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 Smt. Union FPI Minister 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.

Sh. Rameswar Teli, MoS, FPI said that the State Government of Mizoram has extended great cooperation in the setting up of this MFP. He added that this MFP is spread over 55.00 acres of land and is set up at a cost of Rs. 75. 20 crores. Shri Teli added that the facilities being provided in the Zoram MFP will not only reduce food wastage but would also lead to value addition in food products. He further said that this park will help in enhancing the income of farmers and ensuring fair price of farm produce.

M/s Zoram Mega Food Park Pvt. Ltd. has been set up in 55.00 acre of land at a project cost of Rs. 75.20 crore. The facilities created by the developer at Central Processing Centre (CPC) of this Mega Food Park include Cold Storage-1000MT, Drywarehouse-3000 MT, Aseptic pulp line with canning, aseptic and tetra packing-2 MT/Hr, Ripening Chambers-40MT/Hr, Spices drying facility-2MT/Hr, Food Testing Laboratory besides state of art enabling infrastructure. The Park also has a common Administrative building for office and other uses by the entrepreneurs and 03 Primary Processing Centres (PPCs) at Champhai, Thingfal and Thenzawlhaving facilities for primary processing and storage near the farms in the catchment area to benefit farmers. This Mega Food Park will benefit the people of Kolasib-District as well as nearby Districts of Mamit& Aizawl of Mizoram and nearby districts of Hailakandi, Cachar of Assam.

Under the Mega Food Park Scheme, Government of India provides financial assistance upto Rs. 50.00 Crore per Mega Food Park project.Presently, 18 Mega Food Park Projects are under implementation in various states and 19 Mega Food Parks have already become functional in the States. 6 of them are in the North eastern region. 2 MFPs in North eastern Region are operational at Assam and Mizoram.

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RJ/NG