The report,‘Karnataka- An Attractive Investment Destination for the Food Processing Industry’, reveals that monthly per capita food expenditure trends follow much the same pattern as the rest of the nation.
With a strong and expanding physical infrastructure base, specific supply strengths in a variety of farm produce, opportunities arising out of gaps in upstream activities of the food value chain, coupled with demand-led growth, Karnataka is poised to become the leading food processing hub in India, according to a FICCI-YES BANK report.
The report,‘Karnataka- An Attractive Investment Destination for the Food Processing Industry’, released at the Global Investors Meet here today,reveals that monthly per capita food expenditure trends follow much the same pattern as the rest of the nation.
In urban Karnataka, while monthly per capita expenditure on low value food items like cereals and pulses increased by about 73% and 102% between 1993-94 and 2006-07, that for beverages and processed food has increased by a massive 144%.
"Clearly,the food processing industry is on the threshold of a demand led growth in the country and within the state of Karnataka", the report said.
It says Karnataka boasts of specific supply strengths,giving
the state a comparative advantage to become a leading food
processing hub of the country. With 10 agro climatic zones and
land topography highly suitable for agriculture, Karnataka is
one of the most agriculturally diverse states in India.
It is estimated that about 83% of the geographic area of the state is suitable for agriculture, of which 64.60% is under agricultural cultivation.
Consequently, Karnataka is the largest producer of ragi, sunflower, tomato, coffee and arecanut; second largest producer of maize, safflower, grapes, pomegranate and onion.
The state is also the largest producer of spices, aromatic and medicinal plants in the country. In addition,the state has a wealth of livestock population and marine resources that auger well for processing of dairy, meat, fish and shrimp.
Karnataka, the report points out, also takes pride in having a strong and expanding infrastructure base that auger well for setting up food processing facilities in the state.
Karnataka has an excellent road network of about 52000 km,
railway network of about 3180 km, two major and eight minor
ports, five domestic airports and two international airports.
The state also has a very strong agri-infrastructure including 146 main market yards, 352 sub-market yards,138 cold storages, warehousing capacity of about 1.95 million tons and cold store capacity of about 0.4 million tons, of which about 0.25 million tons cater to handling of fruits and vegetables.
These strengths are further augmented by strong focus of policy makers to promote development of supporting agri-infrastructure especially through initiatives like crop cluster development, food parks, agri-economic zones and agri-SEZs among others, it said.
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