The foundation stone for a Mega Food Processing Park was laid today by Sri Nirupam Sen, Minister for Commerce and Industries, Govt. of West Bengal, at Amtala in South 24-Parganas. The Food Park is being jointly promoted by the Salarpuria Group, the Eden City Group and West Bengal Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBIDC). The ceremony was graced by Sri Abdur Rezzak Mollah, Minister-in-Charge for Land & Land Reforms, Sri Kanti Ganguly, Minister-in-Charge for Sunderban Affairs, Sri Mohanta Chatterjee, Minister-in-Charge for Food Processing & Horticulture, Sri Bimal Mistry, Sabhadhipati, South 24-Parganas Zilla Parishad, Sri Samik Lahiri, MP, Dr. Sujan Chakraborty, MP, Sri Sudhangshu Sil, MP, Sri Rathin Sarkar, MLA, Sri Ananda Kumar Biswas, MLA amongst others.
Agro, horticulture and food processing industries have a great potential in West Bengal in terms of growth in production, consumption, and export. Growth of this sector will bring appreciable benefits to the economy of the State by raising agricultural yields, increasing productivity, creating employment and overall raising the standard of living of a significantly large number of people, especially in the rural areas.
Speaking on the occasion the Chairman of the joint venture Sri Rakesh Salarpuria said, “In order to facilitate the growth of food and horticulture processing industries, Govt. of West Bengal has recognized the need to develop appropriate dedicated infrastructure in the format of Food and Horticulture Processing Parks so that it becomes an enabler for investments in this area of business.”
The Chairman of the Eden City Group and Managing Director of the joint venture Sri Indrajit De said, “The Mega Food Processing Park will be based on a demand driven and pre-marketed model with strong backward and forward linkages and a sustainable supply chain. The primary objective of the project is to facilitate establishment of an integrated value chain, with processing at the core.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries under the Eleventh Plan has decided to launch Mega Food Parks, Integrated Cold Chain & Strategic Distribution Centres, Modern Abattoirs and State-of-the-Art Food Testing Labs through out the country to provide a mechanism to bring together farmers, processors and retailers and thus link agricultural production to the market. This will eventually lead to an improvement in the income of farmers through minimization of wastages and add significant value to farm products.
Out of the 125 acres plot, 85 acres will be dedicated for food processing. The remaining 40 acres will be used for ancillary support infrastructure including residences for people working in the Food Park as well as other interested buyers.
The park shall have:
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Fully serviced plots of different dimensions measuring half acre and upwards. These plots shall be exclusively used for setting up individual manufacturing / service units.
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A ‘Krishi Bazaar’ with marketing yards for agro products.
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Entire cold chain (cold storage and reefer vans).
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Warehousing facilities.
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Truck Terminal with appropriate amenities.
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H.T. Power Supply and Distribution System.
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Wide internal road system for long, maintenance free life.
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Area lighting and street lighting.
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Potable, arsenic free water supply system, including water reservoir.
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Drainage and sewerage treatment plant with recycling of water.
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Solid waste management system.
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Rain water harvesting system.
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Common facilities building.
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Security management system.
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Telecommunication system.
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