The proposed plan involves setting up sapling nurseries, palm fresh fruit bunch collection centres and palm oil mill in the state, leading to investments of over Rs 300 crore over the project development period.

The proposed palm oil mill is expected to create over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs in the state.

As part of this proposed partnership, HUL will support farmers of Andhra Pradesh by establishing nurseries for the distribution of palm seedlings and providing agricultural extension services.

HUL will establish a comprehensive farmer outreach programme to provide technical assistance to farmers for growing palm oil and introduce the farming practices in line with the company’s global sustainable and regenerative agriculture principles.

Dev Bajpai, executive director, legal and corporate affairs said, “We already have a large investment in Rajahmundry, and now, the opportunity to set up an oil mill factory to source palm derivatives would be in line with our strategy of backward integration for our skin cleansing portfolio. We are energised by the investor-friendly policies of the Andhra Pradesh government and look forward to this collaboration.”

Yogesh Mishra, executive director, supply chain, added, “The proposed collaboration gives us the opportunity to deploy global best practices and expertise that Unilever has from other markets where we have similar backward integration operations. This will also enable us to work closely with thousands of farmers, bringing our sustainability commitments to life.”

Hindustan Unilever is India's largest fast moving consumer goods company.

The FMCG company’s standalone net profit rose marginally to Rs 2,519 crore in Q3 FY24 as against Rs 2,505 crore recorded in Q3 FY23. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 14,928 crore in Q3 FY24 as against Rs 14,986 crore reported in the same period a year ago.

The scrip fell 1.12% to currently trade at Rs 2,362.15 on the BSE.