Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], October 10 : Sunil Barthwal, Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry met Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met at the Chief Minister's residence in Dehradun on Wednesday.
Speaking on the meeting, the Chief Minister said that the state government is working on several schemes to make Uttarakhand a hub for export of agricultural products. He said that House of Himalayas has been launched to promote the products of the state.
He said that APEDA also has an important role in promoting organic farming, GI-tagged products in the state and taking the products of the state to the global level. He said that the state government is working together on the agricultural industry, the statement added.
Sunil Barthwal said that for the first time an industry interaction meet was organized in a state by the Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Ministry of Commerce.
He said that more than 200 participants participated in the Industry Interaction meet program, out of which the CEO of the main agro processing and allied industry of the state of Uttarakhand also participated. Secretary Barthwal thanked the Chief Minister for the cooperation of the state government in organizing the Industry Interaction meet, it added.
Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that during the Industry Interaction meet, the possibility of promoting agriculture and horticulture here in accordance with the climate of Uttarakhand state was discussed in detail.
He said that many policy decisions were also taken on the export of agricultural products of Uttarakhand, organic farming and promotion of GI-tagged products. He also discussed providing financial assistance to small tea producers of Uttarakhand for organic farming and factory establishment under the tea development and promotion scheme (2023-2026).
On Wednesday, an Industry Interaction meet was organized by the APEDA in Dehradun. During this, the Commerce Secretary discussed in detail about the promotion, processing and marketing of House of Himalayas and suggestions were also received from the CEOs of various agro processing industries to increase exports from the state of Uttarakhand, it added.
The statement added that during the Industry Interaction meet, CART (Mobile Store) of House of Himalayas was inaugurated by Secretary Sunil Barthwal. On this occasion, MoUs were signed with various companies to get international recognition for Uttarakhand's local products brand "House of Himalayas".
MoUs were signed between "House of Himalayas" and Lulu Group to promote the global export and delivery of high quality agricultural and processed food products of Uttarakhand, between "House of Himalayas" and Indian Institute of Packaging to improve packaging standards according to the international market, and between "House of Himalayas" and Spices Board to promote the cultivation of local spices in Uttarakhand and get global recognition by manufacturing them, it added.