Govt of Assam signs MoU with Ruchi Soya Industries Limited (now known as Patanjali Food Limited) for Oil Palm Plantation and Oil Mill in Assam
AZIR KHOBOR, GUWAHATI, JULY 5, 2022: India is a major importer of edible oil spending thousands of crores in foreign exchange each year and out of this Palm Oil occupies the major chunk. To increase self-reliance in edible oil sector, Government of India had launched the National Mission on Edible Oil – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP). Under this mission, states having suitable climate and land for Oil Palm Cultivations are offered with the scheme to promote Oil Palm cultivation among the farmers in the state. The mission has three stake holders – the State Government, The Growers (The farmers) and the Processors (The Companies/ Private Player). State government promotes Oil palm cultivation among farmers assisting them with subsidies, the companies involved provides planting material to the farmer and when the plants starts fruiting, the companies buyback the produce at a government declared price. It is a win-win proposition for all stake holders.
With a vision to contribute to the growth Indian economy, the state of Assam has accepted to promote Oil Palm cultivation among its farmers under NMEO-OP and after signing MoU with Govt of India, Assam Govt has floated “Expression of Interest” bid through Department of Agriculture in December 2022 inviting private players interested to promote oil palm plantations in Assam.
Ruchi Soya Industries Limited, (now known as Patanjali Foods Ltd) is a major player in the Oil Palm sector for many Years. It has its Oil Palm operations running in 9 states of India including two North eastern states of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. With a view to embed itself more into the Northeast economy Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd had participated in the Assam bid and have been allocated seven districts (Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Golaghat, Nagoan, Kamrup and parts of Goalpara) of Assam to promote Oil Palm cultivation. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been recently signed by Department of Agriculture, Govt of Assam and Ruchi Soya Industries Limited on 24th June 2022 to commensurate the allocation of the districts. Sri Anant Gyani, IAS, Director & Secretary Agriculture Govt of Assam and Sri Subhas Bhattacharjee, Head North East Region Oil Palm, Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd. has signed the MoU in presence of Syed Rajibur Rahman, Nodal Officer, NFSM, Govt of Assam and Sri Debajyoti Sarma, Sr Manager & Head Assam State, Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd at Guwahati, Assam. Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd name is recently changed and is effectively known as Patanjali Foods Limited from 1st of July 2022.