Tirupati to invest sh44b in park
Mar 08, 2010
THE Tirupati Development is to set up a $25m (sh44b) service park at the Kampala Industrial Park at Namanve. The Tirupati Agricultural Park, to be set up on a 20-acre piece of land, will host the first agricultural exchange centre in Uganda, said Harshad Barot, the firm’s managing director.
By Ricks Kayizzi
THE Tirupati Development is to set up a $25m (sh44b) service park at the Kampala Industrial Park at Namanve. The Tirupati Agricultural Park, to be set up on a 20-acre piece of land, will host the first agricultural exchange centre in Uganda, said Harshad Barot, the firm’s managing director.
“People will be at liberty to come and buy, sell or exchange any kind of agricultural commodities to the highest bidder. “We will build very big cold rooms to store produce that will not have been sold on a particular day,†he added in a recent interview.
About 50 trucks will be traversing the country around the clock to buy produce from the small-scale and peasant farmers, according to the project plan. Construction of the park kicks off in May.
“On completion before the end of this year, the park will be a one-stop centre for wholesale, retail and export of agricultural products. We have already enlisted several Indian and European firms that have expressed their readiness to open import and export outlets here,†said Barot.
He explained that the park would have 400 shops that will be sold to individuals on a 99-year lease arrangement. It will also include banking halls, hotels, restaurants, warehouses, cold storage facilities and a yard with stalls for farmers to display and sell their produce.
“Our intention is to break the back of the middleman, who takes around 60% of profits that are due to the farmer. People will be able to ferry their produce from any village and find space to sell it directly to the consumers,†Miraj Barot, the Tirupati head of marketing, said.
During the recent Investor of the Year Awards in Kampala, the Tirupati Development was given a special recognition for transforming a slum in Kisenyi, downtown Kampala, into a modern shopping mall, Ovino.
THE Tirupati Development is to set up a $25m (sh44b) service park at the Kampala Industrial Park at Namanve. The Tirupati Agricultural Park, to be set up on a 20-acre piece of land, will host the first agricultural exchange centre in Uganda, said Harshad Barot, the firm’s managing director.
“People will be at liberty to come and buy, sell or exchange any kind of agricultural commodities to the highest bidder. “We will build very big cold rooms to store produce that will not have been sold on a particular day,†he added in a recent interview.
About 50 trucks will be traversing the country around the clock to buy produce from the small-scale and peasant farmers, according to the project plan. Construction of the park kicks off in May.
“On completion before the end of this year, the park will be a one-stop centre for wholesale, retail and export of agricultural products. We have already enlisted several Indian and European firms that have expressed their readiness to open import and export outlets here,†said Barot.
He explained that the park would have 400 shops that will be sold to individuals on a 99-year lease arrangement. It will also include banking halls, hotels, restaurants, warehouses, cold storage facilities and a yard with stalls for farmers to display and sell their produce.
“Our intention is to break the back of the middleman, who takes around 60% of profits that are due to the farmer. People will be able to ferry their produce from any village and find space to sell it directly to the consumers,†Miraj Barot, the Tirupati head of marketing, said.
During the recent Investor of the Year Awards in Kampala, the Tirupati Development was given a special recognition for transforming a slum in Kisenyi, downtown Kampala, into a modern shopping mall, Ovino.