Our turnover jumped by 67% to Rs 150 crore from Rs 90 crore in past two years. We are into castor derivatives and mainly cater to export market," says Dilip Padhya, CMD, Amee Castor & Derivatives Ltd.
Amee is among the selected few who operate their plants at full capacity to meet global demand of
castor oil
and derivatives from Palanpur, which was previously known for diamond trading. Just like ceramics in Morbi, brass parts in Jamnagar and low cost sanitaryware in Thangadh,
Palanpur
has established itself as a formidable player in castor oil and derivatives industry over the last three decades.
Sample this: Out total 5.72 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of castor oil exported from India, about 1.5 lakh MT come from Palanpur region, which includes some manufacturing units located in Patan district’s Siddhpur area as well.
In rupee terms, this region exports castor oil and derivatives worth Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 2,000 crore, which works out to be 27-35% as India’s
castor oil exports
stood at Rs 5,562 crore in 2018-19.
"There are around 8-10 units located in and around Palanpur, which has emerged as one of the largest castor oil exports hubs in India with Kutch being the largest. Even castor seed from Rajasthan also comes to Palanpur for crushing," states Padhya. On an average,
Gujarat
alone exports 5.5 lakh MT of castor oil from India.
Jayant Agro-Organics Limited’s Ihsedu Agrochem is the largest manufacturer and exporter in the region. Other prominent players include names like Royal Castor Products Limited, Kisan Agro and Shivam Agro.
"Availability of raw material — castor seed — is the prime factor for establishment of castor seed crushing industry in Palanpur," said Rohit Patel, director at Kisan Agro.
India is the largest producer of castor seed in the world and Gujarat is the largest in India. Within Gujarat, Banaskantha district has the maximum production of the oilseed. Gujarat contributed 9.35 lakh MT to India’s total castor production of 11.27 lakh MT in 2018-19.
Previously, there was competition from China and Brazil. However, Gujarat has beaten them to emerge as a winner in castor oil and derivative exports.
"We need to improve our process and production technology. If you improve your yield, you will always be competitive," said Haresh Vyas, MD, Royal Castor Products Limited.
Speculative trading in castor is a major cause of concern for industry as well as farmers.
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