CEFPPC (PM Kisan SAMPADA) — 35% / 50% Grant up to ₹5 Crore for Setting Up or Expanding a Food Processing Unit: Eligibility, Eligible Cost, the EOI Window, DPR, Bank Tie-Up and How the Grant Is Released

Under PM Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY), the Ministry of Food Processing Industries funds unit-level processing capacity through the Creation/Expansion of Food Processing and Preservation Capacities component. The grant-in-aid is 35% of the eligible project cost in general areas and 50% in the North-Eastern states, Himalayan states (Himachal, Uttarakhand, J&K, Ladakh), ITDP-notified tribal areas, islands and for SC/ST entrepreneurs, FPOs and SHGs — capped at ₹5 crore per project. Eligible cost is plant and machinery plus technical civil works (the building that houses the process — not land, staff quarters, offices, vehicles or pre-operative expenses). Both new units and expansion/modernisation of existing units qualify, across fruit and vegetable processing, milk, meat and poultry, fish, grains and pulses, oilseeds, spices, ready-to-eat foods, beverages and other food products — with a negative list (alcoholic beverages, aerated drinks, tobacco, and products barred by the guidelines).

1. 1Watch for the Expression of Interest on the MoFPI/PMKSY portal — windows open once or twice a year with a deadline (the 2025 EOI closed on 28 March, extended to 11 April 2025); no expenditure before the EOI date counts.
2. 2Prepare the DPR in the seven-part format the evaluators score: executive summary (promoters, experience, objectives); financial projections and feasibility (loan tenure years, DSCR, revenue model, payback, IRR); technical aspects (technology, machine list, process flow, capacity before/after); marketing and operations (target customers, distribution, raw-material sourcing from farmers/FPOs, logistics); employment (direct skilled/semi-skilled/unskilled and indirect — farmers, vendors); environment and sustainability (waste management, effluent treatment); risk management.
3. 3Funding and land: bank term-loan sanction (in-principle at application, sanction before approval) matching the DPR; promoter contribution proof; land title or a registered lease of 15+ years; building plan approval, fire NOC, pollution consent, power and water sanctions.
4. 4Machinery: quotations from reputed vendors; imported machines need justification that a domestic equivalent is unavailable; second-hand machinery is not eligible.
5. 5Online application with the non-refundable processing fee by demand draft in favour of 'Pay & Accounts Officer, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, New Delhi' (amount per the EOI — the videos cite ₹10,000–₹15,000 by category), the DPR, financials, KYC, registrations and bank documents.
6. 6Scrutiny by the technical committee and approval by the Project Approval Committee (PAC); an approval letter with terms — implementation period (typically 18–24 months from approval), employment commitment, and the bank guarantee/performance security where required.
7. 7Grant release in instalments against certified expenditure and bank disbursement — CA-certified utilisation, physical inspection, and the final instalment on commissioning; the grant is released to the bank account as per the guidelines and the unit must run for the lock-in period.

CEFPPC is a central grant on the asset; state packages add on top. In Rajasthan, a food processing unit takes RIPS 2024's agro and food processing package (75% SGST reimbursement or a 13–28% capital subsidy or a turnover incentive, plus a 5% interest subsidy for five years and mandi-fee, electricity-duty and stamp-duty exemptions) — the Jaipur Q&A video walks through a sorting-grading unit that combines both. The rule is that the same rupee of machinery is not subsidised twice as a capital grant; a state interest subsidy or SGST reimbursement stacks cleanly, and a state capital subsidy is computed on the cost net of the central grant where the state policy says so.