The Technology Mission on Coconut (TMOC) has cleared 14 projects at an outlay of Rs 19.25 crore and a subsidy of Rs 2.86 crore.
A decision in this regard was taken at the 41st meeting of the Project Approval Committee (PAC) on TMOC under the chairmanship of T.K. Jose, Chairman, Coconut Development Board.
Under the project component “Processing and Product Diversification”, proposals from 10 coconut processing units have been cleared. This includes setting up of five desiccated coconut powder manufacturing units, two tender coconut water units, one coconut shell charcoal unit, one coconut shell powder unit and one ball copra unit.
Three research projects are also among the approved projects. One unit has been approved for market promotional activities of coconut kernel products on reimbursement basis.
In Kerala, one unit has been given permission for producing desiccated coconut powder with a capacity to process 15,000 nuts a day.
In Karnataka, four units of desiccated coconut powder with a capacity to process 2,40,000 nuts a day and one TCW processing unit with a capacity to process 30,000 tender coconut a day have been approved.
In Tamil Nadu, one unit has been cleared for packing tender coconut water with a capacity to process 60,000 packets a day. Another unit has been allowed to produce coconut shell powder with a capacity to process 6.6 tonnes /day , while one coconut shell charcoal unit has been cleared with a capacity to process 3.24 tonnes/day.
In Andhra Pradesh, the panel sanctioned one ball copra unit with a capacity to process 60,0000 nuts/year.