Question: Who is the Food processing Minister?
(a) Harsimrat Kaur Badal
(b) Smriti Irani
(c) Nirmala Sitaraman
(d) Nazma Heptullah
Ans: (a)
- On 27th March, 2017, Ministry of Food Processing Industries announced sanction of 101 new integrated Cold Chain Projects spread across the country.
- The decision has been taken with a view to reduce wastage of agricultural produce and add value to farmers’ harvests ranging from fruits and vegetables to fish, dairy and marine products.
- The Ministry is focusing on creating Cold Chain infrastructure by strategic planning which eventually builds Cold Chain Grid in the entire country.
- The scheme of Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure provides financial assistance up to Rs. 10 crore for entrepreneurs.
- These 101 new integrated cold chain projects will leverage total investment of Rs. 3100 crore for creation of modern infrastructure for the food processing sector. The total expected grant-in-aid to be released to these projects is Rs. 838 crore.
- The 101 new Cold chain Projects will create additional capacity of 2.76 lakh MT of Cold Storage/Controlled Atmosphere/Frozen Storage, 115 MT per hour of Individual Quick Freezing (IQF) capacity, 56 lakh litres per day of Milk Processing, 210 MT per batch of Blast Freezing and 629 Refrigerated/Insulated vehicles.
- These Integrated Cold Chain projects will not only provide a big boost to the growth of food processing infrastructure in the concerned states but also help in providing better prices to farmers.
Reference:
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=159970
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/EmwoEpAzSFG6mYk6cLiHHJ/Food-processing-ministry-approves-101-new-cold-chain-project.html