Godrej Agrovet Limited (GAVL) has announced that the company will be setting up an Integrated Palm Oil Complex in the Khammam district of Telangana, India.

The complex will consist of a modern Crude Palm Oil mill along with the provision of setting up a refinery in the near future. GAVL will also establish a nursery with a capacity of up to  7 lakhs (0.7 million) saplings per year in addition to the seed production & research unit.

Present on the occasion of laying the foundation stone for Crude Palm Oil mill were K. T. Rama Rao, Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, and Information Technology of Telangana; Burjis Godrej, Executive Director and COO, Crop Protection Business, GAVL; Sougata Niyogi, CEO - Oil Palm, GAVL and Rakesh Swami, Group President Corporate Affairs, Godrej Industries Limited.

"Telangana's ambitious oil palm mission aims to bring 20 lakh acres under cultivation across the state. The mission will improve income for more than 5 lakh farm households while at the same time contributing to the nation's deficit for edible oils. Along with being the rice bowl for the country, Telangana is all set to become the largest edible oil producer in India. We are delighted to partner with a strong and reliable partner like Godrej Agrovet in this endeavour. Their expertise in the oil palm sector will definitely help us achieve our goals of unleashing a yellow revolution", said Rama Rao, Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, and Information Technology of Telangana.

At the complex, GAVL will be setting up first-ever seed garden in India. This seed garden can provide seeds for the planting of ~90,000 acres of area and shall help Telangana state to achieve targets for oil palm plantation.

Commenting on the announcement, Balram Singh Yadav, Managing Director, GAVL said, "We are thankful to the Government of Telangana for creating an eco-system and giving us an opportunity to contribute to nation's journey of reducing its dependency on oil palm imports in the coming years."

"Leveraging our expertise of more than three decades in the oil palm business, we intend to handhold oil palm farmers by providing them access to quality seedlings and nursery. With our plans of commissioning of Crude Palm Oil mill in the coming years, it is our honor to set up country's first integrated palm oil complex in the state of Telangana," he further added.

GAVL will be investing Rs. 300 crore over the next 3-4 years in setting up the integrated palm oil complex. Additionally, through its Samadhan Centers - a one stop solution for oil palm farmers, the company would also provide advisory services on best practices / modern technologies, farm inputs (such as fertilizers, drip irrigation, pesticides, seeds, and harvesting tools) and services under one roof. The company's partnership with the State Bank of India would also support Oil Palm Plantation farmers during the gestation period. 

With 65,000 hectares of palm oil under cultivation across the country, GAVL plans to increase cultivation to 1.2 lakh hectares by 2027.