New Delhi, Mar 31, 2015
The Central government’s ambitious plan to have mega food parks across the country took a big stride forward with 17 such parks awarded to State government bodies as well as private sector units.
These parks are expected to draw investments of Rs.6,000 crore, including Rs.850 crore grants from the Centre. Expected to generate a turnover of Rs.8,000 crore annually, they could provide jobs to 80,000 people and benefit 5 lakh farmers.
Out of these 17, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Punjab, Maharashtra and Haryana will have two parks each, while Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh have got one each.
Seven have gone to State Government entities, and the rest to private players, including Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone, Jain Agro, Continental Warehousing, among others.
“Almost all of them have land and most of them have CLU (change of land use) permission,” Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal told reporters here on Tuesday. This means availability of land will not be a problem. Projects have to be completed within 30 months. With the latest award, total number of projects approved has gone up to 42.
Link to market
The mega parks are meant to link agricultural production to the market by bringing together farmers, processors and retailers to ensure maximising value addition, minimising wastages, increasing farmers’ income and creating employment opportunities, particularly in the rural sector.
Currently, projects in Haridwar (Uttarakhand), Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh), Tumkur (Karnataka) and Fazilka (Punjab) have already became operational, while projects one each in Jangipur (West Bengal) and Khargone (Madhya Pradesh), are expected to start soon.
The scheme aims to facilitate the establishment of a strong food processing industry backed by an efficient supply chain, which includes collection centres, primary processing centres, central processing centre and cold chain Infrastructure.
The Ministry believes that such mega food park will help curb wastage of perishable items such as fruits and vegetables. Citing a study, Badal said that the wastage was between 6 per cent and 18 per cent in cereals, perishables etc. which meant a loss of Rs.44,000 crore (based on 2009 wholesale prices) annually. Now 22 States have got Mega Food Parks. Badal said that her ultimate aim is to ensure that each of the States should have at least 2-3 parks in future. “This will play catalyst role in bringing down inflation and providing nutritious food to common man,” she assured. Business Line
