Govt to grant Rs 1,500 cr for 30 mega food parks

MUMBAI: The Government would grant Rs 1,500 crore for setting up 30 mega food parks across the country by the end of 2008.

"We are planning to come up with 30 mega food-parks, one in each state. The investment in each park is pegged at around Rs 50 crore," Minister of State for Food Processing Industries (Independent Charge) Subodh Kant Sahai told here.

The food parks will be built on a minimum area of 100 acres to a maximum of 100 hectares, Sahai said.

"Both forward and backward integration activities will be undertaken in these parks," Sahai said, adding that "the supply chain would be linked in such a way that the parks will get the food products directly from the farmers gate".

The farmers don't have to come all the way to the parks. They will be linked well with the existing supply chain of the mega food parks and the products will be collected from their farms itself, Sahai said.

The food-parks would include all the agriculture products.

"It would include products such as food grains, fisheries, horticulture, fresh fruits, vegetables and other items," he added.

The grant will be sanctioned in two instalments, he said, adding that construction work on the parks would commence from early 2008.

"Construction work is slated to begin from March 2008," he said.

"The mega food parks are likely to get functional by December 2008 or early 2009," Sahai added.

"Presently, the food processing industry is witnessing a 13 per cent growth. We estimate a 20 per cent growth by 2015," he said.

However, the growth could be much higher given the booming economy of the country. "We are confident of achieving around 23-25 per cent growth by 2015," he added.