India to set up 15 mega food parks
March 28th, 2011 - 10:49 pm ICT by IANSMumbai, March 28 (IANS) The Indian government has approved funds for establishing 15 mega food parks across the country, an official said Monday.
Speaking at the two-day Food Forum 2011, Food Processing Secretary Ashok Sinha said: “We are setting up 15 mega food parks initially out of the 30 planned during the 11th Plan. These parks will provide state of art infrastructure for food processing sector.”
“The central government has already approved Rs 50 crore worth grant for each park,” he added.
Sinha also expressed his concern over the severe food crisis the whole world is reeling under and the loss of produce due to lack of storage.
“India loses a significant quantity of her harvested produce worth approximately Rs.30,000 crore annually. This staggering loss is severely affecting India’s agri-business as well as agro-economy,” he said.
“It is essential, therefore, to build sustainable supply chains, which will link the farmer to the processing and marketing centers. The development of an integrated system of post harvest technology and cold chain management is inevitable,” he added.
Atul Singh, chairman Food Forum India, in his welcome address, highlighted the tremendous growth opportunities in the food industry because of expansion of the middle class and the youth population.
“India is a large economy and with the change in consumer preferences, there will be a huge demand for packaged food and beverages. Thus, innovation in the food sector needs to continue,” he said.
- Karnataka to use farm lands as equity in agri ventures (Lead) - Dec 01, 2011
- Karnataka agri-business summit attracts Rs.78,000-crore investments - Dec 01, 2011
- Karnataka gets Rs.1.10-lakh crore investments in agri-business - Dec 02, 2011
- 'Food processing industry needs to form consortium for R&D;' - Jun 30, 2011
- Government to treble food processing sector to reduce wastage - Sep 22, 2010
- Karnataka farmers to protest against agri-summit - Dec 01, 2011
- Karnataka holding agri-biz summit to woo investments - Nov 25, 2011
- Andhra plans three agri business investment regions (Lead) - Mar 08, 2012
- 16 FDI proposals worth over $20 million accepted - Jun 07, 2011
- Himachal seeks funds for apple post-harvesting facilities - May 08, 2012
- Parle to buy apple concentrate from Himachal - Dec 17, 2010
- Wal-Mart to target 35,000 Indian farmers for agri-business supply chain by 2015 - Oct 26, 2010
- Supply constraints pushing up food inflation: KPMG - Nov 08, 2011
- SFAC to provide capital for agri-business ventures in Kerala - Jan 27, 2012
- Investment in food processing can create most jobs: Sahai - Jul 02, 2010
Tags: agri business, art infrastructure, atul singh, cold chain management, consumer preferences, food and beverages, food crisis, food forum, food sector, forum india, growth opportunities, harvest technology, indian government, sinha, staggering loss, state of art, supply chains, sustainable supply, welcome address, youth population