The Coconut Development Board (CDB) has approved 38 projects with an outlay of ₹60.20 crore and financial assistance of ₹9.086 crore under Technology Mission on Coconut.
The approved projects will have an annual processing capacity of 1,912.70 lakh coconuts and 18,000 tonnes production of coconut shell charcoal and 1,500 tonnes production of coconut shell-based activated carbon.
Out of the 38 projects, there were three research projects, 32 projects on processing and product diversification, and three market promotion. A decision to this effect was taken at 49th meeting of the Project Approval Committee (PAC) on Technology Mission on Coconut (TMOC) held here under the Chairmanship of AK Singh, Chairman, CDB.
Under the sub component ‘processing and product diversification’, seven projects for desiccated coconut powder for processing 795 lakh nuts per year, 8 virgin coconut oil units for processing 787 lakh nuts per year, two
In Kerala, five virgin coconut oil processing unit with a capacity to process 77,400 nuts per day, one coconut oil unit for processing 5,500 coconut per day, one desiccated coconut powder making units with a capacity to process 30,000 nuts per day, etc were sanctioned.
In Karnataka, two desiccated coconut powder processing units with a capacity to process 65,000 nuts per day and one shell charcoal unit to produce 30 tonnes of charcoal per day were sanctioned.
In Tamil Nadu, four desiccated coconut powder processing unit with a capacity to process 1,70,000 nuts per day and three virgin coconut oil units for processing 1,85,000 coconut per day were sanctioned.
In Andhra Pradesh, four milling copra making units with a capacity to process 40,000 coconuts per day and four ball copra making units with a capacity to process 29 lakh coconuts per year were sanctioned.