TN company to set up winery in Kuppam

Tirupati: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s constituency Kuppam which had seen several experiments in the past, including Israel model of irrigation and Gherkin crop cultivation, is now marching ahead with another venture. If the proposals of the officials materialise, a winery will soon be established in Kuppam, which is expected to generate a lot of employment and make farmers earn profits.

Minister for Prohibition and Excise KS Jawahar, Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise Dr P Lakshmi Narasimham, MLC Gounivari Srinivasulu, Joint Commissioner of Distilleries Deva Kumar and others interacted with about 1000 farmers in Kuppam on Monday and explained to them the advantages of cultivating grape.

Speaking to The Hans India, Lakshmi Narasimham said that he will present the detailed project report (DPR) to the government within a month. He said Kuppam is ideal for cultivation of grapes and Palamaner and some areas in Madanapalle too are suitable for its cultivation. In the neighbouring areas of Karnataka like Kolar there are a lot of grape gardens.

The crop was not new to the district as in the past there was extensive cultivation of grapes in Kuppam belt. Since there was no organised mechanism in place to take yield and to provide remunerative prices to farmers, they discontinued its cultivation, he said.

If these problems are addressed, cultivation of grapes will be profitable for farmers for which SNJ Group from Tamil Nadu has come forward to establish Rs 60 crore winery unit in Kuppam. Though in the past, two companies took licenses to start the units but because of scarcity of raw material (grapes) they did not materialise.

In view of this an attempt was made on Monday to bring awareness among the prospective farmers to cultivate grapes. “Without raw material, the winery cannot be successful. So, we tried to elicit the views of farmers. Most of them who participated have expressed their willingness to cultivate grape provided they get subsidy to meet capital cost which may be around Rs.4 lakh to Rs5 lakhs per acre”, explained the Commissioner.

He said the farmers were willing to be trained in advanced technology to be used in cultivation besides establishing a wine board here on the lines of the one in Karnataka to tap central funds. “All of them are positive and enthusiastic in getting winery there”, he pointed out. Chairman of SNJ group JA Murugan assured the farmers to provide local employment directly up to 600 people and indirectly 5000.

The company has also agreed to give remunerative price for the crop and enrolment of farmers like in sugar factories. “In a backward area like Kuppam, this will become a positive initiative. There are about 200 acres of grape gardens in the district, which have to go up to 5000 acres.” A policy decision will be taken on how to tie-up the capital cost after the preparation of DPR. As the farmers clearly explained their problems and expressed willingness to go for cultivation of grapes, it has to be seen how the officials will take it forward.