AgriManipur - E-paolive.net

AgriManipur Volume 1, Issue 1Bridge connecting food park and NH37:When to complete?Nilakuthi Food ParkNilakathi Food Park was conceptualised byNABARD under Rural Infrastructure Dedelopmentfund. Food Park at Nilakuthi is a 30 acrefood processing facility located on the nationalhighway just 5 km from the Imphal centre. Itwill house numerous facilities like cold storage,ware house, quality control labs, packaging,tool room, power and water supply, sewagetreatment, etc. It can accommodate around 60units with area about 600 sq. M for each unit.The total project cost is estimated to be Rs3172.4 lakh out of which 13 crore is fromNABARD‘s RID fund and the remaining Rs.18 crore is provided by state govt under specialplan assistance. However, due to steep priceescalation the cost had to be re-evaluated andin doing so, state govt requested planning commissionof india to sanction another Rs. 3. 36crore. PCI generously accepted for utilisatiionduring 2009-10 fiscal year but unfortunatelythe fund was lapsed. Now the ball is the courtof ministry of food processing. The whole storyunderlines the delaying tactics of state govtresulting to suffer the completion of food park.Manipur Food Industry Development Corporation(MFIDC) under the department of commerceand industries is the nodal agency toimplement and operate the food park projectwhile UP based Construction and Design Services,Jal Nigam took up the constructionwork. However many state govt depts. like(PWD, electicity dept, IFCD) are involved inprimay and secondary part of the project likebridge construction, road construction, streetlight, electrification, etc. This is also one of thereasons completion is always a dream. Besides‗lack of urgency‘ by the state govt in release offund, various reasons are attributed to delay inPage 5the completion of food park. Delay inrelease of fund led to delay of completionand the price of the material wasescalated in the process. So, new fundhad to be poured which itself is theworst nightmare of MFIDC.Hurry in publicity in the excitement tocapture media was also seen. ExNABARD (Imphal centre) DGM Sonamanireported in November 2006(Sangai Express) that 33% was almostcompleted and expected to complete inMarch 2007. Quite contradictory, inanother news report , it was reportedthat construction started only in March2007 and target was kept in August2009. Again, govt promised to keep itin order by July 2011. That too failedand extended till December. Now wehave to hope for the best. Our fieldinvestigation revealed many improvementshave been made and there is agreat hope that December dateline maybe a reality.How it will worksCold storageThe present focus is certainly on completionof the contruction. So apparently,the modus operandi has so farnot been well thought; how the day today management will be accomplished?What is source of finance? If fee/ rentalhas to be collected, will it be sufficientto meet variable cost (like maintenance)and fixed cost (like salary)? Besides this,will units maximally use the facilities?If not, can fixed fee be demanded? Theshabby situation of the Takyel industrialestate is a glaring example (thoughstyle may be slightly different). Uniquemechanism may be necessary to usher the full advantageof the park. There is a need for proper synchronisationof facilities to avoid overlap or glut or underutilisation.This is particularly true for cold storagewhere maximum utilisation is necessary from technicaland financial point as well.Entrepreneurs mindWarehouseThe greatest crux so far with regard to the Nilakuthipark is on how to incorporate/ accommodate entrepreneursto the park and system. How many existing/potential food processors/ entrepreneurs have fall inline ? As per our record , only 1/2 entrepreneurshave deposited money to book their space. Thoughthe park looks attractive, few factors are likely to dragtheir interest. Deposit fee for the space is Rs. 5.2lakh. Given the condition that most of the entrepreneurs,excepting a few, are at the level of cottage andmicro level (not even small!), hefty sum of Rs. 5.2lakh is difficult to bite. On the other hand thosesuccessful small/ large scale food entrepreneurs, havetheir own factories and shifting place may not be socomfortable.The space they purchased will be their own; thatmeans mortgage-able. This is a good one but againnot friendly to entrepreneurs. Pakka construction is ahighly cost intensive exercise. So the need for loanmay arise. Can a land of Rs. 5.2 lakh be collateral ofRs. 20 lakh? Normally in most cases banks demandcollateral value much larger than loan amount thattoo land value evaluated by conservative valuers.Bank also normally demand third party security. Inthe essence, concept of the park in the existing formatmay not be lucrative for enterpreneurs.Given the size of the market , entrepreneurs may notbe so interested in gambling over the risky exercise offood business. Frankly speaking, most of the entre-Contd. on page 14