India Completes Third Evaluation Of Mega Food Park Scheme

Umer Jamshaid Published July 25, 2021 | 01:45 PM

(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 25th Jul, 2021) NEW DELHI, 25th July, 2021 (WAM) – India’s Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Prahlad Singh Patel, recently told the upper chamber of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, that the government had completed third party evaluation of the country’s Mega Food Park scheme.

The UAE is a major current investor in the scheme. Patel said the government has so far approved 41 Mega Food Parks across India.

"The functioning of the approved Mega Food Parks has been covered in the said evaluation," the Minister said in a written reply to questions in the Rajya Sabha. "The evaluation broadly covered aspects of the creation of food processing infrastructure, including setting up of food processing units and its impact on value addition, reduction in post-harvest losses, benefits to the farmers and employment generation through Mega Food Parks."

Eight months ago, at a bilateral Food Security Summit, companies in the UAE committed to invest $7 billion in Mega Food Parks and other agro-logistical infrastructure in India in up to three years.

The proposed investments are part of a wider UAE-India Food Corridor project.

The UAE Ambassador to India, Dr. Ahmed Al Banna, had said at the summit that "this is a very opportune time for the UAE and India to escalate food security co-operation. Now is the time to work together to navigate better economic recovery and set priorities for post-COVID-19 recovery and this is one platform that will lead us to that goal."

Dr. Al Banna said the UAE wants to work with India and develop a resilient supply chain in the post-pandemic era.

Patel said the government had also approved 353 cold chain projects, 63 agro-processing clusters, 292 food processing units and six green projects across India.

In addition to Mega Food Parks, UAE companies have expressed interest in investing in logistics facilities, warehouses as well as fruits and vegetable hubs in several Indian cities.