Union minister launches 7 indigenous Manipuri food items as part of Make in India

Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries and Jal Shakti Prahlad Singh Patel on Saturday launched seven indigenous food products of Manipur in Imphal, as part of the Make in India initiative.

The indigenous food products are Black Rice Laddoo, Black Rice Fruit & Nut Cookies, Hot and Spicy Bhujia, Kabok (puffed rice) Mixture, Manipuri Casava Burfi, Bamboo Shoot Muraba and Fig Laddoo.

These products were developed under the Incubation Lab project of Manipur Food Industries Corporation Limited (MFICL) in collaboration with TQS Global, Ghaziabad with a budget provision of ₹10 lakh.

Prahlad Singh said that food processing is a focus area of the Prime Minister, and added that materials available in the North East are mostly from the hills and forests and products from these materials are in high demand in the country and abroad.

However, these products still need certain requirements, like inscription of scientific and detailed information on the products, branding and marketing and transportation, he said.

Manipur Textiles, Commerce and Industries minister Th Biswajit Singh, who is also chairman of the MFICL, attended the launch and said that unemployment is a big challenge in the state. He also expressed the need to provide jobs to youngsters.

The labelling and packaging of the products are being done at Imphal, Delhi and Mumbai to achieve fine branding and attractive display, an official said. For marketing and distribution, MFICIL is taking steps to market locally and outside the state, with outlets at metropolitan cities.

Last week, for the first time, one metric tonne of organic Manipuri black rice, popularly known as Chakhao, was exported to Europe from Imphal. The well-known aromatic rice got a Geographical Indication tag in May 2020.