Two centres will be set up in Amravati district
Nagpur: Maharashtra Government has approved establishment of five processing centres for oranges in Vidarbha region. While three centres will function from Nagpur district, two would be set-up in Amravati district. The decision was taken during the Cabinet meeting of Mahayuti Government on Thursday.
The processing centres would help in boosting export of the citrus fruit that is predominantly grown in Nagpur and Amravati districts. The total cost of processing centres is pegged at Rs 40 crore. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis while presenting the State’s budget for the year 2023-24 had made an announcement about the orange processing centres.
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In Nagpur district, the places where these centres are going to come-up are Nagpur, Katol and Kalmeshwar while in Amravati they would be located at Morshi and Buldhana. These centres would have packaging facilities, a chilling unit, and a vaccine unit that will play a role in getting better returns for the oranges that are in great demand. The chilling unit can ensure that oranges can be stored for a longer period enabling cultivators to wait for fair price before disposing of the fruit.
The packaging house would enable better placement in markets enabling buyers to get fresh table fruit in good shape. Similarly, the oranges can also be processed into fruit juice or using the juice to make other products that can then be marketed locally or in other places. The processing unit will help processing units set-up in the cooperative sector, farm producers company, farmers groups, APMC, and private entrepreneurs.
State Government will provide aid to groups interested in setting these processing units wherein they would be required to put in 15 percent of total cost as their equity while 85 percent of finance would be from banks. After completion of setting up of the processing units, the State will reimburse 50 percent of the capital amount to them and the same will be deposited directly in their bank accounts.
Further, the State Government has decided to entrust responsibility of implementing the scheme to the Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Federation, Pune.
