The Raigam Group of Companies will invest nearly Rs. 2 billion to help grow soya beans in over 7,000 acres of land in the North Central and the Eastern Provinces and also to build a soya oil extraction plant in Dambulla, Raigam Group Chairman and CEO, Ravi Liyanage said.
He said that the construction of the plant will cost around Rs. 1.6 billion and the work is almost complete and they have now embarked towards the cultivation of soya beans among farmers. “We will provide them assistance and come to a forward-buying agreement with them and this will benefit over 7,000 farmers.”
He said that they have already commenced the cultivation of 1,500 acres in the North Central and Eastern Province for this operation.
“We also hope to annually spend around Rs. 2 billion to purchase soya beans from these farmers.”
Dr Liyanage said the factory will be put up in Athabadiwewa in Dambulla on land belonging to them and a feature of the project is that they also received a grant of USD 100 million under the agriculture modernisation project program of the World Bank. Rice bran oil too would be produced which is a first in Sri Lanka.”
Our main focus would be exports helping the country to add two new products to Sri Lanka’s export basket and also bring in more export revenue which is need of the hour.”
Raigam Wayamba Salterns also plans to invest Rs 850 million in a feeder saltern in the Batticaloa district which will come up between Arugam Bay and Panama. He also said he would look for opening in the high end leisure sector towards 2024.
The management of the Raigam Wayamba Salterns PLC (RWS), established in the year 2005 as a subsidiary of the Raigam Group the one and only salt manufacturing company listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) also announced that the group has recorded its highest ever performance with a remarkable growth compared to the preceding year during the financial year 2022/2023.
“We recorded remarkable growth in 2022-23 compared to the preceding year posting an Rs 433 million profit after tax and doubling its turnover to Rs 2,126 million. The company’s earnings per share increased by 101% to 1.54 and net assets per share increased by 37% to 7.88.”
“We also paid a tax of over Rs. 100 million to the government,” he said.
RWS is the one and only manufacturer of Pure Vacuum Dried (PVD) salt in Sri Lanka.