Razia Agro Industry, an Indian company, is going to set up a sugar mill in the east Wollega zone of the Oromia Regional State.
According to an official of Razia, the company has acquired 4,000 hectares of land for sugarcane plantation and the construction of the mill. The official said that the company had already started clearing the land for developing the sugarcane farm.
Karuturi Global is planning to produce rice, maize and soybeans over 20,000 hectares of land in Ethiopia.
Karuturi, founder and managing director of the company, said that the 20,000 hectares of plantation would come up in the Oromia and Gambella regional states.
According to Karuturi, the 20,000 hectares of land is part of 100,000 hectares the company has leased from the government in 2009.
He said that the company had also planted a variety of crops like rice, maize and sugarcane in other regions of Ethiopia, besides planting roses on many farms.
CLC Industries Plc will harvest cotton from the first 2,500 hectares in Ethiopia next month. The Indian company will use the cotton as raw material for the textile spinning plant it is establishing in Kombolcha.
The construction of the textile company at an investment of 70 million dollars will begin this month according to Markos Terfa company liaison officer.
The Export-Import Bank of India has provided USD 300 million loan to the Ethiopian Government railway project. The loan term entail concessional funds at an interest rate of 1.75 per cent.
The fund will be used to construct the railway project to connect the Ethiopian city of Asaita to the port city of Tadjourah in Djibouti. About 50 km of the 210-km long railway will be in Djibouti, while the rest of it lies in Ethiopia.
India’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, Sanjay Verma, disclosed companies from his country are making preparations to make an aggregate investment of U.S. $ Two Billion.
The Ambassador noted there are favorable investment opportunities, sitting reliable peace and fast economic growth, and that Indian investors are ready to seize the opportunity.
According to him, the trade and investment volume of Ethiopia and India have reached U.S. $ 1.2 Billion. In order to further strengthen the bond, the Ambassador noted, India is finalizing preparations to establish the biggest agricultural and science center in Africa and a textile industry cluster in Kombolcha town.
In addition to this, Verma recalled his country extended U.S. $ One Billion Birr to Ethiopia for the latter’s mega projects; specifically electric transmission lines, railway construction, sugar factories and irrigation.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency
