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Few investors in MP Food Processing Parks

Saturday, 24 June, 2006, 20 : 00 PM [IST]

Ramesh Shankar

ood processing industry in Madhya Pradesh as the government has deve-loped six Food Processing Parks in the state as part of the Central government's initiative to provide support for creation of Infrastructural facilities in various sectors of the food processing industry. Funded by both the Central and the state governments, these food parks are being developed to boost the sagging morale of the food processing industry in the country.

The main objectives of creating these parks is to "help establish food processing industrial estates/ parks by providing assistance for common facilities such as analytical and quality control laboratories, cold storages/modified atmosphere cold storages, warehousing facilities, supplementary pollution control facilities etc."

To attract the investors, the government has announced a string of incentives to promote the food processing industry in the state of Madhya Pradesh which is predominantly an agriculture-dominated area with about 73 per cent of the populace directly or indirectly depen-dent on agriculture. "It is a good opportunity for the investors in the food processing industry. While three parks are almost complete, work is going on expeditiously on the other parks," said Dr G P Sharma, general manager, Madhya Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (MPSIDC).

While the food parks located at Nimrani in Khargone district, Jaggakhedi in Mandsaur and Pipariya Bawai in Hoshangabad district are as good as complete and are waiting for the investors, others situated at Boregaon in Chindwara district, Malanpur-Ghirangi in Bhind district and Maneri in Mandla district are nearing completion.

"The food processing parks at Nimrani and Jaggakhedi are almost complete. Some final touches are to be done on the infrastructure front. While the Jaggakhedi Park is 100 per cent complete in all practical purpose, some work is left in the Nimrani Park which will be finished in two months", said M C Ranka, Executive Director of Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam (AKVN), Indore, the state government agency that has been given the responsibility to develop the food parks in the western region of the state.

Blame it on the authorities or anybody else, the investors' attitude towards these food parks has so far been lackadaisical and they are literally lying vacant at present. Apart from the cash and tax incentives, there are several other olive branches in the food parks in the form of common infrastructure facilities which the government has developed spending crores of rupees to promote the food processing industry.

The cash and tax incentives offered by the government in the food parks include a 15 per cent subsidy on investment up to a maximum of Rs 15 lakh, special investment subsidy of 25 per cent to food processing industries up to a maximum of Rs 25 lakh, special 25 per cent investment assistance to thrust the sector up to a maximum of Rs 25 lakh and an industrial investment promotion assistance of a maximum waiver of 75 per cent of commercial tax paid up to 10 years.

Besides, the government is offering interest subsidy of maximum of Rs 20 lakh for 7 years, rebate on land to mega projects, 50 per cent refund of land premium to first 10 industries after going into production (to food processing industries), exemption of entry tax for five years, waiver of commercial tax paid on purchase of raw materials against payment of commercial tax on goods produced (for food-based industries) and exemption of electricity duty to captive power plants. Other exemptions include project report cost reimbursement up to Rs 3 lakh, ISO-9000 certification cost reimbursement up to Rs 1 lakh, patent subsidy up to Rs 2 lakh and exemptions from Mandi Tax.

The state government, with grant-in-aid from the Central government, is developing these Food Processing Parks in the state. The parks at Nimrani and Jaggakhedi are being deve-loped by AKVN , Indore, a specialised state government agency for the development of industrial areas and infrastructure facilities in the western part of Madhya Pradesh. AKVN has the history of successfully developing Pithampur and Kheda industrial complexes spread over 2200 hectares of land wherein more than 600 large, medium and small scale industries have already been established. The AKVN is also engaged in developing other prestigious projects like SEZ, Crystal IT Park and Apparel Park in Indore.

Common facilities in the Food Parks are

. 6000 MT cold storage

. 3000 MT warehouse

. 5000 LPD milk chilling plant

. Testing and Analytical laboratory

. Common Effluent Treatment Plant

. Developed infrastructure with ample water and power supply.

Nimrani Food Processing Park

Located on Agra-Bombay Road (NH-3) on the banks of river Narmada, the Nimrani Food Processing Park in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh has been developed on a stretch of 67 acres of land. The cost of the project is Rs 8.66 crores. The government of India has sanctioned Rs 4 crore as grant for the project and the rest will be borne by the state government. Nimrani is located just 80-kms away from the industrial capital of the state, Indore. It is within the easy reach of major cities and regional markets in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Jaggakhedi Food Processing Park

The Jaggakhedi Food Processing Park is located at Mhow-Neemuch state highway in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh bordering Rajasthan. It is being developed at a cost of Rs 8.15 crore for which the central government's contribution is Rs 4 crores. Major industries like Rajaram Starch, Garlico Ind, Sonic Biochem, Solvent Extractions Plants, etc; have been established here and are operational.