Informist, Monday, Sep 23, 2024

By Sandeep Sinha and Anjali Lavania

MUMBAI – Godrej Agrovet plans to double its production of palm oil to 250,000 tn by 2030 and cover an additional 60,000 ha over and above the current area of 65,000 ha under the edible oil, Sougata Niyogi, chief executive officer, oil palm plantation, Godrej Agrovet Ltd, told Informist. Of these, around 35,000 ha will be in the northeast and Telangana, and the rest will be in Andhra Pradesh, Niyogi said.

At present, Godrej Agrovet produces about 120,000 tn crude palm oil and 20,000 tn of crude palm kernel oil, Niyogi said.

India produced 329,150 tn of palm oil in 2022-23 (Nov-Oct), which is likely to rise to 1.3-1.4 mln tn by 2030, Niyogi said on the sidelines of 'Globoil India 2024'. Godrej Agrovet is the largest producer of crude palm oil and crude palm kernel oil in the country.

"We are working currently with 50,000 smallholders (small farmers), about 65,000 ha of plantation, and we grow about 120,000 tn of crude palm oil and about 20,000 tn of crude palm kernel oil," Niyogi said. There is a massive expansion going on in palm oil plantation areas after the government launched the National Mission on Edible Oils—Oil Palm. In 2021, The Central government had launched National Mission on Edible Oils - Oil Palm to increase the production of edible oilseeds and ensure availability of oil in the country by expanding the area under oil palm.

"In 2023, we did about 7,000 ha addition. This year, we are going to add 15,000 ha, and we intend to cross 100,000 ha by 2026-2027," he said.

"The government has made a very bold move with the National Mission on Edible Oils—Oil Palm, and we definitely have a good opportunity for the next five to seven years to take domestic oil to a level where at least it can substitute 20–30% of our total import by domestic production, which is very important," Niyogi said. "We should not have a sector where everything is going to be imported, and with India being so progressive in the agricultural sector, it is only oilseeds, which is not doing well, and I am very sure that multiple steps are being taken. Today we are producing about 10 mln tn and importing 16 mln tn of vegetable oils. At least we can reach 16–17 mln tn of domestic production. Palm is going to contribute at least 2.0 mln-2.5 mln tn in this, and that's my message," he added.

When asked about the suitability of land for palm cultivation in Telangana, he said that the company has been present in the state since 2004-05 and has 5,000 ha of yielding area where there are farmers getting more than 30 tn yield of fresh fruit bunches. These plantations are as good as those in Andhra Pradesh, and have more than 500 farmers getting very good yields, he said.

The yields in Telangana are similar to Malaysia, where farmers get about 3.5-4.0 tn of oil from a hectare of land, Niyogi said. Farmers get a return of 300,000 rupees from one hectare of land under palm oil in Telangana, he further said.

The government on Sep 13 raised import duties on crude and refined edible oils to help farmers get better prices for kharif oilseeds after rates fell below their minimum support prices. Niyogi said that the step is going to give more confidence to farmers for adopting palm crops.

India currently has a huge pile of sapling stock of palm, which farmers can readily use, he said. Also, with good rains across the country this year, the plantation of palm will increase, he said.

Shares of Godrej Agrovet closed 0.1% lower today at 781.50 rupees on the National Stock Exchange. End

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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