'Food industry will benefit lakhs'

kolkata: "if we target the next ten years and invest around rs 15,000 crore, there is tremendous scope for growth and progress in the agro and food processing industry," said state food processing and horticulture minister sailen sarkar on friday. inaugurating the second international exhibition on food processing: 'food tech india 2001', sarkar said if money was invested wisely in this field, it would benefit around 15 lakh people."there will be jobs for at least one-and-a-half-lakh people every month," he said. there are 92 participants in this year's food tech fair sponsored by the department of food processing industry and horticulture. the four-day exhibition aims at highlighting technology and equipment related to food processing and preservation technology. the organisers seemed happy with the situation. jacob macwan, managing director of intec trade fairs pvt. ltd, said, "our company was established in 1993 and has organised fairs across the globe. we generally select an industry specific region. since there is a vacuum in food processing in this region, we decided to organise the fair. this region is rich in agriculture and the area needs to be explored." exhibitors from different states, both from government and private sectors, are taking part. big names include tupperware, tamil nadu tea plantation, orissa state cooperative milk producers' federation ltd, tripura small industries corporation ltd, spices board.