Rs 2000 crore coconut products industry suffer heavy loss

Kochi: The coconut by-products industry, mostly concentrated in South India, has been hit hard by Covid-19 lockdown. The manufacturers of the main products such as tender coconut water, coconut oil and desiccated coconut powder are suffering huge loss with the factories closed for over a month. The tender coconut water manufacturers with units in the rural areas have obtained permission to start production. But with few workers available and the restriction on vehicle mobility, they have not resumed operations. ``Even if we start production there is no market. Our major sales happen in Mumbai, Delhi and other North Indian cities. We are not sure when the market will return to normalcy,’’ said Ajay Kumar Jain, MD of Jain Agro Food in Bengaluru. The desiccated coconut powder producing units were already facing intense competition from cheaper imports from Sri Lanka, which had led to the closure of small units. ``There are around 2500 units producing coconut value added products with ...