Neera companies in state on the verge of shutting down; central and state govt refuses to take action

MALAPPURAM: Neera plants in Kerala are shutting down due to neglection from central and state governments. The project was started by promising financial benefits to Kera farmers. When the project was started in 2014, 12 coconut producer companies had produced 40,000 litres of Neera. Three of these companies were closed. Production today is just under 1000 litres from seven companies. These will also be closed any time. The other two moved on to coconut oil and vinegar production.

Neera companies did not get any help offered by the government in production, storage and marketing. Central and state subsidies of 25 percent just remained as an announcement. Many promises offered were also not fulfilled.

The companies that have taken bank loans apart from the shares of farmers are under threat of foreclosure. Rs 18 crore out of Rs 30 crore bank loan is to be repaid. Rs 52 crore was collected from the farmers.

The consortium of Neera companies sought help from the central and state governments several times, but no action was taken. The lack of a special nodal officer in the state and the frequent change of chairman of the coconut development board have hampered the coordination of the project.