Odisha has received proposals worth Rs 466 crore for setting up of processing units at the Seafood Park at Deras in Bhubaneswar, for which land has already been allotted to 20 firms. With an investment of Rs134 crore, the seafood park is being developed by Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO). Based on the committed investments so far, the seafood park will process 90,860 MTPA of sea food and will generate 7,214 employment opportunities.
Among the major companies which have already committed investments for setting up units at the seafood park are Falcon Marine Exports ltd, Magnum Seafoods ltd, Utkal Exports and Vizag-based Coastal Corporation ltd. Falcon Marine Exports will set up the largest sea food processing unit with a capacity of 37,000 MTPA of sea food and provide 4,060 employment opportunities.
“The State Government has received very encouraging response in terms of investments for the Seafood Parkfrom companies across the country.
leveraging on the natural ecosystem, the project will increase employment in the State as well as create an ideal ecosystem for the seafood industry to flourish in Odisha. We are confident that the state-of-the-art facility at the Seafood Park and Odisha’s investor friendly policies will set new benchmarks for the sector,” said Principal Secretary, Industries, Sanjeev Chopra.
located at a distance of about 20 km from Bhubaneswar, the seafood park is well-connected to domestic, national and international markets. Spread over 152 acres of land, the project has been approved under the Mega Food park scheme of the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries and will comprise of 41 processing units.
The project will provide plug and play infrastructure and access to common facilities like devices for cold storage, pre-processing and post-processing facilities, ice plant, packaging, polythene unit and a research and development facility.
According to the norms of the State Government, a financial assistance of up to 20 per cent of the project cost (excluding cost of the land) subject to limit of Rs 15 crore will be provided to special purpose vehicle (SPV) which will promote the sea food park. The subsidy can also be provided in the form of equity participation through the Idco or the Odisha Small Industries Corporation ltd (OSIC).
India exported 11,34,948 MT of seafood worth an all-time high of US$ 5.78 billion in 2016-17 as against 9,45,892 MT and 4.69 billion dollars a year earlier, with USA and South East Asia continuing to be the major importers. During the same period, total exports of marine products from Odisha stood at 47,204.97 MT and were valued at Rs 2,508.31 crore.
The major markets for seafood from Odisha include South East Asia (39 per cent) followed by USA (28 per cent), EU (11 per cent) and Japan (9 per cent) in terms of quantity. In terms of value, USA (35 per) stands ahead of South East Asia (30 per cent) followed by EU (11 per cent), Japan (10 per cent), Middle East (3 per cent), etc. Some of the major marine products exported from Odisha to countries like Japan, China, the US, UK, UAE, Indonesia and Hong Kong include frozen shrimps, frozen pompret and ribbon fish etc.
Pioneering in single window clearance procedures, Odisha’s Single Window Clearance Authority is also committed to review and dispose all investment proposals in a period of 30 days.
