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A division of Murugappa Group’s EID Parry has formed a 50-50 joint venture with Synthite Industries Ltd to grow the business as a value-added algae company. The joint venture will set up a manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu at an investment of about Rs 400 million (Rs 40 crore) for the production of Phycocyanin, a natural blue pigment extracted from Spirulina.
The joint venture will leverage on Parry Nutraceutical’s Spirulina cultivation strengths and Synthite’s extraction capabilities making it a good strategic fit for both the partners. The company will be focusing on extracting Phycocyanin from Spirulina. In due course, Parry Nutra will be looking at other avenues within the microalgae segment thereby building the business to the company with a diversified value-added Algae portfolio.
Phycocyanin is a complex of light-harvesting proteins, extracted from Spirulina, which has a characteristic deep blue colour. Phycocyanin offers excellent stability and flexibility for application in a variety of food and beverages and is approved by all major regulatory bodies in the US, EU, Japan and South Korea as food colour.