Rasna, Vadilal keen to invest in Himachal

IANS | 09 November 2014, 11:02 AM IST

AHMEDABAD, Fruit juice concentrates maker Rasna Private Ltd 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.

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Govt on FSS regulations review path ; withdraws amendment Bill from RS

Friday, November 07, 2014 08:00 IST 
Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi

In what could be seen as the first step towards comprehensive review of the Food Safety & Standards Regulations, 2011, the government has decided to withdraw the Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2014, introduced in the Rajya Sabha in February this year. 

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday at a meeting chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for withdrawing the Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2014, as introduced in the Rajya Sabha on February 19,2014.

This decision was taken as the Union ministry of health has embarked on  a comprehensive review as reported by FnbNews earlier and the ministry has decided to include a lot of suggestions and recommendations in the wake of various court orders and representations made by traders bodies and FBOs (food business operators).

A statement by the government said, “The Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2014, needs to be further amended after taking into account the judgements of the Supreme Court; Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court, and representations received by the government and other recent developments.”

The statement added that based on further examination, a fresh set of amendments will be finalised by the ministry of health and family welfare.

The February 2014 amendment was mainly for Food Safety & Standards Authority of India’s bureaucratic operations. The amendment seeks review of Sub-section (1) of Section 5 of the said Act, which provides for the composition of the food authority consisting of a chairperson and 22 members, which does not include the chief executive officer. It is proposed to include the chief executive officer in the composition of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India amongst others.

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