After Yogi govt's notice, Patanjali cancels proposed Rs 6000-cr mega food park in UP

Reacting to the development, Patanjali Ayurved Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna blamed the Yogi Adityanath government's "indifferent attitude" for the decision.

Image courtesy: PTI

NEW DELHI: The Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday issued a notice to Yoga guru Ramdev's flagship brand Patanjali to scrap its proposed Rs 6,000-crore mega food processing project in Greater Noida. The government had earlier issued two notices to Patanjali for the delay in paper works. Sources close to Ramdev said Patanjali didn't get desired cooperation from the state government for this project. However, the government has given time till June 15 but Patanjali is pulling out of the project because of its "disappointing" attitude, the sources added. The Hairdwar-based company had proposed to invest up to Rs 6,000 crore to set up a plant in 425 acres of land at YEIDA to cater the domestic and export markets through its step-down firm Patanjali Food & Herbal Park. Reacting to the development, Patanjali Ayurved Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna blamed the Yogi Adityanath government's "indifferent attitude" for the decision. "Received information about scrapping the Mega Food Park project in Great Noida, which was approved by the Central government. The project would have brought prosperity to the land of Lord Rama and Krishna. But due to the state government's indifference, this will remain an unfulfilled dream," he tweeted.

आज ग्रेटर नोएडा में केन्द्रीय सरकार से स्वीकृत मेगा फूड पार्क को निरस्त करने की सूचना मिली श्रीराम व कृष्ण की पवित्र भूमि के किसानों के जीवन में समृद्धि लाने का संकल्प प्रांतीय सरकार की उदासीनता के चलते अधूरा ही रह गया #पतंजलि ने प्रोजेक्ट को अन्यत्र शिफ्ट करने का निर्णय लिया pic.twitter.com/hN6LRbhO4i

— Acharya Balkrishna (@Ach_Balkrishna) June 5, 2018

"We are cancelling the project as we did not get required clearances from the UP state government," Balkrishna told PTI. The company now plans to shift the project to some other state, he said without disclosing further details. Citing the reason for pulling out of the state, he said, "We did not get any cooperation from the state government for this project. We have waited for long time for the clearances but could not get from the state government. Now we have decided to shift the project." When contacted Food Processing Secretary J P Meena told PTI:" Patanjali was given four months time to meet the conditions required to get the final approval. There are four to five conditions, including land and bank loans, which any party that wants to set up mega food park has to fulfil." Meena further said, "We have not cancelled the project. We have given one month extension to Patanjali... they have to meet the condition. In case, Patanjali does not meet the condition, we have no choice but to cancel. We have done it earlier in many projects." (With PTI inputs)