Tata Steel SEZ's Gopalpur park to house Rs. 300-cr edible oil plant.

An industrial park at Gopalpur off the coast of south Odisha, where Tata Steel SEZ is the anchor tenant, has bagged fresh investment. The latest investment intent is from an edible oil company.

Hyderabad-based Gemini Edibles & Fats India Pvt Ltd, the company behind Freedom brand of oils, has proposed to install a refined vegetable oil manufacturing unit within the Gopalpur industrial park, which was developed by Tata Steel Special Economic Zone Ltd. The investment is estimated at Rs. 300 crore and the plant will have a capacity of 396,000 tonnes per annum. To finance the project, the company will bank on Rs. 150 crore of equity and a matching term loan. The facility will be spread over 25 acres in the Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) of the industrial park. The 2900-acre industrial park is split into SEZ and DTA.

To operate the edible oil unit, the company plans to import crude sunflower oil from Argentina, Ukraine and Russia. Crude palm oil will be sourced from Malaysia and Indonesia. The oil will be imported through the Gopalpur port for which Gemini Edibles is reportedly in talks with the port management. The planned edible oil unit is expected to start production in 12 months and will employ 525 people. The proposal has already obtained the in-principle nod from the State Level Facilitation Cell (SLFC).

The edible oil maker has submitted an online proposal to the state government on its one-stop investor portal - Government of Odisha Single Window for Investor Facilitation and Tracking (GOSWIFT). This is the 600th proposal received by GOSWIFT in barely 15 months of its launch.

The portfolio of projects envisaged by the greenfield investor includes refined sunflower oil, refined palm oil and vegetable fats.

Gemini Edibles & Fats (GEF) India Pvt Ltd is engaged in the business of manufacturing and marketing of edible oils and fats. Apart from edible oils, the company also makes speciality fats for bakery products, chocolates and ice creams. Presently, GEF India runs two port-based manufacturing facilities at the coastal sites of Krishnapatnam and Kakinada, both in Andhra Pradesh. The company is branching out to Odisha in accordance with an expansion plan.

GEF posted Rs. 4122.16 crore turnover in last fiscal with a net profit of Rs. 98.76 crore.

BS