Asandas and Sons take Central Government to Delhi HC over Food PLI dispute
Asandas and Sons has moved the Delhi High Court against the government in a dispute pertaining to the Rs 10,900-crore production-linked incentives (PLI) scheme for food processing industries, people in the know said.
Asandas and Sons, which manufactures and exports products like French fries and potato wedges under HyFun brand, has alleged that the government arbitrarily amended the terms of the scheme without prior consultation. This, after companies had already submitted their applications.
Further, the company said the government has not allowed it to change the terms of its own application despite a change in the nature of the scheme.
This, it argued, is in violation of principles of natural justice, people cited above said.
The company alleged that the government made changes to the scheme without any formal amendment to the scheme notice issued in April 2021, they said.
Emails sent to the Ministry of Food Processing Industries and Asandas and Sons remained unanswered as of press time Wednesday.
The PLI scheme for food processing industry, which is effective for a period of six years from FY22 to FY27, was introduced by the government to support the creation of global food manufacturing champions in the country. As many as 33 companies have been admitted to the scheme.
In the guidelines for the scheme issued in May 2021, the government listed growth in total sales and exports during the period of the scheme and fresh investments made as part of the scheme as the criteria to calculate incentives due to participant companies.
According to sources, Asandas and Sons has said in its writ petition that the government retrospectively introduced a much lower cap on the maximum benefits that one company can receive as
