Budget 2014: Government reduces custom duty on food processing machinery to 6 per cent

NEW DELHI: With a view to check rising food prices by mitigating post-harvest losses, the government today reduced the duty on specified food processing and packaging machinery from 10 per cent to 6 per cent.

"The decision to reduce customs duty on food processing machinery is a step towards capacity building. It is likely to usher investment in the food processing sector and reduce post harvest losses,"Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said.

While presenting his maiden budget, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the losses in fruits and vegetables are mainly due to lack of adequate processing capacity.

"To incentivise expansion of processing capacity, I propose to reduce the excise duty on specified food processing and packaging machinery from 10 per cent to 6 per cent," the Finance Minister said.

Jaitley assured the government is committed to reforms in the food sector.

"Minimisation of harvest and post harvest losses of agricultural produce is an important measure for tackling food inflation and ensuring food security," Jaitley said.

He also said to make farming competitive and profitable, there is an urgent need to step up investment, both public and private, in agro-technology development and creation and modernisation of existing agri-business infrastructure.