Indian appetites to get Rs 2000-cr boost

Manmohan Singh gives his nod to set up 30 food parks in 25 locations in India, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Updated on: Apr 23, 2007, 24:37:58 IST

None | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

India’s appetite for food is all set to get Rs 2,000 crore boost from the government.

On Thursday, a High Level Committee on Manufacturing (HCLM) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave final shape to a proposal for setting up 30 grand food parks in 25 locations in India under the public private partnership (PPP) mode. “Food parks would be one step location to buy any food stuff available in the market,” an official said. The locations were the parks would be set up has not been decided.

Each park to be set up with a government subsidy of Rs 50 crore will be an arena for wide range of packaged and processed food along with exotic cuisines covering nook and corner of the country. For that to happen, the empowered sub-committee of HCLM has suggested creating six strategic distribution centers (SDCs) to feed the parks with fresh food.

The parks and SDCs will be managed by a Special Purpose Vehicle to be created by the government to provide subsidies, manage supply chain and for building infrastructure.

The government believes the proposal will not only enhance manufacturing sector in the 11th five year plan, it will also the much needs growth impetus to the agriculture sector. But, before finalization of the proposal the government wants to seek the Finance ministry’s comments on the slew of financial incentives including “low and predictable” tax regime” as suggested by the empowered sub-committee of the HCLM.

If you can’t reach these exotic food parks, the government intends to bring this fresh food at your doorsteps through 50,000 food vending carts in 50 cities at the initial stage. And, it will also be a business opportunity for many, as government would provide 25 per cent subsidy for each “modernized” cart.

With vegetarians, care has also been taken of non-vegetarian food, who, can now hope of getting clean fresh flesh at the stores near their homes. The HCLM considered a proposal to modernize 50 abattoirs through viability gap funding to be supervised by the SPV.

Also, the government is looking at setting up of 30 integrated cold chain infrastructure in PPP mode and enhancing the subsidy from 25 per cent to 50 per cent. “The infrastructure has been aimed at providing fresh and hygienic food at a affordable price to the consumer but with a better price for the cultivator,” a senior government official explained.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

Stay updated with the latest Business News on Petrol Price, Gold Rate, Silver Rates, Diesel Prices along with Income Tax Calculator