Cluster Profile
| 1 | Name Of Cluster | Palasa Cashew Processing |
| 2 | Place | Palasa |
| 3 | District | Srikakulam |
| 4 | State | Andhra Pradesh |
| 5 | No of firms (by type) | 87 Micro (Processing Firms) and 2 Small firms (Cashew Nut Shell Liquid Manufacturing Firms) |
| 6 | No. of workers | 9000 |
| 7 | Turnover(Rs in Million's) | Rs.2550 millions |
| 8 | Associations in cluster | Palasa Cashew Manufacturers Association |
| 9 | Major products | Cashew Kernels Kernel Skin Cashew Nut Shell Liquid |
| 10 | Specific and relevant technical institutions (R&D, Testing Lab accredited) |
State Horticulture Department |
| 11 | Major markets | Within country AP, Orissa, Kerala Export USA European Union markets |
| 12 | Major problems/prospects | Predominance of drum roasting technology leading to high pollution levels and low yield
High degree of is-process wastage in the form of broken kernels due to traditional drum roasting and manual shelling process. Non-adoption of good manufacturing practices or adherence to HACCP norms leading to poor price realization Poor skill sets of workers in mechanized grading, sorting, cutting and peeling processes. Lack of testing facility for quality control of raw material or kernels leading to poor price realization and limited market No value addition of final products like salted cashew nuts, cashew crisps which are having good demand in European markets |
| 13 | Data source and updated on | DSR by APITCO for DC-MSME (June 2010) |