Govt allows 10 more AEZs, expects Rs 1,700 crore turnover in 5 years

Our Economic Bureau

New Delhi, Jan 7: The Centre has so far sanctioned 10 agro export zones (AEZs) which are being set up in various states with an estimated investment of more than Rs 200 crore to generate a total export turnover of Rs 1,700 crore in the next five years.

Of the total investment, around Rs 80 crore will flow from various Central agencies like the Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority, National Horticulture Board, ministries of agriculture, and food processing industries.

While introducing the AEZ concept in the Exim policy on March 31 last, commerce and industry minister Murasoli Maran had said these zones would be part of the effort to provide improved access for the country’s farm and allied products in the global market with a view to providing remunerative returns to the farmers in a sustained manner.

In view of the popularity of the scheme, proposals for setting up of similar zones are being considered by a large number of states and it is expected that 10 more zones will be set up during the current fiscal.

The 10 AEZs already sanctioned include those for pineapple in West Bengal, lichi in Uttaranchal, gherkins in Karnataka, vegetables in Punjab, mangoes and potatoes in UP, grapes and wines in Maharashtra, flowers in Tamil Nadu and potatoes in Punjab. The emphasis on all the AEZs is on convergence. Thus the objective is to utilise the ongoing schemes of Central and state agencies in a coordinated manner to recover the entire value chain from farm to the consumer. In all the projects, necessary commitments have been given by the Central and state agencies, have also agreed to the projects in principle. Detailed scheduling of each action point has also been worked out.

The concept of AEZ attempts to take a comprehensive look at a particular produce located in a contiguous area for the purpose of developing and sourcing the raw materials, their processing/packaging, leading to final exports. Thus, the entire effort is centred around a cluster approach of identifying the potential products, the geographical region in which they are grown and adopting an end-to-end approach of integrating the entire process, right from the stage of production till it reaches the market.

The benefits that will accrue from these zones are strengthening of backward linkages with a market-oriented approach, product acceptability and its competitiveness both at home and abroad, value addition to basic farm produce, bring down cost through economy of scale, better prices, improvement in product quality and packaging etc.