No application TN for Mega Food Parks: Minister

The Union Food Processing Ministry today expressed its "disappointment" as there is no application from Tamil Nadu for setting up the Centre's ambitious Mega Food Parks.
"I think, probably Tamil Nadu is the second largest state which does maximum of processing the food (after Andhra Pradesh). But I am also little saddened to say that out of many schemes, your state has taken the least amount of initiative to pick up government schemes," Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said here.
"As you know we have put up the scheme of Mega Food Parks and out of the 22 parks that are coming up, there are none coming up in Tamil Nadu. I am little surprised because we give a grant of Rs 50 crore as subsidy to put up these mega food parks," she said at conference on food processing.

"As far as the Mega Food Parks are concerned which are sanctioned by my Ministry, so far in the last few years, since the scheme came up, no body from Tamil Nadu seems to have applied.
"I do not know why. It is a very popular scheme. After I took over this Ministry, I invited applications for Mega Food Park. I received 84 applications. But I do not know how we missed away none from Tamil Nadu. I am little disappointed in that.", she said.
While welcoming the State government to look up the Ministry's portal to check for new schemes, she said, "I hope your great State will take advantage of all the Central schemes and together we hope to save the food getting wasted, so that we can feed our people, look at exporting, bringing down the inflation and I hope to have your help".

Expressing her desire to discuss the matter with the State government, Badal said: "I don't mind even having a dialogue with the State government to see what could help you to save that, because the focus of the Central Government is clear. We have to stop food wastage".

"In the next five years, I would love to increase the current 2 per cent of fruits and vegetables which was getting processed was increased to six per cent", she said.
While two per cent of fruits and vegetables was getting processed it was 35 per cent in the case of dairy, 25 per cent of marine and meat products. So huge potential was still available, she said.

She said her Ministry was also working on putting up a Food Map just to indicate which crop grows in which part of the country.