Markfed to set up agri zone at Hyd airport

The Andhra Pradesh Co-operative Marketing Federation (Markfed) is planning to develop an agri processing zone at the new international airport in Hyderabad, which will have facilities like godowns and cold storage plants.

The state government is in the process of allotting about 12 acres of  land for the purpose, according to Ponnam Prabhakar, chairman, Markfed. "We may end up investing almost Rs 100 crore over a period of time in developing the agri processing zone, which will have state-of-the-art facilities," he said today.

The zone would facilitate agri exports, including major fruit crops such as mango, from Andhra by cargo flights.

Meanwhile, Markfed has entered into an understanding with the Continental Warehousing Corporation, which has proposed to set up close to 10 private marketing terminals in the state. "The company plans to invest in the infrastructure on its own. We will be associating with the company in procurement of various agriculture produce as required by it,"
Prabhakar said.