Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, Harsimrat Kaur Badal has inaugurated the first Mega Food Park in Telangana promoted by M/s Smart Agro Food Park at Village Lakkampally, Nandipet Mandal of Nizamabad district, Telangana state.

Badal said that the Mega Food Park will leverage an additional investment of about Rs 250 crore in 22 food processing units in the park and generate a turnover of about Rs 14,000 crore. The park will also provide direct and indirect employment to 50,000 youth and benefit about 1 lakh farmers.

The minister said that Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi is an initiative by the government of India in which all small and marginal farmers will get up to Rs 6,000. Telangana government also providing financial support to farmers, ultimately the farmer will be benefitted.

Mega Food Parks shall further complement the government’s scheme by reducing post-harvest losses and hedging the farmer’s risk, she added.

Badal also said that the Ministry of Food Processing Industries is focusing on boosting the food processing industry so that agriculture sector grows exponentially and becomes a major contributor to doubling the farmer’s income and ‘Make in India’ initiative of the government.

Mega Food Parks create modern infrastructure facilities for food processing along the value chain from farm to market with strong forward and backward linkages through a cluster-based approach.

Common facilities and enabling infrastructure are created at Central Processing Centre and facilities for primary processing and storage is created near the farm in the form of Primary Processing Centers (PPCs) and Collection Centers (CCs). Under the scheme, the Government of India provides financial assistance upto Rs 50 crore per mega food park project.

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