AP CM lays stone for food park, maize unit in Kurnool district.

In an effort to fillip to the agro-processing sector, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu recently laid the foundation stone for Ultra Mega Food Park in Tangadacha and Gujarat Ambuja maize project Orvakallu in Kurnool district.

The Jain Irrigation Food Park is being established on a 758 acre site. The food processing facility will include fruit processing, vegetables and spices processing, agri biotech and R&D centre.

Under the manufacturing set up, the food park includes micro-irrigation systems, PVC & PE Pipes and Tissue Culture while technology innovations will constitute product and crop demonstration centre, water-harvesting demonstration centres and renewable energy hubs, according to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office.

'Given that food habits are changing with lifestyles and the demand for food is a growing concern, we believe R&D will help us understand the existing trends in food, understand the consumption of certain foods and predict the need for future. We will continue to conduct research on various agriculture practices which will help us increase the yield' the Chief Minister said in a statement.

The Ultra Mega Food Park is aimed at catering to the growing needs of the agro-processing industry and will serve as the anchor project for the district, he added.

Later, the Chief Minister also laid foundation stone for Gujarat Ambuja Exports facility with an investment of Rs. 240 crore located on a 200 acre site.

The company is setting up a maize processing unit in Orvakallu of Kurnool district which will offer both direct and indirect employment to locals. This unit will crush 750 MT of maize and will have a derivates of maize with a capacity of 350 TPD.

'These investments reflect our decentralised development strategy for the State. Similar initiatives are planned in other districts,' the Chief Minister said.

HBL