MP allocates land for rice mill to LT Overseas

The department of industries in Madhya Pradesh is learnt to have allocated land to LT Overseas Ltd, the makers of the Dawat brand of basmati rice, for setting up a rice mill and processing unit. The land is in Mandideep, 18 km from Bhopal.

In January, the company and the state industries department arm, Madhya Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation, had reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding on the company's proposal to set up of an ultra modern basmati rice milling and processing unit with an investment of Rs 60 crore.

"The company has been allocated land. It will invest Rs 26 crore initially in the Mandideep unit," said OP Rawat, principal secretary, department of industries.

The company, according to him, will procure rice from nearby Hoshangabad and Raisen districts.

"Till now, the company had been procuring paddy from the districts but it has decided to set up a modern rice mill that will have machines based on Japanese technology," Rawat said.

If it comes through, this will be the first mega investment in the rice processing sector in the state.

Although Madhya Pradesh is no longer listed among the top rice-growing states after the creation of Chhattisgarh, farmers in both the districts in Madhya Pradesh grow scented basmati rice on approximately 50,000 hectares, according to the department of agriculture.

A large number of farmers migrated from Punjab to settle in both the districts and grow paddy and wheat.

During the last 15 years, the state agriculture department had made no significant efforts to add value to its crops, particularly soyabean, wheat and rice, in the absence of an adequate workforce.

"We are planning intensively to chalk out a fresh strategy to add value to all our crops," said Pravesh Sharma, principal secretary, department of agriculture adding, "We will soon bring farmers and industry closer and examine what more can be done in this area.

Although the previous Congress government had made an effort to allow corporate houses to procure farm yields directly from farmers (outside mandis), the wheat crop still does not fetch an adequate price since input cost is reportedly very high in the state.

"Input cost for wheat stands at Rs 2,000 per quintal but a farmer gets a maximum of Rs 1,200 per quintal," said a spokesperson of Bhartiya Kisan Sangh.

Power bills, fertiliser cost, labour and non-availability of seeds still affect farmers in the state, which has seen only 0.9 per cent growth in agriculture in the last decade.