Patanjali's mega food park
Yoga guru Swami Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved Limited has said that the company is reviewing the decision to move out its Rs 6,000-crore mega food park out of Noida in the wake of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directing UP officials to expedite the process of approval for the project.
"We are reviewing our decision in the light of assurances given by chief minister Yogi Adityanath. We do trust the assurances given by him," Patanjali spokesperson SK Tijarawala was quoted as saying by PTI.
On Tuesday, Patanjali had announced that it was pulling out of the mega food processing project along the Yamuna Expressway, citing non-cooperation from the state government and delay in clearances for transfer of land.
Earlier in the day, a senior state government official clarified that the project has not been cancelled and CM Adityanath spoke to Patanjali Ayurved MD Acharya Balkrishna over the matter.
"The chief minister has talked to Acharya Balkrishna and heard his grievances. There is no cancellation yet. They have been allotted land and the project is to be commenced. The CM has directed to expedite the process and also directed officers for the same," principal secretary (Information) Awanish Awasthi told PTI.
Patanjali MD Acharya Balkrishna told India TV on Tuesday that the permission has been denied by the central government due to “indifferent” approach of the Uttar Pradesh government which could not complete the requisite “paper work”.
Acharya Balkrishna took to twitter to make the announcement in this regard. Blaming the Uttar Pradesh government for his company’s decision, he said that Noida food park would have brought prosperity to the land of Lord Rama and Krishna.
“ This will remain a dream because of the indifference of the state govt. Patanjali has decided to shift the project to elsewhere,” he added.
The Haridwar-based company had proposed to invest up to Rs 6,000 crore to set up a plant over 425 acres of land along the Yamuna Expressway through its step-down firm Patanjali Food and Herbal Park.
Union food processing secretary JP Meena had also stated on Tuesday that the project has not been cancelled yet.
"We have given one month extension to Patanjali ... they have to meet the condition. In case, Patanjali does not meet the condition, we have no choice but to cancel. We have done it earlier in many projects," Meena had said.
Mega food parks are to be implemented within 30 months and financial assistance is provided to them by the central government.
Earlier, Patanjali had said that its mega food park along the Yamuna Expressway would produce goods worth Rs 25,000 crore annually on full capacity running. It is envisaged to create 10,000 direct jobs.
Patanjali is presently investing in mega food park projects, including in Nagpur (Maharashtra) and Tezpur (Assam).
(With PTI inputs)
