Odisha Government says Mega Food Park in Rayagada on track

Orissadiary, June 14, 2012

Report by Jyoti Prakash, Bhubaneswar: Govt has put Mega Food Park, Rayagada on track with the objective of increasing the level of food processing and ensuring value addition to agri-products.  The grounding of the project has been given a boost in the  State Level Coordination Committee  held under Chairmanship of Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik in secretariat conference hall today afternoon.
Discussions in the meeting reveal that with the approval from the Ministry of Food Processing( GOI),  Govt of Odisha has decided to set up a Mega Food Park at Rayagada, the industrial hub of southern Odisha. The park will have its major Primary Processing Centers ( PPC)  at Khurda, Nawarangpur and Gopalpur ( Ganjam). PPCs will also be set up in Koraput, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Subanrapur,Ganjam, Gajpati, Malkangiri, Boudh and Kandhamal.
The collectors of theses districts have been asked to locate 5 to 10 acres of land in each district for the purpose. It has also been decided that Collection Centers ( CC) will be established in each block of these districts. Each collection centers will need about 2 to 5 acres of land.
The Food Park will be developed over an area of 50 acres. However, it has been proposed to extend the area to 100 acres in different phases to accommodate more investors. It has been decided that the project will be implemented on PPP mode with investment of around Rs200 cr for creation of enabling infrastructure. It will create direct and indirect employment opportunity for around 30000 people. To ground the project one SPV has been formed involving IDCO, Expo Bio-Tech Ltd, Keventor Agro Ltd. and Basanta Devi Charitable Trust. The SPV has been named as MITS Mega Food Park and it has been incorporated by the Registrar of Companies Odisha.
The raw material viability analysis shows there is potentiality for growth of 16 types of industries can  in the Mega Food Park. These sectors are maize processing, rice processing, diary industry, poultry, spices, fruits & vegetables, mango pulp, tomato puree, grains-milling & processing such as breakfast cereals, coffee, cashew processing, pickle industry, tamarind processing, Ready To Eat Products, soft drinks & natural juice, ancillary material for food packaging. It has been decided that investors awareness programmes will be organized at Rayagada, Berhampur, Koraput, Bolangir, Titilagarh and Bhubaneswar for attracting the entrepreneurs and investors.
Chief Secretary has advised the department of Micro Small & Medium Enterprise to expedite the process of formulation of the State Food Processing Policy. Sri Patnaik has advised the department to formulate the Operational guide Lines along with the policy so as to facilitate expedited process of implementation of the policy. Pr. Secretary Finance J.K.Mohapatra, Pr. Secretary ME&ME N.K.Sundaray, Pr.  Secretary Agriculture R.L.Jamuda, Secretary Fisheries & Animal Resource Development Satyabrata Sahu, CMD,IPICOL C.J.Venugopal, Special Secretary MS&ME Panchanana Das,  R.D.C. South Division L.N.Nayak , collectors of Rayagada, Bolangir and Kalahandi, Director, MITS Mega Food Park Ltd. B.K.Panda along with other senior officials participated in discussions.