India: GNFC Opens Neem Soap Unit in Partnership with Khadi Commission

Gujarat state-promoted Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd. (GNFC) recently opened a unit for manufacturing organic neem soaps at Bharuch in Gujarat.

The unit was set up under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and supported by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh inaugurated the GNFC-KVIC unit. GNFC’s CSR arm Narmadanagar Rural Development Society (NARDES) developed the infrastructure for the unit and enabled skill development among women, in accordance with the PMEGP. NARDES coordinated with KVIC for the institution of the unit, which has a capacity to manufacture 225 tonnes of neem soap worth Rs. 4.3 crore a year. It also mobilised women and trained them in neem soap making, along with the ITI in Bharuch. They have been certified as soapmakers.

GNFC set up the soap unit in a record time of three months, partially funded by a grant of Rs. 24 lakhs under the PMEGP, said Mr. Rajiv Kumar Gupta, Managing Director, GNFC. Earlier, GNFC had implemented a project of 100 per cent neem-coated urea.