Govt to hold discussions with transport unions on raw material supply to food processing cos: Badal

Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Monday assured the industry that the government will hold discussions with transport unions regarding smooth supply of raw materials required by food manufacturing companies.

The minister spoke with industry associations CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, PHDCCI, AIFPA, ICC, FINER and DICCI through video conference.

Badal said that the grievances aired by the industry will be discussed with a dedicated task force set up to resolve sector specific issues during the period of lockdown till April 14 to combat COVID-19, according to an official statement.

"The Food Processing Industries Minister said talks would be initiated with the transport unions to ensure smooth supply of food material and access to raw materials by the food processing industry," the statement said.

She assured industry representatives that she would review all suggestions and grievances submitted by them to the task force.

Listing out the problems, industry associations said though directions had been sent to all state governments about the need for allowing manufacturing and movement of essential items, they were being interpreted in different ways by the state governments.

They stressed the need for uniform format for all states regarding manufacturing and movement of food products.

The industry bodies also shared the problems related to factory shutdown, permission to operate warehouses, personnel movement and logistic disruption.

"The industry representatives said that required labour was not available for smooth manufacturing and that there was a shortage of transport also," the statement added.

They further urged that 'kirana stores' should be allowed to be open across the country to ensure forward linkage was established.

The minister informed that the task force, which includes food processing ministry officials and members of Invest India, has received complaints about 222 issues, out of which 98 have been resolved and the rest are under process of resolution.