Mega food parks will add value to agricultural produce-Harsimrat Kaur Badal

Agri sector to become engine of growth to drive “Make in India” initiative ,Inaugurates first mega food park at Panwa in MP

5 Dariya News

Panwa 14-Feb-2016

With a view to give an impetus to the growth of food processing sector, the 'mega food park' projects being setup in the states are providing better prices to the farmers besides adding value to agricultural produce and creating huge opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment for the youth of the country.This was stated by Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal at Village Panwa, (Khargone) in Madhya Pradesh after inaugurating first mega food park in the state which was promoted by Indus Mega Food Park Pvt. Ltd. She added that second mega food park in Dewas (MP) had also been sanctioned by her ministry, which would be ready in the next two years.

Speaking on the occasion, Mrs Badal informed that this food park has been set up at a cost of Rs. 127.70 crore in an area of 53.78 acres having facilities of 3000 MT cold storage, 9000 MT dry warehouse and other processing facilities for fruits and vegetables. The minister expressed that this food park project would create a modern infrastructure for arresting post-harvest losses of horticultural and non-horticultural produce and provide an impetus to the growth of food processing sector in Madhya Pradesh. Besides this, it would also provide direct and indirect employment to about 6000 people and benefit about 25,000-30,000 farmers in its catchment area.

Mrs Badal said that her ministry was focusing on boosting the food processing industry in the nation so that agriculture sector grows exponentially and becomes the engine of growth to drive the “Make in India” initiative of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. ”We have identified creation of modern infrastructure for food processing as a focus area and encouraging private investment by implementing the mega food park scheme in the country to give a major boost to the sector along the value chain from the farm to the market with strong forward and backward linkages through a cluster based approach", she added.On the occasion Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mr Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister of Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Ms Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Parliament Member Mr Subhash Pate were also present.