Visakhapatnam, Aug 29 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh will emerge as global hub for food processing, said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday.
He said that with five climatic zones rich in both aquaculture and horticulture production, Andhra Pradesh has the best advantages in the food processing sector.
He was speaking at the India Food Manufacturing Summit organised by the Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) here.
Stating that India is fast emerging as a global food processing hub, he said that Andhra Pradesh contributes 9 per cent of food processing output in the country, which stands at $49 billion.
He claimed that by contributing 15.6 per cent of total fruit production, Andhra Pradesh had emerged as the fruit capital of India. In addition, Andhra Pradesh contributes around 32 per cent of marine seafood exports and covers 2.26 lakh acres under aquaculture. Andhra Pradesh also ranks first in registered food industries with 6,000 functional units, he said.
He noted that with increasing demand for quality food, the demand for food processing units is increasing. He told the investors that Andhra Pradesh has a world-class food processing ecosystem with nine integrated food parks equipped with plug-and-play facilities, cold storage and warehousing facilities.
CM Naidu said that Andhra Pradesh is going to emerge as a global food processing hub with the largest food producers in the country. The state remains a top producer of rice, mango, banana, chilli, turmeric and shrimp. It also operates in fish, shrimp and egg production.
The Chief Minister stressed the need for bringing value addition to food products in the global market.
He said that Andhra Pradesh is one of the largest food producers in the country with a net cultivable area of 8.45 million hectares.
Andhra Pradesh is number one in fish, shrimp and egg production, contributing 17.85 per cent of India’s eggs and 10.41 per cent of meat exports.
The Chief Minister said the ‘Andhra Pradesh Food Processing Policy 4.0’ offers the best incentives, which are highly attractive, including investment subsidy, power cost subsidy and several other benefits. He said investors will get clearances immediately under the single window clearance for food processing units.
He revealed that the state has set a target to attract Rs 30,000 crore of investments and create 3 lakh jobs in the next five years. Last year, the state attracted investments to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore in the agro-food processing sector alone.
The Chief Minister stressed the need for achieving product perfection to meet global market demands.
He said the state government is ready to adopt next-generation reforms to meet the global standards in quality food production.
Earlier, addressing the gathering, Avinash Joshi, secretary, Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries, lauded the efforts of the Andhra Pradesh government in the food processing sector. He stressed the need for value addition to food products and to prevent wastage of food.
Trade Promotion Council of India chairman Mohit Singla announced the opening of the TPCI southern regional office in Amaravati. He noted that Andhra Pradesh is in the forefront in food processing.
State Industries Minister TG Bharath, Principal Secretary of Food Processing, AP, Chiranjeevi Chowdary, addressed the gathering.
–IANS
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