Food processing sector could grow faster, say top officials

The food processing sector could grow even faster if the government and the private sector work together, Secretary of the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries Siraj Hussain said here today.
Speaking after inaugurating a national conference on 'Attracting Investment in Food Processing Sector, Hussain said that there is a lot which could be achieved if the government and the private sector worked together.
"On our part, we have to create a single clearance window to obtain clearances effective and our system of governance faster. Businessmen have to ensure that they make investments on time," he said.
Andhra Pradesh attracts a large amount of private investments in the food processing sector and more cold chain projects seem to go to Andhra area.

"I was going through the list of projects which came to Andhra Pradesh. Very few have gone to Telangana. There is a lot of effort required by Telangana to attract investments," he said.
Speaking to reporters later, he said 37 cold chain projects are already operational and over 150 applications were received for another 15 cold chain projects which would be sanctioned in two months.

Reacting to another query, he said two mega foodparks are operational in Uttarakhand and in Andhra Pradesh.
"One in Punjab is likely to be operational in two months. Similarly another one in West Bengal and about six more parks will be operational in 2014-15," he said.

Additional Secretary (Food Processing) Jagdish Prasad Meena said that during the 11th Plan, the sector grew by 8.6 per cent as against 7.7 per cent of the manufacturing sector.
Last year, the growth rate was more than 11 per cent and it is expected to do grow much faster in the coming years, he said.
"Our food processing capacity today is at a very nascent stage and therefore huge quantity food produced by farmers is wasted at various levels. A large quantity of agricultural produce is wasted due to lack of infrastructure, storage and processing facilities," Meena said.