HUL To Partner With Andhra Pradesh Government For Palm Oil Production
The company seeks to partner with more than 15,000 farmers in the state to create at least 30,000 hectares of palm oil plantations.
Hindustan Unilever Ltd. plans to partner with the Andhra Pradesh government for the production of palm oil in the state.
The company seeks to partner with more than 15,000 farmers in the state to create at least 30,000 hectares of palm oil plantations, an exchange filing said on Wednesday.
The plan involves setting up sapling nurseries, palm fresh fruit bunch collection centres, and a state-of-the-art palm oil mill in the state, according to the filing.
The establishment of the mill will help generate around 1,000 direct and indirect jobs, along with an investment of Rs 300 crore over the project development period, it said.
"The opportunity to set up an oil mill factory to source palm derivatives would be in line with our strategy of backward integration for our skin cleansing portfolio. We are energised by the investor-friendly policies of the Andhra Pradesh government and look forward to this collaboration,” said Dev Bajpai, executive director, legal and corporate affairs at Hindustan Unilever.
The transition to palm oil plantation will be done after considering the social, environmental, and economic base lines in the selected sites along with developing strategies to deliver positive impact, it said.
The country's largest fast-moving consumer goods company will set up a farmer outreach programme to provide technical assistance for growing palm oil and introduce best-in-the-class farming practices, the filing said.
Shares of HUL closed 0.19% lower at Rs 2,388.95 apiece, as compared with a 0.37% rise in the benchmark BSE Sensex.