HDIIDC to set up food development centre

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by Haryananewswire (Balbir)
Chandigarh, May 12
Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) would set up Food Development Centre in Haryana in collaboration with the Manitoba Food Development Centre (mFDC), Province of Manitoba Canada.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed between HSIIDC and Manitoba Food Development Centre at New Delhi today in the presence of the Haryana Chief Minister Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Deputy Minister Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, Province of Manitoba, Canada Dr. Barry Todd. Haryana Finance Minister Capt. Ajay Singh Yadav; Industries Minister Mr Mahender Pratap Singh; Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Haryana-cum-Chairman of HSIIDC Mr Chhatar Singh; Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary to Industries Department Mr Y.S. Malik; and MLA, the Province of Manitoba Mr Bidhu Jha were also present on the occasion.
The MoU was signed by Mr Rajeev Arora, Managing Director, HSIIDC on behalf of the HSIIDC while Ms. Robin McRae was the signatory on behalf of the Province of Manitoba Canada.
Appreciating the effort, Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Hooda said that India and Canada had long standing bilateral relations. World today had become smaller and cooperation was the key to progress today. He expressed hope that the exercise of MoU would develop proper understanding and the basis for the full agreement to be signed in this regard. Mr Hooda asked the officers to expedite the process so that agreement is signed in six month’s time instead of one year. He hoped that Food Development Centre would benefit the farmers and entrepreneurs of Haryana.
Mr Rajeev Arora, Managing Director, HSIIDC said that the Food Development Centre would assist the entrepreneurs in transforming agriculture commodities into feasible business opportunities for agriculture producers & entrepreneurs in Haryana. The MoU envisaged conducting an exercise for identification of the most suitable location for setting up Food Development Centre in Haryana, besides defining ownership, funding and operating models for the projects, he added.
Explaining the features of MoU, he said that the purpose of MoU was to foster bilateral cooperation between HSIIDC and MFDC in development of Food Development Centre in Haryana. The parties would also undertake identification of the range of services to be provided at such centre. The ownership, funding and operating models for the project would be defined and output from the above issues would form the basis of a formal agreement to be signed between HSIIDC & MFDC. The validity of the MoU would be one year from the date of signing.
He said, "The mFDC is a special operating agency of Ministry of Agriculture Food & Rural Initiatives, Province of Manitoba to assist agro food industry in development and commercialisation of food and health product. The Food Development Centre would help steer a product through every stage of development from initial research through product testing and scale up to marketing. The product development services offered by mFDC include formulating and improving new / existing product, improve product shelf life, standardisation of existing formulations and processes for quality and cost control, identifying packaging alternatives, testing of shelf life, etc."
"The FDC has had many success stories of clients whose business started at FDC and grew to contribute significantly to the Manitoba economy. FDC helps different clients in different ways- with research, technical advice and taking their ideas to commercialisation. Since 2000, FDC has served 352 clients. The Pulse Innovation Project, Pulse Canada, Flax 2015, the Alberta Consortium, Manitoba Pulse Growers and Saskatchewan Pulse Growers are some of the groups who accept mFDC’s proposals for research projects to support the use of their agricultural commodities in food products", he added.
He said, "FDC regularly responds to these calls for proposals and secures additional funding to conduct research and development, thereby building on knowledge and experience which can be passed to future clients. FDC also houses a pilot plant, which has been approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which allows the clients to market their products nationally & internationally. The mFDC is licensed to produce organic products through the Organic Producers Association of Manitoba and also for hemp products through Health Canada."
He said, "FDC staff has expertise in many processing technologies like membrane filtration, supercritical fluid extraction of speciality oilseeds, spray drying, freeze drying, modified atmosphere packaging etc. The mFDC also has strategic partnership with Great Plains Aseptic Processors (GPAP) for tetrapak aseptic processing & packaging technology, which provides diverse value added development options for processing & packaging liquid foods. GPAP produces soups, broths, sauces & beverages for many private label brands in Canada and produces 3.25 million tetrapak units in 2008-09. mDFC success stories include Praire Lane Saskatoon, Best Cooking Pulses (Yampeez), Greetalia, Manitoba Starch, Kudu Foods (King Pie), McGarve International (Belgian Short Bread)."
Mr Arora said, "HSIIDC has already developed two Food Parks at Rai & Saha. The Food Park at Rai (Sonepat) abuts NH-1 in the heart of the Sonepat industrial belt, about 35 kms from Delhi, Rai Food Park. It is a modern industrial park with State of art infrastructure facilities in place developed over an area of 116 acres. Among the various food processing units set up in the park is the manufacturing facility of Yakult Danaone, a Japanese-French multinational company, for probiotic products. To facilitate skill development in Food Processing Technology, 100 acres of land has also been allotted to the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship & Management (NIFTEM). The construction of the building is at advance stage and the first session is likely to be commenced w.e.f. September 2010."
"The Food Park at Saha (Ambala) spread over 70 acres of land in District Ambala, has also emerged as an important destination for Food Processing Industry. Out of 197 plots that have been carved out, 135 plots stand allotted. Some of the major units in operation include M/s. Epicu Food Products Limited (Mango & Apple Drinks), M/s. Mahant Agro Private Limited (Mango Drinks), M/s. Good Foods (Honey Processing), etc. The Corporation has also allotted land to M/s. Pachranga International Limited (4 acres), M/s. KCL Limited (1 acre), M/s. Reliance Limited (8 acres) and M/s. Khandhari Beverages Limited (20 acres)", he added.

Mr Arora said that HSIIDC had recently allotted 5400 square meters of land to M/s Danone Foods Beverages India Private Limited for setting up their project of manufacture dairy products (Flavoured Yoghurts) at Food Park Rai with an investment of about Rs.15 crore and 5 acres of land to M/s. Speciality Foods India Limited for setting up their Research & Development Centre for Food & Beverages at IMT Manesar. M/s Danone Foods Beverages India Private Limited was a part of Groupe Danone of France, which is a major player in the global foods and beverages industry.
The project would catalyze foreign direct investment of Rs.9 crore. M/s Nestle R&D Centre India Private Limited was a wholly owned subsidiary of Nestle SA of Switzerland, which is world’s leading nutrition, health & wellness multinational company with an annual turn over of Swiss France 110 billion. The proposed R&D facilities to be created at IMT Manesar will facilitate development of competencies in Indian traditional raw materials like; turmeric, fenugreek, ginger, Indian mint, etc. The project would involve capital investment of about Rs.149 crore and was likely to be operationalized by the year 2012, he added.