NEW DELHI: With the inauguration of this food processing unit, 5000 farmers will be benefitted and it is expected to leverage an investment of Rs 50.33 crores, said Harsimrat Badal, Union Minister for Food Processing Industries. Inaugurating the food processing unit located in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh through video conference today, Badal said that the food processing sector is witnessing robust growth and has been identified as a champion sector by the Government of India. She added that the diverse basket of agricultural raw material base and agro-climatic attributes of UP provide the requisite platform for the state to develop a vibrant food processing industry. Rameswar Teli, MoS, FPI, Pushpa Subrahmanyam, Secretary MoFPI and promoters of M/s Organic India were also present during the virtual inauguration.
Harsimrat Badal urged the promoters of the unit to experiment and invest further into new innovative products in the organic segment of food processing sector. She appreciated the promoters for setting up a manufacturing plant in UP to export an array of tea products to about 30 countries. She further said that with the promoters having obtained all necessary global certifications, their mission of making organic products of India globally famous, will be a boost to India’s vision of AtmaNirbhar Bharat and Make in India campaign. She added that food processing Sector offers a huge potential for Export of value-added items which will not only earn foreign exchange but will also create employment in the domestic market. She shared that the FDI data for 2019-2020 shows a whopping increase of 44% over 2018-19. She informed that the Food Processing Sector has grown at the AAGR of around 8.41%.
The unit namely M/s Organic India Pvt. Ltd is likely to generate direct employment of 100 and indirect employment of 250 persons. M/s Organic India Pvt. Ltd is set up with total cost of Rs. 55.13 crores. Grant in aid of Rs 4.80 crores has been provided by the Ministry. A processing capacity of 3 MT per day has been created and the unit will process agro produce worth Rs 350 crores. Products manufactured in this unit are Tulsi green tea, sweet lemon green tea, lemon ginger green tea, pomegranate green tea, Sweet rose, Tulsi masala. It is spread over an area of 12,903 sq.m / 3.18 acres in Agro Park Phase-II, UPSIDC Industrial Area, Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh.
Highlighting the food processing potential in Uttar Pradesh, Union Minister said that the diverse basket of agricultural raw material base and agro-climatic attributes of UP provide the requisite platform for the state to develop a vibrant food processing industry. She added that the food processing sector can become important link between two main sectors of the state economy, agriculture and industry. She further said that this sector can address the major challenges in agriculture such as post-harvest losses, lack of marketing options & low income of farmers along with providing employment opportunities to rural population.
Speaking about the initiatives of MoFPI, Union Minister shared that in order to improve Ease of Doing Business, MOFPI has implemented an array of initiatives using IT tools. She said that all information about the schemes, important reports about the sector, investment related information and options to apply under the relevant scheme online has been made available at MoFPI Website. She urged all to “Click” and “Connect” with the Ministry and assured that their applications would be processed in a transparent and time bound manner.
Addressing at the inauguration, Rameswar Teli congratulated the promoters of the unit for setting up this food processing unit that would benefit the famers and provide employment to the people of the region. He further said that this project would play a vital role in the development of the surrounding areas. Teli added that a robust food processing sector is essential for the development of agriculture, value addition and for promotion of exports
