Alappuzha to Host Country's Second Seafood Park.

Two mega food parks in Kerala were among the 17 suitable proposals approved by the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries recently. But, what stood out was that a proposal for an exclusive seafood park in Alappuzha by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) got the highest marks from among a total of 72 submissions make by various state governments. Once completed, the mega seafood park by the KSIDC, to be set up at an investment of Rs. 125 crore, would be the second such park in the country, and would provide employment to 3,000 persons directly and to 12,000 persons indirectly.

The first seafood park is in the final stages of completion in Andhra Pradesh.

The exclusive park for the seafood industry will come up on 65 acres of land in the Cherthala taluk, for which land has already been identified. Officials said the State Government had allotted land for the project near the Cherthala Infopark. Of the 65 acres, 50 acres will be allotted to companies on lease, while the remaining 15 acres will be used for providing basic infrastructure facilities. KSIDC assistant general manager M T Binilkumar said that the KSIDC would provide the basic facilities such as a large cold storage (10,000 tonne capacity), common effluent plant and a chilled water supply system that would avoid contamination. It will also provide roads, water and electricity. He said KSIDC proposal got 134 out of 150 marks, which is the highest among all the proposals submitted for setting up mega food parks in the country.

Under the Food Processing Ministry’s mega food park initiative, the Central government will provide Rs. 50 crore as grant for approved food parks. The State Government will allot Rs. 65 crore, and the remaining Rs. 10 crore will be taken as loan. Binilkumar said that a detailed project report on the seafood park would be submitted in 18 months. Simultaneously, the KSIDC will invite companies and entities for setting up units inside the park.


THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS