Calcutta, June 24: Emami Group plans to set up an edible oil refinery in Gujarat.

Emami Group director Manish Goenka on Wednesday said, "Land is not finalised yet and we will require around 35-40 acres. Around Rs 200-250 crore will be pumped into it."

The company's turnover was Rs 4,500 crore last year and it is hoping to close this year at around Rs 5,500 crore. Emami is also expecting an increase in this year's net profit to Rs 50 crore from Rs 15 crore last year.

"All our brands are performing well and we are expecting around 20-30 per cent growth in our edible oil brands. Looking at the success and consumer acceptance of the recently launched rice bran oil we are planning to expand the refining capacity for rice bran and sunflower oil with an investment of Rs 100 crore. The commissioning will be done in August," said Goenka.

Bio-diesel push

Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari today inaugurated a bio-diesel dispensing machine at Haldia port.

The port will be the first in India to use biodiesel to power locomotives, port-based vehicles and various heavy-engineering machines and generators. Emami Agrotech will supply the bio-diesel from its facility at the Haldia port. The unit has an installed capacity of 300 tonnes per day.

As part of its green initiative, the shipping ministry will also come out with standards in the next two months for higher utilisation of bio-diesel in vehicles.

"Standard is there for up to 20 per cent of mixing bio-fuels... In phases we will try to reach 100 per cent," he said, adding this will help the country to save the outgo on foreign exchange and stem pollution too.