Raipur, Oct 7 (PTI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday inaugurated a millet processing unit, said to be the country’s biggest facility, in the state’s Maoist-hit Kanker district.
The unit, with a capacity of processing 10,000 to 12,000 tonnes of millets annually, has been set up by Avni Ayurveda Private Limited in collaboration with the state government under the latter’s ‘millet mission’ in Nathia Nawagaon village, an official from the state public relations department said.
Thousands of farmers, particularly from Bastar region, will benefit from the facility, which will deal in production of porridge mix, suji (granulated wheat), pasta, soup mixtures, cookies etc after processing kodo, kutki and ragi millets, he said.
The chief minister visited the facility and took a stock of its working, marketing and products-related information, he said.
The facility requires 35 to 50 tonnes of raw material daily, which will be supplied by the Chhattisgarh Minor Forest Produce Cooperative Federation, for which a memorandum was signed between the state government and Avni Ayurveda, he said.
The Kanker district administration and Avni Ayurveda have also signed a MoU with the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR) Hyderabad for technical assistance, setting up seed bank and training, the official said.
The facility will provide direct and indirect employment to locals, while farmers will get good returns for their produce, he said.
At least 20 districts of the state cultivate millets and the state government has fixed the support price Rs 30 per kg for kodo and kutki and Rs 33.77 per kg for ragi, he said.
Earlier in the day, Baghel inaugurated a tamarind processing plant set up in Dhuragaon village of Bastar district, the official added. PTI TKP ARU ARU
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