Affordable European food processing tech coming to UP

Industry chamber would organise about 50 entrepreneurship development programmes in UP to unveil these technologies before budding entrepreneurs

Industry body Assocham today announced to introduce European food processing technology in Uttar Pradesh, one of India’s largest farm producers.

This affordable technology will be from Belgium, France and Germany, farm tested in the Northeast by Assocham (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India).

The industry chamber would organise 50 entrepreneurship development programmes (EDPs) to unveil these technologies to budding entrepreneurs.

This is part of a greater blueprint by Assocham to groom 1,000 fresh entrepreneurs in food processing industry in UP over the next three-four years.

According to a study by Assocham, UP farmers incur losses of almost Rs 10,000 crore annually due to the lack of proper post-harvest farm technologies.

“Besides, most of profit margins are squared away by middlemen operating in the farming sector,” Assocham Secretary-General D S Rawat said here releasing the study.

He informed there was already a central subsidy scheme in food processing, while some of these technologies could be adopted for as cheap as Rs one lakh.

Meanwhile, UP is fast emerging as a hub for fruit and vegetables by registering a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 15 per cent. The fresh arrival of vegetables to the wholesale markets rose from about 2.8 million tonnes (MT) in 2008-09 to over 4.3 MT in 2011-12; and expected to be 4.6 MT by the end of current fiscal.

Investors wary
The industry body raised concerns about the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, which it said had shaken the confidence of investors.

Assocham said ever since the Akhilesh Yadav government came to power last year, the perception about the law and order situation in UP had been negative.

Earlier, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) had last month flagged law and order issue saying the state should take urgent corrective measures. CII Northern Region Chairman Jayant Davar had said UP needed to strengthen its law and order machinery and deploy additional force to maintain vigil, if required.

“For attracting investment in any state, the law and order consideration is most vital. Unfortunately, there have been incidents taking place in UP, which have shaken the confidence of investors,” Assocham secretary general D S Rawat replied to a Business Standard query here.

He claimed UP had been able to attract fresh investment, primarily in the real estate sector, but other states have also achieved the same due to high demand for realty.