Lok Sabha Question No. 3446 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-01-01
Subject: Committee on Mega Food Parks
Ministry: FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
Asked by: VINCENT H PALA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3446

ANSWERED ON 01 st  JANUARY, 2019

## COMMITTEE ON MEGA FOOD PARKS

## 3446.  SHRI VINCENT H. PALA:

Will the Minister of FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has constituted any expert committe to review the Mega Food Parks Scheme in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether any reports reviewing the working of the 9 functional Mega Food Parks have been generated till date and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of the sanctioned and commissioned projects in the North East Region, out of the total sanctioned 42 Mega Food Parks;
- (d) whether the Government plans to set up any Mega Food Park in Meghalaya;
- (e) if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the details of funds released for the Mega Food Parks projects in the North East Region during the last three years?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES (SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)

- (a): No, Madam.
- (b): The  Indian  Council  for  Research  on  International  Economic  Relations  (ICRIER)  has carried out an assessment of Mega Food Parks in its study titled 'Report on Evaluation of the Impact  of  the  Scheme  for  Mega  Food  Park  of  the  Ministry  of  Food  Processing  Industries'. ICRIER  has  submitted  its  final  report  on  September,  2015  to  the  Ministry.  The  brief  of  the finding of the report are at Annexure-I .
- (c) & (f): Government has approved 5 Mega Food Parks in the North East Region, out of total 40 Mega Food Park projects approved in the country.  Detail of Implementation of 5 Mega Food Park  Projects  sanctioned  by  Ministry  in  the  North  East  Region  along  with  amount  of  grant released to these projects in last three years is at Annexure-II .
- (d) & (e): Ministry of Food Processing Industries does not establish Mega Food Parks in the country on its own under the Mega Food Park Scheme. The proposals under scheme are invited through Expression of Interest (EOI) from time to time. Selection of suitable proposals for these projects is done as per the Scheme guidelines, based on the merit, through a stringent appraisal process  as  per  the  prefixed  criteria.  As  on  date,  no  proposal  is  under  consideration  for establishing Mega Food Parks in state of Meghalaya.  Ministry has issued fresh Expression of Interest  to  seek  proposals  for  setting  of  new  mega  food  parks  in  uncovered  States  i.e.    Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and all UTs to fill up vacant slots on 23.12.2018 with the last date of submission of proposals as 09.02.2019.

*****

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  3446  FOR  ANSWERED  ON  01 ST   JANUARY,  2019  REGARDING 'COMMITTEE ON MEGA FOOD PARKS'

## A  BRIEF  NOTE  ON  ICRIER'S  FINAL  REPORT  SUBMITTED TO  MOFPI  ON  THE IMPACT OF THE SCHEME OF MEGA FOOD PARKS

MoFPI awarded the evaluation study for assessment of the impact of the Scheme of Mega Food Parks of the Ministry to Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). The recommendations made in the Report are summarized as below:

- i) While preparing the DPR, there is a need for a detailed diagnostic study that should have detailed inputs of the end users of the facilities;
2. ii) MoFPI should consider revising the time frame for completion of the project to five years as in case of cluster development scheme of the Ministry of MSME;
3. iii) The scheme should be made flexible in terms of land requirement, the amount of grant and  contribution  of  SPV.    It  is  also  suggested  that  to  ensure  that  the  scheme  is  not misused, the guidelines should be more generic rather than specifying 30-35 units to be set up in the park. A more generic requirement of the units like 'more than 10 units' may be provided in the scheme guidelines.
4. iv) Making  provision  for  forward  linkages  has  also  been  suggested  alongwith  existing provision of backward linkages
- v) MoFPI should design innovative incentives to attract the units to the Mega Food Parks. These can be in the form of support for machinery purchasing, use of green technology and R&D. The individual investor setting up unit in the park may be given priority in other schemes of the Ministry
6. vi) Ministry  should  select  DPRs  which  have  more  realistic  provisions  rather  than  those which provide large numbers
7. vii) To ensure collaboration with the State Governments in the project implementation, it has been  suggested  to  have  a  tripartite  agreement  signed  between  the  MoFPI,  State Government and the SPV. Such provisions reportedly exist in the MSE-CDP Scheme of Ministry of MSME and National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NMZs)
8. viii)  It has also been suggested that MoFPI can explore the possibility of having an empaneled set  of  public  and  private  banks  that  pre-approve  the  scheme  guidelines  and  spread information about it.
9. ix) It is also essential to take bank's feedback while redesigning the scheme guidelines
- x) MoFPI should do a detailed study on the dovetailing of the MoFPI scheme with other central and state government schemes and this should be published in its website.
11. xi) The State should be encouraged to promote Mega Food Parks in their agro-processing and industrial policies
12. xii) It  has  been suggested that a bidding and selection procedures have to be made on-line. The  project  evaluation  documents  and  consultations  on  modification  of  the  scheme guidelines should also be made  available on the website for  comments  by  the stakeholders. Similarly, the decisions of the IMAC and TC should also be made online and regularly published in the website of the Ministry
13. xiii)  MoFPI schemes should  clearly  mention  the  objective  of  the  Mega  Food  Parks  to  link Indian farmers and processors with global value chains
14. xiv) MoFPI  should  push  for  regulatory  reforms  focusing  on  Acts  such  as  the  APMC  Act, which help the SPV and farmers to connect with each other.  MoFPI should work with the FSSAI to speed up the approval process
15. xv) Ministry should have proper infrastructure mapping based on the mapping of fruits and vegetable  availability  to  streamline  the  supply  chain  and  assist  the  SPV  to  plan  their infrastructure. There should be mapping of existing PPCs
16. xv) The SPV should be allowed to select their consultants and if they need help of MOFPI in that case they can be referred to empaneled PMCs.
17. xvi)  It is important for the Ministry to have field visits to some of the global food parks and learn from their best practices.
18. xvii) MoFPI  should  reconsider  the  number  of  Mega  Food  Parks  which  it  wants  to  create. Rather than having more food parks it should focus on few food parks and make them operational.
19. xviii)  MoFPI should work with the operational MFPs to help them to attract units in their parks and help SPVs to develop brands and market them.
20. xix)  MoFPI should focus on closing the projects which have received third installment of the grant  but  taking  very  long  time  in  completion  of  the  projects.    This  has  been  also recommended that MoFPI should release the final amount of grant in advance and not before the completion of the project so that the bank can release the entire term loan to the SPV to complete the project.

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  AND  (f)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  3446  FOR  ANSWERED  ON  01 ST   JANUARY,  2019 REGARDING 'COMMITTEE ON MEGA FOOD PARKS'

Detail status of Implementation of 05 Mega Food Park Projects sanctioned by Ministry in the North East Region with amount of grant released to these projects in last three years.

(Rs. in Cr)

| S. No.            | Project Name                                   | Project Cost      | Date of In-principle Approval   | Date of Final Approval   | Amount of grant approved                                              | Total Amount of grant released                                        | 2016-17           | 2018-17           | 2018-19           |
|-------------------|------------------------------------------------|-------------------|---------------------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|
| Arunachal Pradesh | Arunachal Pradesh                              | Arunachal Pradesh | Arunachal Pradesh               | Arunachal Pradesh        | Arunachal Pradesh                                                     | Arunachal Pradesh                                                     | Arunachal Pradesh | Arunachal Pradesh | Arunachal Pradesh |
| 1.                | Rongoge Mega Food Park Pvt. Ltd, Papum Pare    | 71.83             | 21.12.2017                      | ---                      | SPV is in the process of meeting the conditions for 'Final Approval'. | SPV is in the process of meeting the conditions for 'Final Approval'. | 0.00              | 0.00              | 0.00              |
| Assam             | Assam                                          | Assam             | Assam                           | Assam                    | Assam                                                                 | Assam                                                                 | Assam             | Assam             | Assam             |
| 2.                | North East Mega Food Park Ltd., Nalbari        | 80.85             | 16.12.2008                      | 30.03.2009               | 50                                                                    | 45                                                                    | 0.00              | 0.00              | 0.00              |
| Mizoram           | Mizoram                                        | Mizoram           | Mizoram                         | Mizoram                  | Mizoram                                                               | Mizoram                                                               | Mizoram           | Mizoram           | Mizoram           |
| 3.                | Zoram Mega Food Park Pvt. Ltd., Aizawl         | 75.20             | 19.12.2013                      | 10.06.2015               | 50                                                                    | 44.24                                                                 | 14.46             | 14.77             | 0.00              |
| Nagaland          | Nagaland                                       | Nagaland          | Nagaland                        | Nagaland                 | Nagaland                                                              | Nagaland                                                              | Nagaland          | Nagaland          | Nagaland          |
| 4.                | DoysAgri Resources Pvt Ltd, Dimapur            | 71.80             | 03.01.2017                      | 16.08.2017               | 50                                                                    | 15.00                                                                 | 0.00              | 15.00             | 0.00              |
| Tripura           | Tripura                                        | Tripura           | Tripura                         | Tripura                  | Tripura                                                               | Tripura                                                               | Tripura           | Tripura           | Tripura           |
| 5.                | Sikaria Mega Food Park Pvt. Ltd., West Tripura | 87.45             | 29.04.2011                      | 30.11.2011               | 50                                                                    | 43.50                                                                 | 22.71             | 0.00              | 0.00              |