The government has identified 12 locations for setting up of centres for handling agri-perishables for exports at an estimated cost of Rs 2,500 crore.
?The centres would come up at Chandigarh, Rai, Muzaffarpur, Agra, Kolkata, Guwahati, Mumbai, Nasik, Pune, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Dharmapuri,? said K S Money, chairman, agricultural and processed food export development authority (APEDA), during a parliamentary consultative committee meeting of the commerce ministry on ?infrastructure for agro-exports?, chaired by commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath on Monday evening.
The centres have been chosen based upon a study by Indian Credit Rating Agency. The deadline for putting up these handling centres has not been decided as yet and the government is still finalising on the mode of financing the venture.
?India has a huge potential for organic farming and exports of organic agro-products will be promoted in a big way by the government,? said Nath. The minister, however, added that lack of proper infrastructure was a major problem confronting Indian agro-exports.
Besides setting up 12 centres to handle agri-perishables, the commerce ministry has already announced the development of six spice parks across the country for various spices.
They would come up at Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh) for garlic, chilli and coriander; Idukki (Kerala) for pepper and cardamom; Erode (Tamil Nadu) for turmeric and chilli; Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) for chilli and turmeric; Barabanki (Uttar Pradesh) for mint; and either Kota or Jalore (Rajasthan) for coriander, cumin and fennel.