PM Modi at World Food India 2017: ‘Farmers are anna datas, central to efforts in food processing’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday inaugurated World Food India 2017 at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. Speaking at the event, PM Modi described India as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. “India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. GST has eliminated multiplicity of taxes,” he said. The Prime Minister further applauded India’s jump in World Bank’s ease of doing business rankings. “India has jumped 30 ranks this year in the World Bank Doing Business rankings. India was ranked number 1 in the world in 2016 in greenfield investment. India is also rapidly progressing on the Global Innovation Index, Global Logistics Index and Global Competitiveness Index,” he said.
Talking about home-based techniques of cooking in India, he said, “Simple, home-based techniques, like fermentation, have resulted in creation of our famous pickles, papads, chutneys and murabbas that excite both the elite and the masses across the world,” he said. Modi further described train passengers in the country as customers for food processing industry. He further described the farmers in the country as “annadatas” and said, “Our farmers, whom we respectfully call as ‘annadatas’ are central to our efforts in food processing.”
Speaking about government schemes to aid farmers, the PM said, “We launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana to create world-class food processing infrastructure. This will leverage investment of US $5 billion, benefit 2 million farmers & create more than half million jobs.”
After the inauguration, the Prime Minister will visit food street, the food exhibition which will be laid out at the India Gate lawns.
Speaking at the inauguration event on Friday, Union Cabinet Minister of Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, “As we move towards 2050,world population set to increase by 25 per cent demand for food by 50 per cent, we need to wage war against food waste.” She further added: “We have received investment proposals for Rs 65,000 crore, that would create more than 10 lakh jobs.”
The three-day event, which is organised by the Food Processing Industries Ministry, will see investors, manufacturers, producers, food processors, policymakers and organisations from all over the world. The event aims to facilitate participation between domestic and international businesses, according to an official release.
A report by news agency PTI added that over 800 kg of khichdi, a traditional Indian dish, on November 4, will be prepared live at the event, in order to create a world record and popularise the food item all over the world. The dish will be prepared by renowned Indian chef Sanjeev Kapoor.
Over 2,000 participants along with 400 exhibitors from around 20 countries, 26 states and over 50 global CEOs are expected to participate in the event this year, the official release added.
