Ruchi Soya Receives Approval from the Government of Karnataka

Ruchi Soya Industries Limited (Ruchi Soya), India's leading Agri-FMCG company today announced that it has secured an approval from the Government of Karnataka to set up multiple new facilities at Dakshina Kannada in the food and agri-business sector. The company received the clearance from State Level Single Window Clearance Committee (SLSWCC) meeting held recently.

Ruchi Soya had entered into a MoU with the state of Karnataka in November 2015 for setting up these facilities. The company will establish a complete and integrated value chain which will not only benefit the farmers but also agricultural workers. Ruchi Soya will set up multi-location palm fruit & Kernel processing units producing edible oil, palm kernel cake, palm kernel oil and solar power. The units will be set up at multiple locations in Dakshina Kannada district. The company will also set up a nursery to produce high-yielding varieties of plant species and creating awareness about oil palm cultivation. The new facilities, when ready, will offer employment to over 17,000 people including farmers, contract farming and agricultural workers.

Mr. Dinesh Shahra - Founder and Managing Director, Ruchi Soya Industries Limited said, "We are pleased to receive clearance from the Government of Karnataka towards our initiative in reducing the dependency of the country on imports for its edible oil needs. This proposed new integrated platform is expected to have significant value for both the Indian farmer, in terms of efficient handling of produce and sales realization, as well as for the Indian consumer, who will stand to gain from an increased range of high quality finished products."

Ruchi Soya's association with the state of Karnataka dates back to the year 1998 when one of its group companies started its business with an investment of 80 million INR in Mangalore (Dakshina Kannada) to install a liquid handling & storage terminal with a capacity of 17500 MT. The company further invested INR 2 Billion from 2001-2011 and set up a state-of-art world class Edible Oil Refinery plant in Mangalore with a capacity of 1400 MT per day.

Ruchi Soya is among the pioneers of oil palm plantations in the country and has been encouraging farmers to expand the domestic palm plantation. Currently, the company has procurement rights in palm planted area of over 2, 00,000 hectares; including 4000 hectares in Karnataka.