Spices Board India andCentral Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish incubation facilities for spices with an aim to support and guide start-ups, exporters, SMEs, entrepreneurs and FPOs in developing innovative products and processes in the spices sector.

Establishment of the incubation facility at CFTRI, Mysuru, is expected to support new product and process development in spices besides fostering innovations and technologies for value addition, which may diversify the spices export basket and standardise the processes for innovative products. The initiative will open new business/export opportunities for Indian spices.

Attractive proposition

The Board has been strategising to sustain India’s leadership in the global spice trade with a focus on product development, diversification and value addition. The jointly established incubation centre for spices at CFTRI will help in developing innovative products and processes, said D Sathiyan, Secretary, Spices Board.

Sridevi Annapurna Singh, Director, CFTRI, said that CFTRI  has successfully developed and transferred technologies, particularly in processing and value addition in spices.

The identified incubatees will be provided support for up to 18 months covering the aspects of office space, technical support, access to relevant equipment, laboratory facilities, resources, knowledge sources, etc.  

The board has worked out a pilot scheme to support the incubatees with an assistance of 90 per cent of the cost of project subject to a maximum of ₹10 lakh per incubatee during the incubation period. This pilot project has been envisaged to encourage and promote value addition and product diversification to assist the industry’s efforts to achieve $10 billion value realisation in spices exports by 2030.

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