Tripura govt to revive closed pineapple processing plants

Tripura government would soon chalk out a plan to boost pineapple production and revive closed pineapple processing plants in the state, Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Devvarma said today.

Tripura has immense potential in pineapple sector due to favourable rain and soil conditions and the state government would work to strengthen the marketing part, Devvarma said.

He was addressing a gathering at the inaugural session of Tripura Pineapple Festival and Exposition organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.

"An action plan would soon be chalked out to boost pineapple production in Tripura and revive fruit processing plants which were closed," he said.

A fruit processing plant started by the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC), a central government enterprise, has stopped operation since nearly a decade, Devvarma said.

Steps would be taken to revive it, he said.

The deputy chief minister said the government would act as a facilitator to develop pineapple or other fruit processing sectors.

"We shall provide land, loans and other support including financial support. The CII should come forward to market queen variety pineapple," he said.

Earlier on June 3, the first consignment of 1 ton queen variety pineapple was shipped for Dubai from Tripura.

The state government also recently set up an Industrial Infrastructure and Development Board.