14 mega food parks to start functioning this year

With a minimum estimated investment of Rs 3500 crore, fourteen mega food parks (MFPs) will become operational this year. The launch of these MFPs will create more than 70,000 jobs.

The formation of mega food parks is aimed at bringing together farmers, processors and retailers, and link them with the market in order to ensure maximisation of value addition, minimisation of wastages and improving of farmers' income.

The government has permitted 42 MFPs to be set up in India. Out of these, 13 are currently operational.

An official from the food processing ministry said, "With 14 more MFPs to be made operational in the financial year 2018-2019, it's a big achievement as we will be able to get 27 projects operationalised in four to five years."

The MFPs will be set up in Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Tripura, Mizoram, Telangana, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha and two in Kerala.

13 MFPs, which are presently operational, are located at Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh), Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar (Uttarakhand), Tumkur (Karnataka), Fazilka (Punjab), Nalbari (Assam), Khargone (Madhya Pradesh), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Murshidabad (West Bengal), Rayagada (Odisha), Satara (Maharashtra), Ajmer (Rajasthan) and Surat (Gujarat).