Rs 350 cr vegetable processing facility to come up at Mohali

Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday said a Spanish company will set up a Rs 350 crore vegetable processing facility at Mohali in Punjab, which will benefit vegetable growers of the state.

The minister, in a statement here, said she visited the factory premises of food processing company Conelodos de Navarra in Spain and assured the promoters that her ministry will extend all possible support to it.

Company President and CEO Benito Jimenez told the minister that the new plant would create around 500 jobs, besides benefitting 5,000 farmers directly, said the release.

He said the company would also focus on potato processing which will open up a new market for farmers of Doaba region.

Badal, who was on a visit to Spain and Netherlands, also held a meeting with Carola Schouten, Minister for Agriculture in Amsterdam and discussed ways and means as to how Indian and Netherlands can cooperate in food processing, said the release.

The minister said two Dutch investors were also set to invest in Punjab.

She said Punjab would benefit immensely from Dutch investment and collaborations as they were the leaders in agriculture and food processing.

The minister said with the efforts of her ministry, value was being added to farm produce, be it traditional crops like wheat and rice, milk products, honey, vegetables, fruits or agri produce like 'haldi'.

"We have created the necessary awareness about the need to add value to agri produce and even hand held farmers by hiring consultants to enable them to form their own self help groups, clusters or join mega food parks," the minister said.

She said besides establishing three mega food parks in Punjab, the Food Processing Ministry had established 20 cold chains and four backward-forward linkages.