The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) is a ministry of the Government of India responsible for formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to food processing in India. The ministry was set up in the year 1988, with a view to develop a strong and vibrant food processing industry, to create increased employment in rural sector and enable farmers to reap the benefits of modern technology and to create a surplus for exports and stimulating demand for processed food.

• Note: MoS, I/C – Minister of State (Independent Charge)

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No.	Portrait		Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
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	V. P. 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
6			Brigadier Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo AVSM (born 1941) MP for Dhenkanal (MoS, I/C)	15 September 1995	16 May 1996	244 days
–			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
				21 April 1997	25 December 1997			Gujral	I. K. Gujral
8			S. Jaipal Reddy (1942–2019) Rajya Sabha MP for Andhra Pradesh	25 December 1997	19 March 1998	84 days
–			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
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
–			Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018) MP for Lucknow (Prime Minister)	15 January 2004	17 January 2004	2 days	Bharatiya Janata Party
12			Rajnath Singh (born 1951) Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh	17 January 2004	22 May 2004	126 days
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
				28 May 2009	19 January 2011			Manmohan II
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
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
				31 May 2019	17 September 2020			Modi II
16			Narendra Singh Tomar (born 1957) MP for Morena	17 September 2020	7 July 2021	293 days	Bharatiya Janata Party
17			Pashupati Kumar Paras (born 1952) MP for Hajipur	7 July 2021	19 March 2024	2 years, 256 days	Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party
18			Kiren Rijiju (born 1971) MP for Arunachal West	20 March 2024	Incumbent	40 days	Bharatiya Janata Party

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

• 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

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:

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.^[2]