Parliament Passes the National Institutes of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management Bill, 2021

Kundali (HY) and Thanjabur (TN) Institutes Upgraded

Parliament has passed the National Institutes of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management Bill, 2021. The Bill was unanimously passed by the Lok Sabha on 26 July, 2021, which was earlier cleared by the Rajya Sabha on 15th March this year.

Briefing the media after the passage of the Bill in Parliament, Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Pashupati Kumar Paras said this is a historic day as with the passing of this bill, our two educational institutes, National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) Kundali (Haryana) and Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology(IIFPT) Thanjabur (Tamil Nadu) under the Ministry of Food Processing Industries became Institutions of National Importance (INI).

Mr. Paras expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and all the Members of Parliament and senior officials of the Ministry for this landmark step, which will provide these Institutes Greater Autonomy, so that they can start new and innovative courses, as well as help them to attract excellent faculty and students. He said, Global standards can also be adopted in academic and research work.

The Minister said, these institutes will have curricular provision related to food processing areas e.g. cold chain technology, food bio nanotechnology which can help in filling the technological gap. He said, now they can open new centres anywhere in the country and abroad. Along with this, giving them the status of Institute of National Importance (INI) will also pave the way for the creation of skilled manpower.

Speaking on the occasion, Vice Chancellor of NIFTEM, Dr Chindi Vasudevappa said that hereafter all efforts will be made to upgrade infrastructure, Human Resources and lab facilities at par with IITs and IIMs. He said, our students can be trained internationally in Food Science and Technology, being the only stand-alone University.