South Asia radius

New mega food parks to come online despite sluggish progress

By RJ Whitehead

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Nutrition Junk food

© iStock
© iStock
Up to four mega food parks will become operational over the course of next three months, according to India’s minister of state for food processing industries.

Speaking in Delhi, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said the ministry had been planning to ramp up openings after a slow start to the policy. 

Whereas six mega food parks became operational between 2014 and 2017, likewise 42 mega food parks will become operational by 2019​,” she said, adding that the government had sanctioned 63 cold chain projects since 2014. 

We have received 300 proposals for setting up new cold chain projects, which shows that the industry across India is taking interest in food processing sector as we have received many applications from north-eastern states like Nagaland, Manipur and others​.”

The Union Minister also revealed that her ministry has offered to provide on-the-ground storage facilities for perishables to help wheat and rice farmers cut out the ubiquitous middlemen who take the lion’s share of their profits.

I hope this suggestion will be considered by the cabinet​,” she said.

In a bid to increase food park building, she has been in talks with the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state. She said she had been surprised to note that “not even a single food park in such a huge state​” had commenced construction.

She told Yogi Aditya Nath: “We and the state government will ensure that land, power, safety and all sorts of facilities will be provided to industrialists willing to set up food park in the state​.”

Elsewhere, a senior official at the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation has stressed the need for industry and government collaboration in areas such as applied research to develop crop- and product-specific cold chain management. 

Shakil Ahmed said that doing so would help many start-ups to enter a field that is currently under-supported.

Industry should play a more active role. We have identified more than 52 sectors in clusters that are export-orientated zones in the country, of which 10 have almost started working​. 

As such the industry should come up in a big way and collaborate​,” he added.

More from South Asia…

Bangladesh to get 10% fast food levy

Bangladesh’s finance minister announced to parliament that he was committed to imposing new taxes on fast food as a health measure.

Delivering his budget speech, AMA Muhith said a junk food tax would be in addition to current levies.

I am proposing to impose 10% supplementary duty at local supply stage on fast food in addition to applicable 15% VAT​,” he said.

Muhith has been considering such a move since earlier this year when he first mulled the idea of a 14.5% tax on high-fat, sugar and salt junk food while preparing this year’s budget.

It is a good idea, I never had thought about imposing tax on junk food​,” he said at the time, following a parliamentary question by lawmaker Nurjahan Begum. He later pledged to consider which foods should come under the umbrella.

Nurjahan has been arguing that the government needs to find a way to spark a decrease in the consumption of unhealthy foods at a time when their popularity had been soaring.

Speaking to bdnews24​, Akku Chowdhury, chief executive of the Bangladesh franchisee of Pizza Hut and KFC, said his restaurants would look at ways to phase in the levy so that their prices do not go up suddenly.

Chowdhury said: “We are a genuine business group. We’ll not do anything that can hurt our consumers. So we’ll try to adopt a policy so that the prices do not go up suddenly​."

He added that executives are now looking at ways to cut production costs to offset the new duty.

Related topics Policy Supply chain South Asia

Follow us

Products

View more

Webinars

Food & Beverage Trailblazers

F&B Trailblazers Podcast