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Tamil Nadu MSME Trade and Investment Promotion Bureau (M-TIPB) has called for a Request for Proposal (RFP) for preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to establish an Agro-Industrial Corridor in the Cauvery Delta.
In his speech at the Assembly in January, Governor RN Ravi said that the agro-industrial corridor project would commence next year to address the "industrial infrastructure deficit in Cauvery delta districts by promoting agro-based industries.
In the Cauvery delta area covering Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, and Trichy districts agro products like rice, pulses, banana and coconut, are produced throughout the year. Suppose small industries like rice mills, oil mills, coir units and pulses processing units that use the agricultural products of this region to produce value-added products are promoted in large numbers. In that case, it will greatly contribute to the welfare of this region’ss farmers and agricultural labourers. To bring prosperity to this region’s farmers and agricultural labourers, it is proposed to develop this area as a predominantly Agro-Industrial Corridor.
This Corridor will promote agro-based industries in these districts by plugging infrastructure gaps, creating new industrial infrastructure and attracting private investments to the region. The MSME will improve the existing ones and create new industrial estates, improve road connectivity to have better linkage with markets and ports and augment power supply infrastructure, the RPQ document said.
Tamil Nadu is the leading producer of rice, maize, sugarcane, mango, banana, turmeric, coconut, groundnut, cashew, tea, coffee, dairy, egg and poultry. Tamil Nadu contributes to 8 per cent of India’s total food processing output and has the 2nd highest number of registered food processing units in the country.
The current level of processing of agricultural commodities is less than 2 per cent in Tamil Nadu, and the state envisagesi increasing the percentage of processed food. Tamil Nadu has a strong network of agricultural colleges, research centres under TNAU - a globally renowned agricultural university that provides talented human resources. With its potential and resources, Tamil Nadu has established eight agro-processing clusters and six mega food parks. It aims to increase farmer’s income, prevent food wastage and bring more value-addition to farm products.
The scope of services in the DPR will include Baselining of Proposed Agro-Industrial Corridor; benchmarking of global Agro-Industrial Corridors; demand-supply mapping; preparing a business plan for the Agro-Industrial Corridor; defining Key Infrastructure Requirements for the Agro-Industrial Corridor, the RFQ document said.
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