Tura, July 1: Union Minister of State (MoS) for Food Processing, Rameswar Teli has urged institutions, prominent individuals and industrialists to set up a research lab for food products in the state.

He said his ministry is ready to finance such labs. “Make research lab and take the money from the Ministry and you run it,” he said while addressing a gathering at Mendipathar after inspecting the site for the first Mega Food Park in Meghalaya at Mendipathar in North Garo Hills (NGH) on Thursday.

He hoped that if Tura had a full-fledged University, his ministry would have setup a research centre there. The research centre would be involved with Research & Development and testing the taste and other properties of organic foods such as vegetables and fruits grown in the region.

He cited the example of the Tocklai Tea Research Centre at Jorhat, the oldest tea research centre in the world setup in 1911. He shared that the centre has been given Rs. 3.5 crore by the Food Processing Minister; if Meghalaya had a similar food testing facility, it can also avail similar funds.

He informed that another research centre is being set up at the Tea Auction Centre at Guwahati.

MSME incentive for ST states

The Minister noted that Meghalaya being a ST State can gain from special packages under his ministry through the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) channel.

He said if someone wants to set-up a private industry relating to food products and they need a scheme, the Food Processing Ministry provides unique schemes from Rs 1 – 5 crore.
He opined that the scheme can be utilized very well in Garo Hills.