The Project Approval Committee on Technology Mission on Coconut has cleared 18 projects for financial assistance under the scheme.
The 38th meeting of PAC, which was held here in May, sanctioned 41 projects involving an outlay of Rs 27.49 crore and subsidy of Rs 3.37 crore during the year.
The approved projects include four research projects, projects for establishment for setting up of processing units, project on market promotion and establishment of coconut hybrid seedlings production unit under farmers’ participatory programme.
Out of four research projects, three development projects on coconut water / Virgin Coconut Oil have been submitted by CARe-Keralam Ltd, Kinfra Park, Koratty.
The other research projects on improving coconut production in Kerala using soil data through remote sensing and GIS techniques was submitted by Amritha Viswa Vidya Peetham University, Amritanagar, Coimbatore.
The project on establishment of coconut hybrid seedlings production unit under farmers’ participatory programme was submitted by Farm, College of Agriculture, Vellayani in Thiruvananthapuram.
There are six projects for setting up of processing units for value-added products such as dessicated coconut, virgin coconut oil, tender coconut water preservation and packaging units, carbonised shell lumps and granules and ball copra making unit.
Under the TMOC scheme, the >Coconut Board provides back-ended credit capital subsidy limited to 25 per cent of the project cost not exceeding Rs 50 lakh to NGOs, individual entrepreneurs and other organisations for setting up processing units such as desiccated coconut, packed tender coconut water, shell charcoal, shell powder, activated carbon, copra processing unit, ball copra making unit etc.
The Board invites applications for TMOC assistance from various coconut processing units.