The Hindu Business Line : Ruchi Soya plans to expand Mangalore refinery capacity

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Ruchi Soya plans to expand Mangalore refinery capacity

A.J. Vinayak

The unit refined Rs 800-cr edible oil last year

Mangalore , Aug. 9

Considering the demand for edible oil in the southern market, Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd is planning to expand the capacity of its refinery in Mangalore.

Mr Dinesh Shahra, Managing Director, told Business Line here that the company is planning to invest around Rs 10 crore for the expansion. With this, the company wants to increase the refining capacity of the plant by 500 tonnes a day.

Increasing consumption

Set up in 2001, the Mangalore unit has an annual refining capacity of 2.5 lakh tonnes. It refines palm, soya and sunflower oil. The unit refined edible oil worth Rs 800 crore for Karnataka, Kerala and Goa regions last year. A major quantity of this was marketed in Karnataka.

Edible oil consumption

Mr Shahra said that there's a six per cent increase in the consumption of edible oil every year. The country's consumption stands at 11 million tonnes per year. Of this, it imports around 5 mt every year.

Quoting a survey, he said the demand for edible oil would reach 15 mt by 2010 and 21 mt by 2015.

Stating that the company had kept provisions for future expansion at the time of inception of Mangalore unit, he said the expansion would be suitable to meet the demands of the region served by the plant till 2010.

Asked about the demand for edible oils such as soya oil and palm oil in the southern market, he said the production at the Mangalore unit has witnessed a growth of nearly 25 per cent during the current financial year compared to the previous year.

Ruchi has port-based refineries at Mangalore, Patalganga, Chennai, Kakinada, Kandla and Haldia. The unit in Mangalore is a largest port-based refinery for edible oils in Karnataka, Kerala and Goa region, Mr Shahra added.

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