CHENNAI: An agro-industrial corridor will come up in the Cauvery delta districts — Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai and Tiruchy — at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore and work for it will begin in a month.
“It is going to be a revolutionary activity in the delta districts which have not been industrialised so far. Food industry is the apt one to be set up in these districts. The project will run for the next four years and promote food industry in the delta,” said Dr K Alagusundaram, MD and chief executive officer, TNApex. He was participating in a panel discussion on the topic “Agro and food processing industry: Unveiling fresh opportunities” as part of the Global Investors Meet.
The agro-industrial corridor project was announced in January last and in March. Agriculture Minister MRK Panneerselvam said a sum of Rs 1,000 crore would be allocated for this. Alagusundaram also said three major food parks are coming up in the state under Sipcot industrial estates in Theni, Manapparai and Tindivanam. In these three industrial estates, 100 acres have been allotted for food parks.
“The Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme has been running for the past four years and will go on for one-and-half years. This scheme has a target of creating 12,000 micro-food processing formalised enterprises in the state. Already, sanction has been given to 8,000 enterprises and of them, 4,000 are running,” Alagusundaram said.
He explained that any individual who wishes to start a food industry in Tamil Nadu will get 35% credit-linked subsidy upto a maximum of Rs 10 lakh. “For example, if the project cost is Rs 1 crore, the government will offer Rs 10 lakh to support the venture. Now, we have created so many industries across the state. We are trying to cluster the industries created and support them on branding and marketing.
The government wants to promote producers in these 4,000 food industries. Producers have to do some primary processing on their side and bring it to the market or bring it to the secondary processor. We are going to take 12 major crops of Tamil Nadu and create clusters for them,” Alagusundaram said.
Tamil Nadu is in a very stable economic situation, stable political situation and with a tropical weather condition and fertile soil and enjoys a lot of government schemes and support. “It is growing but it is not an inclusive growth. Technology and large-scale investments promote corporates. But the government also has to see inclusive growth. i.e., the farmer needs to get what his share is,” Alagusundaram added.