Odisha govt plans to set up five food parks by 2020

With a view to give a boost to the food processing industry, the Odisha government has planned to set up five food parks by end of 2020, a senior official said. The Odisha government is also in the last stage of finalising its revised food processing policy as well as the industrial policy.

"We already have two food parks fully operational. We want to add another five. We have identified the locations and we are hopeful that they will come up by the end of 2020," Sanjeev Chopra, deparment of industries told PTI here on the sidelines of the 12th FICCI Foodworld 2019 summit. He said the company had introduced the food processing policy for the state in 2016, but we thought it needs to be updated to be more in sync with the time.

"We feel, by the end of this year, the revised policy will be in place. We are also working on the new industrial policy which also gives focus to food processing," Teli said. The state government has already embarked on a 5 year plan which entails giving a boost to six sectors including food processing is one of the key focus areas.

As per the five-year plan, the government expects an investment of nearly Rs 2.5 lakh crore which will provide employment to 10 lakh people. "In the food processing industry itself, we have received an investment commitment of over Rs 4,860 crore. We are hopeful we will get a good response for our parks as well," he said.

Chopra further said that companies like Parle, Britannia, ITC, among others are also expanding their presence in the state. When asked if the company sees any negative impact of the higher GST on confectionery on investments in the state, he said, "GST is a subject matter of the centre. The state government, however, gives reimbursements on SGST.

Therefore, we are also inviting Tier 2 companies to invest in the state." PTI PSK AP AP.

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