The Maharashtra government is considering giving a fillip to fruit processing industry. The state is a major producer of fruits like oranges, mangoes, grapes, bananas, cashew, pomegranates and other citrus family fruits like sweet lime.
State industry minister and Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai on Thursday met a delegation from Japan in Mumbai. The Japanese are keen to invest in the state especially in food processing sector. Desai said investment climate in the state was best and there was a major scope for foreign direct investment.
The idea of getting foreign investment and technology was welcomed by ex-MLA and Sawargaon (Katol) resident Sunil Shinde who has been fighting for decades for government help to invest in orange processing units in and around Nagpur.
"This year the orange crop of Ambia Bahar is bounteous. But orchard owners are hardly reaping any benefit due to the poor demand in the market. The Nagpur orange, which otherwise has good market spread up to Nepal and Bangladesh and in southern states, has seen a slump this time. The geopolitical issues, heavy rains in south have left the orange growers with no takers," said Shinde.
