Mega food park near Cherthala to be opened on April 11

Park is coming up on 84.05 acres of land at ₹128.49 crore

A mega food park set up by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) at the Industrial Growth Centre at Pallippuram, near Cherthala, will be opened on April 11. It will be jointly inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Pashupati Kumar Paras at 10.30 a.m.

The park is coming up on 84.05 acres of land at a cost of ₹128.49 crore, with equity contribution from the KSIDC/State government worth ₹72.49 crore, grant-in-aid of ₹50 crore from the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries under the Mega Food Park Scheme, and the rest bank loan. The project’s first phase, which is ready for inauguration, was set up on 68 acres of land.

Officials said plots had already been allotted to 31 units predominantly in sectors like seafood and other food processing and packing units. “Twelve units have started operations, providing employment to 600 people,” said a KSIDC official.

Apart from basic infrastructure, the park is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities such as cold storage, deep freezer, deboning centre, waste treatment plant, warehouse and standard design factory common facility centre.

A sum of ₹100.84 crore has been expended so far for the construction of the park. Officials said that work on the second phase of the project (16 acres) was progressing. Primary processing centres to be set up at Thoppumpady, Vypeen and Munambam will be connected to the park. The construction of two processing centres at Vypeen and Thoppumpady has begun.

The project is expected to give a fresh impetus to the food-processing sector in the State, especially to the seafood processing and marketing sector. Once fully operational, the park would garner an investment of ₹1,000 crore and generate about 3,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Industries Minister P. Rajeeve will preside. Agriculture Minister P. Prasad, A.M. Ariff, MP, Daleema Jojo, MLA, Alappuzha district panchayat president K.G. Rajeshwari, and others will attend.