New Delhi: Finance Commission Chairman N K Singh Wednesday held a meeting with Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and key officials of her ministry. The commission felt that it was of immediate value to complete the “Cold Chain Grid” project of the ministry and value-added infrastructure, which is now underway, an official statement said.
“This grid could facilitate seedless Cold Chain Infrastructure from Farm to Fork and would require a grant of about Rs 10 crore per project. The commission felt that these are critically dependent on simultaneous reforms in the agriculture sector, long-term contract farming, abolition of APMC and reducing the obtrusive reach of other connected regulations,” it said. The commission was also appreciative of the ministry’s project “Operation Greens” which is an Integrated Value Chain Development of Tomato, Onion and Potato (TOP) Crop and price stabilisation measures, it said.
The 15th Finance Commission was also sympathetic to the ministry’s suggestions that the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) wings of the commerce ministry should be under the food processing ministry for better and effective management of agricultural and marine processed food exports, it added.