Inaugurating a food park at Nalbari, Assam, Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said it would leverage an investment of about Rs.250 crore. The food park, sanctioned by the Centre, was inaugurated by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, along with Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju and Harsimrat Badal. Food Processing Minister Badal said that the Mega Food Park would leverage an additional investment of about Rs. 250 crore in 30-35 food processing units in the Park and generate a turnover of about Rs 450-500 crore annually. She added that the Park would also provide direct and indirect employment to 6,000 people and would benefit about 25,000-30,000 farmers.  The park has been set up with an investment of Rs.76 crore. It has dry warehouses with 10,000 tonnes capacity, cold storages of 3,000 tonnes, a common effluent treatment plant and quality control labs among other facilities. There is also a proposal to set up 6 primary processing centres (PPCs) at Nagaon, Badarpur, Tinsukia, Barapani, Krishnai and Kajalgaon, which will provide facilities for primary processing and storage near the farms. The Centre provides financial assistance of up to Rs.50 crore for setting up Mega Food Parks for the creation of modern infrastructure facilities for food processing along the value chain from the farm to the consumer. (Courtesy: The Economic Times)