FIXED ASSET ANALYSIS OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES IN KERALA

Abstract

Major industries in India are textile industry, food processing industry, chemical industry, cement industry, software industry, mining industry, steel industry and petroleum industry. Food processing industry in India is a sunrise sector. Good investment opportunities exist in many areas of food processing industry. India is one of the most important producers of food in the world and second largest in arable land, also. Oppurtunities and challenges of the global food economy have been exposed by the increasing liberalization of the economy. Liberalized overall policy regime, with specific incentive for high priority food processing sector, provides a very conducive environment for investment and export. Availability of raw materials, changing lifestyles and relaxation in policy has given a considerable push to the industries’ growth. Food processing industry accounts for about 14 % of manufacturing GDP that is rupees 2,80,000 crores and employees about 13 million people directly and 35 million people indirectly.  Though, India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, commercial processing is less than 2% and capacity utilization remains below 50 percentages in this sector. The industry has been many facing problems like low-capacity utilization, technological obsolescence and marketing. Fruit and vegetable processing industry is one of the significant components under food processing industry. A substantial portion of the raw materials required for fruit and vegetable processing units have been wasted due to lack of proper preservation methods. Most of the entrepreneurs who operate on cottage sector and home scales units are not aware of the technological support and assistance available.