The Zoram Mega Food Park(MFP) will provide direct and indirect employment to 5,000 persons and benefit about 25,000 farmers in the CPC (Core Processing Centre) and PPC (primary processing Centre) catchment areas,said Union FPI Minister Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
Speaking at the virtual inauguration ceremony of the Zoram Mega Food Park located in Mizoram, Smt. Badal said that the Park will leverage an additional investment of about Rs. 250 Crore in about 30 food processing units in the park and would eventually lead to a turnover of about Rs. 450-500 Crores annually.
Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal virtually inaugurated the Zoram Mega Food Park in the presence of Shri Rameswar Teli, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries and Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region. Shri Lanunmawia Chuaungo, Chief Secretary of Mizoram, Dr. R. Lalthangliana, Mizoram Minister of Commerce and Industries, Shri R. Lalzirliana, Mizoram Minister of P&E, Shri C. Lalrosanga, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Mizoram and other dignitaries from Mizoram also joined the virtual event.
Union Minister for Food Processing Industries said that the modern infrastructure for food processing created at the MFP will benefit the farmers, growers, processors and consumers of Mizoram and adjoining areas immensely and prove to be a big boost to the growth of the food processing sector in the State of Mizoram. Ministry has approved the Mega Food Park in the State of Mizoram to give an impetus to the growth of the Food Processing Sector in Mizoram. The Mega Food Park at Village-Khamrang in Kolasib District, Mizoram is promoted by M/s Zoram Mega Food Park Pvt. Ltd. This is the first Mega Food Park operationalized in the State of Mizoram.
Smt. Badal shared that, so far, a total of 88 MoFPI supported projects have been sanctioned in the North Eastern Region and 41 have been implemented. She added that projects worth Rs. 1000 Crores approximately have been sanctioned with a subsidy support of over Rs. 520 Crores.She said that 88 projects when fully completed, would create processing and preservation capacity for 8.66 Lakh MT to handle Agro produce worth Rs. 2,166 Crores.
Smt. Badal added that the 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 major thrust area of ‘Make in India’. She said that under the visionary guidance of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Ministry of Food Processing Industries is focusing on boosting the food processing industry so that agriculture sector grows exponentially and become a major contributor to doubling the farmer’s income and ‘Make in India’ initiative of the government.
Dr. Jitendra Singh, MoS, DoNER said that the Prime Minister has asked all Ministries to allocate projects in the North Eastern states for greater development of the region. He said that DoNER is happy that this MFP with State-of-the-Art facilities, would boost the food processing infrastructure of Mizoram.