Fish and marine products have been identified under the One District One Product (ODOP) approach of Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme, in 29 districts across India, including Dakshina Kannada.

Union Minister for Food Processing and Industries Chirag Paswan told the Lok Sabha on July 30 that, under the branding and marketing component of the scheme, grant of up to 50% of the eligible project cost is provided to groups of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), co-operatives, self-help groups (SHGs), and State or regional Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) of micro food processing enterprises to develop a common umbrella brand at the State or regional level. However, no proposal for branding and marketing has been received for Dakshin Kannada.

Replying to an unstarred question by Captain Brijesh Chowta, Member of Parliament from Dakshina Kannada, the Minister said that applications for 529 micro food processing enterprises have been submitted in Dakshina Kannada, and loans for 393 micro food processing were sanctioned with project cost of ₹69.78 crore, and subsidy of ₹21.54 crore has been approved. Out of this, loans for 13 micro food processing enterprises have been sanctioned in marine products with project cost of ₹1.42 crore, and subsidy approved is ₹0.28 crore. He said 1,179 direct and indirect employment has been generated, and 100 enterprises have been formalised in the district. However, the ministry does not maintain separate data on operational units.

The PMFME Scheme is a Centrally sponsored scheme, under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan initiative, designed to address the challenges faced by micro-enterprises, and to enable increased access to credit and shared infrastructure, integrated supply chain, technology upgradation, marketing linkages and capacity building. The scheme provides support for credit-linked subsidy at the rate of 35% of eligible project cost, with maximum ₹10 lakh, for setting up of new or upgrading existing micro food processing enterprises. Support for common infrastructure and incubation centres has been provisioned to strengthen shared processing, quality testing, storage, packaging, and training facilities for micro food processing enterprises.

The scheme provides branding and marketing support to facilitate development of common brands, improved packaging, quality standardisation, and wider promotion of products. In addition, the scheme promotes end-to-end market linkages through buyer–seller meets, participation in fairs and exhibitions, and integration with organised retail and e-commerce platforms.

The assisted micro food processing enterprises are provided handhold support for formalisation of the unit, such as Udyam, FSSAI, and GST through District Resource Persons (DRPs), enabling enterprises to comply with regulatory requirements and access formal credit and organised markets, the Minister said.

Published - July 31, 2026 03:13 pm IST