Keventer Agro to set up plant in Assam; talks on with govt

Keventer Agro Thursday said it has identified three locations to set up a manufacturing facility in Assam with a "large investment" and it will be announced by the end of the next year.

The company Thursday rolled out its UHT milk products for the north eastern market and expects a revenue of Rs 150 crore from here in the next two years.

"Our team is actively studying the market for the last 12 months. We are talking with the Assam government and we have identified three locations. By 2019, you will hear a large investment from us in Assam," Keventer Agro chairman and MD Mayank Jalan said at a press conference here.

The company is currently trying to find out and fix the supply chain for sourcing raw materials for the proposed plant before announcing the investment, he added.

"The plant will be not only for UHT milk. We will produce our different range of products for the north eastern market," Jalan said.

The company currently has 11 operational plants and another one is being constructed at Midnapur in West Bengal.

On Keventer Agro's UHT milk, the CMD said the products have been priced very competitively and hopes to capture 25 per cent of the market within next one year.

"Our price is 20 per cent lower than the competitors because our logistic cost is minimal as the plant is within 1,000 km distance in West Bengal, while the competitors are making their products in Gujarat or Maharashtra," he added.

Jalan informed the company has invested Rs 150 crore last year to set up Eastern India's largest UHT milk plant at Barasat in West Bengal that has a processing capacity of two lakh litres per day.

Talking about its sales expectations, Keventer Agro chief executive officer (UHT Milk) Saurabh Jajodia said: "We are hopeful of achieving Rs 150 crore revenue in North East by 2020. The Indian UHT milk market is expected to cross Rs 10,000 crore by 2023."