Godrej Agrovet Ltd (GAVL) said Saturday that its Oil Palm Plantation business plans to set up an oil palm processing unit in Tripura.
The company plans to invest ₹100 over a period of 3-4 years in the milling plant that will come up in Dhalai district of Tripura. In a statement, GAVL said it currently operates a nursery in Dhalai district with a capacity of 3 lakh plants per year and plans to increase it to 5 lakh plants per year.
GAVL will also be setting up an advanced Research & Development center for Oil Palm in the vicinity in addition to opening up of Samadhan centre, a one-stop solution centre providing comprehensive support to oil palm farmers.
GAVL did the ground breaking ceremony for the oil mill and R&D centre on Saturday. Through the initiatives announced Saturday, GAVL intends to increase area under the oil palm cultivation in Tripura to 10,000 ha by 2027.
Ratan Lal Nath, Agriculture Minister, Tripura said “With the oil palm processing mill coming up in the state, our farmers can now sell their produce within the state. We are excited to partner with trusted and reliable partners like Godrej Agrovet, who will definitely leverage their expertise in uplifting the oil palm farmers in the state. Their decision to set up a Samadhan center will not only aid the existing oil palm but also new to oil palm farmers, thereby demonstrating their strong belief in the state’s potential.”
Harikrishna Kulaveerasingam, Head of Research & Development, SD Guthrie Plantations, Malaysia would be guiding GAVL to locally develop the high yielding sustainable oil palm.
Balram Singh Yadav, Managing Director, Godrej Agrovet Limited said, “We are grateful to the Govt. of Tripura for their whole-hearted support in our common mission of uplifting oil palm farmers. The conducive eco-system being created by them is truly encouraging”
Sougata Niyogi, CEO – Oil Palm Plantation Business, GAVL said “Over here, our team of scientists would be carrying out genomics to develop seeds suitable to local climatic conditions and moreover the state’s climate. We are hopeful of taking out innovations from this center to other parts of the country.”