Punjab’s food processing industry is all set to receive a major boost with the Centre giving a go ahead to set up six new cold chain projects in the state. These cold chains have been sanctioned for all three sectors in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Mohali, ludhiana and Fatehgarh Sahib.
With the Congress government in the state, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is not letting go any chance to claim credit for the same. The press note issued by the SAD office maintained that Union Food Processing Minister andparty’s Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal was behind the decision.
The press note, quoting the Ministry spokesman, stated that Harsimrat Badal was keen to leverage the inherent strengths of the dairy, fruit and vegetable sectors in Punjab to add value to the resultant products. “Accordingly six cold chains have been sanctioned for all three sectors in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Mohali, ludhiana and Fatehgarh Sahib,” it added.
The Food Processing Industry Minister said that besides adding much-needed value to agri-products, increasing the income of farmers and boosting exports, the cold chains would also provide employment opportunities to youngsters in rural areas.
She said that the cold chains would bring in an investment of Rs 156 crore which would also strengthen the rural economy.
Harsimrat, wife of SAD president Sukhbir Badal, said that the focus of new projects was to provide affordable cold storage facilities in food producing hubs.
She said that though cold storage facilities existed in Punjab, they were mostly used for potato storage. "We need to move beyond this and create space for high value vegetables and fruits in our cold chains", she added.
Giving details, the minister said the food processing ministry was building a national cold chain grid in the country. “This will ensure creation of proper forward and backward linkages and reduce food wastage…101 new integrated cold chain projects have been sanctioned across the country. These projects are for fruits and vegetables, diary, fish, meat marine, poultry and ready to eat products”,” she added.