Chandigarh: Leading industrial giants in the food processing sector are making a beeline for Punjab as they find the environment conducive and the new industrial and business development policy excellent for for doing business.
Pepsico India and the ITC Limited have announced expansion of their operations in the state in the agro-food processing sector.
Rinkesh Satija from PepsiCo India told the Industry and Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora that the company would invest in snacks business and were eager to set up more units in the state.
He appreciated the Punjab Government for its new business policy and for holding the first of its kind Punjab Agri and Food Conclave in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Punjab Agricultural University (PAU).
He suggested such conclaves at regular intervals to give more attention to this sector. Sanjay Singhal from ITC Limited said the company had recently launched new juices, and biscuits and soon it was going to invest in the dairy sector. He also suggested enhancing the production of fruits and vegetables in the state.
Bhavdeep Sardana from Sukhjit Starch & Chemicals Limited also hailed the efforts of the Punjab government and revealed they were setting up a Mega Food Park in Phagwara and urged the minister to increase maize production in the state rather than rice and wheat.
Akshay Bector of Cremica Food Industries Limited added that apart from new business policy, the abolishment of the truck unions by the state government was a welcome step. He also hailed the holding of Agri and Food Conclave.
Later, Industry and Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora said during 2016-17 agriculture and allied activities contributed 27.38% to the state GDP. Further, with total cultivable area of 4.2 million hectares, Punjab constitutes only 3% of the net area sown in the country and this small area produces 19% of wheat, 10% of rice, 10% of milk, 20% of honey, 48% of mushroom & 5% of cotton in the country, he added.
He told that as the state strives to become a destination for food processing industry and a global leader in the export of value-added Agri-produce, this conclave would serve as a platform to deliberate on new drivers of growth including Agro marketing reforms, development of agri-infrastructure, mega food parks in Punjab.
Later in the afternoon, a session was organized on opportunities and challenges in th efood sector which focused on problems being faced by the industry in this sector and speakers dwelt on how the state could provide project development support to the private sector entrepreneurs in leveraging assistance available under various schemes like Cold Chain, Kisan Sampada Yojna, Agro Clusters and others. The final session was focused on developing linkages in the food chain.