Public Private Partnership of Food Parks in Karnataka

Abstract

The state of Karnataka is blessed with rich biodiversity that has ten agro climatic zones and nine types of soil. This is the only state having more varieties in the growth of fruits . Karnataka has emerged as the new destination for food processing industries. Changes in lifestyles, income consumerism, technology has led to the establishment of food processing industry and food parks in the country. Food parks and food processing are considered as the emerging industrial units that would not only create employment but would also be a value addition to economic development. Under the 10th five year plan scheme, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Govt. of India encourages public private partnership that would inject investment in setting up food parks. Therefore the present paper attempts to understand the importance of public private partnership and food parks in the state. The state Government has encouraged private players to support and establish food parks as these private players are more technically efficient, provide better infrastructure and attract investment in the food sector. The Government has promoted special purpose vehicle (SPV), Food Karnataka Ltd (FKL) in 2004 to attract private investments in food parks across the state. It has been observed that Karnataka is one of the top ranked states to adopt public private partnership (PPP) in meeting its infrastructure requirements, technological up gradation and investment to achieve faster industrial progress. The food processing industry ranks fifth in terms of production and exports. Thus, this paper is a study about the importance of public private partnership(PPP) and food parks in Karnataka in contributing towards the development of the economy as the food processing industry is considered as a 'sunrise industry'. RTC is cheaper.