The Government has set a target of doubling food processing levels in the country to 20 per cent by 2019. Inaugurating the World of Food 2016 International Expo in Mumbai yesterday, Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, despite all odds, the food processing sector has been able to register a 7.6 per cent growth, much higher than the agricultural and manufacturing sector growth. <br/><br/>She said, her ministry is facilitating ease of doing business and creating investor friendly policies and schemes to give a boost to the sector. Mrs Badal said, the government's decision to permit 100 per cent FDI in trading, in respect of food products manufactured or produced in India is expected to provide a major impetus to investments and job creation in the food processing sector. <br/><br/>The Minister also informed that a 2,000 crore rupees corpus has been created to disperse cheap credit through NABARD for the food processing sector. She said, several tax and duty concessions are being extended to food processing industries in 42 Mega Food Parks planned across the country. <br/><br/>The Minister also stressed on reducing food wastage by popularizing food processing. She said farmers toil very hard to grow their produce but are often forced to resort to distress selling and settling for paltry income. Mrs Badal said, a better food processing infrastructure will address the issue of wastage and also help control inflation.