The 42nd meeting of the Project Approval Committee (PAC) on Technology Mission on Coconut (TMOC) has cleared 30 projects with an outlay of ₹87.97 crore and subsidy of ₹11.15 crore.
Of this, there were three research projects, one project on pest and disease management and 26 projects on processing and product diversification.
Out of 26 projects on processing and product diversification, 12 were exclusively on Neera processing and packing units.
All the coconut producer companies of Kerala registered with Coconut Development Board submitted their projects on processing of Neera and its value added products. All the 12 projects were sanctioned with an outlay of ₹ 59.82 crore and subsidy of ₹6 crore.
In Kerala, 12 Neera processing and packing units, three Integrated Coconut Processing units, one unit for desiccated coconut powder for processing 25,000 nuts daily, one unit for coconut chips for processing 2,000 nuts per day, and one unit for ball copra having the capacity to process 310 quintal ball copra per day were sanctioned.
In Karnataka, two units of desiccated coconut powder having a capacity for processing 10,000 and 32,000 nuts per day respectively, one unit of coconut shell based activated carbon unit for processing 3,600 tonne per year were sanctioned.