The Punjab government is set to give a big push to the food processing industry in the state by establishing five primary processing centres at various places for the proposed mega food park being set up by Punjab Agro Industries on 100 acres at Ladhowal, Ludhiana, at a cost of Rs 140 crore.
Stating this, an official spokesperson on Sunday said Punjab had been growing rapidly in the area of food processing, which would witness transformation in the currently beleaguered agriculture sector in the state.
He said five collection centres would be set up at Muskabad village (Samrala), Saholi (Nabha), Kangmai (Hoshiarpur), Lalgarh (Samana) and Babri village (Gurdaspur). The government is also in the process of identifying five more such centres to develop world-class fruit and vegetable clusters.
He said fetching big investments in food processing industries was one of the top priorities and the state had launched its agro industrial and food processing policy to provide incentives to the entrepreneurs.
Describing the proposed food park at Ladhowal as a game changer in agriculture, he said 30-40 food processing units processing frozen fruits and vegetables, frozen french fries, milk, maize, bakery products, wheat pasta, tomato, chillies, snack foods, eggs, malt, honey and haldi would be set up here. He said 60 acres of land would be developed for the food processing units and the remaining 40 acres for development of common facilities.
He said around 700 people are expected to be employed in the sector. Besides, food processing units in the park were likely to provide direct employment to more than 1,800 people and indirect employment to over 28,000 people.
{{/usCountry}}He said around 700 people are expected to be employed in the sector. Besides, food processing units in the park were likely to provide direct employment to more than 1,800 people and indirect employment to over 28,000 people.
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