pnn & press trust of india
Bhubaneswar, August 29: The state has received proposals amounting to Rs466 crore for the setting up of processing units at the Seafood Park at Deras near here.
The state government has already allotted requisite land to 20 interested firms, official sources said and added that Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation is developing the seafood park spending Rs134 crore.
On the basis of committed investments, the seafood park will process 90,860 MTPA of seafood and will generate 7,214 jobs, the officials said.
“The state government has received very encouraging response in terms of investments for the Seafood Park from companies across the country. We are confident that the state-of-the-art facility at the Seafood Park and Orissa’s investor-friendly policies will set new benchmarks for the sector,” industries secretary Sanjeev Chopra said.
Among the major companies that have committed investments at the park are Falcon Marine Exports Ltd, Magnum Seafoods Ltd, Utkal Exports and Visakhapatnam-based Coastal Corporation Ltd.
Falcon Marine Exports will set up the largest seafood processing unit in the park with a capacity of 37,000 MTPA and it will provide 4,060 jobs. Located about 20 km from Bhubaneswar, the seafood park is spread over 152 acres and has been approved under Mega Food park scheme of the Union ministry of food processing industries; “it will comprise 41 processing units,” Chopra said.
The project will provide plug and play infrastructure and access to common facilities such as cold storage, pre-processing and post-processing facilities, ice plant, packaging, polythene unit and a research and development facility.
State government norms state that financial assistance of up to 20 per cent of the project cost (excluding cost of the land) subject to limit of Rs15 crore will be provided to special purpose vehicle (SPV) which will promote the seafood park.
The subsidy can also be provided in the form of equity participation through IDCO or Orissa Small Industries Corporation Ltd (OSIC).
The state government is targeting Rs20,000 crore seafood exports annually in the next five years from the present level of Rs2,500 crore.
The major markets for seafood from the state include Southeast Asia at 39 per cent followed by USA at 28 per cent, EU (11 per cent) and Japan (9 per cent) in terms of quantity. Some major marine products exported from Orissa include frozen shrimp, frozen pomfret and ribbon fish.