BENGALURU, 27 Oct: Arunachal Pradesh Industries Secretary Hage Tari, along with APKVIB Chairman Dominic Tadar, APIDFC Chairman Wanglin Rajkumar, Mega Food Park lead promoter Likha Maj and Mega Food Park director Likha Akash visited the India Mega Food Park in Tumkur, Karnataka, to obtain firsthand knowledge about the operation and revenue model of mega food parks.
Representatives of the Karnataka government, headed by the Karnataka Industrial Development Board (KIDB) executive engineer, along with India Mega Food Park chief operating officer Karan Ket accompanied the Arunachal team.
The Tumkur food park is a collaboration of the central, state and private sectors.
It was inaugurated on 24 September, 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The food park has been set up at a cost of Rs 500 crores on a plot of 110 acres. The 110 acres of land have been provided to the food park by the KIDB. External infrastructure such as road, power and water supply, and boundary wall has also been provided by the KIDB. It is a first-of-its-kind integrated food park to be commissioned and has been developed in close partnership with and support from the union food processing industries ministry and the Karnataka government.
On the occasion, Tari said that the upcoming mega food park near Banderdewa in Arunachal Pradesh “is the way forward to improve the quality as well as affordability of food in a developing nation like India.
“The mega food park is also expected to provide the much-needed boost to the country’s food manufacturing industry,” he said.
“Additionally, it will help to tame supply chain costs and wastage, thereby making the entire food value chain more robust and efficient. The common infrastructures at the mega food park will benefit medium and small-scale enterprises as well as food entrepreneurs with limited capital but seeking state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities,” he added.
“Echoing PM Modi’s ‘Make in India’, ‘Vocal for local’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ sentiment, the food park will also encourage local entrepreneurs to set up manufacturing units,” he added.
Maj informed that the food park aims to positively impact the livelihoods of farmers, manufacturers, and agri-entrepreneurs in Arunachal Pradesh and other places.
“It will generate employment for almost 10,000 people in due course. It is anticipated that a sizeable share of the produce from the park will be exported overseas, thereby bringing in more revenues,” said Maj.
