Centre modifies infra development guidelines for food parks

The cabinet committee on economic affairs on Wednesday approved the modifications in the Mega Food Park Scheme guidelines for infrastructure development for food processing to streamline the implementation of the scheme.

"These modifications are expected to trigger further investment in the food processing sector and ensure smooth implementation of the Mega Food Parks scheme, particularly projects at initial phases of the scheme's implementation," the union government said in a statement.

As per the statement, the scheme will be implemented in a market driven manner commensurate with both global and national demands. Innovative supply chain management will be the key to implementation of this scheme. The project proposals for focusing on the processing and preservation of perishable food products will be given weightage in selection.

Each of the Mega Food Parks, with an estimated direct investment of nearly Rs.100 crore and an additional investment of about Rs.250 crore is expected to benefit around 6,000 farmers directly and another 25,000 farmers indirectly.

It further said each of these projects will have about 30 food processing units and an annual turnover of Rs.500 crore is expected from each of these parks.

"The modification will also bring central government agencies on par with the state government agencies by removing the restriction of a maximum 26 percent on their equity holding in the Special Purpose Vehicle and allowing all government agencies to become shareholders in the SPV without any restriction on their shareholding," the statement said.

The scheme of infrastructure development for Mega Food Parks aims at providing modern infrastructure facilities for food processing industries along the value chain from farm to market.