Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated one of India?s largest facilities for processing agricultural produce, the India Food Park, with the announcement that the government was planning to open four more such facilities across the country.
Built under the public private partnership (PPP) model, the India Food Park located 80 kilometres from Bangalore is promoted by the Future Group and spread across 110 acres. It is expected to be a plug and play unit using the latest technology for food processing, cold storage and ready to eat foods. The facility is expected to directly benefit over 6,000 farmers and is projected to provide indirect employment to over 25,000 people.
Modi said that reducing wastage of agricultural produce can result in savings of R30,000-40,000 crore for the country. Food processing is just 7% of India?s agricultural sector in value as against 48% in US and 36% in China.
The Kishore Biyani led Future Group has invested R250 crore into India Food Park and this will have facilities such as incubation centre, R&D laboratory and alliance with international testing laboratories. Modi said such initiatives will increase the purchasing power of the rural areas and lead to the overall growth of the economy.
The mega food park infrastructure project is a flagship programme of the ministry of food processing industries. The objective of the programme is to provide state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities for food processing along the value chain from the farmer to the market. The government plans to have four more food parks and 17 mega parks that would come under the ambit of the food processing ministry.
?Can soft drinks have 5% juice??
Bangalore: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday put up a suggestion for the aerated beverage industry to explore the possibility of adding 5% natural fruit juice in their soft drinks which in turn could provide lucrative returns for the farming community. ?We drink Pepsi, Coca Cola… can they mix just 5% of natural fruit juice into the soft drinks. If this happens, Indian farmers selling their fruits will not have to search for any market,? he said. The prime minister said that he has also asked the research institutes to explore this possibility. This could also lead to reduction in wastage of fruits produced in the country, he added.
