Maha plans Rs 2,254-cr agri projects

Maharashtra, the largest producer of several crops like jowar, sugar, cotton, grapes and pomegranate, has proposed to invest over Rs 2,254.45 crore in several agricultural projects. The state will finance the projects with funds from the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The main objective of these projects is to increase the speed of reforms in agricultural marketing in order to get remunerative prices to farmers and competitive prices to consumers. The proposals include the Rs 646.36-crore Maharashtra Agricultural Competitiveness Project, to be funded by the World Bank, the ADB-backed Rs 983.09-crore Agri-business Infrastructure Development Project and the Rs 625-crore Convergence of Agricultural Interventions, funded by the IFAD.

State Principal Secretary for Marketing and Co-operation, SK Goel, said the state government planned to develop modern terminal markets in Mumbai, Nashik and Nagpur at an investment of Rs 350 crore. He was speaking at a conference on “Doing agri-business: Opportunities and challenges,” organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Goel said the government intended to involve the private sector in a big way in the upcoming modern terminal markets. These markets would provide state-of-the-art infrastructure for electronic auction, grading, washing and packing lines, and processing and export facilities. The last date for submission of Request for Qualification for the modern terminal market at Mumbai is January 15.

Goel also said the state had launched an ambitious programme for marketing and processing in Konkan and Nashik regions for Alfanso mangoes, cashew nuts, grapes and pomegranates with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore.

He observed that, despite the huge investment potential in agri-business and marketing sectors, investments by the private sector was quite low. He advised private sector players to involve farmers and producers in backward linkages and not to rely solely on traders.

Goel pointed out that contract farming in Maharashtra was slowly but steadily picking up. Some of the leading companies that have already come to Maharashtra include Frito-Le of Pepsico, Michel Bio'Rey, Arvind Mills, Jayant Oil Mills and Eco Farms.

Meanwhile, Director (Marketing) in the Union Ministry of Agriculture, P K Swain, said the Centre had formed modern terminal markets in Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Chandigarh, in addition to Maharashtra. He pointed out that these terminal markets were developed on the hub-and-spoke format, with each market linked to a number of collection centres. The government provides a subsidy and a grant to the developer.