Indus Best Mega Food Park inaugurated at Raipur, Chhattisgarh

Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Narendra Singh Tomar virtually inaugurated the Indus Best Mega Food Park on 3rd June 2021, in the presence of Bhupesh Baghel, chief minister, Chhattisgarh, and Rameswar Teli, Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries.

Speaking on occasion, Tomar said, "The Mega Food Park will ensure value addition, the longer shelf life for farm produce, better price realization for farmers, excellent storage facility and will provide an alternate market for farmers in the region. The Park will also provide direct and indirect employment to about 5,000 persons and benefit about 25,000 farmers in the CPC and PPC catchment areas."

Tomar also added, "The modern infrastructure for food processing created at Park will benefit the processors and consumers of Chhattisgarh and adjoining areas immensely and prove to be a big boost to the growth of the food processing sector in the State of Chhattisgarh."

According to him, 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 significant thrust area of 'AtmaNirbhar Bharat'.

Tomar thanked the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and the State Government authorities for their efforts in setting up the Indus Best Mega Food Park.

Speaking on occasion, Rameswar Teli said, "The state-of-the-art infrastructure and processing facilities developed at Indus Best Mega Food Park will not only reduce wastage of agricultural produce but will also ensure value addition. This will also provide an opportunity to farmers, Self Help Groups (SHGs), and micro-entrepreneurs to undertake processing operations on plug and operate basis and create huge job opportunities in the catchment area of the Park. It will also contribute to doubling farmers' income and will also help in bringing more investments in Chhattisgarh."

To give an impetus to the Food Processing sector's growth in Chhattisgarh, the Ministry has approved Mega Food Park at Raipur district in the State of Chhattisgarh, which is being implemented b Indus Best Mega Food Park.

Indus Best Mega Food Park has been set up in 63.8 acres of land at a project cost of Rs 145.5 crore. The facilities created by the Implementing Agency at Central Processing Centre (CPC) of this Mega Food Park include Cold Storage - 3,745 MT, Pack House - 10 MT per hour, Dry warehouse - 12,000 MT, Boiler - 8 MT, Aseptic Pulping & Packaging Line - 6 MT per hour for mango and 12MT for tomato, IQF and deep Freeze 2MT per hour and 1500 MT, Food Testing Lab besides state of the art enabling infrastructure. The Park also has a common administrative building for office and other uses by the entrepreneurs and 03 Primary Processing Centers at Raipur, Bilaspur, and Durg districts with facilities for primary processing and storage near the farms in the catchment area to benefit farmers. This Mega Food Park will benefit the people of Raipur District as well as other districts of Chhattisgarh.

Ministry of Food Processing Industries is focusing on boosting the food processing industry so that the agriculture sector grows exponentially and becomes a significant contributor to doubling the farmer's income and the 'AtmaNirbhar Bharat' initiative promoted by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

To significantly boost the food processing sector by adding value and reducing food wastage at each stage of the supply chain with a particular focus on perishables, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing the 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 are created at the Central Processing Centre, and facilities for primary processing and storage are created near the farm in Primary Processing Centers (PPCs) and Collection Centers (CCs). Under the Scheme, the Government of India provides financial assistance up to Rs 50.00 crore per Mega Food Park project.