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“Mega food parks, cold chains and modernisation of abattoirs would drive major investments”
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Monday, 02 January, 2012, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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End of a Plan period is usually a challenging time for bureaucrats as their work comes under scanner for gauging progress made in five years.
With the 11th Five Year Plan soon coming to an end and the next Plan dominating parliamentary proceedings, the ministry of food processing industries (MoFPI) is gearing up to face fresh challenges.
Rakesh Kacker, secretary, MoFPI, in a conversation with Irum Khan lends an insight into how the ministry is going about the job
What is the proposed outlay for the 12th Plan….Which will be the focus areas?
We have proposed a sum of Rs 15,000 crore for the entire Plan period. Infrastructure development would be a major thrust area and mega food parks, cold chains and modernisation of abattoirs would drive major investments.
What is the change that the 12th Five Year Plan will highlight?
It would precisely relate to the working strategy of the ministry. We want to work in a more decentralised manner. We would want all schemes except the mega food parks, promotional and R&D to be done at the states level. Further, we want schemes like technology upgrade, HRD (Human Resource Development), part of cold chain scheme, modernisation of abattoirs to be taken up by the states. This is part of the 12th Plan proposal.
Your ministry has admitted to non-functionality of most of the mega food parks barring two or three. Will investment still go into this project?
Projects like mega food parks are infrastructural projects which take time. There were land related issues which delayed execution. However, we are receiving a lot of interest from the industry. The government has now approved 30 mega food parks. The plan is to have one mega food park in each state and if the proposal is good enough we can even have two parks subject to the availability of space.
MoFPI has recently approved cold chain projects, brief us about them.
Cold chain projects are vital components of the Plan especially given the high amount of food wastage in the country. The idea is to have an entire chain of cold storages from farm to fork rather than standalone cold storages. We have approved 49 proposals for extending government subsidy of about Rs 380 crore in the 11th Plan. However, the total subsidy earmarked for the project was Rs 610 crore. We will have to take a decision about the balance amount. We have a mechanism in place to select those candidates eligible for the grants.
The ministry has made Vision 2015. Do you think such Visions are realistic?
(Chuckles) The point is to experience growth and more processing. Yes, we must have a long-term vision on hand to give a direction to our plan.
Do you consider inconsistencies in the rate of VAT (Value-Added Tax) between states as hurdle?
VAT is not a constraint but we would like to see VAT rate minimum for the food industry. The industry should have minimum taxes and more incentives.
Is obtaining statistics for growth and employment a problem?
Well not really, the data provided by the ministry of statistics is pretty reliable.
What will be the major task for MoFPI going forward?
We would want to get over with the problems of mega food parks.
What is the problem?
The problem lies in getting the land. For promoters to get land with all its clearances is a problem. We are looking for some solution in this area.
Is there a need to strengthen the monitoring of the schemes given the number of schemes undertaken by MoFPI?
We do have monitoring agencies which appraise individual projects. For instance, we have Project Management Institute (PMI) and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Service Ltd (IL&FS) for mega food parks. Cold chain is taken care of by IL&FS and we are planning to involve NHB (National Horticulture Board) in this project.
What is the plan for R&D?
We have a scheme for R&D projects as well. We sanction around Rs 8 crore for these projects per year and these are generally small projects.
You have been around for five months now. What are the projects initiated under your leadership and what are likely to come about in the next six months?
None (chuckles). We are only planning to strengthen the existing projects.
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