'Inadequate infrastructure cripples food processing sector'

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SME Times News Bureau | 08 Mar, 2011
Lack of adequate processing infrastructure is impacting the food processing sector in he country, said Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Harish Rawat on Tuesday in New Delhi.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Rawat said, " Due to fragmented supply chain and lack of adequate processing infrastructure along the value chain, the processing levels in the country are quite low resulting in considerable amount of wastage of agri and horticulture produce."

As per a study conducted by the Central Institute for Post Harvest Engineering and Technology, Ludhiana, post harvest losses in 2009 were estimated to be Rs. 44,530 crore, the minister informed.

Rawat said that the the government adopted Vision 2015 which has suggested strategy to ensure faster growth of the food processing sector.

"The Vision 2015 provides for enhancing the level of processing of perishable to 20 percent, enhancing value addition to 35 percent," he added.