By IANS
Ahmedabad : Gujarat Ambuja Exports Limited (GAEL), in which George Soros Quantum Fund has a 5.8 percent stake, announced here Monday that its maize processing plant in Uttarakhand has begun commercial production.
With the commissioning of the plant, GAEL has emerged as the second largest manufacturer of maize based products and derivatives, the company said in a statement.
The installation of state of the art effluent treatment equipment in the plant makes GAEL eligible for carbon credits that are expected to generate additional revenues from the project.
GAEL is involved in agri-business processing, and crushing oil seeds as well as refining crude oil. It has also diversified into maize processing besides cotton yarn spinning.
The company has set up the new maize processing plant at Sitargang in Uttarakhand at a cost of Rs.600 million with a manufacturing capacity of 500 tonnes per day.
Vijay Kumar Gupta, chairman of GAEL, said: “The production plant commenced operation on March 27. The first cargo moved out of the factory premises on March 28. The company hopes to achieve 100 percent capacity utilization in the next two months.”
With demand for starch and its derivative products growing at 15 percent annually, the Uttarakhand plant is expected to contribute to improved top and bottom line performance of the company, Gupta added.
The company had set up the plant at Uttarakand because of benefits extended by the state like 10 year tax exemption, low VAT and central sales tax rate, income tax exemption on the profits and lower freight cost on the finished goods due to market proximity.
The company had achieved a turnover of Rs.5.03 billion for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2007, up by 26 percent as compared to the same quarter in 2006.