New Delhi Aug 11 (IANS/IndiaSpend) A look at the performance report of the ministry of food processing industries, one year after Narendra Modi took charge as prime minister, reveals a string of misleading or incorrect claims.
We emailed our findings to the ministry last week, requesting comment. There was no response.
1. Cold storage facilities: 138 sanctioned, but that's lowest in four years.
More From This Section
Claim: 138 projects sanctioned under cold chain scheme.
Check revealed: True, a total of 138 investment proposals were received and approved by the government regarding setting up of cold storage facilities during 2014-15. However, government data since 2011-12 reveal that proposals approved during 2014-15 are the lowest in four years.
2. Projects sanctioned under National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP): 1,078 fewer than claimed
Claim: 1,286 projects sanctioned by state governments and union territories under NMFP during 2014-15.
Check Revealed: The number of projects sanctioned during 2014-15 under NMFP, according to official data, is 208, not 1,286.
The data says 1,428 projects have been sanctioned since the inception of NMFP in 2012-13.
3. Mega Food Parks: 17 approved, yes, but 40 were approved by the previous government
Claim: 17 mega food parks sanctioned during 2014-15.
Check Revealed: True, 17 projects have been given "in-principle" approval during 2014-15 but 40 mega food park projects were given "in-principle" approval by the ministry during the 11th Plan (2007-12) and the first two years of the 12th Plan (till February 2014).
Out of these 40 MFPs, five projects were cancelled till March 2014 due "to their failure to meet conditions of final approval or unsatisfactory implementation of the project". Nine more projects were cancelled during 2014-15.
As of now, only 21 projects (out of 40) have been accorded final approval for implementation.
Only four of these 21 projects that have final approval are operational.
Therefore, the ratio of projects that are approved and the number that have finally started operations is very small.
(In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. Fact Checker is a part of IndiaSpend. Manoj K can be contacted at manoj@cgdindia.org)