The Hindu Business Line : Agreenco to invest Rs 233 cr in Kerala

THE Kerala State Agro Co-operative Ltd (Agreenco) is setting up a number of projects, including a pineapple processing unit and crumb rubber factory, across the State at an investment of Rs 233 crore.

While the pineapple processing unit and crumb rubber factory are nearing completion, two new projects in the area of rubber and coconut are being finalised, said Mr Baiju Radhakrishnan, Managing Director, Agreenco.

"These new projects will involve foreign collaboration and we will finalise them shortly," he added.

Agreenco has tied up with the National Co-operative Development Corporation (NCDC) for raising loans for the project. State Government will also hold equity in the ventures.

The pineapple processing unit, being set up in Kannur in technical collaboration with Ashco Inc of the US, will go on stream by February 2005. It will produce 15,500 MT of packaged pineapple products ever year.

Agreenco has entered into an agreement with the US firm for buying back the first seven years' production of this unit.

The unit will help some 4,000 pineapple growers by ensuring consistent prices and regular offtake. Agreenco has already started community plantation schemes for cultivation of pineapple in northern districts.

The crumb rubber factor in Palakkad district with an installed capacity of 3,000 MT will start production this month. The unit will produce 300 MT of ISNR 20 grade block rubber for exports, under technical collaboration with the Rubber Board.

Agreenco Videsh, the international trading outfit, has exported about 4,370 MT of natural rubber in the past six months and it is targeting exports of 20,000 tonnes in the current fiscal.

A new unit to produce the ISNR 5 and ISNR 10 grade block rubber is under consideration. These two projects have entailed an investment of Rs 43 crore, of which the NCDC has provided 65 per cent as term loan.

The State Government has 26 per cent equity while the rest is being put in by Agreenco.

Agreenco, which also has a mattress and pillow making unit called `Fibrefoam' will soon start export of its Soff brand pillows and Temptation brand mattresses.

The Soff brand of pillows was launched on Sunday.

The company is also planning `Comfort Shops' and mail order services soon. Initially, the shops will be opened at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

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Agreenco to invest Rs 233 cr in Kerala