Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has announced that Andhra Pradesh will be made a global hub for food processing, aqua and agro-based industries. He said that in the next five years, investments of Rs. 1 lakh crore will be achieved in these sectors.
Participating as the chief guest at the India Food Manufacturing Summit organized by the Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCOI) in Visakhapatnam,he said that his government is working towards making the agriculture and allied sectors profitable and sustainable.
He explained that the value of the food processing industry worldwide is currently eight trillion dollars and it is expected that India will reach 700 billion dollars by 2030. He said that India needs to take faster steps in this sector. He said that AP currently has a value of 50 billion dollars with a nine percent share in food processing. He said that the share of agriculture and allied sectors in GSDP is 35 percent and is Rs. 5.19 lakh crore.
CM Chandrababu said that AP will soon become the Fruit Capital of India and will reach a share of 25 percent in the country’s production. He said that the state is an aqua hub for the country with aquaculture cultivation in 5.65 lakh acres. He said that the state has nine integrated food parks, 17 lakh metric tons of cold storage, and godowns to store 33 lakh tons of goods.
The Chief Minister said that industrial parks are being set up in all constituencies to provide opportunities for setting up food and beverage units. He explained that there are fruit, spice, aqua, cocoa, and coffee clusters in Chittoor, Guntur, Coastal Andhra, and Visakhapatnam districts.
CM Chandrababu said that incentives are being provided to industries under Food Processing Policy 4.0. He said that if the investment exceeds Rs. 200 crore, they will be considered as mega projects and special incentives will be provided. Last year, he said the state received investments of Rs. 10 thousand crores in the food processing sector.
He said that with the changing eating habits and lifestyle of the people, there are immense opportunities in the food processing sector and this is the right time for investments. He asked them to utilize the One Family-One Entrepreneur program.
