Excellent opportunities in food processing sector in Telangana: KT Rama Rao

HYDERABAD: Telangana industries minister KT Rama Rao said there are abundant investment opportunities in the food processing sector as the state registered high numbers in agriculture production. These policies will help bolster rural economies, attract investments, increase employment opportunities, he said.
The minister gave a presentation to the cabinet minister on the draft food processing and logistic policies at Pragati Bhavan on Wednesday.
He said that the completion of irrigation projects and other measures introduced by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao have helped in increasing the irrigation facilities in the state.
“Construction of new irrigation projects have resulted in increased the cultivation area in the state, which in turn increased the production of crops. The completed projects like Kaleshwaram will help further increase agricultural production in the state. There is a need to increase food processing capacity in the state,” he said.
He said by promoting the food processing sector extensively, farmers in the state would grow economically which would also create employment opportunities for the local youth. There would be special incentives to SC, ST, Minorities, and women while setting up their food processing unit, the minister said.
KTR said that the necessary subsidies and incentives to develop the food processing industry in Telangana have been proposed. The incentives given in this sector in other states and countries have been looked at.
KTR said that due to the implementation of the sheep and fish fingerlings distribution schemes, there has been a significant increase in the number of sheep and production of fish. He said the state was experiencing a water revolution and was in the process of witnessing another Green Revolution (agriculture), followed by the Blue Revolution (fisheries), the Pink Revolution (meat production), and the White Revolution (milk).
The minister highlighted that the crops being cultivated in every village, mandal, and district, are being mapped across the state for comprehensive information on agricultural operations.
Minister KTR took inputs from the Cabinet Ministers and stated that their suggestions would be taken into consideration while drafting the guidelines.
Ministers Harish Rao, Singireddy Niranjan Reddy, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Srinivas Goud, Mohammad Mahmood Ali, Eatala Rajender, Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Koppula Eeshwar, Sabitha Indrareddy, Satyavathi Rathod, V Prashanth Reddy, Gangula Kamalakar, Puvvada Ajay, Jagadish Reddy, Indrakaran Reddy, Telangana State Planning Board vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar, Government Chief Advisor Rajiv Sharma, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Principal Secretaries, and senior officials, were present.