Eighteen states ripe for investments in food processing sector: Centre

Ashok B Sharma

New Delhi, May 22: THE Union agriculture ministry, in a recent study, has identified 18 states as capable of attracting investments in the food processing sector.

The study expects a total investment of Rs 1,40,000 crore within a span of 10 years. Maharashtra can attract an investment of Rs 22,786.40 crore, followed by Rs 17,645.60 crore investment in Tamil Nadu and Rs 15,451.80 crore in West Bengal.

The ‘green revolution’ states of Punjab and Haryana can attract an investment of Rs 6,529.60 crore and Rs 2,153.20 crore respectively.

On basis of this study, the ministry has advised the state governments to support the Centre’s decision to grant 10-year tax holiday to the industry by giving similar matching relief by withdrawing sales tax and other local taxes on processed foods.
This would help the processed food to be cheaper by at least 40 per cent for catering to the needs of the common man. This will eventually enlarge the market size of processed foods in the country.

The study stated that with the expected sizable investment of Rs 1,40,000 crore, value addition in food will increase from the existing 7 per cent to 35 per cent and processing level will increase from 2 per cent to 10 per cent within 10 years.

The states have been advised to take advantage of the various promotional schemes launched by the Centre for creation of infrastructure for food processing, setting up of new units, modernisation and expansion of existing units, upgradation of quality control and norms, research and development and induction of newer technologies for achieving better value addition.