Citing the disappointing attitude of the Uttar Pradesh government as reason, yoga guru Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved Limited has decided to shift its planned food part out of the state. Uttar Pradesh government has reportedly denied permission to set up the plant in Greater Noida.
Managing director of Patanjali Ayurved Limited Acharya Balkrishna announced this decision via a tweet on Tuesday (5).
"Today, the notice of aborting the Mega Food Park approved by the central government in Greater Noida, the resolution to bring prosperity to the lives of the Holy Land of Krishna, was incomplete with the indifference of the government. Decided to shift the Patanjali project elsewhere," Balkrishna tweeted in Hindi.
According to Indian news agency PTI, Patanjali was given one-month extension by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries to get the requisite clearances to start the project.
When contacted Food Processing Secretary J P Meena told PTI:" Patanjali was given four months time to meet the conditions required to get the final approval. There are four to five conditions, including land and bank loans, which any party that wants to set up mega food park has to fulfill."
Meena further said, "We have not cancelled the project. We have given one month extension to Patanjali... they have to meet the condition. In case, Patanjali does not meet the condition, we have no choice but to cancel. We have done it earlier in many projects."
In 2016, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had laid the foundation of the Rs 6,000-crore mega food processing project along the Yamuna Expressway.
The plant was to produce goods worth Rs 25,000 crore annually if it runs to its full capacity and Patanjali said it would create 10,000 direct jobs.
Wal Chahal
