INDIA – Skretting, a division of Dutch group Nutreco, has inaugurated a new high-end production facility for shrimp and fish feed in Mangrol, Surat, in a push to support the Indian aquaculture sector and further its presence in Asia.

The €‎18.5 million (US$20M), state-of-the-art, production facility is spread over an area of 20,000 sq and has three production lines with a production capacity of 50,000 metric tonnes per annum.

The facility can produce both extruded/floating and pelleted/sinking feed as per the requirement of the species and customers for both shrimp and fish cultures.

Dr. Saurabh Shekhar, General Manager for Nutreco South Asia said that the facility has a potential for expansion in the future since there is adequate land and infrastructure available to increase production capacity in the future.

The shrimp cultures from the facility will include white tiger and black tiger, while fish cultures will include Indian major carps, and high-value fish like snakehead, and seabass, among others

The facility was inaugurated by Dr. Sanjeev Balyan, the Honorable Minister of State of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

 Mr. Michiel van Erkel, Agriculture Counsellor for India and Sri Lanka, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was also present at the opening.

During the inauguration, Skretting said that the company has been meeting the needs of shrimp hatcheries, nurseries, and farmers since 2018 in India, and supporting customers across feed-farm-health with their high-quality feed and services.

The new factory will be key to achieving the purpose of Feeding the Future and joins other plants in Vietnam, Japan, China, and Indonesia in strengthening Nutreco’s presence in Asia.

“The new facility enables us to contribute our bit to the prestigious Atmanirbhar Bharat – Make in India initiative, while simultaneously improving the efficiencies for a closer connection with our customers,” said Dr. Saurabh

The facility has generated 120 local employment opportunities and will cater to customers both in India and in other neighboring countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and The Middle East.

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