INDIAN BUSINESSMAN TO BUY RICE MILL

NOW an Indian businessman is moving to buy National Flour Mill’s (NFM) rice mill at Carlsen Field.

The industrialist, who was a member of a recent visiting delegation of prospective investors, expressed interest in purchasing the milling complex and putting the plant back into production.

But reports are that some NFM officials disagree with the planned divestment, saying the local company can restore the mill to full activity.

The intended purchase is, however, being welcomed by the Government, which has been trying for years to get the facility off its hands.

It is expected that PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services Ltd. will be appointed to handle the divestment.

Before the mill stopped production, NIPDEC upgraded the facility’s quarantine warehouse.

Before that, the mill’s drying process broke down on several occasions.

NFM said then that it was difficult to access spare parts because of the age of the plant.

At the height of its operations, the mill processed about 2,500 metric tonnes of paddy a year.

In 2017, the Government announced plans to dispose of the plant on “as is where is” basis.

NFM stopped milling, packaging and selling rice.

This drew criticisms that the facility should have been kept in production to increase its market value and to mill local farmers’ rice.

The mill’s shutdown affected several farmers in various parts of the country, including in Plum Mitan, where about 1,100 acres are under annual cultivation.

Domestic rice cultivation is seasonal – from October to March – and provides a number of agricultural jobs.

Farmers had previously complained of NFM downgrading the quality of their rice and, therefore, offering them lower prices.

Trinidad and Tobago imports rice at an annual value of around $150 million, mostly from India and Guyana.

Rice is also imported from Brazil, the United States and Thailand.

Ownership of the mill was transferred in 1990 from the Ministry of Agriculture to NFM, which is 51 per cent owned by taxpayers.

The new owner will have to upgrade and expand the plant, informed sources said.

It is not known whether locals are interested in the facility, but the industry sources said with the volume of rice consumption, the mill is a viable investment.

“The rice complex should be owned by locals, since it could be made profitable since it produces a staple food item,” one knowledgeable source said.

“The mill could help us to attain food sufficiency and reduce the import bill.”

The planned purchase follows the likely divestment of Petrotrin to Indian billionaire entrepreneur Naveen Jindal.

Jindal is expected to prevail ahead of nine local bidders, including a subsidiary of Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union.

India’s richest businessman Mukesh Ambani is being given land for the construction of a cricket stadium.

The land was previously allocated for the headquarters of Pan Trinbago.

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley recently said that the project will “move to an investment stage in the not-too-distant future.”

The Government has been accused of handling these commercial ventures surreptitiously without full disclosure to the national community.