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Mega Food Parks in Maharashtra and Gujarat- Current scenario
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Tuesday, 29 June, 2021, 15 : 00 PM [IST]
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Aditya Bafna
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India made an ambitious attempt to develop large food processing hubs by launching the Mega Food Park Scheme. The scheme was initiated by the Ministry of Food Processing in 2008-09.
The Mega Food Park Scheme is being implemented through the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) system in which government agencies, banks/ financial institutions, classified retailers, service providers, food processors, producers, farmer organisations are equity holders.
Firstly, what is the Mega Food Park Scheme?
The Mega Food Park Scheme was introduced to make better infrastructure available for the food industry. The main aim of this scheme was to establish a mechanism to ‘directly link the farms to processing and finally to consumer markets’ with the help of a network of collection centres and primary processing centres. It aspired to link the agricultural production to the market by bringing together farmers, processors and retailers in order to ensure maximum value addition, increase the income of the farmers, reduce wastage and create employment opportunities particularly in the rural sector.
The scheme uses the ‘cluster approach’ and envisions creation of state-of-the-art infrastructure in well-defined Agri/ horticultural zones for setting up of modern food processing units in the industrial plots provided in the park with a well-established supply chain.
The food park typically consists of supply chain infrastructure including collection centers, primary processing centers, central processing centers, cold chains and about 25-30 completely developed plots for entrepreneurs to set up food processing units.
The project is implemented by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which is a corporate body registered under the Companies Act. Central agencies are permitted to possess up to 26 per cent of the equity in these SPVs, while the rest is possessed by private sector promoters. Subject to fulfilment of the conditions of the Scheme Guidelines, the funds are released to the SPVs. For seeking assistance under the scheme, proposals are invited through ‘Expression of Interest’ from time to time.
The scheme comes in line with the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ vision of Government of India. It has also become a part of the ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY). At present, there are 22 operational Mega food parks in India, they are:
1. Srini Mega Food Park, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh.
2. Godavari Mega Aqua Park, West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh.
3. North East Mega Food Park, Nalbari, Assam.
4. Indus Best Mega Food Park, Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
5. Gujarat Agro Mega Food Park, Surat, Gujarat.
6. Cremica Mega Food Park, Una, Himachal Pradesh.
7. Integrated Mega Food Park, Tumkur, Karnataka.
8. Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) Mega Food Park, Palakkad, Kerala.
9. Indus Mega Food Park, Khargoan, Madhya Pradesh.
10. Avantee Mega Food Park, Dewas, Madhya Pradesh.
11. Paithan Mega Food Park, Aurangabad, Maharashtra.
12. Satara Mega Food Park, Satara, Maharashtra.
13. Zoram Mega Food Park, Kolasib, Mizoram.
14. MITS Mega Food Park, Rayagada, Odisha.
15. International Mega Food Park, Fazilka, Punjab.
16. Sukhjit Mega Food Park, Kapurthala, Punjab.
17. Greentech Mega Food Park, Ajmer, Rajasthan.
18. Smart Agro Mega Food Park, Nizamabad, Telangana.
19. Tripura Mega Food Park, West Tripura, Tripura.
20. Patanjali Food and Herbal Park, Haridwar, Uttarakhand.
21. Himalayan Mega Food Park, Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand.
22. Jangipur Bengal Mega Food Park, Murshidabad, West Bengal.
Central Government provides grants up to Rs 50 crore per Mega Food Project. Approximately 25-30 food processing units are expected to be set up. A collective investment of at least Rs 250 crores is anticipated. It is expected to generate employment of about 30000 per Mega food park and provide a turnover of Rs 400- 500 crore, benefitting about 25,000 farmers. However, presently only one, Patanjali’s food park in Haridwar, is a success.
With respect to Gujarat, it’s a home to one operational Mega Food Park - the Gujarat Agro Mega Food Park in Surat. The Union Minister for Food Processing Industries- Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the first Mega Food Park in Gujarat in 2018. The park is promoted by Gujarat Agro-Infrastructure Mega Food Park Pvt Ltd. Located at Shah and Vasravi village, Mangrol taluka in Surat.
The food park spreads across 70.15 acres of land and costs about Rs 117.87 crore. The Gujarat Agro Mega Food Park benefits the people of Surat from nearby districts of Navsari, Narmada, Bharuch and Tapi. Another Mega Food Park has also been sanctioned by the ministry in Mehsana district of Gujarat. Gujarat Agro Infrastructure Mega Food Park is an industrial estate that focuses entirely on the food processing sector. They bring together farmers, food Processors and the end consumers such as Wholesalers, Retailers and Exporters by providing them with enabling infrastructure and mechanisms to strengthen the agricultural value chain. Their vision is to be recognised in the Food and Agricultural Industry for playing a vital role in linking agricultural production to the market place using state-of-the-art technologies, High quality Service standards, Innovation and ethical business practices.
The facilities being created by the developer at Central Processing Centre (CPC) of this mega food park include multi-chamber cold store of 3,500 metric tonne (MT) (which comprises 1,500 MT frozen and 2,000 MT MA), warehouse of 5,000 MT, individually quick frozen (IQF) of two TPH, pulping Line, quality control (QC) laboratory and other related food processing facilities. The Park also has a common administrative building for various office and other uses by the entrepreneurs and four primary processing centres at Bharuch, Vadodara, Navsari and Valsad having facilities for primary processing and storage near the farms.
Talking about Maharashtra, the state houses two operational Mega Food Parks. They are the Satara Mega food park and Paithan Mega food park in Satara and Aurangabad respectively. The first Mega Food Park in the state of Maharashtra, Satara Mega Food Park Pvt. Ltd., is located in Degaon village, Satarawas district. This Mega Food Park too was inaugurated by Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, on March 1, 2018. Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra was also present for this event. The Satara Mega Food Park is the 12th Mega Food Park operationalised in the country so far and the 10th operationalised during the tenure of the present Government. Satara Mega Food Park not only offers physical infrastructure but is also a one-stop solution from concept to commissioning services. It spreads across 67 acres of land, tucked away in the Sahyadris.
It is the most strategically located park, with well-connected road, air and rail routes to a number of states like Goa, Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. This secures the ready availability of a market that can consume the produce without any wastage. Equipped with cutting-edge modern amenities and common core processing facilities, from a well-equipped Hi-Tech cold storage to a warehouse with a racking system to effluent and sewage treatment plant, the park has it all. The Satara Mega Food Park plays a promising role in the world of food processing.
The second Mega Food Park is the Paithan Mega Food Park. This Mega Food Park too was inaugurated by Harsimrat Kaur Badal on November 15, 2018. Promoted by Paithan Mega Food Park, the park is located in Wahegaon and Dhangaon village in Paithan taluka of Aurangabad district. A third mega food park has been sanctioned by the ministry in Maharashtra and is under implementation in Wardha district.
The Paithan Mega Food Park spreads across 102 acres of land at a cost of Rs 124.52 crore. The facilities of this mega food park include dry warehouse of 10,000 MT, cold storage of 1,000 MT, pre-cooling facility of 10 MT, ripening chambers of 400 MT, individual quick freezing (IQF) facility of 1.5 MTPH, freezer room of 1,000 MT, 5 MTPH juice line with 1.5 MTPH of aseptic packaging line, steam sterilisation and generation unit of 4 MTPH, food testing lab, reefer vans of 30 MT and milk tankers of 50 MT, milk processing facility of 1,00,000 LPD with bulk milk chilling of 20,000 litre along with other food processing facilities. The Park also has a common administrative building for various office and other uses by the entrepreneurs and three primary processing centres at Paithan, Kannad and Alephata with facilities for primary processing and storage near the farms. This mega food park will benefit the people of Aurangabad district along with the people of nearby districts of Nasik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Buldhana, Jalna, Beed and Ahmednagar.
What are the benefits of these Food Parks?
As we know, the primary purpose of this scheme is to promote and ensure better development of food processing systems. The scheme will benefit India not only financially as it is demand-driven, pre-marketed and promoted but also environmentally as it acknowledges environmental safety and social requirements to be met by food processing units. Thus, if conducted and carried out judiciously, these Mega Food Parks could be very promising to the food industry.
(The author is owner of Nutridock)
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