The ‘eligible project cost’ is the total project cost but excludes cost of land, preoperative expenses and margin money for working capital. However, interest during construction(IDC) as part of preoperative expenses and fee to PMC up to 2% of the approved grant would be considered under eligible project cost (refer para. 4.1 of guidelines, at the link).

In accordance with the provisions of Section 25(4) of the CGST Act, 2017, branches in different States are considered as distinct persons. Further, as per Schedule I, this constitutes supply made in the course or furtherance of business between distinct persons even if made without consideration. As it is an inter-State supply, the registered person is required to pay IGST.

Yes, it is mandatory to have Change of Land Use (CLU). CLU is not required in case the land is already in a designated industrial area.

FSSA 2006 is an Act enacted to keep with changing needs/requirements of time and to consolidate the laws relating to food and establish the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. The Act was needed to bring out a single statutory body for food laws, standards setting and enforcement so that there is one agency to deal and no confusion in the minds of consumers, traders, manufacturers and investors which was due to multiplicity of food laws.

The minimum land required for setting-up a Mega Food Park is 50 acres of contiguous land and free from any kind of encumbrance. The selection of land needs to be justified in terms of connectivity and availability of basic infrastructure such as approach road, power, water etc. as also in terms of availability of raw materials/market.