23/9/06 (Busines Line)   - MUMBAI: Godrej Agrovet Ltd (GAVL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IJM Plantations Berhad of Malaysia on Saturday to float a new joint venture company that will initially make an investment of Rs 200 crore in the Indian oil palm sector.

"The joint venture will be a separate company, a subsidiary of GAVL which is a subsidiary of Godrej Industries Ltd. In the next three to six months we will finalise the contract," Godrej Group Chairman, Mr Adi Godrej told reporters here.

"The new company will invest a couple of crores initially," he added.

The MoU provides the framework and establishes the areas of collaboration, that include procuring oil palm planting materials, raising nurseries, supply of seedlings and provision of agronomic assistance to oil palm farmers in India and in processing of oil-palm crop.

Commenting on the entry into bio-diesel production, IJM Plantation Berhad CEO and MD Velayuthan Tan said, "Our company is already having the licence to produce bio-diesel in Malaysia and we should do that in mid-2007. But, currently there are no India-sp ecific plans drawn out."

GAVL has about 10,000 hectares of oil palm in Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka and oil palm plantation activities have also been taken up in Gujarat, Orissa and Mizoram. - PTI