The Union Minister Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal laid the Foundation Stone of the Ludhiana Mega Food Park being promoted by Punjab Agro.
Ludhiana Food Park will give benefit to farmers and processors of Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Rupnagar, S.B.S. Nagar, Jalandhar, Moga, Sangrur and Barnala district of Punjab.
In order to give an impetus to the growth of the Food Processing Sector in Punjab, Ministry has approved three Mega Food Park in the State of Punjab.
Out of these three Mega Food Park First Mega Food Park located at Fazilka has already become operational.
The foundation stone laying of a second Mega Food Park in the state promoted by M/s Punjab Agro Industries Corporation Ltd. (PAIC) was done by Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
A 3rd Mega Food Park (M/s Sukhjit Mega Food Park) has been approved by the Ministry in Kapurthala District of Punjab.
Mega Food Parks:
Ministry of Food Processing Industries is focusing on boosting the Food Processing Industry so that agriculture sector grows exponentially and becomes the engine of growth to drive the “Make in India” initiative of Prime Minister.
Ministry of Food Processing Industries has identified creation of modern infrastructure for food processing as a focus area and is encouraging private investment.
As a step in this direction, Ministry of Food Processing Industries has been implementing the Mega Food Park Scheme in the country to give a major boost to the Food Processing Sector along the value chain from the farm to the market with strong forward and backward linkages through a cluster based approach.
About Ludhiana Mega Food Park:
This Mega Food park has a Central Processing Centre (CPC) at Ludhiana and four Primary Processing Centres (PPCs) are being set up at Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Fazilka and Bathinda to provide strong backward linkages.
The Mega Food Park is expected to provide direct and indirect employment to about 6000 people and benefit about 25,000 – 30,000 farmers in its catchment area.
This Mega Food Park will be set up with the project cost of Rs. 117.61 crore in an area of 100.20 acres.
The park will have facilities of 500 kg/Spiral Freezer, 1000 MT Cold Store of Onion & Garlic, 1000 MT Frozen cold store of Vegetable produce, 10000 MT Dry warehouse, 10000 MT Silos, 100 MT Ripening Chamber (ECRC), 1 MT/Hr Dehydration Line (Air dried), 400 MT Cold storage, Reefer vans, Food incubation center (ICRESAT) and Testing Laboratory.
Significance:
This Mega Food Park project will create a modern infrastructure for arresting post-harvest losses of horticultural and non-horticultural produce and provide impetus to the growth of food processing sector in Punjab.
This Mega Food Park project will help in providing better prices to farmer, reduce wastage of perishables, add value to agricultural produce and create huge opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment for the youth of the state.