100 New Food Testing Labs to be Established with MOFPI Support, Announces Ravneet Singh Bittu

Bathinda: To enhance food safety and quality, Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries, Ravneet Singh Bittu, announced that the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) will provide financial support for the establishment of 100 new NABL-accredited food testing laboratories across India in the financial year 2025-26.

Bittu made the announcement while inaugurating a world-class food testing laboratory at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University. He emphasized the crucial role of food testing in ensuring that food products meet safety standards and are free from harmful contaminants and pathogens.

This initiative is part of the government’s broader plan under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY), which has already allocated ₹503.47 crore for 205 laboratory projects. Of these, 169 projects have been completed, with ₹349.21 crore disbursed. These laboratories are critical in meeting the regulatory requirements of agencies like the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the Export Inspection Council of India (EIC), the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), and international agencies such as the USFDA and EU regulators.

The new food testing facilities will benefit farmers and food producers dealing in citrus fruits, green peas, cauliflower, carrots (fresh and frozen), milk and dairy products, basmati rice, wheat, millets (bajra and sorghum), mustard and sunflower oilseeds, and farm-produced shrimp. These advanced testing laboratories will help ensure compliance with global standards, support exports, and improve food product quality, ultimately boosting farmers’ incomes and job creation in the food processing sector.

The newly inaugurated Bathinda food testing laboratory will employ cutting-edge technologies such as GC-MS/MS, ICP-OES, HPLC, and UV spectrophotometers to test for pesticide residues, heavy metals, microbiological contaminants, and other food safety parameters. The project has a total allocation of ₹253.12 lakh, with ₹191.259 lakh already disbursed, and will serve food processors, farmers, and businesses to enhance food safety and quality.

Highlighting Punjab’s growing food processing sector, Bittu shared that 24 cold chain projects totaling ₹553 crore, 3 agro-processing cluster projects worth ₹70 crore, 16 food processing units with an investment of ₹432 crore, and 10 food testing laboratories totaling ₹48 crore have been approved by the Ministry. Under the PMKSY scheme, 61 projects worth ₹1,557 crore have been sanctioned in Punjab, with a ₹419 crore grant.

Additionally, six Punjab-based factories have committed ₹126.31 crore in investments under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme. Over 2,500 micro-entrepreneurs in Punjab have received subsidies under the Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme, and 1,296 Self-Help Group (SHG) members have been sanctioned ₹3.99 crore in seed capital.

As part of the “One District, One Product” initiative, honey and milk-based products have been identified as key focus areas in Bathinda and Mansa. In Bathinda, ₹142.3 crore was disbursed through 483 loans, while Mansa saw ₹72.15 crore disbursed through 253 loans. SHGs in Bathinda and Mansa received ₹75 lakh and ₹18 lakh in seed capital funding, respectively, under the PMFME scheme.

During the event, Ravneet Singh Bittu visited an exhibition showcasing products developed by PMFME beneficiaries, reinforcing the government’s commitment to supporting food entrepreneurs and strengthening India’s food processing ecosystem.