DS Group to expand dairy business; plans Rs 200 cr investment

Diversified conglomerate Dharampal Satyapal Group plans to have five more production units to roll out a range of dairy products across the country in next three years, entailing an investment of Rs 200 crore.
The Group's dairy division, which is looking to cross Rs 1,000 crore revenue by 2017-18, had recently acquired a production plant in Rajasthan.
"We want to be a full-range dairy product firm with a pan-India presence within next three years.
For this, we will add five more plants, taking our total number of production units to 7-8," Dharampal Satyapal Group (DS Group) Business Head (Dairy Division) Sunil Kumar Bansal told PTI here.

These plants, which will be a mix of company-owned and leased ones, will produce all types of dairy products for the Indian market, he added.
He said DS Group will soon roll out butter, cheese and other milk products to become a "complete dairy firm" and offer all products that the competitors are selling.

When asked about investments, Bansal said: "We have not decided on how many plants will be company-owned or how many will be leased ones. Still, it will require around Rs 200 crore of investment to have these five plants in the next three years."
Talking about sales, he said: "Our plan is to cross Rs 1,000 crore revenue by 2017-18. We are expecting to close the current fiscal with over Rs 250 crore revenue."

On the recently acquired plant, the official said DS Group purchased the unit at Udaipur in Rajasthan from MG Dairy for an undisclosed amount.
"The plant has an installed capacity to process 1.5 lakh litres of milk per day. We acquired it last month and now upgrading it as per our requirements. The commercial operation of the plant is likely to begin by March this year," he added.
The dairy division of the entity currently has its operational unit at Reengus in Rajasthan with an installed capacity to process 6 lakh litres of milk every day.
Besides, DS Group plans to set up a greenfield plant in Assam for its dairy products as it aims to cross Rs 200 crore revenue from the region in this segment by FY18 as against its target of Rs 20 crore sales in 2014-15.

The Group has already procured the machineries for setting up the plant and is currently looking for 5-7 acres of land in and around Guwahati.
The proposed plant will have an installed capacity of processing 1 lakh litres of milk every day and the total investment will be about Rs 30 crore for setting up the unit.
Before this, the Group will start production in Guwahati within next 3-4 months from a leased facility.
The dairy division has already identified it and will start production with a capacity to process 100 tonnes of milk per month within next 3-4 months in the state capital.