Chief minister Hemant Soren on Monday laid foundation stones for 14 rice mills in Jharkhand, the move in line with the state government's "commitment" to help farmers augment income and provide them effective market linkages.

The new rice mills, to be set up by private entities, will come up in 10 districts, namely, Gumla, West Singbhum, Simdega, Godda, Khunti, Palamau, Dhanbad, Latehar, Garhwa and Bokaro. All the mills are being set up under the state food processing policy of 2016. Last week, the state cabinet extended this policy for one more year.

Addressing the select gathering, the chief minister said that once the new mills were ready, it would lead to an increase in the state's processing capacity that is currently disproportionate to the annual paddy cultivation. “We are cultivating anything between 50-60 lakh metric tonne of paddy per annum. But we can process only 15 lakh metric tonne rice. The state government wants to increase its procurement capacity from farmers to ensure right prices, but there are other problems like storage capacity. We are trying to fix these gaps so that our farmers can benefit.”

State food and civil supplies department minister Rameshwar Oraon, who is also the state finance minister, along with senior bureaucrats, were aslo present at the function held at Project Building in the afternoon.

Hemant said that this was first time Jharkhand was setting up rice mills on a mass scale and promised that many more would debut soon. “I think we need at least 100 more rice mills. Currently, we have only 80 mills in the state,” he said.

Minister Oraon said that due to lack of enough mills in Jharkhand, the state government had had to send procured paddy to mills in Chattisgarh, Bihar and adjoining states for processing. “Once the new mills are ready, these will benefit both farmers and private mill owners," he said.

The mills are coming up on land being allotted by Jharkhand Industrial Area Development Authority (JIADA) under the aegis of state industries department. However, neither industries director Jitendra Kumar Singh or JIADA regional director Ajay Kumar Singh could provide details on the quantum of private investment expected.

JIADA director Singh said that as per the policy, those setting up mills must start civil work within six months of possession of land, and start production within a two-year time frame.

Under the Jharkhand food processing policy, the state offers a host of subsidies/grants to investors for setting up processing units. For example, Jharkhand provides aid of up to Rs 7 crore for cold storage units, up to Rs 12 crore for mega units, subsidized land, interest subvention, among others.