Congelados De Navarra, Spain’s leading food processing company, is all set to invest Rs 300 crore in Punjab, with the establishment of a food processing unit in Machiwaara, Ludhiana. The final modalities for the investment were worked out at a meeting with state chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh in the city recently.

“The company also inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Punjab Bureau of Industrial Promotion (PBIP) for the project, which has been facilitated by Indian Farmers’ Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) under the Invest Punjab scheme,” according to an official spokesperson.

A delegation comprising the company’s director general, Berito Jimmez, and consultant, Inigo Soto, along with IFFCO chairman B S Nakai and managing director U S Awasthi, met the chief minister to finalise land for the project, which will generate direct employment for 400 and indirect for 5,000 people in the state. The company, along with IFFCO, had earlier shortlisted two land parcels for the project.

The foundation stone for the project is expected to be laid by the end of this year, and production, which is expected to commence 18 months from the start of the project, will focus on frozen potatoes, peas and cauliflowers. Extensive research and development (R&D) will also be undertaken at the unit by the company, which will perhaps make it the first company to invest in research in this field.

The spokesperson said the pre-feasibility study for the project by Congelados De Navarra, a $220-million company that has pioneered the individually-quick frozen (IQF) technology, has already been completed. The company is into processing of vegetables, fruits, herbs and ready-made dishes.

The chief minister has directed PBIP to facilitate in processing the common land unit (CLU) expeditiously to enable the project to start at the earliest. It shall also facilitate in providing water linkage speedily. Power is already available in the area, and the necessary supply will be laid by PSPCL at the investor’s own cost.

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