Mane Kancor, an Indian specialist in spice extracts, has opened a 150,000 square feet manufacturing facility in Byadgi, Karnataka.
The plant will produce extracts from chili and other spices for use as natural colours, natural antioxidants and personal care ingredients.
The new facility in Byadgi, the main growing belt for high colour varieties of chilli, will fall under the Make-In-India programme of the Indian government.
The continuous extraction facility and the modern technologies incorporated will ensure best process efficiencies, the company said.
Additionally, the facility contains a super-critical fluid extraction plant that uses carbon dioxide as an extraction medium.
Another speciality of the facility is zero waste management system, with the entire biomass generated during production is converted to the fuel used in the boilers and the gas generated from the effluent treatment is used in the industry canteen.
The water from effluent treatment is used for irrigation purpose.
The facility will raise the production capacity of the company fourfold along with a 50 per cent rise in direct employment.
It will also generate opportunities for more than 10,000 people including farmers across four Indian states – Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala.
“Mane Kancor was the first company to set up a spice extraction unit in India, in 1969. Today, we have the new infrastructure covering 150,000 square feet around 50 acres of land, in Byadgi,” said Dr. Geemon Korah, executive director and CEO of Mane Kancor (pictured, left).
“The new plant supports both the development of our scientific manufacturing techniques and the addition of cutting-edge technologies to our business continuity strategy thereby stretching our manufacturing potential,” he added.
Mane Group, the French parent company, has invested around $240m in the project.
The ribbon was cut by Mane Group president Jean Mane (pictured, centre).
