Odisha govt seeks clarifications from Centre over food park project proposal

Reported by Chinmaya Dehury

Bhubaneswar, April 27:

While the Odisha Agro Industries Corporation Limited (OAIC), a state PSU, is 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.

“We have sought certain clarifications from the Ministry as there are some ambiguities in the guidelines of the Centre to set up the project.” said a senior official of MSME department.

The state government has sought an early response from the MoFPI as the last date of submission of EOI is April 30.

Under the revised guidelines, the state governments/state government entities/cooperatives have been allowed to promote mega food park projects without the requirement of forming a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and are exempted from setting up a processing unit in the park, among others.

The ministry is implementing mega food park scheme with the aim to create modern infrastructure facilities for food processing industries on cluster basis.

MoFPI has approved a total of 40 mega food park projects in as many as 23 states which are in various stages of implementation.

OAIC has submitted an EoI to the state MSME department. The department has directed OAIC to submit a DPR (detailed project report) to the Centre.