Tap the immense potential of food processing sector in Andhra Pradesh, exhorts Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has said that India is fast emerging as a global food processing hub and Andhra Pradesh, contributing 9% of the sector’s output in the country, stands at U.S. $50 billion.

“There are abundant opportunities, but the pace of growth is slow,” Mr. Naidu said while addressing the India Food Manufacturing Summit, organised by the Trade Promotion Council of India (TCPI) in Visakhapatnam on Friday.

Explaining the advantages for the prospective entrepreneurs, the Chief Minister said the State had five climatic zones and was rich in both aquaculture and horticulture production.

‘Fruit capital of India’

“With 15.6% of total fruit production, Andhra Pradesh has emerged as the fruit capital of India. It is also contributing about 32% of marine sea food exports and has 2.26 lakh acres under aquaculture. Besides, Andhra Pradesh is ranked first in registered food processing industries with 6,000 functional units,” the Chief Minister said.

Changes in food habits and quality consciousness increased the demand for food processing units, he said, adding that world-class food processing ecosystem was present in the State with nine integrated food parks, equipped with plug-and-play facilities, cold storage and warehousing facilities.

“Andhra Pradesh is one of the largest food producers in the country with net cultivable area of 8.45 million hectares. It is number one in fish, shrimp and egg production. The State is contributing 17.85% of India’s eggs and 10.41% of meat exports,” Mr. Naidu said.

Attractive policy

He said the A.P. Food Processing Policy-4.0 offered best incentives, which were highly attractive with investment subsidy, power subsidy and other benefits. He said investors could expect quick clearances under the single window system.

“The target is attract ₹30,000 crore investments and create 3 lakh jobs in the next five years,” the Chief Minister said, adding that the State had attracted investments of ₹9,000 crore in agro food processing sector alone the previous year.

Product perfection

Stressing the need for achieving product perfection to meet global market demands, he said the government was ready to adopt next generation reforms to meet the global standards in quality food production.

Earlier, addressing the gathering, Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Avinash Joshi, lauded the efforts of the State government in the sector. He stressed the need for value addition and prevention of food wastage.

TPCI office in Amaravati

Trade Promotion Council of India Chairman Mohit Singla announced the opening of the TPCI Southern Regional Office in Amaravati.

Minister for Industries, Commerce and Food Processing T.G. Bharath spoke about the tremendous growth potential in the food processing sector in the State and the facilities being provided by the government.

Principal Secretary (Food processing) Chiranjiv Choudhary spoke.