CARGO COMPLEX FOR PERISHABLES TO
GIVE BIG BOOST TO AGRO EXPORTS - JAITLEY
Shri Arun Jaitley,
Minister for Commerce & Industry and Law & Justice, has
said that the Cargo Complex for Perishables inaugurated at Mumbai
this morning reflects the government’s commitment to the horticulture
sector in India and would give a big boost to India’s agro-exports
especially to Europe, Japan and the US as a world-class centre
of this kind would inspire greater confidence in all the importers.
The Centre for Perishable Cargo is one of the largest in the world
with a refrigerated area of 30,000 sq. ft. and is designed with
a strategy of zero defect in the quality of the perishable products
transiting through it by incorporating state-of-the-art refrigeration,
materials handling and electronic data interchange technologies.
Shri Jaitley further indicated that the government was looking
at the possibility of setting up similar cargo centres for perishables
at Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Amritsar to cater to the needs of Agri
Export Zones in such areas. The Agricultural & Processed
Foods Export Development Authority (APEDA) is already promoting
the setting up of Agri Export Zones in Maharashtra and Gujarat
in their fruit and vegetable growing areas. Shri Rajiv Pratap
Rudy, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, also participated
in the function along with other dignitaries.
The Centre can handle
up to 1,00,000 tonnes of perishable cargo per year. The present
volume being exported is around 50,000 tonnes per year, Shri Jaitley
noted, while emphasising that this would be expanded manifold
with the inauguration of the new complex. The Centre can service
70 tonne charters under 90 minutes resulting in a highly economical
turnaround time and motivate charter operators to include Mumbai
as a preferred base in their agenda, he said.
Hoping that the Centre
would influence the downstream supply chain with the APEDA having
already supported investment in pack houses, Shri Jaitley urged
exporters to resort to the use of the complete cold-supply chain
from the farm right upto the importing countries world wide.
He also urged the
exporters from Maharashtra and Gujarat to bring about revolution
in the exports of fresh produce as this cargo complex for perishables
would give them an unique logistical strength for exports to many
areas in the world, especially the Far-East, the Russian Federation
and the US. He also expressed the hope that the growers of Alphonso
mangoes, along with Kesar from the Ratnagiri, Konkan and Aurangabad
districts in Maharashtra and the Kesar from Navsari, Valsad and
Junagadh districts in Gujarat would make use of the huge advantage
that the complex would provide for exports of their perishable
goods.
