Bengal invites Italian investments in Food Processing

Kolkata, Mar 08 (UNI) West Bengal today invited Italian investments in the pre-harvest and food processing sectors.

" There is a whole range of investment opportunities in the pre-harvest and food processing segment which lies untapped and unexplored, " state Food Processing and Horticulture Minister Sailen Sarkar said.

Mr Sarkar was addressing an interactive session with Italian business mission from agro, food processing and food machinery industries and representatives from the Forli-Cesena Chamber of Commerce visiting Kolkata.

In the pre-harvest sector areas that hold promise are manufacture of hybrid seeds and planting materials, high tech horticulture, tissue culture, export oriented horticulture estates, organic farming, green house production, floriculture, medicinal and aromatic plants, he said.

In the processing side, the areas are mushroom cultivation and processing, dehydrated and canned fruits and vegetables, potato processing, frozen fruits and vegetables, fruit juice, fruit pulps, fruit concentrates and crystallized fruits, the Minister said.

He also stressed on processing of tomato paste/puree, fast foods, extruded snacks foods, integrated poultry hatching, farming and processing, fish processing, integrated dairy farming and milk processing.

Mr Sarkar said ten food parks in different locations of the state have been planned to provide common facilities of power supply, water supply, quality control laboratory, effluent treatment plant and cold chains.

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