March 31, 2019
THE HINDU
Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) director K.S.M.S. Raghavarao on Saturday said a centre of excellence and an incubation centre on millets would come up on the CFTRI campus, at a cost of ₹15 crore and in collaboration with the State government. The centre will work on bringing out millet-based technology for promoting millets.
Speaking after inaugurating the 27th annual general body meeting of the CSIR Pensioners’ Welfare Association and Convention on Food and Wellness at the IFTTC auditorium at CFTRI, he said the institute was also working on a turnkey project for developing a value-added product from silkworm pupae, a waste product in the silk industry. The State government has allocated a grant of ₹10 crore towards the project, he said.
The CFTRI director said the second phase of the incubation centre for encouraging innovations and startups among entrepreneurs, in collaboration with the Department of IT and BT, is expected to be launched after the general elections. “Many ventures at the incubation centre are turning out to be successful and a project fetched the highest grant of ₹50 lakh. MoUs will be signed for more projects after the polls,” he added.
He said more than 60 industries have used the technology on virgin coconut oil developed at the institute and most say the technology has been smoothly transferred for commercial production.
Mr. Raghavarao also said that pilot plants in the area of food processing on tomato, onion and potato were coming up near Tumakuru and there are also talks to have a similar plant for turmeric. He added that some private hospitals in Mysuru had come forward to offer healthcare services on credit to retired CFTRI staff.
The inauguration was followed by sessions where experts in the field of food processing and technology spoke on various subjects.
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