Guj co plans Rs 500cr unit in state

Kolkata: West Bengal is all set to get investments from an Ahmedabad-based company, Gujarat Ambuja Export (GAEL), one of the leading starch makers in the country, listed on BSE and NSE. This will be the first investment by this company, which has a turnover of over Rs 5,000 crore. Commerce and industries minister Shashi Panja will inaugurate the firm’s plant in Malda on Thursday.

The vice president of Gujarat Ambuja Exports, Alok Arya, told TOI that it would initially invest Rs 300 crore which would go up to Rs 500 crore in the next phase. “We shall make starch from maize corn in the plant here in Malda,” he said. The company has taken 80 acres land for the project from WBIDC. “The project will generate 250-300 direct and over 1,000 indirect jobs,” he added.

Arya pointed out that product of this plant — mainly starch — is used in pharma and FMCG industry. “We are the largest corn manufacturer in India,” he claimed, indicating that the company has plans to produce ethanol as well in this location in the next phase. Ethanol could be a brownfield expansion,” he added.

According to him, this would be the largest corn wet milling plant in India with 1,200 tonnes per day capacity. It has the capability of manufacturing 650 tonnes of starch, 120 tonnes of liquid glucose and 60 tonnes of dextrose powder.

West Bengal has come up with an ethanol production and promotion policy to make the state self-sufficient in rice bran-based ethanol production that has to be blended with petrol and diesel for lowering pollutants from the fossil fuel.

The Centre has issued a draft notification proposing 12% and 15% ethanol blending with petrol when used as automotive fuel, available as E-12 and E15 respectively. The government had earlier proposed 20% ethanol blending by 2025, which the draft notification following Prime Ministers guideline has proposed to defer to 2030. India at present blends 8.5% ethanol with motor fuel.

GAEL is principally involved in the manufacturing of corn starch derivatives, Soya derivatives, feed ingredients, cotton yarn and edible oils. Since its incorporation in 1991, GAEL serves the food, pharma, feed and many other industries with a long-term growth strategy in the agro-processing sector.

The company has maize plant in Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttarakhand. It has textile plant also in Gujarat.