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Infrastructure issues hampering food parks’ progress
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Sunday, 16 August, 2015, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru
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fiogf49gjkf0d Food Parks in India are seen to be aimed at primarily providing adequate infrastructure facilities for the food processing industry along the value-chain from farm to market. But these food parks have not taken off as expected. The key reason attributed for this by food park promoters is the lackadaisical attitude of the state government to support the infrastructure needs which has stalled much of their growth and development.
According to Union minister for food processing industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal, since India is the fruit and vegetable basket of the world, the potential in the food processing industry is huge. Therefore concepts like mega food parks are conceived to create a synergy between industry and agriculture.
In 2008, the Union government unveiled the Mega Food Park Scheme with a gestation period of 24 months. This was despite the presence of existing state promoted food parks.
It is gathered that the government has already sanctioned 17 new Mega Food Parks in 11 states, including Punjab and Haryana, which takes the total number to 42 food parks. Of these only three are operational. These are the Punjab Food Park at Fazilka, India Food Park promoted by the Future Group set up at Sira in Tumkur district in Karnataka and the Srini Mega Food Park located at Mogili village, Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh.
According to Badal, food processing is expected to attract investment of around Rs 2,000 crore in modern infrastructure, besides additional collective investment of around Rs 4,000 crore in 500 food processing units at Mega Food Parks that could generate an annual turnover of Rs 8,000 crore. When the Mega Food Parks are fully functional, they would create employment for about 80,000 persons and benefit 5 lakh farmers directly or indirectly.
India Food Park in Karnataka
India Food Park driven by Future Group chief Kishore Biyani is strategically located at National Highway 4 and Chennai-Bangalore-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. Spread on a 110 acre world-class food processing and cold storage unit, the park was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2014.
The initiative comes under the Integrated Food Park Private Ltd (IFPPL), which is a public-private partnership programme approved by ministry of food processing industries (MoFPI) to set up Mega Food Park in Karnataka.The scheme is a cluster-based approach and involves entrepreneurs to provide infrastructure facilities for food processing along the value chain from the farm to market. The infrastructure is usually set up near the farms to streamline the logistics.
Karnataka is already home to several food parks which are yet to succeed, and one of the key differences of this Mega Food Park is the integrated and comprehensive manner in which the project has been conceptualised and implemented. The association with one of largest food retailer in the country, also offers a very sound rationale to forward linkage which otherwise is so lacking in any other project that has come up. In addition to this, all the project components are completed to ensure that all facilities are in place before the marketing of the park was started.
Officials at India Food Park said that response has been very encouraging and lot of prospects from a wide spectrum of industries have visited the site. Few units have already taken space and are in the process of setting up their operations. Some prospects are in advanced stages of discussions to finalise lease deals and the company hopes to rope them in before end of this calendar year. Apart from this, there is also good interest from many companies in the fruit and vegetable processing sector to utilise the facilities like Pulping Line, IQF line, Ripening Chambers, Hi Care, Storage Areas (Cold/ Freezer Rooms) and so on.
The likely future efforts to take place at this facility to be explored and continuously introduced - new product categories emanating from the local raw material available in the vicinity of the food park. Projects like pasta, biscuit, chocolate, dry fruits processing are being looked at as potential options to come up in the food park. On the infrastructure side, the park continuously is looking for ways to provide more facilities to the users and units of the food park. It is currently working on a plan to have a diesel station inside the campus. “We are also going forward looking towards having a nanking facility at the site. A solar power plant is being set up in the park to offer power backup to the users. The park will offer handholding services for investors coming from other regions of the country and other countries to ensure smooth setup of their operations at the food park,” stated an official.
The entire processing & storage infrastructure in the park is aptly supported by amenities that India Food Park provides by way of power supply, treated water supply, sewage & effluent handling system, firefighting system and secured compound that provides agility, convenience & modularity to the food business.
Food Karnataka Limited - Umbrella for food parks
Food Karnataka Limited which is the single window agency now comes under the ambit of the KAPPEC. Earlier it was part of the KSIIDC Board (KIADB). There are four out of 11 food parks established in the state. These include Green Food Park at Bagalkot, Innova Agri Bio Park Limited in Malur at Kolar district, Jewargi Agro Food Park at Gulbarga, and Akshay Food Park in Hiriyur, Chitradurga district.
The remaining: Ramky Food Park at Tumkur, Food Park, Shivamogga, Food Park, Belagavi, Spice Park at Byadagi in Haveri district, Food Park at Harohalli, Bengaluru rural, Food Park at Davengere, Food Park, Vijayapur, have not taken off and the land allotment is yet to be scheduled.
According to Food Karnataka under the 10 Five Year Plan scheme the Ministry of Food Processing Industries established the food parks. The key objective was to maximise the state’s seven agro climatic zones, since Karnataka is the only region in the country where all fruits and vegetables can be grown. It is also the largest producer of spices, aromatic and medicinal plants and the second-largest in milk processing in the country. This gives the state a headstart in the food park infrastructure. However for some reasons it is viewed that the park has not taken off as it should have.
The main objectives of the Food Karnataka is to look into the policy aspects in processing, marketing the products grown and processed. Each of these products will carry a ‘Green Label’ to indicate instant acceptability globally.
The parks in the state face serious infrastructure issues and many of these are yet to receive the final allotment of funds from the governments. There are several food companies which have evinced interest in the park.
For instance Green Food Park at Bagalkot is yet to receive the last part of the grant from the Central government which amounts to around Rs 1 crore. There is a portion of work pending and the park which requires just about another Rs 60 lakh fund infusion could complete critical works like road asphalting to name a few. These if put in place could create confidence among potential investors, according to the company official.
Green Food Park, which spans over an area of 100 acre, has invested 46 per cent towards infrastructure. The remaining 54 per cent is for industries and 90 per cent of the land is already allotted to food companies which are registered and sub-leased. It wooed leading food companies including Nectar Beverages, Mysore Fruit Products, and KBDL Winery unit and the Bijapur-Bagalkot Milk Union has now run into a serious issue where the government is silent to provide additional water despite sufficient power supply.
In the case of Nectar Beverages, which opted for the Green Food Park at Bagalkot primarily because of its infrastructure and connectivity, preferred the location for its easy access to the fruit growing areas in the region, but is now looking at another location because of poor water availability. This company had the ability to create 3,000 jobs for the local people. Both KIADB and the Bagalkot Development Authority are not able to commit that they would be able to solve this basic issue. While the park is able to provide around 7 lakh litre of water, the actual requirement was 20 lakh litre because beverage manufacturing is a water-intensive operation. In addition to this, the KIADB did not give the company the No Objection Certificate (NOC). This has led the company to look at other options. The key issue is government lacks the clarity on how to take these food parks forward, according to the official.
For small food units, the food parks are seen as an ultimate destination for investment. This is because their operations are minuscule compared to the medium and large food manufacturers, stated the official.
Another key issue is that Karnataka gives no power subsidy like its neighbouring states Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. In fact Karnataka industries pay Rs 7 per unit of power.
It is mandated that all food parks have to pay Rs 25,000 every three months as a service fee to Food Karnataka Limited. Despite accepting this amount, there is no support provided to prospective investors, stated officials.
According to Food Karnataka Limited, the processing industry will promote production of pulp, puree and juices, apart from canned items from fruits and vegetables sourced from farms strategically located in the vicinity of the six food parks. It will also manufacture snack foods and biscuits.
The Malur Park which is promoted by Innova Agri Bio Park Ltd first phase spreads over 90 acre for the purpose of vegetable processing and biotechnology. A unique feature of the park is the irradiation processing facility with the technical assistance of BARC and the department of Atomic Energy, Government of India. The fruits processed here include mango, tomato, potato, chickoo, beans, and brinjal.
Jewargi Agro Park in Gulbarga, which is a joint venture of Rayalseema Concrete Sleepers Pvt. Ltd of SS Patil Group, spans over 105 acre which will process millet,thor dhal, urad dhal, groundnut, sunflower and lime.
Akshay Food Park in Hiriyur, Chitradurga district, spans over an area of 106 acre. The crops for processing here include pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruits (pomegranate), vegetables, and crops for bio-fuel.
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