Research Article Details

Abstract

Uttar Pradesh, the most populated and a major agricultural producer, has very high spatial disparities in agro-industrial development in the 75 districts and the nine agro-climatic zones. Although the state has more than 6,500 organized and 35,000 unorganized food processing units, the geographical
distribution of these units is grossly uneven, with the western part of the state having most of the food processing units, and some districts within Bundelkhand and eastern U.P. being completely devoid of food processing facilities. Within the policy framework covering 20222027, the Uttar Pradesh Food Processing Industry Policy 2023 is an incentive architecture (comprising 35 capital subsidies, 100 % stamp duty exemption, cold chain infrastructure support, and export transport subsidies) designed to stimulate agro-based industrialization in the state. This paper aims at a spatial analysis of the development of food processing industry in UP, with special focus on regional
development of food processing units, agro-climatic zoning of agro-potential, infrastructure endowments and the spatial implications of the provisions of the 2023 policy. Based on secondary data, which includes government statistical reports, Annual Survey of Industries, records of the scheme of ODOP and published academic literature, the research demonstrates that there exist considerable spatial discrepancies between the areas of agricultural output and food processing capacity. The analysis has singled out Bundelkhand and eastern UP as hotspots of deficit areas that need specific spatial policy interventions to be added to the homogenous subsidy system of the 2023 policy. The article offers a geographical analysis
framework on the potential of the policy to minimize the regional inequalities on agro-based industrialization.

Keywords: Spatial Analysis, Food Processing Industry, Uttar Pradesh, Agro-Climatic Zones, Regional Disparity, ODOP, Cold Chain Infrastructure, Industrial Policy.