Obsolete machinery, high costs render PVTG Bonda cashew unit sick in Odisha

Bhubaneswar, Sep 25 (UNI) A Rs 17.52-lakh cashew processing unit set up to economically empower Odisha's vulnerable Bonda tribal community has ended up as a sick unit, remaining defunct since 2021-22 with no government plan to revive it, the Odisha Assembly was informed on Friday. In a written reply, SC and ST Development Minister Nityananda Gond stated that the unit, established at Mudulipada in Khairput block of Malkangiri district in 2017 under the Special Central Assistance (SCA) scheme, was handed over to the Bonda Development Agency (BDA) for operation and management. It became defunct as its manually operated and obsolete…