Kerala Feeds in expansion mode

THRISSUR: The state-owned Kerala Feeds Ltd based at Kellattumkara is on a major expansion path. KFL chairman S Sivasankara Pillai and project manager M P John told reporters on Tuesday that the company was in the process of setting up a Rs 35 crore, 300-tonne-a-day cattle feed unit at Karunagappally in Kollam on a 10-acre plot.

The plant and machinery were now being put in place for the unit whcih is scheduled to be functional by December. KFLs annual cattle feed production will go up from 1,95,000 tonnes to 2,85,000 when the new unit becomes operational. KFL�s market share in Kerala will then be nearly 30 per cent (it is 20 per cent at present).

Another project being implemented is the Rs 2.50-crore, 15,000-tonne-a-year densified fodder unit (compressed hay and molasses cake) at Muthalamada in Palakkad district. The KFL officials said it was for the first time a densified fodder unit is being set up in South India. The main raw material will be paddy hay, a substantial portion of which is either burnt or left to decay by farmers.

As per a survey done by the company, nearly 50 tonnes of hay required by the unit would be available in Palakkad and neighbouring districts. This unit is also expected to be functional by the year-end.

The third unit slated to begin operation around the same time to produce mineral mixture and goat feed will come up at an investment of Rs 3.83 crore at Athavanad in Malappuram district.

It will produce 1,200 tonnes of mineral mixture and 30,000 tonnes of goat feed. Pillai said cattle feed in the form of pellets produced by KFL was in great demand in the state and the present daily production of 650 tonnes was insufficient to meet the demand.

As against a net profit of Rs 1 crore in 2008-2009, KFL is expected to generate Rs 2.5 crore this fiscal