Guj Ambuja to set up soybean plant in MP

The 1,200-tpd processing plant will come up at Mandsaur.

Ahmedabad-based agro-processing company, Gujarat Ambuja Exports Limited ( GAEL), is set to invest around Rs 85 crore this year in two different ventures.

The company has decided to set up a 1,200-tonne per day (tpd) soybean processing plant at Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh at an investment of Rs 50 crore, besides infusing the remaining funds into its mandi venture that envisages procurement of products directly from farmers.

GAEL already has soya processing plants at Kadi and Nani Kadi in Gujarat, at Pithampur in MP and at Kanheri in Maharashtra. The new plant is expected to go on stream in October-November 2008. With this, the company's soya processing capacity is expected to touch 4,700 tpd.

"We exported nearly 300,000 tonne of soybean up to March 31, 2008, of which 100,000 tonne was exported to Vietnam. We expect this to grow by 25 per cent next year," said Vijay Gupta, chairman and managing director of GAEL.

Under the mandi venture, the company plans to procure oilseeds and other products from farmers, which it expects to be a new model of business between commodity exchanges and farmers. Nearly 8 mandis have already been established and 20 more are in the process of being set up in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Around Rs 35 crore is expected to be invested in the venture.

GAEL recently commenced production at its new maize processing plant at Sitarganj in Uttarakhand, which has a capacity of 500 tonne per day. The plant has been set up with an investment of Rs 60 crore through internal accruals.

"The demand for starch and its derivatives products is growing at 15 per cent annually," said Gupta, adding that the effluent treatment plant at the project site would be eligible for carbon credits and is expected to generate Rs 2 crore every year.