The food and vegetable cluster in Pune region can expect exports from the region to triple from Rs 150 crore to Rs 450 crore in the next few years,once the Business Development Service (BDS) that was launched on Wednesday gets underway,said the stakeholders at a press conference in the city at the MCCIA. "We expect exports from this region to shoot up; to triple in the next few years. In the last financial year,Rs 150 crore worth of food products was exported," said Ajay Mehta,director,Governing council of National Agriculture and Food Analysis and Institute (NAFARI),which is a partnering institution for the BDS project. Under this service,experts would be expected to provide technical help to the micro and medium Enterprises in the food industry,business advisory and consultancy and conduct several training programmes to boost the industry output,Mehta said. "We expect a positive impact of this consultancy and significant improvement in productivity on the food and vegetable industry of this region. Everyday,we get two to three enquiries from firms that need advice about these services," said Rajveer Singh,CEO of Apex Cluster Craft. The implementation of the BDS for the Pune region is with NAFARI ,which is promoted by the MCCIA and Apex Cluster Development Services Pvt Ltd. The NAFARI has also signed MOUs with four partners in Italy and Canada and has forged close working relationships with similar partners in Germany in the last six months for this purpose. "This will help with technology and people transfer,improve business relations and open new markets to Indian firms," said Vinay Oswal,NAFARI. The Swargate campus of NAFARI is also working on upgrading its lab for the purpose. "We are looking at several sources of funding. A fully fledged lab may cost up to Rs 4 crore," Oswal said. He added that NAFARI had already begun working with several food industries that make baking powder,custard powder,and freshly cut vegetables for domestic delivery.
