Real to set up Rs 50 crore plant to serve mid-day meal scheme

After reports of students in Punjab being served contaminated food in Punjab in the mid-day-meal scheme, there is good news.

Real Contracts Private Ltd, a Noida-based company, is planning to set up a plant of dehydrated ready-to-eat food products in the state for the mid-day meal programme for primary schools in the state with an initial capital investment of Rs 50 crore.

Initially as a pilot project, the company had started the project in four districts of the state, covering 100 schools, Alok Jain, chief executive officer of the company, said, adding "we have run similar trials in other states like Uttar Pradesh and have received very good response".

"In Punjab under the six-day menu we will serve parantha, khichdi, sweet dalia, salted dalia, pulao and halwa every alternative day," he said.

"The Rs 50-crore plant will be sufficient to cater for 2.5 million students. In Punjab there are about 1.7 million students which fall under this scheme. We have plant in Noida with the same capacity, but we would be feeding other institutions also. Therefore, we have to set up plant," he said.

"Reports have indicated the mid-day meal scheme of the union government has many failings. As far as our product is concerned, just boiled water is required to cook the food. It does not take more than an hour to cook and serve our products whereas in otherwise it takes three to four hours," he said adding that the company has got this technology from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which developed this technology for catering to the soldiers in border area maintaining all nutritive value of the food.

The dehydrated food has shelf live of more than six months and could be stored anywhere, he said elaborating "We are supplying dehydrated food products in bulk packing for many institutions in the country. In case of Punjab, the government is offering us Rs 2.90 per meal whereas it cost us Rs four. Presently, the state government's contribution in this is 70 paisa only. But that is not an issue as they can increase their contribution to provide hygienic food with all nutrients intact to school children under this scheme.

Revealing the expansion plans of the company, Dr Satyandra Yadav, Director said "Apart from the institutional selling, we would target the ethnic Indian population overseas, Presently, our sample received overwhelming response from Dubai and Malaysia.

"We have also planned to tap the US and European Union market, where people want to relish real taste of India, but that would happen gradually. I think that even if we tap this mid-day meal scheme well in the country, our turnovers would increase many folds".