Ahmedabad: Fruit juice concentrates maker Rasna Private Ltd on Saturday showed interest in setting up a food park in Himachal Pradesh, while Vadilal Industries Ltd proposed to commission an agro processing unit.
Piruz Khambatta, chairman and managing director of Rasna, met a visiting delegation led by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh here and proposed to set up a mega food park.
Khambatta said the apples of Himachal Pradesh were better in quality than those of China.
He told the chief minister that he was keen on a joint venture with the state. For this, he proposed to launch a soft drink named "Rasna Himachal".
Ice cream maker Vadilal, which has three facilities in the country, proposed to set up an agro-based processing unit in the state.
Likewise, pharmaceutical major Torrent Group sought permission to set up a second facility in the state with a proposed investment of Rs.200 crore.
The Torrent Group has invested Rs.325 crore in the state.
Officials said the group has also shown interest in setting up mega hydropower projects. The chief minister asked the company to submit its proposal by Dec 15.
Adani Agrifresh business head Srinivasa Ramanujam, which has invested Rs.200 crore in the hill state in cold stores, has expressed interest in commissioning another store in Kullu area for storing 15,000 tonnes of apples.
The investors' meet in Ahmedabad was the last meeting in the first phase, which was organised by the Himachal government in association with CII.
Earlier, meetings were held in Mumbai and Bangalore.
Official data shows that Himachal Pradesh got maximum investment from 2003 to 2010 when there was a special industrial package of the central government.
Most investments were in pharmaceuticals, food processing, textiles, packaging and light engineering sectors.
