New Delhi, March 31 (IANS) The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for food processing industry with an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore.

An official statement said that the objectives of the scheme are to support food manufacturing entities with stipulated minimum sales and willing to make minimum stipulated investment for expansion of processing capacity and branding abroad to incentivise emergence of strong Indian brands.

The scheme would also help strengthen select Indian brands of food products for global visibility and wider acceptance in the international markets and increase employment opportunities of off-farm jobs.

It would also ensure remunerative prices of farm produce and higher income to farmers.

The scheme will be implemented over a six year period from 2021-22 to 2026-27.

The implementation of the scheme would facilitate expansion of processing capacity to generate processed food output of Rs 33,494 crore and, create employment for nearly 2.5 lakh persons by the year 2026-27, said the statement.

--IANS rrb/vd