Despite the easy availability of loans to the food processing sector, there is little decrease in the credit outstanding of the food processing companies, which has taken loan under the Priority Sector Lending (PSL) scheme.
“The Ministry has not received any complaint related to denying of loans to the entrepreneurs engaged in the food processing sector,” Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in the Lok Sabha here on Tuesday.
The Minister informed the house that credit outstanding has come down from Rs 129425 crore in March 2019 to Rs 123672 crore in September 2021, the Minister said. He said in the year 2020 outstanding credit was Rs 125211 crore and Rs 198083 crore in March 2021.
On redressal of complaints related to denying of loans, the Minister said as and when any issue related to the banks is raised by the applicants availing benefits under various schemes of the Ministry and the same is resolved through active interaction with the bank.
He said loans for Food and Agro Processing activities including building cold chains come in the PSL scheme and a unit could be given Rs 100 crore. The government, however, has not set any separate target for lending in this sector, he added.