Smt Badal appointed Minister for Food Processing

Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal has been appointed as the Honourable Union Minister for Food Processing Industries for the second time under the Narendra Modi government. She made her debut in electoral politics with the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and was elected from the Bathinda constituency for the second time in a row in 2019.

Some of the major initiatives that she has taken in her first term included implementation of 100% FDI in marketing food products, setting up a NABARD fund and getting INR 2,000 crores sanctioned for NABARD. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Kisan Sampada Yojana and Operation Greens were also initiated under her leadership. ‘World Food India’ was first organised by MoFPI in 2017 to attract investment proposals from across the globe. Her work also revolves around cold storage chains and food preservation. Furthermore, she is also credited with getting food processing units classified as agricultural lending under priority sector.