By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, August 17, 2015 : The proposed mega food park in southern town of Rayagada is coming up very fast.

A special purpose vehicle [SPV] named MITS Mega Food Park has already been formed for establishment and running of the food park at Rayagada and it has started functioning.

Chief Secretary Gokul Chandra Pati on Monday reviewed the progress and took stock of the progress made so far. Pati also directed IDCO to fasten and complete permanent power supply system and common facility centers in the park within the specified time line.

The project proponents have been advised to comply with all statutory and regulatory requirements for avoiding any possible bottleneck in future. Chief Secretary has also directed them to construct rain water harvesting structures in the park to store water for use and recharge of ground water.

Basantdevi Charitable Trust, Keventer Agro Ltd and Expo Biotech Ltd are the SPV partners. More than 50 acres of the land required for the park has already been acquired and put under the possession of the SPV. The fund of around 20 cr has already been mobilized against the total approved cost of Rs.80.17 cr to be augmented from bank loan, grants from the government and SPV share money.

The vice-chairman of the SPV Sriram Panda said that as of now 90% of the construction work of microl small and medium enterprises (MSME) sheds has been completed. The construction of the overhead water tank of 1 lakh liter has also been completed. The boundary walls of 450 mt have been raised against a total boundary of 500 mts. The balance 50 mt boundary wall will be completed soon, officials said.

The construction and furnishing of the site office of the park has already been completed. The approach road of 152 mt has been laid and it is being developed further. Around 20 investors and entrepreneurs have expressed interest to establish their food processing units in the Park. The processes for establishment of modern rice processing complex, cashew processing unit, and bottling plants for mango pulp and other fruits are in advanced stage.

The construction of a modern Dry Ware House with 10,000 MT capacities is on full swing, officials added. The members of the SPV present in the meeting expressed the hope that the park will soon provide new business opportunities to the local farmers and agri-entrepreneurs.