Pakistani firm to set up 10 rice processing plants
Thursday, 5 December 2013 00:00
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Al Karam Rice Engineering Ltd of Pakistan, which is one of the largest rice processing machine manufacturers in Pakistan, is planning to set up ten state-of-the-art rice processing plants in Sri Lanka.
Initially they will be focusing on the Eastern and Northern Provinces targeting the export market. The Chief Executive of the company Ansar Abbas Rana said that Sri Lanka could become a rice hub in the region if the industry uses latest technology as most of the machinery that are being used in the main rice producing regions at present are obsolete.
He said initially they would develop and upgrade 12 to 15 rice mills in the Eravur area in the Eastern Province and afterwards they will set up a state-of-the- art rice processing plant at a cost of US$ 2 million to purchase paddy from those millers. This plant will have a capacity of milling 10 tons per hour, which would be processed to the international standard.
Rana said Sri Lanka is the highest per capita consumption country with 110 kgs per year followed by China 92 kg and India 88 to 90 kg. He said that in the coming five years Sri Lanka will be able to export up to one billion tons per year, once they complete the ten rice processing plants as scheduled. (Source: News.lk)
