Mega food Parks and a food hub to come up in Pune

Pune, Aug 17 (UNI) The All India Food Processors Association (AIFPA) proposes to set up 'Mega Food Parks' to provide necessary guidance for infrastructure and other support services to food processing units and a 'Food Hub' to cater to the 1,000-odd food processing units in Pune and the western region.

Talking to mediapersons, AIFPA President P L Kaul said, ''There is a need for a 'Food Hub' to assist industries with latest technical know-how and upgrade the existing units to expand production in Pune, as nearly 35 per cent of the food processing units are located here.'' ''The food processing industry is on the verge of a take-off and we have to think big and produce at a large-scale to provide for the number of retail chains that have entered the market. India must become the food bowl in the coming years'', Mr Kaul added.

''The city has an auto cluster and we want the 'Food Hub' to function on the same lines as many big and small food units are already here,'' he pointed out.

To a query about setting up similar 'Food Hubs' elsewhere in the country, he said that Kolkota, Kerala and Punjab already have such food parks and even Nashik has one for wine.

''We would like more grants for the units as the Government under the Industrial Infrastructure Utilisation Scheme (IIUS) under the Ministry of Commerce, extends up to 75 per cent grants to the food processing units,'' Mr Kaul observed.

He further added that the industry has also to look into the nutritional needs of the masses.

To a query about the regulations for food safety and prevention of food adulteration, he said the industry has no problem about adhering to the standards of the Government.

''The new laws and regulations under the 'Food Safety Act' will come up for implementation after three years. In the transitional period, suggestions and recommendations have been asked from the industry,'' he added.

''The only problem is that the industry has objected to the GSR 491(E) dated August 8, 2006 which stipulates 'Harmonization of Labeling Provisions with Codex' including QUID Labeling. This means that all the food processing units are to be provided with the list of the ingredients and their quantity in terms of percentage on the package. This is not possible as everyone can manufacture and duplicate any recipe,'' he informed.

UNI