Guwahati,  The Union Food Processing Industries Ministry has set a target of setting up 13,000 mini food parks in Assam, state's Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said on Saturday.

While reviewing the status of industrial activities in the districts of Assam with all the General Managers (GM) of District Industries and Commerce Centers (DICC), Patowary asked the officials to identify suitable land for the mini food parks so that the units in the informal sector may avail the benefits.

The Minister further said that the industry sector contributes 39 per cent to the state's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

"In the current Covid situation, it should be the collective responsibility of all the GMs that industries and tea gardens function smoothly with strict compliance to Covid-19 SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)," he told the virtually-held meeting.

In view of the oxygen requirement in the state, the Minister directed the GMs to provide full support to the oxygen production units and facilitate smooth movement of raw materials to the pharmaceutical plants in their respective districts.

Patowary said that GMs must coordinate with the Deputy Commissioners for land allotment of additional industrial estates in each district.

He added that Dhemaji district has the highest potential for industrial development with improved connectivity through the Bogibeel Bridge and asked the GM of Dhemaji DICC for establishment of an industrial estate in the district on a 1,000 bigha land.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 25, 2018, inaugurated the double-decker 4.98-km-long Bogibeel bridge over the Brahmaputra river connecting Dibrugarh and Dhemaji districts.Patowary further instructed the GMs to visit the industries, tea factories and resolve any issues and emphasised that no industry should shut down due to the Covid pandemic and no industry should lay off any of its employees.

In view of the MoU of the Industry Department with Flipkart, the Minister called upon the GMs to bring the weavers, artisans and craftsmen into the e-commerce platform and allow them national market access.According to an official statement of the Assam government, the Flipkart, India's homegrown e-commerce marketplace, on Saturday announced the introduction of the Assamese language on its platform.

The addition of Assamese would simplify the e-commerce journey of millions of customers from the region and create opportunities for local sellers, MSMEs and artisans.

With the addition of Assamese, the Flipkart app is now available in nine Indian languages --Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati and Odia, the statement said.