Bright future for food processing sector in AP

Vijayawada: Principal secretary and also secretary of the AP Food Processing Society Chiranjiv Choudary said that Andhra Pradesh has immense potentiality in food processing. He was addressing the meeting on 'Challenges and Emerging Opportunities in the Food Processing Sector' organised by AP Chambers in association with AP Food Processing Industries Federation (APFPIF) here on Saturday.

The principal secretary elaborated on the steps taken by the state government in addressing issues faced by the food processing industry. He also spoke about the opportunities in the sector. Later, he interacted with the members and answered their queries on various challenges faced by them. He asked the members of the AP Chambers and the APFPIF to be more interactive with the state government authorities and bring to the notice of the government the challenges faced by them from time to time so that the government can work on sorting out the issues faced by the industry. He said that the pending incentives for the food processing units will be released soon along with the incentives for other sectors.

President of AP Food Processing Industries Federation D Tirupati Raju elaborated on some of the main issues faced by the sector.

The president-elect of AP Chambers and honorary president of APFPIF Potluri Bhaskara Rao spoke in detail about the challenges and issues faced by the food processing sector and the issues taken up with both the Central and state governments such as pending incentives (capital subsidy and power incentives), issues related to power, pollution, sanction of schemes for eligible units, GST rates and others.

He said that the food processing sector should be treated as an extension of agriculture and allied sector and the state government should come up with a new Agri Export Policy to support the food processing sector in the state. He also said that the state government should request the Central government to set up premier institutions like APEDA, CFTRI, R&D centres and incubation centres for the benefit of the food processing sector in the State. Deputy director of horticulture and deputy CEO of AP Food Processing Society Dr Ch Padmavathi dwelt on the opportunities in the food processing sector. A large number of participants from both AP Chambers and APFPIF participated in the meeting.