Business Times
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
By Ooi Tee Ching
SIME Darby Bhd, one of the world’s leading listed oil palm plantation groups, has set its sights on India and has big plans of opening up oil palm estates and setting up an edible oil refinery there.
For a start, it plans to form a joint venture with one of India’s government-linked company The State Trading Corp of India Ltd (STC), which is tasked to import edible oils into India.
India, the second most populous nation in the world, does not produce enough oils and fats for its people.
“We want to establish our presence in India, be it upstream or downstream,” Sime Darby executive vice-president of plantation and agri-business division Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid said after the signing of a memorandum of understanding with STC.
“We (Sime Darby and STC) are a good fit as Sime Darby is a big supplier of palm oil, while STC is a big distributor in India,” he added.
Currently, Sime Darby ships some 30,000 tonnes per year of palm oil to India.
STC managing director Dr Arvind Pandalai expects the two companies to form a joint venture in three to four months.
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