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MNCs eye food processing sector

Kashmir Times. Dated: 9/24/2014 4:17:00 PM

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries is upbeat with MNCs eyeing India's big market and growing economy. With the likes of Cadbury announcing its plans to invest Rs 1000 crore in Sri City, in Andhra Pradesh and Pepsico contemplating investment to the tune of $5.5 billion in the years ahead, the ministry is gearing up to ensure "one-stop clearances" are well in place.
In this regard, not only has the Ministry set up a help desk "Investor's Portal" to aid prospective investors but has initiated a system of developing "Food Maps" to identify areas of surplus raw material for processing and identifying clusters for setting up of food processing units. District-wise information would facilitate investors to get information on their finger tips and help them decide where to go, stated Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
Spelling out the initiatives undertaken by her Ministry in the past 100 days, Harsimrat noted that food processing is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy-8.4 per cent compared to around 4 per cent in agriculture. With more and more agriculture produces getting processed, exports on an average are increasing annually at 20.5 per cent. According to her, a well-developed food processing industry will reduce wastage which sadly is 6-8 per cent amounting to a whopping loss of Rs 44,000 crore annually, ensure value addition, generate employment opportunities and act as a catalyst to uplift the farmers.
Therefore, a special fund of Rs 2000 crores has been set up in the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to provide affordable credit to agro-processing units setup in designated Food Parks. In addition, excise duty on food processing and packaging machinery has been reduced from 10 per cent to 8 per cent. In fact, Harsimrat stated that the Ministry has achieved more than 50 percent expenditure of its annual Plan allocation of Rs 770 crores in 2014-2015.
Apparently, the scheme for infrastructure development was first introduced in 2008, and comprises mega Food Parks, 42 of which 25 are under implementation. Of these two are already operational (Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh and Haridwar in Uttarakhand), and four more-Tumkur in Karnataka (to be inaugurated on 24th), Fazilka in Punjab, Jangipur in Murshidabad and Khargone in Madhya Pradesh will be rolled out by year-end.
Given that an integrated cold chain infrastructure from farm to retail outlets is critical to reduce wastage of agricultural produce and control seasonal price fluctuations, the Ministry has sanctioned 120 integrated cold chain projects with a grant of Rs 935.16 crore and private investment of Rs 1826.11 crore. Likewise, setting up and modernisation of abattoirs in various States is underway. At the same time, the Ministry will facilitate solutions to industries for issues related to Food Safety and Standards.
Skill development in the food processing sector is one other area that the Ministry has set its eyes on as shortage of trained manpower is a stumbling block. The National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management proposes to develop course content and within the next 12 months about 10,000 persons would be trained.
—INFA