The Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, Harsimrat Kaur Badal today laid the foundation stone of the first Mega Food Park in Telangana promoted by M/s Smart Agro Food Park Pvt. Ltd. at Village Lakkampally and Chimrajpally, Nandipet Mandal, District Nizamabad, Telangana.Speaking on the occasion, Mrs. Badal said that under the visionary guidance of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Ministry of Food Processing Industries is focusing on creation of modern infrastructure for food processing as a focus area and encouraging private investment. To achieve this objective, Ministry of Food Processing Industries has been implementing the Mega Food Park Scheme in the country to give a major boost to the Food Processing Sector as a result of which the ministry has sanctioned two more Mega Food Parks to be set up in Khammam & Mahboobnagar districts in the State of Telangana. She said that these initiatives would go a great deal in ensuring the success of “Make In India” mission of the Prime Minister.
The Union Minister also disclosed that that this is the first Mega Food Park in Telangana and will be set up with the project cost of Rs. 108.95 crore in an area of 78 acres. The Mega Food Park will have strong backward linkage and three Primary Processing Centres (PPCs) will be set up at Medchal, Medak and Nalgonda. On completion, the park will have facilities of 5000 MT Multi Commodity Cold Storage, 5000 MT Raw Material Warehouse, 5000 MT Finished Good Warehouse, 5000 MT Grain Silos, 500 MT Deep Freeze, 20 MT/day Turmeric Processing Facility and modern food testing lab. The Park is expected to provide direct and indirect employment to about 6000 people and benefit about 30,000 farmers in its catchment area.
The Union Minister thanked the State Government of Telangana for the support extended by them in setting up the Food Park and expressed confidence that the timely completion of this Mega Food Park project will not only provide a big boost in the growth of food processing infrastructure in Telangana but also help in providing better prices to farmers, reduce wastage of perishables, add value to agricultural produce and create huge opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment in the State.On the occasion Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Mrs. K. Kavitha, Member of Parliament from Nizamabad and Mr. A. Jeevan Reddy, MLA from Armur constituency of Telangana were also present.