Vankayalapadu: CM N. Chandrababu Naidu said the government would start food parks in all districts to promote agriculture-based industries. Naidu along with Union minister for commerce and trade, Nirmala Sitaraman inaugurated the Spices Park near Vankayalapadu in Guntur on Monday.

Addressing the gathering, the CM said that industrial development was important to make agriculture a profitable occupation. He said the government decided to open food parks in all 13 districts to use locally available agricultural products.

Speaking about the Spices Park, Naidu said that Guntur is synonymous with chilli as AP accounted for 60 per cent of the chillies produced in the country and 50 per cent of AP’s chilli production came from Guntur. He said the Spices Park would create employment thr-ough grading, processing and exporting of chilli and other spices.

He added that the government had released Rs12,100 crore power and other subsidies for the cotton sector and that the government was planning an apparel park in Guntur.