Why in the News?
The Union Cabinet has approved an enhanced outlay of ₹6,520 crore for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY), including ₹1,000 crore earmarked for 50 irradiation units under the Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure (ICCVAI) Scheme.
About the Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure (ICCVAI) Scheme:
- Objective: To build an end-to-end cold chain and value addition system from farm gate to consumer, ensuring unbroken preservation, reduced losses, and fair returns to farmers.
- Overview: A Central Sector Scheme under the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), implemented as a component of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY).
- Coverage: Focuses on non-horticultural produce, dairy, meat, poultry, and marine fish, while fruits, vegetables, and shrimp fall under Operation Greens.
- Goal: Minimise post-harvest wastage, promote value addition, and provide year-round food availability through modern cold chain infrastructure.
- Participation: Open to farmers, FPOs/FPCs, cooperatives, SHGs, NGOs, companies, and PSUs on a demand-driven basis.
Details of the ICCVAI Scheme:
- Objectives: Develop pre-cooling, cold storage, processing, and refrigerated transport; strengthen farmer–market linkages; promote modern technologies like irradiation and renewable energy; and enhance food safety and shelf life.
- Infrastructure Components:
- Farm-Level Infrastructure (FLI): Pre-cooling, grading, packaging near production zones.
- Processing Centres: Multi-product processing and testing units.
- Distribution Hubs: Multi-temperature storage for aggregation and retail dispatch.
- Refrigerated Transport: Reefer vans and mobile tankers for seamless cold logistics.
- Irradiation Units: For sterilisation and shelf-life extension via ionising radiation.
- Financial Assistance:
- 35% of project cost in general areas; 50% in difficult areas (NE, hill states, islands, ITDP regions) or for SC/ST/FPO/SHG entities.
- Grant cap: ₹ 10 crore per project, released in three instalments.
- 2025 Update: Union Cabinet raised PMKSY’s total outlay to ₹6,520 crore, with ₹1,000 crore for 50 irradiation units under ICCVAI.
- Eligibility Conditions: Applicants must have net worth ≥ 1.5× the grant (general areas) or equal to the grant (special areas). Each project must integrate Farm-Level Infrastructure with a Distribution Hub and/or refrigerated transport.
- Implementation Progress:
- 395 projects approved, 291 operational.
- Created 25.52 LMT preservation capacity and 114.66 LMT processing capacity.
- Generated 1.74 lakh jobs nationwide.
Complementary Government Initiatives:
- Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH): Credit-linked subsidy for cold storages up to 5,000 MT.
- National Horticulture Board (NHB): Promotes Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storages for horticulture.
- Operation Greens (PMKSY): Stabilises supply chains for fruits, vegetables, and shrimp.
- Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF): 3% interest subvention on loans up to ₹2 crore for cold chain and processing units.
- National Centre for Cold-chain Development (NCCD): Think tank for standards, training, and best practices in cold logistics.
| [UPSC 2024] With reference to the sectors of the Indian economy, consider the following pairs: Economic activity Sector
1. Storage of agricultural produce Secondary 2. Dairy farm Primary 3. Mineral exploration Tertiary 4. Weaving cloth Secondary How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched? Options: (a) Only one pair (b) Only two pairs* (c) Only three (d) All four |
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
