The major factor standing in the way of agro-food processing in the country is inadequate infrastructure. Infrastructure Development has been identified as a Thrust Area for intervention. In order to address the problems of infrastructural constraints in the food processing sector, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries had implemented the scheme during the 10th Plan for infrastructure development comprising the following components to address different aspects of food related infrastructure:- Food Parks, Integrated Cold Chain Facility, Packaging Centre, Value Added Centre, Irradiation Facilities and Modernization of Abattoir.
Food ParksThe Scheme of Food Parks under 10th Plan envisaged to make available common infrastructure facilities for the Food Processing Industry, especially, SMEs. The Scheme provided for a grant of up to 25% of the project cost subject to a maximum of Rs. 4 crore. Higher scale of assistance @ 33.33 per cent was admissible for difficult areas including North-Eastern States, J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Ministry has so far approved 56 Food Parks for assistance.
Under the Scheme, 02 Food Parks were assisted under 8th Plan, 39 under 9th Plan Scheme and 15 under 10th Plan. An amount of Rs. 125.34 crore has been released under the Scheme upto November 2007. 29 Food Parks have become operational so far.
Mega Food ParkThe Ministry of Food Processing Industries proposes to implement a Scheme to establish 30 (thirty) Mega Food Parks in the country during 11th Plan with the following objectives:
· Provide state-of-art infrastructure for food processing in the country on a pre identified cluster basis
· Ensure value addition of agricultural commodities including poultry, meat, dairy, fisheries etc.
· Establish a sustainable raw material supply chain for each cluster
· Facilitate induction of latest technology
· Foster interagency linkages for pooling of resources for activities complementary to food processing
· Quality assurance through better process control and capacity building
· Address issues of small farm size and small and medium nature of processing industries through a cluster approach with stakeholders managing the supply chain.
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MFPI) has submitted a proposal on Mega Food Parks to Planning Commission for implementation during 11th Five Year Plan which aims to provide a mechanism to bring together farmers, processors and retailers and link agricultural production to the market so as to ensure maximizing value addition, minimizing wastages, increasing farmers’ income and creating employment opportunities in rural sector. Mega Food Park envisages a well-defined agri/horticultural-processing zone containing state-of-the-art processing facilities with support infrastructure and well-established supply chain. The primary objective of the proposed scheme is to facilitate establishment of integrated value chain, with processing at the core and supported by requisite forward and backward linkages.
It is proposed to provide financial assistance upto 50 per cent of the project cost (NE Region and difficult areas 75 percent) subject to a ceiling of Rs. 50 crore for setting up of Mega Food Park.
Integrated Cold Chain Facility
The scheme is intended to improve viability of cold storages and to enhance cold storage capacity. The Ministry assisted the following types of Cold Storages:
a) Cold Storage for Non-Horticulture Produce;
b) Where Cold Storage is an integral part of processing unit or of the common facilities in Food Parks and
c) Special types of cold Storages with controlled Atmosphere/Modified Atmosphere facility.
Under the 10th Plan Scheme, Assistance @ 25 per cent of the project cost in general areas and 33.33 per cent in difficult areas subject to a maximum of Rs. 75.00 lakh had been provided for establishment of cold chain facilities. During 10th Plan 20 projects have been approved for assistance. An amount of Rs. 1.11 crore has been released under this component during 2007-08.
Proposal on a comprehensive Cold Chain Infrastructure Scheme for implementation during 11th Plan has also been submitted to Planning Commission for providing financial assistance to various stakeholders for revamping integrated cold chain infrastructure at different levels- farm level primary processing center-cum-cold chain, collection/aggregation centers and Strategic Distribution Centers. In order to provide integrated and complete cold chain facilities without any break from farm gate to the consumer, pre-cooling facilities at production sites, reefer vans/containers, mobile cooling units are also to be assisted under the Scheme. The initiatives being undertaken by the Ministry as aimed at filling the gaps in the supply chain, strengthening of cold chain infrastructure leading to overall development of food processing industries and reduction in wastages.
Packaging Centers
The Scheme aimed to provide facilities for packing which may help in enhancement of shelf life of food products and make them internationally acceptable. Under the 10th Plan Scheme, assistance @ 25 per cent of the project cost in general areas and 33.33 per cent in difficult areas subject to a maximum of Rs. 2.00 crore was provided for establishment of packaging center. Assistance was available to all implementing agencies. So far, assistance of Rs. 1.45 crore has been sanctioned to one packaging center in Jammu & Kashmir.
Value Added Centers
The Scheme intended to enhance value addition leading to enhanced shelf-life, higher total realization and value addition at each level of handling and also to facilitate traceability. Under the 10th Plan Scheme, assistance @ 25 per cent of the project cost in general areas and 33.33 percent in difficult areas subject to a maximum of Rs. 75.00 lakh was provided for establishment and modernization of value added center. So far, five projects under this component have been sanctioned with a total approved assistance of Rs. 1.55 crore.
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