To give a major boost to the food processing sector by adding value and reducing food wastage at each stage of the supply chain with particular focus on perishables, Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing Mega Food Park Scheme in the country. Mega Food Parks create modern infrastructure facilities for food processing along the value chain from farm to market with strong forward and backward linkages through a cluster based approach. Common facilities and enabling infrastructure is created at Central Processing Centre and facilities for primary processing and storage is created near the farm in the form of Primary Processing Centers (PPCs) and Collection Centers (CCs). Under the Scheme, Government of India provides financial assistance upto Rs. 50.00 Crore per Mega Food Park project.
Under the visionary guidance of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Ministry of Food Processing Industries is focusing on boosting the food processing industry so that agriculture sector grows exponentially and becomes a major contributor to doubling the farmer’s income and ‘Make In India’ initiative of the government.
Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated Cremica Mega Food Park Pvt Ltd via video conference. The Park is located at Village Singhain Una District of Himachal Pradesh. This is the first Mega Food Park operationalised in the State of Himachal Pradesh. The inauguration took place in presence of Shri Jai Ram Thakur, Hon'ble Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Hamirpur.
The Park will give an impetus to the growth of the Food Processing Sector in Himachal Pradesh. Cremica Mega Food Park will benefit the people of Una District and the people of nearby districts of Kangra, Hamirpur & Bilaspur. This Mega Food Park has been set up in 52.40 acre of land at a cost of Rs. 107.34 crore. The facilities being created by the developer at Central Processing Centre (CPC) of this Mega Food Park include Multi-crop pulping line with bulk aseptic packaging (24 MT/ hour), Frozen storage (1000 MT), Deep Freeze, Dry Warehouse, QC Laboratory and other food processing facilities. The Park also has a common administrative building for office and other uses by the entrepreneurs and 3 PPCs at Solan, Mandi, and Kangra having facilities for primary processing and storage near the farms.
Speaking on the occasion, Smt. Badal said that the Mega Food Park will leverage an additional investment of about Rs. 250 crores in 25-30 food processing units in the park and generate a turnover of about Rs. 450-500 crore annually. The Park will also provide direct and indirect employment to 5,000 persons and benefit about 25,000 farmers in the CPC and PPC catchment areas.
The Minister said that the modern infrastructure for food processing created at the Park will benefit the farmers, growers, processors and consumers of Himachal Pradesh and adjoining areas immensely and prove to be a big boost to the growth of the food processing sector in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
Badal also said that the present government is fully committed to providing an environment that is smooth, transparent and easy for investors wanting to start an enterprise in India and in a bid to make India a resilient food economy and the Food Factory of the World, the government has made Food Processing a major thrust area of ‘Make in India’.
