UP's Fruit Boom: Noida Airport to Launch Major Export Hub.

The Uttar Pradesh government is setting up a fruit-based processing unit at Noida International Airport, near its multimodal cargo hub. A committee, including officials from Noida International Airport (NIAL), the World Bank, and Innova Food Park (a subsidiary of Bharat Biotech), is developing a financial model for the project.

This initiative aims to boost fruit exports, particularly benefiting farmers from Jewar and surrounding districts by providing a stable market for their produce, especially guavas and mangoes. The World Bank will provide Rs 350 crore in aid for the facility. Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh recently chaired a meeting to discuss establishing an export hub at the airport.

Key stakeholders, including representatives from Innova Food Park, the World Bank, Air India SATS (AISATS), Noida International Airport concessionaire YIAPL, and NIAL, participated in the discussions. The Chief Secretary directed all parties to collaborate on a horticulture-based export hub, with a financial model report expected by the end of the month.

The processing unit will be integrated with AISATS' cold chain system, ensuring product freshness and quick international exports. Since a gamma radiation facility, crucial for food preservation, cannot be housed within the airport, NIAL CEO Arun Vir Singh has proposed allocating land in Sector 22E for this purpose.

As per the plan, fruits will undergo cleaning and peeling at the gamma radiation centre before moving to the processing unit for further processing and export. In September last year, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced North India's first radiation treatment plant near Noida airport to help meet strict export standards for the US and Europe.

Under the Food Processing Industry Policy 2023, the state offers incentives, including a 35% subsidy on plant, machinery, and technical civil work costs, up to Rs 5 crore, to encourage food processing industry development.

News by Rahul Yelligetti.