The Hindu Business Line : Gamma Agro-Medical sets up food irradiation plant near Hyderabad

Hyderabad April 16 With a view to tap the demand for radiation processing services in the food processing industry, Gamma Agro-Medical Processings Pvt Ltd has set up a Gamma food irradiation plant at Pashamylaram near here.

The start-up company has tied up with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, for sourcing the isotope and other technical aspects of the plant, Mr P.B. Kaginalli, Managing Director, Gamma Agro-Medical Processings told newspersons here on Monday. The plant, set up with an investment of Rs 5.5 crore, that includes over Rs 1 crore grant from the Union Ministry of Food Processing and Industries, will have an initial capacity of 25,000 tonnes a year. In technical terms, the plant will use one million curie Co-60 (Cobalt) as source, which has a half-life of 5.3 years.

Trial run

"As per our agreement with BARC, the capacity can be augmented in terms of source. All the necessary clearances have been obtained and the plant would start trial operations from the first week of May," Mr Kaginalli said.

The commercial operations are slated to begin from the third week of May.

"The plant has been built with adherence to strict safety norms. The source (Co-60) is kept in a 20-feet deep pit surrounded by six layers of concrete walls.

"We have used 12,000 bags of cement and 100 tonnes of steel for the core structure," he added.

Capacity target

In addition to the local market, the firm targets the border markets of Maharashtra and Karnataka. "Our target for the first year is 10,000 tonnes in quantity and Rs 3 crore in turnover," he said.

While Gamma's main focus is food products, it plans to extend irradiation services to surgical disposables as well as to augment its revenue line.

At present, there are six irradiation plants in the country.