With the State-owned Odisha Agro Industries Corporation limited (OAIC) keen to set up a mega food park in Koraput district under the Mega Food Park scheme of the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), the State Government has sought certain clarifications from the Ministry before submitting its Expression of Interest (EOI) for the project.
The State Government wants to know whether a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is a basic requirement in setting up the project.
A senior official of the MSME Department said certain clarifications have been from the Ministry as there are some ambiguities in the guidelines of the Centre to set up the project. The department has sought an early response as the last date of submission of EOI is April 30.
Under the revised guidelines, the State Governments or a State Government entity or a cooperative society is allowed to promote mega food park projects without the requirement of forming an SPV and is exempted, among others, from setting up a processing unit in the park.
The Union Ministry is implementing the mega food park scheme with an aim to create modern infrastructure facilities for food processing industries on a cluster basis. The MoFPI has approved a total of 40 mega food park projects in as many as 23 States which are at various stages of implementation. The OAIC has submitted an EoI to the State MSME Department, which has directed the OAIC to submit a DPR (detailed project report) to the Centre.