A Spice Park in Jodhpur

Rajasthan Chief minister Ashok Gehlot and the Union commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma will inaugurate the first Spice Park of the state and second in the country on Saturday. This park has been constructed at Rampura Bhatiyan village near Mathania in Jodhpur at a cost of Rs. 27.5 crore and will cater to the needs of spice producers and exporters. The Spice Board of India had mulled a project of providing direct benefit to the spice producers of Jodhpur. For the purpose, an area of 60.07 acre land was allocated at Rampura Bhatiyan village in Mathania by the state government. “This park will extend the facility of the storage of the spices, chilies, onions and garlic among others. Besides, quality check and authentic certification facilities for the export of the spices will be given at the park,” district collector Siddharth Mahajan said. Gaurav Surana, technical assistant of the Spice Park said the park will provide post-harvest facilities to seed and spice producers along with laboratory facilities to the exporters. “Besides this, 18 plots have been earmarked for the export units in this park, the basic infrastructure of which has been provided by the Spice Board of India,” he said. With the spice park coming up, agri experts feel that those dealing in spices in the region will find a strong support, which will lead to increase in production of spices here.