Mega Food Park Inaugurated in Maharashtra

Introduction

The Government of India has approved three Mega Food Park Projects in Maharashtra. These Projects have been approved in the following districts-

The Mega Food Park Scheme (MFPS) is a concept of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) of the Government of India.
The ministry was focussed in implementing the MFPS in order to create a modern infrastructure for the food processing industry.
The scheme is project oriented instead of being specific to a particular region.
The Mega Food Park Project is implemented by a SPV (Special purpose Vehicle). SPV is a Body Corporate registered under the Companies Act.

The MFPS aims to provide adequate infrastructure for food processing industry so as to ensure enabling of fresh investments in the food processing unit as well as enhancing the employment opportunities in the rural areas. The basic objective behind this initiative is to provide a mechanism in order to link the agricultural production to the market. This would be implemented by bringing together farmers, processors and retailers in order to ensure that the value addition is maximized whereas the wastage generated is minimized.

The first Mega Food Park in Maharashtra was inaugurated on 1st March 2018.
It was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, Harsimrat Kaur Badal in presence of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis.
Satara Mega Food Park Pvt Ltd. Was inaugurated at village Degaon, in Satara district.
This is the 10th Mega Food Park which is being operationalized in India and the 8th Mega Food Park to be operationalized during the term of the present government.
As of now, nine Mega Food Parks are functional. These include-

The Mega Food Park is to have a Central Processing Centre (CPC) which would be supported by common infrastructure, Primary Processing Centres (PPC) and collection centres.
It would give a major boost to the food processing sector. It would reduce the food wastage at each level of the supply chain particularly focussing on the perishable items and enhancing the quality of items.
It helps in creating modern infrastructure facilities for processing of food as it goes through the value chain from the farm to the markets.
It would help in creating a strong forward and backward linkages by following this cluster based approach.
It supports the creation of the state-of-the-art infrastructure to set up modern food processing units along with the well-established supply chain.
The Central Processing Centre enables to create common facilities for primary processing whereas the Primary Processing Centres and the Collection Centres are responsible for the storage near the farms.
The Government of India has provided a financial assistance up to Rs 50,000 crore per Mega Food Project.
The Satara Mega Food Park is set up at a cost of Rs 139.30 crore and is spread in 64 acres of land.
The Satara Food Park will not only be beneficial to the people of Satara but also to the people living in the nearby districts of Pune, Sangli, Kolhapur, Solapur, Ratnagiri, Rajgarh etc.