Patanjali News: Patanjali is set to launch a ‘Patanjali Mega Food and Herbal Park’ in the MIHAN (Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport) area of Nagpur in Maharashtra. The plant will commence operations from March 9, 2025. The groundbreaking ceremony for the unit took place in September 2016.
Patanjali claims to have provided direct and indirect employment to approximately 500 people through the Nagpur plant, and says this number will increase more than 10,000 young people as the work expands.
Why Nagpur Was Chosen?
Nagpur is known worldwide as the Orange City, and there is an abundance of citrus fruits such as oranges, mandarins, mosambi, lemons, etc. in the region. The Patanjali fruit and vegetable processing plant located in Nagpur will process citrus and tropical fruits and vegetables to produce juices, juice concentrates, pulp, paste and puree.
The company has established a citrus processing plant, which can process 800 tonnes of fruit daily to make frozen juice concentrate. “This juice is 100% natural and does not use any preservatives or sugar,” according to the company. Tropical fruits will be processed too.
In all, the plant can process 600 tonnes of Indian gooseberries, 400 tonnes of mangoes, 200 tonnes of guava, 200 tonnes of papaya, 200 tonnes of apples, 200 tonnes of pomegranates, 200 tonnes of strawberries, 200 tonnes of plums, 200 tonnes of pears, 400 tonnes of tomatoes, 400 tonnes of bottle gourd, 400 tonnes of bitter gourd, 160 tonnes of carrots, and 100 tonnes of aloe vera every day to produce juices, juice concentrates, pulp, paste and puree according to global specifications. This process is called primary processing.
Tetra Pack Unit Soon
Primary processing will pave way for secondary processing, which is retail packing. A tetra pack unit will also be established at the Nagpur factory for this purpose. The company said Patanjali products are made available in the premium segment in tetra packs without using any preservatives or sugar, keeping in mind the health of consumers.
The plant also plans to ensure that no byproducts are wasted. For example, orange peels will be fully utilised after extracting the juice to make cold-pressed oil, which has a high demand in the market. In addition, the pulp extracted from oranges will used as a raw material in Nagpur orange burfi.
Oil-based aroma and water-based aroma essences can also be extracted from the fruit. Besides, the orange peels will be dried and powdered. Orange peel powder is used to make cosmetic and other value-added products.
