Pitching West Bengal as an attractive destination for food processing companies, Minister for Food Processing Abdur Rezzak Mollah said on Wednesday that there were no big-ticket investments in the sector in recent times and companies should look to this sector for investments.

‘Vast scope’

According to Mollah, there are enough opportunities across verticals such as meat processing, edible oil (rice bran) production and ketchup making, among others.

A long coastline of the state can be used for processing and exporting marine products, he said. However, only tiny, micro, small and medium enterprises are engaged in it as of now.

“There have been some investments from MSMEs but big investments have eluded us. Considering the opportunities in the sector, I would like to see big names come in and invest,” he said at a seminar on food processing organised by CII.

High costs

The minister said that one of the reasons holding back investments in the sector could be the high initial capital requirements.

“Most of the machinery required for setting up a food processing unit have to be imported and require huge capital. We (the state government) is looking at what can be done in this regard,” he added.

According to Mollah, the state has also allowed “participatory farming, making it easier agro-based companies to enter into supply contracts with farmers.