The government has allotted Rs. 60,000 crore (US$ 7.68 billion) through the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to supply tap water to 3.8 crore families. Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries and Jal Shakti Prahalad Singh Patel said that states can spend three times the previous year’s budget under the Jal Jeevan Mission, for which states must seek the best technical support, maximise resource utilisation, and streamline the tendering process, among other things.
He stated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government gave free food grains to over 80 crore people under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, the world’s largest food security scheme designed to fight pandemic-induced economic disruption. He described the made-in-India COVID-19 vaccine as the government’s crowning achievement.
According to the minister, the Food Processing Industries department’s budget has increased by 137%. The Rs 1,100 crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme designed for the food processing industry will assist India in making a name for itself in the global food processing business.
There are 24 lakh food processing units in the country, two lakh of which would be renovated with an investment of Rs. 10,000 crore (US$ 1.28 billion).
