Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on Thursday inaugurated Odisha FoodPro 2022, an interface of investors, manufacturers, producers, food processors, startups, policy makers and organisations from across Indian food ecosystem.
He said food processing is one of the most important sectors which can become a powerful driver of Odisha’s growth story. This sector has tremendous potential towards reducing post-harvest crop loss, value addition and enhancing farmers’ income.
Patnaik announced that Odisha FoodPro would be made an annual event, to be organised by MSME Department, so as to put Odisha on India’s as well as the world’s food processing map.
He said this event was conceptualised not only to enable investors understand the investment environment in the State’s food processing sector but also to provide them an exposure to micro and small food processing entrepreneurs to access financing as well as newer skills and technologies.
He expressed happiness over the participation of the Women SHGs in the event and hoped that they would engage themselves more in the food processing activities and prosper further.
Odisha is also among the leading States in the implementation of the Prime Minister’s formalisation of micro food processing enterprises scheme, Patnaik added.
State MSME minister Pratap Dev said the event is a first-of-its-kind in Odisha. He outlined the efforts made by his department and growth opportunities in this sector, especially for small investors and entrepreneurs.