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Centre launches major skill-development push for food-processing sector
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Thursday, 11 December, 2025, 14 : 00 PM [IST]
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Our Bureau, New Delhi
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The Government has unveiled a comprehensive initiative to bridge the skills gap in India’s food-processing sector — through structured training, certification, and capacity building backed by the Food Industry Capacity and Skill Initiative (FICSI) and allied schemes.
Under FICSI — overseen by the Sector Skill Council for Food Processing (established by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, MSDE) more than 60 job roles have been approved by the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET). The approved qualification packs reflect current industry standards and are updated every 36 months to keep pace with evolving needs. Among the new roles are cutting-edge domains like plant-based proteins, fortified foods, and enhanced safety and compliance frameworks linked to food-safety norms.
In parallel, the Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Enterprises Scheme (PMFME) — also administered by MoFPI — has incorporated a capacity-building component. Since 2020-21, the scheme has trained 109,312 beneficiaries nationwide through short-term courses (24 hours to 3 days), entrepreneurship-orientation programmes and seed-capital support for SHGs, FPOs and cooperatives stepping into small-scale food processing.
Meanwhile, the country’s designated food-processing knowledge hubs, the two campuses of the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) at Thanjavur and Kundli, have together trained over 33,000 individuals between 2018–19 and 2024–25.
Looking back, since 2015–16 the FICSI-certified roles and allied programmes (such as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, PMKVY) have enabled training and certification of more than 2.72 lakh candidates. This includes over 2.60 lakh under the PMKVY rollout.
Under the MoFPI’s broader strategy spanning flagship schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) and the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industries (PLIFPIs) the government is pushing adoption of modern technologies, cold-chain infrastructure, and international-grade manufacturing practices in the food sector.
According to the Ministry, embedding formal skill training, technology adoption and entrepreneurship programmes will help India’s food-processing industry remain competitive, innovation-driven and aligned with global standards while generating employment, enhancing quality and supporting small-scale enterprises.
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