By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 27 Aug: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami inaugurated the Food Processing and Packaging Plant set up by M/s MB Foods in Buggawala in district Haridwar. On this occasion, he also inspected the processing and packaging plant of fruits, vegetables, mushrooms etc.
Dhami wished a great future ahead for MB Foods on this occasion and observed that everyone ought to move ahead towards the set goals in a committed manner so that the dreams could be realised. The Chief Minister expressed hope that setting up of employment generating industries by construction of 14 acre poly house in Buggawala area would lead to a collective journey of development in the area, and that this would provide employment to the people around and the area would get a new identity through the plant. Nature Besto and MB Foods are helping to support 150 to 200 families by providing employment through this project. He noted that mushroom has been selected for Haridwar under One District One Product (ODOP) by the government. Similarly Apricot has been selected for Almora, Kiwi for Bageshwar, Bay leaves and spices for Champawat, Fish in Chamoli, bakery for Dehradun, Peach for Nainital, Malta for Pauri, Chaulai (Amaranthus) for Rudraprayag, Ginger for Tehri, Apple for Uttarkashi, Mango for Udham Singh Nagar and Turmeric for Pithoragarh have been selected under this scheme for food processing units in the state. Loans have been sanctioned to 49 beneficiaries so far under this project and against this 28 units have already been established in different districts of the state so far. They were creating employment opportunities in far flung villages.
Dhami said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, MB Foods have established another step to boost the income of the farmers and for the development of the state. He said that many enterprises have been opened under the Prime Minister’s Micro Food Processing Enterprises Upgradation Scheme (PMEME), which is showing the way to a truly New India, a prosperous, powerful, self-reliant, developed India. He said that the state of Uttarakhand has immense potential for better processing of agricultural products. The Horticulture Department of the state provided 40 percent grant to MB Foods under the Horticulture Mission of NorthEast Himalayan states (HMNEH) scheme for establishment of mushroom unit and 50 percent subsidy in the polythene conversion scheme of old poly houses under State Sector Scheme by the government. Grant has also been given in the past under the Horticulture Mission for poly house construction and Gerbera flower production on 50 percent grant.
During this, Cabinet Minister Ganesh Joshi, Cabinet Minister Subodh Uniyal, MP Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, MLA Savita Kapoor, MLA Munna Singh Chouhan, MLA Pradeep Batra, MLA Ravi Bahadur, District Panchayat President Dehradun Madhu Chauhan, Former MLA Suresh Rathore, Manmohan Bhardwaj, Ashwani Sharma and others were present.
