Agartala, Feb. 10: At a time when the Tripura government is being bled white in running its sick public sector undertakings (PSUs), the Tripura Forest Development and Plantation Corporation (TFDPC) has set a record of sorts by earning growing profits over the past four years.

Not only that, it is looking forward to further jacking up its profits on investments in the current financial year.

The corporation has also started paying dividends on shares of the state government and the Centre for investments made in the corporation. ?It has been made possible by prudent investments in forests, rubber and other plantation-related sectors and efficient management by our officers and employees,? said TFDPC managing director V.K. Bahuguna.

At a news conference, Bahuguna explained the corporation had been set up in 1976 with the brief to work for development of forests and rubber plantations. It had been running at a loss for more than two decades. The state and central governments have stakes worth Rs 10 crore in the corporation, but till 2001 no gains were made on the investments.

?The situation started turning round from 2001-02, when we earned profits to the tune of Rs 3.52 crore. It has been rising at increased rates every year since then. We earned a profit of Rs 4.8 crore in the last financial year. Our expected profit in the current financial year is more than Rs 6 crore,? said Bahuguna, adding that after receiving the report of the comptroller and auditor general, the corporation will refund a further Rs 1 crore to the state government.

He added that TFDPC was now concentrating on forest-based industries, such as rubber and timber processing centres in the state.

?We have also launched an afforestation programme on 10,313 hectares of land. We produced 3,100 metric tonnes of rubber last year. We expect to produce more in the current financial year,? Bahuguna said.

He pointed out that TFDPC?s ?greatest success? lay in rehabilitating nomadic tribal jhumias (shifting cultivators) with the help of rubber plantations. ?We have already rehabilitated more than 20,000 jhumia families. In the coming years, the remaining 30,000 jhumias will follow suit,? Bahuguna declared.

He disclosed that his corporation was trying to obtain a soft loan from the Japan Bank of International Co-operation (JBIC) for a mega rubber plantation project.

On March 3, a senior JBIC executive, Izusi Koijumi, will arrive here to discuss the loan with TFDPC officials as well as visit the projects being run by the corporation.