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Hyderabad: Telangana is set to accelerate its oil palm expansion programme through a strategic partnership with Reliance Consumer Products Ltd., as part of broader efforts to diversify cropping patterns and reduce reliance on water-intensive paddy cultivation.
Senior executives from Reliance, led by Executive Director Kheten Modi, held detailed discussions with state officials on developing an integrated oil palm ecosystem. The meetings involved Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, and Kodad MLA N. Padmavathi Reddy.
According to the state government, the deliberations covered expansion of oil palm plantations, availability of Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB), processing capacity, crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel oil output, utilisation of shells and other byproducts, and downstream consumer products.
Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy recommended that Reliance begin its assessment with Suryapet district, particularly the contiguous Kodad-Huzurnagar belt, which could serve as a plantation and processing cluster. Khammam and Kothagudem would subsequently be brought into the raw-material catchment area.
Suryapet currently hosts around 5,753 acres under oil palm cultivation. However, officials cautioned that the district alone may not generate sufficient FFB volumes to support a large integrated facility and urged Reliance to evaluate aggregation from Suryapet, Khammam, Kothagudem and other suitable districts.
Reliance will conduct a detailed study of the age and productivity of existing plantations, projected FFB output, future acreage targets, transportation requirements, collection centres, nurseries, and the availability of palm kernels and shells before finalising the capacity and location of the proposed facility.
Current data shared at the meeting shows that Telangana has approximately 3,12,275 acres under oil palm cultivation, involving 65,691 farmers. Prior to the National Mission on Edible Oils–Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), the state had around 46,325 acres under the crop, with a further 2,65,950 acres added under the mission since its launch. Cumulative financial achievement under the programme stands at around ₹515.84 crore.
Expansion has gathered pace since December 2023, with roughly 1.29 lakh acres brought under oil palm cultivation during the period at an expenditure of approximately ₹388.99 crore. In 2026-27 alone, an additional 21,230 acres have already been added.
Fourteen companies are currently engaged in Telangana's oil palm programme. The state government will provide Reliance with updated district-wise figures on acreage, production, subsidies, company allocations and projected FFB availability to support the company's feasibility work.
The two sides also agreed on a phased investment approach, with plantation and raw-material development preceding any large-scale industrial build-out. Processing facilities would initially be aligned with available FFB volumes and expanded as plantations mature.
The proposed integrated complex is expected to eventually process crude palm oil, palm kernel oil, shells and other byproducts, with downstream units manufacturing soaps and a range of palm-based consumer and industrial products.
Officials emphasised that oil palm can provide remunerative income for nearly 30 years and delivers a high oil yield per unit of land. According to data presented at the meeting, approximately 0.625 acres are required to produce one tonne of oil.
The government is promoting oil palm expansion as an alternative cropping option amid concerns over water availability and irrigation inflows. Officials noted that the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir has not received the desired inflows so far this year, while the Sriramsagar Project and several medium irrigation projects are also facing constraints.
The ministers underlined that farmers would require competitive returns, assured markets, processing infrastructure and institutional support for crop diversification to succeed.
The Reliance team is expected to visit potential plantation and processing locations in Kodad, Huzurnagar, Suryapet, Khammam and Kothagudem before finalising its proposal.
Source: NewsMeter