ITANAGAR, 6 Jun: The two companies that will set up palm oil mills in the state have finalised the land where the industries will be set up.
3Foil Palm Pvt Ltd has already finalised the land for the establishment of a crude palm oil (CPO) mill in Roing (Lower Dibang Valley) after having acquired 50 hectares of land. Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd has also finalised 15 hectares of land at the Industrial Growth Centre (IGC) in Niglok in East Siang district.
Representatives of the RSIL will visit the IGC in Niglok on Tuesday, and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed for acquiring the land and subsequently establishing a CPO mill in Niglok, according to a statement from the government.
Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein reviewed the status of establishment of CPO mills in the state on Monday during a meeting with Agriculture Minister Tage Taki, APIDFCL Chairman W Rajkumar, Planning & Investment Commissioner P Lokhande, Agriculture Secretary Bidol Tayeng and Industries Secretary Hage Tari.
Mein has directed the industries secretary and the agriculture secretary to “facilitate establishment of the two proposed crude palm oil mills in Roing and Niglok without further delay.”
Earlier, in a meeting chaired by Taki with regard to establishment of palm oil mills, the land lease between the APIDFC Ltd and the RSIL was finalised.
Oil palm plantations in the state have started producing fresh fruit bunches (FFB). During 2021-22, 700 mts of FFB, worth Rs 56 lakhs, were procured by the two companies, engaged by the state, on the buyback mode, as per an MoU signed earlier.
However, due to non-establishment of CPO mills in the state, the procured FFBs
from the farmers are currently being dumped by the companies without processing. “With the establishment of the proposed CPO mills in the two locations in the state, the oil palm farmers’ demand for establishment of CPO mills will see the light of the day,” said Tayeng.
He informed that the Centre has “given more target of oil palm area expansion of 40,000 hectares for the next four years in the state.”
