Union Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India and the UAE will set up a food corridor with an expected investment of $2 billion which will cater to the UAE market and beyond and help Indian farmers earn higher income and create more jobs. Goyal said that a small working group comprising central government, state governments involved and the UAE has also been set up to take forward the establishment of food corridor between the two countries on a mission mode basis.
The minister said that around $2 billion is the initial commitment that UAE has made to invest in the food processing industry and the food park logistics that can be required to move the material to the UAE. Stating that this investment is expected to happen in the next two-and-a-half-year period, he said ‘But the overall investment is also a factor of the opportunities that Indian businesses are able to offer.’
He further said it has been under discussion for a very long time that the UAE would like to invest in setting up food processing facilities in India to enable the availability of high-quality products suitable to the UAE, using Indian farmers' products and to be sold in the UAE. This matter has been under discussion for quite some time with the UAE Government coming, and with different states in India. He said ‘Now, we are looking at progressing them faster to make sure that investments in food processing can come up in India with UAE investors and the UAE Market along with other Gulf markets’.