The Ministry of Food Processing Industries on Tuesday announced the sanctioning of 17 Mega Food Parks across the country.
Food Processing Industries minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, “When the process of allocating these Mega Food Parks was going on, I allowed the state governments to apply. Of the 42 parks sanctioned earlier, some of them had to be cancelled. Getting clearance from the state governments was a major issue for these cancellations. Our aim is to create an infrastructure to boost the food processing sector in the country, so we decided if the state governments were encouraged, the issue of clearances would become hassle-free.”
Seven of the 17 Mega Food Parks have been sanctioned to six states -- two in Kerala, one each for Telangana, Haryana, Odisha, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. The rest have been allocated to private sector agencies.
“The allocations have been carried out in a transparent manner. We had received 72 proposals, of which 17 from 11 states were selected after a stringent process and approved for implementation,” she said.
The ministry aims to adding value, reducing food wastage and loss at each stage of the supply chain with focus on perishables. The Mega Food Parks Scheme was implemented in 2008.
The 17 Mega Food Parks shall entail investment of Rs 2330 crore, including grant-in-aid for Rs 850 crore.
Badal said the new Mega Food Parks (MFPs) spread across 11 states would attract a total investment of Rs 4,000 crore, while the annual turnover of the food processing units in these MFPs would be over Rs 8,000 crore. She said the MFPs would generate employment to around 2.5 lakh people, adding that the scheme is likely to benefit over 12 lakh farmers.
Food Processing Industries minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, “When the process of allocating these Mega Food Parks was going on, I allowed the state governments to apply. Of the 42 parks sanctioned earlier, some of them had to be cancelled. Getting clearance from the state governments was a major issue for these cancellations. Our aim is to create an infrastructure to boost the food processing sector in the country, so we decided if the state governments were encouraged, the issue of clearances would become hassle-free.”
Seven of the 17 Mega Food Parks have been sanctioned to six states -- two in Kerala, one each for Telangana, Haryana, Odisha, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. The rest have been allocated to private sector agencies.
“The allocations have been carried out in a transparent manner. We had received 72 proposals, of which 17 from 11 states were selected after a stringent process and approved for implementation,” she said.
The ministry aims to adding value, reducing food wastage and loss at each stage of the supply chain with focus on perishables. The Mega Food Parks Scheme was implemented in 2008.
The 17 Mega Food Parks shall entail investment of Rs 2330 crore, including grant-in-aid for Rs 850 crore.
Badal said the new Mega Food Parks (MFPs) spread across 11 states would attract a total investment of Rs 4,000 crore, while the annual turnover of the food processing units in these MFPs would be over Rs 8,000 crore. She said the MFPs would generate employment to around 2.5 lakh people, adding that the scheme is likely to benefit over 12 lakh farmers.