Weerasekara said the company was scouting for export opportunities and is investing 200 million rupees for its new agri-venture in Anuradhapura.
Starting off with rice milling, the company hopes to eventually get into all grains, maize, green gram and so forth.
The proposed fully-automated rice-milling plant, is designed for an output of 10 tonnes per hour but initially production will be five tonnes per hour. Weerasekara said plant equipment has been ordered with processing and marketing is scheduled to commence by next December.
Based on its success the group hopes to establish similar units in different parts of the country aimed at improve links with the farming community.
On the local front, under a new subsidiary AgStar Properties Private Limited, the group has invested 350 million rupees to acquire five acres of land at Kaduwela for a 100,000 square feet warehousing facility. Agri inputs supplier, AgStar Fertlisers PLC, which markets a range of products