(a) whether there is any proposal to establish the Food Processing Parks specially in the maize producing areas of the country;
(b) if so, the details and the locations thereof; and
(c) the steps being taken by the Government in this regard in various States/ parts of the country?
(a) to (c): The Mega Food Park Scheme (MFPS) aims at providing modern infrastructure facilities for food processing along the value chain from farm to market. The Scheme functions on a hub and spoke model. It includes creation of infrastructure for primary processing and storage near the farm gate at Primary Processing Centers (PPCs), Collection Centres (CCs) and common facilities and enabling infrastructure at Central Processing Centre. The responsibility of execution, ownership and management of the Mega Food Park vested with a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).Selection of Mega Food Park projects is not crop or area specific. The Mega Food Park proposals are received against Expressions of Interest (EoI) as and when invited by the Ministry. The projects are selected based on the merit through a stringent appraisal process as per the prefixed criteria in the Scheme Guidelines. Out of the total 42 Mega Food Parks sanctioned by the Government, 37 Mega Food Park projects have been accorded final approval and 5 Mega Food Park Projects have been accorded in-principle approval in 24 States in the country. The State-wise details of the Mega Food Parks are at Annexure-I.