Centre sanctioned 14 food processing projects to Telangana

The Centre has so far sanctioned 14 food processing projects with a central aid of Rs 187.4 crore to Telangana including two mega food parks, Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal informed Rajya Sabha on Friday.

Asserting that no proposals from the state are pending, Badal said a robust and transparent system is in place to assess the projects. The proposals get rejected if they fail to comply with the guidelines.

The Minister asked Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader K Keshava Rao to re-send his proposals to set up three megal food parks in Telangana as per the guidelines.

"In Telangana, we have sanctioned 14 projects. The grant in aid approved for this is Rs 187.4 crore. Out of which, Rs 93.28 crore has been sanctioned.

"It is done in an installment wise. As the infrastructure gets completed, the grants are released. These are the ongoing projects," Badal said during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.

Out of 14 projects, there are two mega food parks, nine cold chains, one agro processing cluster backward and forward linkages, she said.

The grant-in-aid to these projects are given under the Pradhan Mantri Sampada Yojana, she added.

To a query on pending projects asked by the TRS leader Rao, the Minister said, "There are no pending projects and anybody can apply as per the guidelines."
Rao said, "I asked for three (food) parks, I did not get."
The Minister replied, "It is incorrect to say. The parks get rejected if the proposals have not met guidelines. You have to meet the guidelines. Everything is transparent."