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Chandigarh, March 5 – Union food processing industry minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today said her ministry had ushered 41 projects into Punjab with a direct grant of Rs 400 crore and leveraging of investment of Rs 1,000 crore which would lead to creation of 55,000 jobs and benefit 1.25 lakh farmers.
In a statement here, Mrs Harsimrat Badal said “never before has so much been done in such a short period of five years for the food sector in Punjab. I am proud of this achievement including the fact that I have given an impetus to diversification to maize with the creation of a food park in Kapurthala (M/s Sukhjit Starch and Chemical Ltd) which is devoted to processing maize. However more could have been done if the Congress government had cooperated with the ministry and availed of grants under the SAMPADA scheme. Even today farmers and investors are suffering with the State government refusing to inaugurate the Ladhowal Mega Food Park which has come up due to a grant from the food processing ministry as it fears I will get credit for the same on the eve of the Parliament elections”.
The Union minister said Punjab had witnessed establishment of three mega food parks at Fazilka, Kapurthala and Ladhowal at a cost of Rs 371 crore with the Fazilka project fully functional and that other two fast moving towards completion. She said besides this 19 Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition infrastructure had been created at a cost of Rs 443 crore besides creation of seven food testing laboratories.
Mrs Badal said various food processing companies as well as farmer producers had been given grants for bee products, poultry, potato processing and meat packaging. She said grants for integrated cold chains had been given to various dairies and agro food processing units. She said a number of farmers had come forward to take advantage of grants up to Rs 10 crore to modernize their units. “All this was done with the food processing ministry arranging consultants to help farmer groups avail of the various schemes as the Congress government refused to either popularize or help farmers avail them”.
The Bathinda mp said the establishment of IIFPT (food processing cum business incubation centre) at Bathinda had proved to be a catalyst for quick starting entrepreneurship in the food sector. She said more than 200 persons, particularly women, had taken training at the centre and were on way to starting their own food businesses.
