The ministry of food processing industries (MoFPI), Government of India,
has approved the proposal submitted by Kerala Industrial Infrastructure
Development Corporation (KINFRA) to set up a Mega Food Processing Park
at Kanjikode, Palakkad. The estimated project cost is Rs 121.92 crore.
The assistance sought from MoFPI is Rs 50 crore.
The Mega Food
Park would be provided with basic infrastructure like roads, electricity
and water. Apart from basic infrastructure, common facilities such as
water treatment plant, effluent treatment plant, quality control
laboratories, cold storages, warehouses, and process centres would be
set up. The Primary Processing Centres would also be equipped with
weighing lines, packhouses, chill rooms/cold storages, and so on. It is
estimated that the park would employ about 4,550 people by way of direct
employment and 12,880 people by way of indirect employment.
The
ministry has given top priority to infrastructure creation for food
processing industries and it has a dedicated scheme in the 12th Five
Year Plan for infrastructure creation known as the ‘Mega Food Park
Scheme (MFPS).’ The primary objective of the MFPS is to provide modern
infrastructure facilities for the food processing along the value chain
from the farm to the market. It will include creation of processing
infrastructure near the farm, transportation, logistics and centralised
processing centres. The main feature of the scheme is a cluster-based
approach. The expected outcome is increased price realisation for
farmers, creation of high quality processing infrastructure, reduction
in wastage, capacity building of producers and processors and creation
of an efficient supply chain along with significant direct and indirect
employment generation.
Under the Mega Food Park Scheme, each
project is assisted with a grant-in-aid support to the extent of 50 per
cent of eligible project cost, subject to a maximum amount of Rs. 50.00
crore. The MFPS envisages setting up a three-tiered structure consisting
of a Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) with facilities for food
processing activities involving higher-end value addition, Primary
Processing Centres (PPCs) with facilities for pre-processing activities
or lower-end food processing, Collection Centres (CCs) for facilitating
convenient collection of raw materials from farmers. The PPCs and CCs
are located near to the farms and would be spread across the region from
where the main raw materials for the Mega Food Park are targeted.
In line with the prescribed guidelines of MFPS, the EOI submitted by KINFRA proposed the following three tiered components:
Central Processing Facility (CPC or Food Park)
The
proposed CPC is located in Elappuly 1 and Pudussery villages of
Palakkad District. KINFRA has identified 73 acres of land for this
purpose. The identified land is already in possession of KINFRA.
Primary Processing Centre (PPC)
In
KINFRA’s Mega Food Park project, about five Primary Processing Centres
have been proposed in the districts of Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram,
Thrissur and Ernakulam, from where the main raw materials would be
sourced.
Collection Centre (CC)
In KINFRA’s Mega Food Park
project, about 15 Collection Centres have been proposed in the districts
of Palakkad, Wayanad, Kannur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Thrissur and
Ernakulam.
The raw material base for the Mega Food Park would
extend over an area around Palakkad including the districts of Wayanad,
Kannur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Thrissur and Ernakulum. The major raw
materials identified for the Mega Food Park would include coconuts,
ginger, pepper, cardamom, turmeric, tamarind, jackfruit, tapioca,
papaya, banana, pineapple, mango, cashew, arecanut, paddy etc.
The
Mega Food Park would cater to food processing units dealing with
various coconut products (like tender coconut water, coconut milk,
cream, dehydrated powder etc); fruit products (like fruit
beverages/concentrates, candies, jams, pickles), spice products (like
whole spices, spice powders ,spice extractions, seasonings etc), starch
based products, value-added products from rice, bakery products, ethnic
preparations from Kerala etc.
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