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Thursday / November 7. 2024

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HomePosts Tagged "PHDCCI"
AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Cold Storage, India, Supply Chain

Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare inaugurated conference as “India Cold Chain Conclave” in New Delhi

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, along with PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PHDCCI) in association with National Centre for Cold Chain Development (NCCD) as a knowledge partner, organised a one-day exhibition and conference as “India Cold Chain Conclave” in New Delhi today. The conference was organised with the objective to bring together all the stakeholders on one common platform where they can contribute thoughts and ideas for the growth of industry in a sustainable manner and to explore ways of reducing post-harvest losses with relevant technologies. An exhibition was also organised concurrently to demonstrate Innovations and Excellence in Cold Chain Sector by industry leaders.

The Conclave and exhibition were inaugurated by Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. He said that Ministry of Agriculture recognises the importance of the cold chain industry in ensuring food safety, reducing food waste and increasing the shelf life of perishable products and ministry has set up an extensive outlay of policies and programmes to give strength to this sector. Technological innovation is crucial for the growth and development of the Indian Cold Chain industry. With the advent of advanced refrigeration and cooling systems, the industry is now able to store and transport goods at much lower temperatures, which helps to extend the shelf life of perishable products. This has led to an increase in the export of perishable goods from India, as the products can now reach international markets in better condition.

Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary (DA&FW) said that the Indian Cold Chain industry is expected to experience significant growth in the coming years. The increasing demand for perishable goods such as fruits, vegetables, and meat products, as well as the rise in e-commerce and online grocery sales, are driving this growth. As the demand for these goods continues to grow in India, the government recognises the need to support the development of the cold chain industry in order to ensure food security and public health.

Priya Ranjan, Joint Secretary (Horticulture) said that the Agriculture Ministry, under the dynamic leadership of Agriculture Minister, is working fast in understanding the new needs which are emerging on the cold chain front and we are progressing ahead with various programmes initiated to bring new developments in the cold chain sector.

During technical sessions, various issues relating to Logistics and cluster development to unlock Cold chain development prospects, Cold chain energy efficiency, Refrigeration technology and Importance of Internet of Things in Cold-chain etc were deliberated in detail by the delegates with the objectives to bring improvement of the development of cold-chain industry in sustainable manner.

The event was attended by other senior officers from the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, APEDA, Bureau of Energy Efficiency etc. The conclave was also attended by over 250 participants/delegates belonging to Various Government Departments, Corporates, Technology Providers, Traders, Exporters, Researchers and other stakeholders from various parts of the country.

Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Department of Agriculture and

Company News, India, Supply Chain, Warehousing

It’s essential that an integrated holistic view of the agriculture value chain is taken towards providing the necessary fillip to the agricultural growth: Saket Dalmia, President, (PHDCCI)

In the run-up to the upcoming Union Budget, many industry stalwarts, stakeholders and experts have expressed their views on what can make or break the agri sector growth. Recently, Saket Dalmia, President, (PHDCCI) shared his views.

The major highlights include:

1) Reforms in rural infrastructure logistics and cold chain are required as it would help in increasing the level of food processing industry and rural entrepreneurship. These would lead to increased participation in the global agriculture and food exports. Exports of agri and food processing products should be increased to the level of $ 100 billion in next three years from the current level of around $ 50 billion (2021-22).

2) The increase in public investments in agricultural infrastructure would attract private investments in cold storage, warehousing and supply chain of agriculture produce in order to reduce food wastage and get them to urban citizens at moderate rates. It shall also raise the returns to agriculturists.

3) Strengthen access to credit for long term loans to enhance growth and productivity in the sector and to enhance farm incomes.

4) Adoption of direct transfer of subsidies on electricity, fertilisers, etc. to the beneficiaries to ensure better delivery of subsidies to the end-users.

5) Minimise the wastage from the current level of more than 30 per cent to less than 10 per cent in next five years by augmenting storage capacities, modernising/ upgrading the godowns.

Need for holistic view

It is essential that an integrated holistic view of the agriculture value chain is taken towards providing the necessary fillip to the agricultural growth. This requires a joint participatory approach from all concerned stakeholders including the farmers, input vendors, traders, processors and the government. The Union Budget can be very effective in laying down a comprehensive policy framework and providing a tremendous thrust through appropriate fiscal benefits and closely monitor the action plans.

It's essential that an integrated holistic view

Acts & Schemes – Centre, AgroPolicy, Foodgrains, India, Schemes - Govt, Sustainability

Rajasthan State Agriculture Marketing Board aspires to set up hundred Millet Processing units in the state, and a subsidy up to 50 lahks will be provided to each of such units.

On the occasion of ‘The National Farmers’ Day’, the Agribusiness and Food Processing committee along with the Rajasthan State Chapter of  PHDCCI, organised an Industry Meet themed,  MILLETS: Power House of Nutrition, at National Institute Of Agriculture Marketing (NIAM), Jaipur, Rajasthan. 

Murari Lal Meena, Minister for Rajasthan State Agriculture Marketing Board, Government of Rajasthan inaugurated the event.  While addressing the meeting, the Minister informed the gathering that Rajasthan is the first ever state to have released a separate Agriculture budget. 

 He also spoke about how the Rajasthan State Agriculture Marketing Board aspires to set up hundred Millet Processing units in the state, and a subsidy up to 50 lahks will be provided to each of such units. 

He further concluded his address by saying that Govt of Rajasthan has already announced mission millets in the state, and in the coming times, the work will be progressing at high-speed. 

Ramavatar Meena, IAS, Director, Integrated Child Development Studies (ICDS) mentioned that the incorporation of millet and millet-based diet in the mid-day meal services of the state government programmes in Aanganwadis will improve the nutritional status of the state population. He further informed that ICDS is planning on arranging many such millet meets and awareness programmes across the state for better reach of producers and consumers.

Rajasthan State Agriculture Marketing Board aspires to

Agrotech, Finance, Trade

The virtual webinar had the topic of ‘Agriculture Ecosystem: Expectations from Budget 2022’

PHDCCI recently organised a virtual webinar on ‘Agriculture Ecosystem: Expectations from Budget 2022.’ The webinar started with a welcome address by Deepak Pahwa, Chair, FTIC Committee, PHD Chamber. Pahwa said, “Recuperating from the impact of two years of a pandemic, India is working hard to gain from every opportunity to strengthen its position at the global level and utilise the opportunity of trade diversion from China.”

Pradeep Multani, President, PHDCCI in his address mentioned that agriculture continues to be a dominating employment generating sector and contributes a significant proportion to the country’s GDP. He highlighted on identifying areas and crops to integrate the benefit of micro-irrigation with structured governance and execution strategy will help the country climb a newer height of fiscal growth.

BK Sabharwal, Chair, Capital Market & Commodity Market Committee, PHDCCI highlighted that in the Union Budget 2021, the government had a farm credit target of Rs16.5 trillion, which is likely to be revised in Budget 2022 to Rs 18.5 trillion.

Rajesh Kumar Dangeti, Regional Director (Northern Regional Office), SEBI, in his Chief Guest Address said that India is one of the highest producers of many agricultural products in the world. He also highlighted some of the problems which the farmers face with inflation in agricultural products, over-dependence on climate changes, storage facilities, depletion in groundwater, air pollution and environmental sustainability and many others.

This was followed by a speech by Sanjay Aggarwal, Former President, PHDCCI, who stated that India should expedite the signing of free trade agreements with the US, the UAE, Australia, Japan and other countries. According to him, the government should also take up the issue of restoring GSP status with the US as it is the major market for India. Zero duty under GSP status will make Indian exporters more competitive at the global level, is what he opined.

Badri Narayanan Gopalakrishnan, Lead Advisor (Trade and Commerce), NITI Aayog, Government of India said that new foreign trade policy will capture all aspects of new and growing challenges of the exporters and designed in an appropriate way to support the industry to overcome the challenges of the next 10 years.

Niti Bhasin, Delhi School of Economics, the University of Delhi in his speech talked about the New Foreign Trade Policy that should focus on incentivising the export products which are contributing significantly to the exports and has a comparative advantage for India to become a more competitive and balanced trade destination.

Nirmal Khandelwal, Co-Chair, Foreign Trade and Investment Committee, PhD Chamber suggested establishing a body to support MSMEs so that they can be part of GCV (global value chain ) and exports. Loans for the exporter are available at a very high rate in comparison to other emerging economies, so there is a need to rationalise the rate of the loan for exporters.

Bimal Jain, Chair, Indirect Tax Committee, PHD Chamber urged for synchronisation among foreign trade policy, GST laws and customs to make India more Attamanirbhar Bharat.

Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda, stated that agriculture is the backbone of the economy. He talked about the NREGA project, capital expenditure on agriculture including warehousing, transportation & irrigation facilities.

Sandeep Jain, Director, Tradeswift Broking, focussed on improving agriculture GDP so that the country can witness a consumption revolution.

Kapil Dev, Chief Business Officer, NCDEX talked about the MSP, measures to bring down the cost of production and the government’s long-term approach to improving infrastructure in the agriculture sector.

RN Bhaskar moderated the session and emphasised vibrant future markets for agriculture and subsidies in the agriculture sector.

The virtual webinar had the topic of