SHILLONG, Dec 30: North East’s first-ever specialised ginger processing plant at Ri Bhoi is likely to become functional in the beginning of 2021.
Disclosing this after reviewing the functioning of the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation (NERAMAC), DoNER Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said the ginger processing plant, despite being established around 2004, had remained non-functional for several years.
“The NERAMAC has now undertaken the responsibility of reviving it and initiated steps to operationalise the closed plant through public-private partnership (PPP) mode,” he said.
Singh said the plant, which is located at the Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP), Byrnihat, will not only process ginger but also help in preparing products like waxed ginger, ginger paste, ginger powder, ginger flakes, ginger oil, etc.
The union minister further informed that these ginger products will not only be made available for domestic consumption but will also have a wider demand while keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for ‘Vocal for Local’.
“For the PPP mode, an operation and maintenance operator was selected through the tendering process and the work on setting up and reviving the plant is under progress,” he said.
The brief provided by Manoj Kummar Das, Managing Director, NERAMAC, revealed that the North East produces about 4,50,000 metric tonnes of high-quality ginger every year. However, due to the dearth of processing and cold storage facilities, most of them are sold at a lower price.
Meanwhile, the union minister has also informed about the plan to set up 100 new fresh retail points in North East and fruit kiosks in Guwahati and other major towns of the North East. However, most of these will be under the PPP mode.
It may be mentioned that the NERAMAC has undertaken the onus to develop marketing complexes with state-of-the-art facilities.