization, it has approved a large no. of joint ventures, foreign collaborations, industrial licenses and 100% EOU proposals in different food processing areas and has taken major policy initiatives to facilitate an accelerated growth of the industry. The functions of the Ministry can be broadly classified as follows:
Regulatory
Earlier the regulatory responsibilities of MoFPI were to implement Fruit Products Order (FPO), However, by the enactment of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, these regulatory responsibilities are transferred to Food Safety Authority of India, New Delhi which is under control of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
References
External links Ministry of Food Processing Industries