Patanjali Ayurved has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Telangana government for setting up a large food park in the state. The food park, which is likely to come up in the Nizamabad district, will house edible oil, fruit pulp and spices processing units. The Patanjali group has also expressed interest in developing indigenous seed varieties and animal feed value chain in the state. The MoU is a follow-up of the visit of MD Acharya Balakrishna to the Nizamabad district in November last year. Nizamabad MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha had presented the food processing policy and various schemes of the state government to the Patanjali top management. The new food processing policy has generated a lot of interest from various business groups.
Patanjali was also informed about the availability of raw materials such as turmeric, chillies, maize and soybean. Further, procurement opportunities for citrus fruits and other commodities were also discussed for various Patanjali products. While the company did not reveal investment details, sources in the know said that the phased investment could be in the range of `500 crore to `1,000 crore. Incidentally, Patanjali group had committed an overall investment of around `10,000 crore across the country during World Food India, organised by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries in New Delhi.