India to control food inflation by lessening wastage: Harsimrat Kaur Badal

Bathinda, September 29, 2014: Union Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal today called upon for minimising food wastage in every sector, which could play major role in arresting inflation. She was speaking after inaugurating ASSOCHAM’s 6th International Summit on Food Processing at Ahmedabad, Gujarat today.
"Due to wastage, market availability of eatables decline and that directly leads to inflation. Together we can play a pivotal role in controlling waste and help every mouth feed," she said while addressing delegations from Netherlands, Nigeria and Suriname along with Indian States’ representatives including researchers, techno preneurs, entrepreneurs, leading industry players, investors and exporters.Elaborating on strategy to combat food wastage, she called for strengthening of backward and forward linkages, which is estimated at over Rs 40,000 crore. It would also aid in curbing inflation.

Underlining the role of food industry in the battle against wastage, she urged food processing industry players to educate farmers about industries' expectations of quality of agriculture produce, the latest farm technologies and good practices so that the grain providers of nation can produce more and get better value from the land.
Gujarat's agriculture Minister Babubhai Bokhiriya on the occasion shared the state’s journey and government’s proactive initiatives of past one decade to make Gujarat growth engine of the nation. He dwelled on the way Gujarat has become favourable destination for the business along with showcasing potentialities and advantages of Gujarat for food processing sector.

He also talked about state government’s achievements so far especially in areas such as implementation of Mega Food Parks and installation of food irradiation units to minimize wastage and promote export. On the occasion, the Minister also released a knowledge report on Indian food processing industry titled FAD: The Golden Business Horizon jointly prepared by ASSOCHAM and RNCOS, a leading business research and consultancy firm.
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