Punjab’s fruit processing units attract FMCG majors

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 10

Attracted by guavas and kinnows of Punjab, multinational fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are making a beeline to take over the state government’s fruit processing units located at Hoshiarpur and Abohar. 

Until recently, major companies such as ITC were interested in apple and kinnow processing at a limited scale. But now, these companies are keen to take processing units for kinnow and guava juices, officials in the Punjab Government said.  

Punjab Agro Juices Ltd. (PAJL), a state government undertaking, has two multi-fruit and vegetable processing plants at Hoshiarpur and Abohar districts with a total project cost of Rs 85 crore. 

“We have been approached by a leading FMCG player to process guava and kinnow. The company will market the product in the juice form. The development will boost the guava and kinnow cultivation in the region,” said Bhushan Goyal, CEO of PAJL. 

According to experts, there is a huge demand for guava and kinnow juice in the market. In 2016, ITC launched ‘B-Natural’ kinnow juice in the domestic market. For the purpose, ITC partnered with PAJL to source and process kinnows from Punjab.

The total area under guava cultivation in the region is around 25,000 hectares and the total anticipated production is about 2.15 lakh tonnes. In 2017-18, the total area under kinnow in Punjab alone was 51,649 hectares and the total production was 12.08 lakh tonnes. Kinnows are primarily grown in Abohar, Hoshiarpur, Mansa, Muktsar and Bathinda districts of the state.

Recently, ITC has processed around 1,500 tonnes of apple in the facility by procuring the fruit from Himachal Pradesh and J&K. Besides ITC, the facility has been utilised for processing tomatoes, chillies, amla and other fruits also by different companies, including Patanjali.

Besides private players, PAJL also utilises the facility for processing fruits and vegetables. In the past, it has processed around 6,000 tonnes of amla juice for Patanjali. It also processed kinnow juice besides galgal (hill lemon) for Mother Dairy. Currently, it is working on export order for chilly paste. 

Fruit processing in state

• Punjab Agro Juices Ltd., a state government undertaking, has two multi-fruit and vegetable processing plants at Hoshiarpur and Abohar 
• The two facilities are utilised by private players for the job work
• The Hoshiarpur facility has a capacity to process 20 tonnes of fruit per hour while the Abohar unit can process 10 tonnes per hour