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Ashok B Sharma and Charanjit Ahuja
Chandigarh, Dec 2: Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal said here that the state government would soon develop Amritsar as the major exporting centre and would formulate a relocation policy on the lines of the government of Singapore to "relocate" the industrial hub of Punjab-Ludhiana.
Delivering his inaugural address at `the Agro Tech'98', the country's premier agribusiness fair organised by the CII, he said the government would also set up in collaboration with private sector an agro-commodity exchange which would be a forum for exchange of market intelligence and would afford business opportunities to promote sale, purchase of agro-commodities with emphasis on branded commodities.
The chief minister disclosed that agro industry produce from the state had at present about 30 per cent share in the total export from the state amounting to Rs 4200 crores. Amritsar airport had already been upgraded to international level with direct flights operating to gulf and cargo flights to CIS countries. Therewas lot of potential for export of raw and processed vegetables and fruits to gulf and CIS countries. He asked entrepreneurs to seize the opportunity to set up agro processing units with backward linkages up to farm level.
Badal observed that while relocating industries from Ludhiana, it would be ensured the relocating company got land at a developed industrial estate outside Ludhiana, while at the same time allowing development of vacated land inside Ludhiana at liberal FSI norms. He said that concurrently, the industries department would facilitate the creation of a mega industrial estate outside Ludhiana.
The state government is considering to develop a Expressway between Mohali and Ludhiana, expendable to Bathinda through the creation of an SPV in which Punjab government alongwith identified co-investors would participate. In this NHAI would also be invited to participate in a commercial basis. This expressway would be accompanied by an information backbone. Mega industrial estates would be developedalong this corridor to cater to the demand from the two key industrial hubs. An international airport would also be developed along this expressway.
The chief minister informed that the government would create a command area of Greater Mohali integrating elements of ultra-modern urban infrastructure with specialised industrial and service infrastructure to develop the city as the service capital of the country. The development of software park technology park was the first step towards positioning Mohali as a Smart City, which would incorporate IT in all areas of governance and offer a user friendly administration for the development of the services industry.
The Chief minister said that another opportunity that the state wished to capitalise on in the food processing was the huge market for processed cereals-more specifically wheat processed to flour for the mass market. The flour could be sold under a Punjab brand through Public Distribution System.
Rajan Nanda, chairman, Agro Tech'98 during hisaddress that agriculture growth had been stunted by excessive government control on food grains and called for deregulation. Rajesh V Shah,president CII said that CII had formed three organisations namely national council on agriculture headed by Rajan Nanda, National Committee on Agriculture headed by Arun Bharat Ram and Technical committee on Agriculture headed by Abdul Kalam to work out strategies in cooperation with the government to give boost to agriculture. Vinod Khanna, MP from Punjab, said that it was unfortunate that in the country fruits and vegetables worth Rs 43,000 crores were wasted and that made a case for more cold storage facilities.
The Agro Tech'98 that opened today offers a vivid glimpse of the $ 70 billion food industry as projected by the CII-McKinsey study titled FAIDA-Food and agriculture Integrated Development Action. Spread over an area of 16,000 square meters, the Agro Tech features major international participation from Israel, the Netherlands, UK, Italy, Canada, France andSpain. Over 350 domestic and international corporates have displayed state-of-the-art agro related technologies.
While Punjab and Haryana have been designated the host states, Andhra Pradesh, for the first time has been accorded the Partner State status at Agro Tech'98. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir are the other states who are participating in the fair.
Piyush Bahl, regional director of the CII northern region told The Financial Express that two focussed exhibitions titled Dairy Expo'98 is being held concurrently with Agro Tech. The highlight of the Dairy Expo is a live integrated dairy farming and processing unit set up by the Punjab Dairy Development Department in technical collaboration with Israel Dairy Board according to Dr. Brij M Mahajan, director, Dairy Development Department, Government of Punjab.
The Poultry Expo'98 features the best of Indian and international companies engaged in poultry breeding, feeding, healthcare and processing. Venkateswara Hatcheries has set up theme pavilion at Poultry Expo'98. Coinciding with the exposition, CII is organising a series of International conferences on Fruit and Vegetable Processing, Emerging Technologies in the Dairy Industry, Recent Developments in Poultry Industry, Cold Chain Technologies, Application of Biotechnology in Agriculture and industry and Water Management. The faculty comprises experts from USA, Italy, Israel, The Netherlands, Sweden, France, Denmark, Germany, Australia and China.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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