INDORE: The ITC Limited – one of the major private sector companies in the country – will invest Rs 700 crore for starting a state-of-the-art food processing facility in Madhya Pradesh.
“We’re intending to make a large investment in the state-of-the-art food processing facility in MP, which will entail an investment of Rs 700 crores. The land is already with us. Pre-design work has already commenced.
We’ll make it a showcase food processing facility of the state, where there is enormous potential for the sector,” Sanjiv Puri, the Chairman and Managing Director of ITC Limited said while addressing the inaugural session of the Magnificent Madhya Pradesh (MMP) Investors Summit 2019 in Indore on Friday.
“The food processing facility will not only include our listed food brands but will also include operations for dehydrating vegetables.
We’re going to work with farmers here in high yielding beans and carrots, which will be de-hydrated at our upcoming facility and marketed subsequently on a pan India basis,” announced Puri.
Maintaining that there was tremendous potential for horticulture in the state, Puri said “work is underway to develop a medicinal and aromatic plants precision farm on 100 acres land in MP. We’ve piloted certain species and demonstrated them to farmers. The farm will in coming years be expanded to 10,000 acres land, which will go a long way in doubling the farmers' income,” he added.
Puri said the ITC has been working with farmers in the state for long in various areas, including e-choupals, making newer varieties for Sharbati wheat farmers, climate-smart farming practices and creating community water structures.