Basmati rice exporter KRBL plans to persuade wheat farmers in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh with about 1-1.5 lakh acres to shift to basmati this year. | |
| The company is already engaged in contract farming in the region over an area of 100,000 acre. |
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| Anil K Mittal, chairman and managing director of KRBL, said that a shift to basmati of the high yielding variety would fetch the farmers an additional Rs 5,000-6,000 per acre. |
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| The transplant for basmati crop takes place in July, and it has a 120-day cycle. Mittal said since the transplant takes place following the onset of the southwest monsoon, getting adequate water was not a serious challenge. |
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| India's annual basmati exports are at 850,000 tonne, of which KRBL's share is 11 per cent, Mittal said. KRBL is the largest exporter of basmati in India. Saudi Arabia, US and Kuwait are key export market for basmati. |
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| The Rs 479 crore company's rice milling operation in Dhuri, Punjab, has a capacity of 170 metric tonne an hour. KRBL said the mill is the largest rice mill in the world, and it is investing about Rs 96 crore to re-engineer the plant to enhance efficiency. |
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| PTI adds: KRBL would invest about Rs 70 crore by March next in refurbishing and re-engineering its plant in Dhuri in Punjab to achieve international marketing benchmark, in addition to Rs 100 crore already invested. |
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| The company will also launch the 'India Gate Classic' brand in foreign countries like Saudi Arabia, Canada, Dubai and Kuwait. |
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| The company has earmarked nearly 87,000 acres of land for contract farming in Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab and in the next three years, the area would be increased to two lakh acres. |
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