Giving a major fillip to Punjab’s food processing sector and strengthening its beleaguered economy, the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday inaugurated ITC’s new state-of-the-art Integrated Food Manufacturing and Logistics Facility at Kapurthala.
Spread over 72 acres of land, with an initial investment outlay of approximately Rs 1,500 crores, the world-class facility will manufacture ITC’s popular food brands, such as Aashirvaad, Bingo, Sunfeast, YiPPee! and B Natural, among others.
Besides supporting the farmers, the project will help generate employment in the state, said the Chief Minister, at the inaugurating ceremony.
Despite the record contribution of the state to the nation’s rice and wheat production, Capt Amarinder underlined the need for diversification, in which the ITC project would play an important role.
Expressing happiness at the facility, which would help the farming community transition from the traditional wheat-crop cycle to the more lucrative crops, the Chief Minister said that such projects would be instrumental not only in saving the state’s crunched fertile land and water resources but also in boosting farm income.
Referring to the plight of potato farmers, who were forced to dump their produce on the roads because of their inability to sell it at a good price, Capt Amarinder stressed the need to end the crisis with projects like this.
He pointed out that the ITC project would bring new seeds and techniques that would enable the farmers to produce potatoes that would find a ready market.
The plant, which would purchase wheat, potatoes and other crops from the region, would bring to the state the much-needed revenue, said the Chief Minister, hoping that the ITC Group would also expand its hotels portfolio in Punjab.
Earlier, dedicating the facility to the people of Punjab, ITC CEO Sanjiv Puri said that the company received speedy clearances to complete the plant’s construction in record time.
Pointing out that ITC was present across various sectors, from agriculture to manufacturing and services, the CEO said that the company would make the most of the new industrial policy, with its favourable provisions, to expand in Punjab.
Puri said that the facility will create large-scale livelihoods across the sustainable agri-value chains. He said that the Mandi being set up within the facility will ensure on-the-spot payments, and will also enhance sourcing of milk and other products.
The state Power Minister and Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjit Singh said that the government was striving to create employment avenues in the state, as committed by the Chief Minister, who was focused on getting industry to invest in Punjab. The Mandi in the ITC facility will facilitate mechanical cleaning of grains, which would then be stored in silos, he added.