Previous Year Question
With what purpose is the Government of India promoting the concept of ‘Mega Food Parks’?
To provide good infrastructure facilities for the food-processing industry.
To increase the processing of perishable items and reduce wastage.
To provide emerging and eco-friendly food-processing technologies to entrepreneurs.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
1 only
1 and 2 only
2 and 3 only
1, 2 and 3
Correct Answer: D
Detailed Solution
The Mega Food Park Scheme was developed on a cluster approach to connect food production with markets. It sought to bring farmers, processors and retailers together through an integrated value chain. Therefore, all three statements are correct.
Statement 1 is correct. A Mega Food Park provided common infrastructure for establishing modern food-processing units, including:
Collection centres.
Primary processing centres.
A central processing centre.
Cold storage and cold-chain facilities.
Warehousing.
Sorting, grading and packaging facilities.
Quality-control laboratories.
Power, water, roads and waste-treatment infrastructure.
Approximately 25–30 developed industrial plots for entrepreneurs.
Statement 2 is correct. Fruits, vegetables, milk, meat, fish and other perishable produce may deteriorate if they are not processed or placed in a cold chain promptly. Mega Food Parks sought to reduce post-harvest losses and wastage by establishing collection and primary-processing facilities near the farm gate.
They also helped connect farmers with larger markets and the processing industry, increase value addition and create employment in rural areas.
Statement 3 is correct. Common facilities for modern processing, packaging, cold chains, quality testing and waste management were made available to entrepreneurs at the central processing centre. This enabled smaller entrepreneurs to use modern and relatively environment-friendly technologies without individually making very large capital investments.
The scheme therefore sought to:
Maximise value addition.
Minimise food wastage.
Increase farmers’ income.
Generate rural employment.
Provide shared infrastructure to food-processing entrepreneurs.
Current status (2026)
The Government discontinued the Mega Food Park Scheme with effect from 1 April 2021. No new Mega Food Parks are sanctioned under it; provision was retained only for committed liabilities of previously approved ongoing projects.
According to the Ministry of Food Processing Industries:
A total of 41 Mega Food Parks were funded under the scheme.
25 Mega Food Parks are operational.
Entrepreneurs can continue using developed industrial plots and common facilities in the operational parks.
Thus, the new-sanction component of the scheme has ended, but the Mega Food Parks already constructed and made operational have not ceased functioning. Present support for food-processing infrastructure is principally provided through other components of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana.