Nepal Infrastructures Investment Fund invests in Tattva Farms' sugar mill

KATHMANDU: Nepal Infrastructures Investment Fund (NIIF), a permanent capital vehicle jointly promoted by Global Equity Fund (GEF), Himalayan Life Insurance and Himalayan Everest Insurance, and managed by Global Equity Fund (GEF), has invested in Tattva Farms, an agro-processing and manufacturing company.

Tattva Farms currently processes sugarcane and produces specialty sugars and derivatives and is expanding to multiple end-products including traditional snacks, chips, and roasted products.

The funding from NIIF will be used to enhance the production capacity of Tattva Farms’ sugar mill and to implement state-of-the-art systems to produce international standard food products. The new enhanced plant is expected to process sugarcane from local farmers of Nawalparasi district, which will help hundreds of families and reduce the crop payment cycle. The investment further ensures a positive impact on the environment by enabling the unit to reduce its carbon footprint and emissions leading to a zero-waste production with consumption of all waste materials within the facility.

GEF Managing Director Manish Thapa highlighted, “In Nepal we are facing the brunt of the challenges faced by the sugar economy in the form of frequent shortages and price hikes of sugar — an essential product in Nepali households. With the rise in demand for sugar, we are not gearing towards being self-sufficient in sugar rather every year we import it from India. In addition, we do not see any brand of sugar as most sugar is sold openly without anybody being liable for the quality of such sugar. Thus, we decided to invest in Tattva Farms as firstly it is fulfilling the local demand for sugar and related products such as brown sugar and jaggery powder. In addition, Tattva Farm is selling sugar in its brand ensuring the quality of sugar. We are also very excited and happy to make our first investment in an Agri-based industry as agriculture is the backbone of the Nepali economy, which accounts for approximately 33% of the GDP and employs an estimated 78% of the total labour force. Thus, with this investment, we are ensuring the sustainable use of local agro resources, and we are delighted to invest in Tattva Farms in its mission to empower farmers and elevate the agriculture value chain through locally sourced ethically grown products.”