# Ministry of Food Processing Industries

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) is a federal ministry of the Government of India responsible for the formulation and administration of the rules, regulations, and laws related to food processing in India.
The ministry was established in 1988 with the objectives of developing a flourishing food processing industry, bolstering employment in the rural regions, and enabling farmers with modern technology.

## Cabinet Ministers

* Note: MoS, I/C – Minister of State (Independent Charge)
| No. | Portrait | Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Prime Minister | Prime Minister |
| No. | Portrait | Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency | From | To | Period | Political party | Ministry | Prime Minister | Prime Minister |
| Minister of Food Processing Industries |||||||||||
| 1 | | | Jagdish Tytler (born 1944) MP for Delhi Sadar (MoS, I/C) | 25 June 1988 | 2 December 1989 | 1 year, 160 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rajiv II | | Rajiv Gandhi |
| 2 | | | Sharad Yadav (1947–2023) MP for Badaun | 6 December 1989 | 10 November 1990 | 339 days | Janata Dal | Vishwanath | | Vishwanath Pratap Singh |
| 3 | | | Hukmdev Narayan Yadav (born 1939) MP for Sitamarhi | 21 November 1990 | 21 June 1991 | 212 days | Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) | Chandra Shekhar | | Chandra Shekhar |
| 4 | | | Giridhar Gamang (born 1943) MP for Koraput (MoS, I/C) | 21 June 1991 | 17 January 1993 | 1 year, 210 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rao | | P. V. Narasimha Rao |
| 5 | | | Tarun Gogoi (1936–2020) MP for Kaliabor (MoS, I/C) | 17 January 1993 | 13 September 1995 | 2 years, 239 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rao | | P. V. Narasimha Rao |
| 6 | | | Brigadier Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo AVSM (born 1941) MP for Dhenkanal (MoS, I/C) | 15 September 1995 | 16 May 1996 | 244 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rao | | P. V. Narasimha Rao |
| – | | | Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018) MP for Lucknow (Prime Minister) | 16 May 1996 | 1 June 1996 | 16 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Vajpayee I | | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| – | | | H. D. Deve Gowda (born 1933) Unelected (Prime Minister) | 1 June 1996 | 6 July 1996 | 35 days | Janata Dal | Deve Gowda | | H. D. Deve Gowda |
| 7 | | | Dilip Ray (born 1954) Rajya Sabha MP for Odisha (MoS, I/C) | 6 July 1996 | 21 April 1997 | 1 year, 172 days | Janata Dal | Deve Gowda | | H. D. Deve Gowda |
| 7 | | | Dilip Ray (born 1954) Rajya Sabha MP for Odisha (MoS, I/C) | 21 April 1997 | 25 December 1997 | 1 year, 172 days | Janata Dal | Gujral | | Inder Kumar Gujral |
| 8 | | | S. Jaipal Reddy (1942–2019) Rajya Sabha MP for Andhra Pradesh | 25 December 1997 | 19 March 1998 | 84 days | Janata Dal | Gujral | | Inder Kumar Gujral |
| – | | | Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018) MP for Lucknow (Prime Minister) | 19 March 1998 | 3 February 1999 | 321 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Vajpayee II | | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| 9 | | | Pramod Mahajan (1949–2006) Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra | 3 February 1999 | 13 October 1999 | 252 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Vajpayee II | | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Ministry disestablished during this interval |||||||||||
| Minister of Food Processing Industries |||||||||||
| 10 | | | Chaman Lal Gupta (1934–2021) MP for Udhampur (MoS, I/C) | 1 September 2001 | 1 July 2002 | 303 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Vajpayee III | | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| 11 | | | N. T. Shanmugam (born 1947) MP for Vellore (MoS, I/C) | 1 July 2002 | 15 January 2004 | 1 year, 198 days | Pattali Makkal Katchi | Vajpayee III | | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| – | | | Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018) MP for Lucknow (Prime Minister) | 15 January 2004 | 17 January 2004 | 2 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Vajpayee III | | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| 12 | | | Rajnath Singh (born 1951) Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh | 17 January 2004 | 22 May 2004 | 126 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Vajpayee III | | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| 13 | | | Subodh Kant Sahay (born 1951) MP for Ranchi (MoS, I/C until 22 May 2009) | 23 May 2004 | 22 May 2009 | 6 years, 241 days | Indian National Congress | Manmohan I | | Manmohan Singh |
| 13 | | | Subodh Kant Sahay (born 1951) MP for Ranchi (MoS, I/C until 22 May 2009) | 28 May 2009 | 19 January 2011 | 6 years, 241 days | Indian National Congress | Manmohan II | | Manmohan Singh |
| 14 | | | Sharad Pawar (born 1940) MP for Madha (2009–2014) Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra (from 2014) | 19 January 2011 | 26 May 2014 | 3 years, 127 days | Nationalist Congress Party | Manmohan II | | Manmohan Singh |
| 15 | | | Harsimrat Kaur Badal (born 1966) MP for Bathinda | 27 May 2014 | 30 May 2019 | 6 years, 112 days | Shiromani Akali Dal | Modi I | | Narendra Modi |
| 15 | | | Harsimrat Kaur Badal (born 1966) MP for Bathinda | 31 May 2019 | 17 September 2020 | 6 years, 112 days | Shiromani Akali Dal | Modi II | | Narendra Modi |
| 16 | | | Narendra Singh Tomar (born 1957) MP for Morena | 17 September 2020 | 7 July 2021 | 293 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi II | | Narendra Modi |
| 17 | | | Pashupati Kumar Paras (born 1952) MP for Hajipur | 7 July 2021 | 19 March 2024 | 2 years, 256 days | Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party | Modi II | | Narendra Modi |
| 18 | | | Kiren Rijiju (born 1971) MP for Arunachal West | 20 March 2024 | 10 June 2024 | 82 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi II | | Narendra Modi |
| 19 | | | Chirag Paswan (born 1982) MP for Hajipur | 10 June 2024 | Incumbent | 271 days | Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) | Modi III | | Narendra Modi |
* ↑ The ministry's competences were transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture in October 1999.

## Ministers of State

| No. | Portrait | Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Prime Minister | Prime Minister |
| No. | Portrait | Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency | From | To | Period | Political party | Ministry | Prime Minister | Prime Minister |
| 1 | | | Arun Subhashchandra Yadav (born 1974) MP for Khandwa | 19 January 2011 | 12 July 2011 | 174 days | Indian National Congress | Manmohan II | | Manmohan Singh |
| 2 | | | Harish Rawat (born 1948) MP for Haridwar | 19 January 2011 | 28 October 2012 | 1 year, 283 days | Indian National Congress | Manmohan II | | Manmohan Singh |
| 3 | | | Charan Das Mahant (born 1954) MP for Korba | 12 July 2011 | 26 May 2014 | 2 years, 318 days | Indian National Congress | Manmohan II | | Manmohan Singh |
| 4 | | | Tariq Anwar (born 1951) Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra | 28 October 2012 | 26 May 2014 | 1 year, 210 days | Nationalist Congress Party | Manmohan II | | Manmohan Singh |
| 5 | | | Sanjeev Balyan (born 1972) MP for Muzaffarnagar | 27 May 2014 | 9 November 2014 | 166 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi I | | Narendra Modi |
| 6 | | | Niranjan Jyoti (born 1967) MP for Fatehpur | 9 November 2014 | 30 May 2019 | 4 years, 202 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi I | | Narendra Modi |
| 7 | | | Rameswar Teli (born 1970) MP for Dibrugarh | 31 May 2019 | 7 July 2021 | 2 years, 37 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi II | | Narendra Modi |
| 8 | | | Prahlad Singh Patel (born 1960) MP for Damoh | 7 July 2021 | 7 December 2023 | 2 years, 153 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi II | | Narendra Modi |
| 9 | | | Shobha Karandlaje (born 1966) MP for Udupi Chikmagalur | 7 December 2023 | 9 June 2024 | 185 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi II | | Narendra Modi |
| 10 | | | Ravneet Singh Bittu (born 1975) Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan | 10 June 2024 | Incumbent | 271 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi III | | Narendra Modi |

## Functions of the ministry

* Policy support and developmental
* Promotional and technical
* Advisory and regulatory

## Goals of MOFPI

* Better utilization and value addition of agricultural produce for enhancement of income of farmers.
* Minimizing wastage at all stages in the food processing chain by the development of infrastructure for storage, transportation and processing of agro-food produce.
* Induction of modern technology into the food processing industries from both domestic and external sources.
* Maximum utilization of agricultural residues and by-products of the primary agricultural produce as also of the processed industry.
* To encourage R&D in food processing for product and process development and improved packaging.
* To provide policy support, promotional initiatives and physical facilities to promote value added exports

## Roles of MOFPI

The strategic role and functions of the Ministry fall under three categories:
* Policy support developmental & promotional
* Technical & advisory
* Regulatory.
It is concerned with the formulation & implementation of policies and plans for all the industries under its domain within the overall national priorities and objectives. Its main focus areas include—development of infrastructure, technological up gradation, development of backward linkages, enforcement of quality standards and expanding domestic as well as export markets for processed food products.
The Ministry acts as a catalyst and facilitator for attracting domestic & foreign investments towards developing large integrated processing capacities, by creating conducive policy environment, including rationalization of taxes & duties. It processes applications for foreign collaborations, Export Oriented Units (EOUs) etc. and assists/guides prospective entrepreneur in his endeavour.
Post liberalization, it has approved a large no. of joint ventures, foreign collaborations, industrial licenses and 100% EOU proposals in different food processing areas and has taken major policy initiatives to facilitate an accelerated growth of the industry. The functions of the Ministry can be broadly classified as follows:

## Regulatory

Earlier the regulatory responsibilities of MoFPI were to implement Fruit Products Order (FPO), However, by the enactment of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, these regulatory responsibilities are transferred to Food Safety Authority of India, New Delhi which is under control of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.