The Budget allocation of ₹3 crore for the pineapple processing unit at Nadukkara near Vazhakkulam in Muvattupuzha has triggered some optimism among staff and the management. Nadukkara Agro Processing Company chairman E.K. Shivan said the management hoped that the company would be in a position to buy enough packaging materials for the Jive brand of drinks being produced at the Vazhakkulam unit. Lack of working had prevented purchase of the materials for packing the fruit drinks and the plant has been lying idle for the last one month, he added.
He added that with the ban on plastic coming into effect in January, there had been a huge demand for paper packages, and that the Nadukkara plant had not been able to procure packaging materials.
Meanwhile, the budget has designated the Vazhakkulam facility along with the agro park in Thirssur for establishment of facilities for making wine out of fruits. The emphasis laid by the budget on processing of excess fruits provides a lifeline to the Vazhakkulam plant which has not been able to operate profitably over the last few years.
A senior employee said the 97 employees at the unit had not been paid salary for the last more than 18 months. Production is at a standstill now even as the management has proposed workforce reduction to cut cost and to turn the unit around.
The Nadukkara unit is set to have its own plastic bottle-making unit thanks to ₹4 crore sourced from the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana funds.
The plant is being set up and should be operational within a month. It will have more than enough capacity to produce bottles for the pineapple processing unit. The company management hopes to carry out work for others to enhance profitability.
