Hyderabad-based oil palm company, 3F Oil Palm Pvt Ltd, on August 30 announced that it will kick off its investment in the Northeast by setting up an integrated oil palm factory in Arunachal Pradesh.
The ground-breaking ceremony of the factory will take place on September 30 at Roing in Lower Dibang Valley district, a statement from the company said on August 30.
The company had already acquired 120 acres of land for the project in the month of February. “All necessary approvals and statutory clearances pertaining to the land were also obtained,” the statement added.
The integrated oil palm project will consist of a palm oil processing and refinery, a zero-discharge effluent plant, a power plant based on palm waste, and other buildings and godowns for support functions.
“The addition of this factory will supplement the existing company operations that include nursery, area expansion/ crop maintenance, FFB harvesting and collection and other ancillary farmer services,” the statement further said.
The factory is set to be developed in two phases and phase 1 is expected to be commissioned by September 2023. Phase 1 of the project is expected to generate local employment to over 300 people.
“3F Oil Palm Pvt Ltd is a front runner and pioneer in the oil palm development programme in Arunachal Pradesh with total oil palm area under planting of around 2,000 hectares spread across a farmer base of 500 farmers. All the area under oil palm is linked to satellite with 100% traceability. The company is the first in the state to import high quality hybrid variety imported seed sprout from selected identified countries, for the benefit of the farmer. The company is also the first to be allotted a fertilizer distribution license for timely and cost-effective supply of fertilizers to the farmers. Both of these initiatives are expected to significantly increase farmer yields and promote ease of planting. With all of these firsts and the additional traction created by the oil palm factory, the company is expected to add 5000 Ha per year over the next five years,” it added.
Speaking on the occasion, Sanjay Goenka, CEO and MD, 3F Oil Palm Limited, said: “We are very delighted and excited about our upcoming integrated oil palm factory in Arunachal Pradesh. Since the plantations are at a nascent stage, our factory will be running at extremely low capacity utilization. The primary reason for expediting this investment is to build farmer confidence so that they are encouraged to take up oil palm cultivation at a large scale.”
3F Oil Palm has a strong presence with contract plantations and factories in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and Gujarat and has a strong growth plan for the Northeast region – especially Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
