Spices Board is setting up a new mint spices park at Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh at an initial investment of Rs 19 crore.
The foundation stone for the project will be laid by Union Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi on Wednesday.
According to Spices Board Chairman A. Jayathilak, 36,500 tonnes of mint is produced in the country and of this, 35,500 tonnes are from Uttar Pradesh.
Mint and mint products from the variety Mentha Arvensis (Japanese mint) will get priority for processing and value addition at the park.
He said that out that exports of mint and mint products contribute to 23 per cent in value terms of the total spices exports, earning a revenue of Rs 2,224 crore in 2011-12.
Boon to mint farmers
As the new spice park is being set up in Rae Bareli, it is expected that high end processing and value-addition of mint will shoot up and this would play a vital part in the total spice exports, he said.
The park, to be set up in an area of 11.79 acres in Sadar Tehsil, will boost the production, processing, value addition and exports of mint and mint products and will be a boon to the mint farmers of the country, he added.
Spices Board has already set up crop-specific Spices Parks at Chindwara, Madhya Pradesh for garlic and spice extracts; Puttady, Kerala for cardamom and pepper; Jodhpur, Rajasthan for cumin and corriander and Guna, Madhya Pradesh for seed spices.
He said that spices parks at Guntur, Andhra Pradesh for chillies and Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu for turmeric and chillies are nearing completion.
The Board is also establishing a Spice Park at Kota, Rajasthan for coriander and cumin.