Rs 6.75 crore Perishable Cargo Centre inaugurated at airport

Kolkata, Sep 26 (UNI) Union Minister of State for Power and Commerce Jairam Ramesh today inaugurated the Centre for Perishable Cargo (CPC) at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) here.

The 7425 sq mt CPC, built and operationalised with a 100 per cent grant-in-aid of Rs 6.75 crore by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) of the Union Ministry of Commerce, had been under trial operation from June 2008.

The CPC has an annual storage capacity of 12,000 MT, ten times higher than the present export of perishable goods from Kolkata airport.

Presently, seasonal fruits, vegetables and chilled fish of perishable category are exported from Kolkata by air. Over 1200 MT of these were exported in 2006-2007.

The CPC was the eighth in India and its installed capacity should be utilised to the maximum potential, urged Mr Ramesh.

Kolkata being the gateway for exports to South-East Asia and other regions, the commissioning of this CPC would prove a boon for West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand and all the North East states, he stated.

India's ninth CPC and the second in West Bengal under construction with a cost of Rs three crore would be opened at Bagdogra by March 2009, Mr Ramesh said. All the states in the Eastern Region should ensure that benefit of these facilities percolate to the marginal growers, he added.

APEDA would also finance a Rs 5.5 crore export cargo complex at Haldia, he said adding the project had been sanctioned and it would be constructed within one year after the state government selected a contractor for the project.

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