India to export Rs 350 crore eggs to Sri Lanka, Namakkal farms get ready to chip in

CHENNAI:  Poultry farms in Namakkal are coming to the rescue of Sri Lanka, which is facing an egg crisis.

Under the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Corporation (BIMSTEC), India will be annually exporting eggs worth Rs 350 crore to Sri Lanka’s State Trading Corporation to help the island nation tide over the crisis, according to Dineshkumar Gurusamy, chairman of India BIMSTEC trade council and founder of Aetram Group of Companies.

Due to the economic crisis in the island nation, egg price has skyrocketed to Lankan Rs 65 (Indian Rs 16). This was brought down to around Rs 13 due to eggs being imported from India, said Guruswamy.

He was speaking to TNIE after the BIMSTEC trade office was opened in Chennai in the presence of Myanmar Ambassador U Moe Kyaw Aung to promote India’s vision after the G-20 presidency.

Hit by an unprecedented economic crisis for more than a year, Sri Lanka faced a severe shortage of essential food and the country couldn’t produce eggs as animal feed and other necessities for the poultry industry were not available due to the dollar crunch. 

Sri Lankan Cabinet had approved the proposal to import over 90 million chicken eggs per month from India to help domestic consumers buy eggs at a fair price. Guruswamy said 90 million eggs will be imported from Ponni Poultry from Namakkal.

“But we are looking at procuring eggs from other farms also as the demand is more,” he said.

Supply from India would result in bringing down the prices of eggs as it would reduce the demand and supply gap, he added. 

During the event, BIMSTEC signed a memorandum of understanding with Sri Lanka in trading of eggs, chillies, onion, pulses, grains, minerals and chemicals.

The MoUs signed are worth around Rs 1,000 crore, said Guruswamy.

A total of 140 tonnes of dry chilly per week from Anushka Impex will be exported from Guntur while 500 tonnes of onions per week will be imported from Nashik.

India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal are members of BIMSTEC fostering closer ties among nations bordering the Bay of Bengal.

Moe Kyaw Aung said India is the fifth largest trading partner of Myanmar. He wanted industries in India to invest in Myanmar while urging India to become the largest trading partner.

The Asian Development Bank is in the process of developing a BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection master plan. Policies and the master plan will be finalised in the next meeting of the working group, said Dr Asif Iqbak, president of the India Economic Trade Organisation. 

He said that India is looking at alternative payment mechanisms to boost trade ties with nations like Iran, Russia, Cuba and others. 

Tackling a crisis

•  BIMSTEC signs pact with Lanka for trade in eggs, chillies, onion, pulses, grains & chemicals
•  Sri Lanka couldn’t produce eggs as animal feed were not available due to the dollar crunch
•  Supply from India may reduce egg price as it would reduce the demand and supply gap