Nov 2, 2020
According to the Kerala government, the mega seafood park that is coming up at the Industrial Growth Centre at Cherthala will give a fresh push to the seafood processing and marketing sector, which had gone down substantially during the lockdown of the Covid pandemic.
The park, coming up on a plot of 68-acre is nearing completion. Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan had laid the foundation stone for the project in June 2017.
Seafood exports have declined by 24%, during the April-August period. The export earnings also declined by 14%. The state had attained brilliant results through seafood exports in the pre-Covid period. During the last financial year, the export of seafood from Kerala was around 1.5 lakh metric tonnes earning Rs. 5,020 crore.
This Mega Sea Food Park would bring the seafood processing sector back to the path of growth and in the next phase, the project will be expanded with another 16 acres.
At this time, three seafood companies and a packaging unit are operating in the food park. The land in the park will be given to entrepreneurs on a 30-year lease. Twenty-eight plots have already been taken over by numerous entrepreneurs. With completion of the park, an investment of Rs. 500 crore is expected.
Once the park becomes fully operational, it would yield about 3,000 direct and indirect jobs. The park will have food processing activities and value-added food production.
The mega food park is being constructed by KSIDC under the Industries Department at a cost of Rs. 128 crore. Of this, Rs. 72 crore is being invested by the state government and 50 crores by the central government and the remaining is a bank loan.
The Central Processing Centre (CPC) for seafood collection, grading, quality inspection, freezing unit, and cold store; the Primary Processing Centre (PPC) for seafood peeling, cleaning, sorting, and ice planting from harbours; and the Collection Centres (CC). The PPCs at Thopumpady, Vypin, and Munambam will also be connected to it. The park is well connected by road, rail, air, and seaport increasing its marketing potential.