TS government completes land acquisition for special food zones in districts
Hyderabad: The state government has successfully completed the land acquisition for setting up Telangana Special Food Processing Zones (TSFPZs) in all districts.
The state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has approved the Telangana State Food Processing Policy in July 2021 for setting up TSFPZs to promote rapid industrialisation in the food and agriculture sector for the benefit of farmers and create employment opportunities for local youth.
The government issued a notification in August 2021 inviting applications for setting up TSPFZs in all the districts. The move evoked good response with 1,496 entrepreneurs coming forward to set up units in these special zones. The highest number of applications — 220 — were filed from Nalgonda, followed by 158 from Nizamabad, 135 from Ranga Reddy and 131 from Khammam districts.
The Chief Minister directed Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to acquire lands ranging from 50 acres to 500 acres in each district for setting up these zones. The CS held a series of review meetings over the past ten months with respective district collectors and completed the land acquisition process.
Land over an extent of 1,266 acres was acquired in Karimnagar district (Ogulapur), 1,024 acres each in Vikarabad (Arkathala) and Narayanpet (Kamsanpalli) districts, 675 acres in Kamareddy (Lingampally), 657 acres in Siricilla (Narmaala), 620 acres in Nirmal (Basara), 600 acres in Hanwada (Mahabubnagar), 587 acres in Siddipet (Vargal), 526 acres in Medak (Ghanpur), 440 acres in Nalgonda (Allagadapa), 434 acres in Wanaparthy (Kambalapuram), 422 acres in Nagarkurnool (Sarvareddypalli), 355 acres in Mancherial (Buddhakalan), 197 acres in Jagtial (Metla Chitlapur) and other 11 districts.
Officials sources said the government acquired land parcels for 28 SEZs in 25 districts and the land acquisition in the remaining seven districts has reached the final stages, which will be completed in the second phase.
The government issued directions to TSIIC to create infrastructure facilities in these zones for the speedy setting up of special zones.
The special zones will have integrated infrastructure facilities for processing and value addition of various food grains, which are expected to be in abundance due to enhanced output, following the availability of water from large-scale irrigation projects. The government's objective is to offer better prices to the farmers through value addition and export of processed food items.
A majority of the applicants evinced interest in setting up rice mills, oil mills, cold storage and warehouses. A few applications were also received for setting up ready-to-cook biryani and other products. Based on the applicant's projects, the land will be allocated ranging from 500 square metres to five to six acres to each unit, sources added.
