THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The new Central Government’s first official function in Kerala is likely to be the commissioning of the first green mega food park in the state in Palakkad under the Mega Food Park Scheme of the Centre.
The project is aimed at enhancing the capacity of the food processing industry in the state. Besides, it will provide a major boost to the sector through value addition and by cutting down food wastage at each stage of the supply chain with the focus on perishables. It will also offer modern infrastructure facilities for food processing.
According to officers of the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra), which developed the park, the work on the Rs 119.02-crore project spread over 79.42 acres in Elapully and Pudussery villages has almost been completed and it would be commissioned soon.
The project is being set up with the assistance of Rs 50 crore from the Ministry of Food Processing Industries and term loan assistance of Rs 28.34 crores from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
The Central Processing Centre (CPC or food park) has facilities like roads, drainage, water supply and electricity supply. Apart from this, core facilities arranged in the CPC include cold storage (4,500 MT capacity), ripening chamber (30 MT/day capacity), warehouse (7,500 sq m), pack house (10 MT/hr capacity), spice processing facility (15 MT/day capacity), and quality control laboratory.
Raw materials for food park
The major raw materials targeted for the mega food park include coconuts, spices (ginger, pepper, cardamom, turmeric), vegetables and fruits (banana, pineapple, mango, jackfruit, and papaya), tapioca, cashew, tamarind and paddy. The raw materials will be mainly sourced from Palakkad, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Thrissur and Ernakulam. In addition, raw materials from the Oddanchatram market in Tamil Nadu will also be considered.
“About 98 per cent work of the park has been completed and the project is expected to be commissioned under the 100-day programme of the new government to be sworn in shortly,” said K A Santhosh Kumar, MD, Kinfra.
The developed space in the CPC would be allotted as ready-to-use plots against payment of a one-time land lease premium. Of the 49.78 acres of allottable land, about 30.50 acres have already been allotted. Kinfra intends to expand the area, under Phase II expansion, by including an additional area of 20 acres in Elapully village.
The development work of the additional area would be taken up shortly, said officials.
