In this regard, the MoFPI (ministry of food processing industries) has sanctioned a grant of Rs 1.62 crore while the university will bear the remaining Rs 1.59 crore.
A source at JNTU-K informed FnB News, “Though there are a lot of food industries, not even a single food testing laboratory is available in East Godavari district or its neighboring districts. This is creating lot of inconvenience to the industry and consumers.”Hence, the university had submitted a proposal for setting up of a Regional Food Testing Laboratory to MoFPI. The recent fund sanction was in response to the proposal.
The source pointed out that the food industry was one of the major industries in the region / district, which comprised rice milling and fish processing primarily. Fruits and vegetable processing, sago, vegetable oil, sugar, beverages, dairy, dhal mills, roller flour mills, and distilleries are the other important industries in the region.
That apart, there are lot of small-scale and cottage industries (mango jelly, flour mills, sweet / snacks, bakeries, pickles, cashewnuts etc.). Traditional foods like khaja and pootharekulu also originate from this district. However, while most of the bigger industries send their samples to an external / certified laboratory whenever vendors require such tests, the smaller ones cannot afford to do so, and hence, the region needed a testing laboratory.
In the first phase of the lab, only few products and some 50 basic quality parameters will be selected for testing. It is envisaged to expand the scope and increase products and parameters to be tested, keeping in view the requirements of the local industry.
