The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : KAPPEC to rope in private players for fruit processing

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Saturday, Jul 26, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

KAPPEC to rope in private players for fruit processing

M. Raghuram

— A FILE PHOTO

GOOD TIMES ARE HERE: Growers of grapes can hope for better times ahead, thanks to a proposal to set up multi-food processing units in major districts.

BANGALORE: It is common in the agricultural belt of Karnataka — farmers throwing their produce like tomatoes, chillies, potatoes on the road when they cannot get the right price.

But not anymore, help is on the way — Karnataka State Agricultural Produce Processing and Export Corporation (KAPPEC) Ltd. will launch a chain of fruit and vegetable processing units that will not only give good price to farmers but also add value to their produce.

The multi-food processing units, as they are called, have been designed and financed under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). For the first time, the yojana has been opened for joint ventures and the KAPPEC has opted for public-private participation model for the new state-of-the-art units.

They would be set up throughout north Karnataka. A top beneficiary of the chain would be growers of Bangalore Blue grapes which had the shortest shelf life. Onions, chillies, tomatoes, mangoes and pomegranates are some other produce that would be included in the list of value addition through food processing. One of the mandates of the PPP model was to give exportability to products.

KAPPEC managing director B.A. Channappa Gowda told The Hindu that the multi-fruit processing plants would come up in Kolar, Hubli, Bidar, and Kushtagi where fruits and vegetables and legumes were cultivated. The units would be set up depending on the crop grown in the area. In the tomato-growing area, the units would make tomato puree and in mango-growing area the units would make mango pulp.

“The units have been distributed keeping in view the crops grown in a specific area to help growers reach the produce quickly to the units so that the recovery of value remained the maximum.

“The Kolar plant will have a capacity of 10,000 tonnes and once the plant is commissioned, not one tomato will go waste nor one bunch of Bangalore Blue will rot,” Mr. Gowda said. In another activity, KAPPEC would set up “individual quick freezing” units all over the State which would preserve the freshness of the produce.

The first of its kind was coming up in Hubli under the PPP model with equity participation by KAPPEC, Mr. Gowda said.

Consortium

Under the PPP model, KAPPEC was organising consortium of private companies, the corporation would hold 49 per cent equity while the three companies would share 51 per cent of equity in the joint venture. The plant at Kushtagi would have multi processing facilities.

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