Union Budget 2011: Promoters return subsidy received for Mega Food Parks

The FM announced that 15 Mega Food Parks have been approved till now and 15 more Mega Food Parks will be approved in 2011-12. However, the private promoters of at least five Mega Food Park have returned their money received as government subsidy for the capital cost and backed out from the project.

"There was huge bureaucratic delay in setting up of the Mega Food Park. Hence, we submitted a letter to the government stating that we are not interested in the Mega Food Park and also returned government money," said Pradeep Chordia, chairman Western Agri Food Park, which was to be set up at Shirval near Pune. "We are still interested to set up the Mega Food Park if the government changes its procedures," he added.

It is learnt that players from Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab too have backed out from the Mega Food Park project. Projects in Uttaranchal (of Baba Ramdev), Assam and Ranchi are going on. "With bureaucracy being the main hurdle, the main players have realised that there is no logic in the existing scheme of Mega Food Parks," said a source from the food processing industry.