Harsimrat urges Punjab CM to expedite PAIC mega food park project

Union Food Processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal Sunday urged Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to intervene and expedite completion of PAIC's mega food park in Ludhiana. In a letter to Singh, she said work on the Punjab Agro Industries Corporation mega food park at Ladhowal in Ludhiana was "delayed inordinately" and that officials should be directed to complete the balance work at the earliest to add value to farm produce and create much-needed job opportunities for youth.

Badal stated in her letter that a review meeting taken by her at the park site on January 11 had revealed that PAIC had not been able to come out with a tender for spiral freezer and dehydration line for seven months and that the same had been tendered two days before her visit. "This is the first park of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries in which a private unit will come up even before the park becomes operational," the Bathinda MP wrote.

She said no progress was being made despite the fact that she had held regular meetings to monitor the work and even kept the chief minister posted about the same.  Badal said similarly the organisation took six months to decide it needed to change the components of the dehydration line. Harsimrat said the Rs 117 crore project, which had received a grant of Rs 50 crore from the Centre, was supposed to be ready by June last year.

He said this delay was not only causing a loss to the state's farm economy, but also harming job prospects of youth.

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