Wave, Agristo to invest Rs 750 cr in UP to expand potato processing plant

Wave Group and Belgium's Agristo NV will invest around Rs 750 crore to expand their potato processing plant in Uttar Pradesh to make premium french fries, amid rising global demand for processed food.

In 2019, Wave Group firm Masa Global Food Pvt Ltd and Agristo's subsidiary firm IMSTO NV, Belgium had formed a 50:50 joint venture firm to establish a potato processing plant at Bijnor to make dehydrated potato flakes.

The name of the joint venture firm is Agristo Masa Pvt Ltd. The plant started operations in 2022 with an annual capacity of 7,500 tonnes.

In an interview with PTI, Wave Group Chairman Manpreet Singh Chadha noted that there is an immense growth potential in Indian food processing sector.

He also stressed on the need to boost crop yields and processing capacity for augmenting farmers income.

"We are setting up a new production line for export quality french fries at Bijnor," Chadha told PTI.

He said the total investment on this expansion will be around Rs 750 crore, which will be financed through equity and debt.

The joint venture had invested around Rs 300 crore on setting up the existing plant, taking the total investment commitment to more than Rs 1,000 crore.

Chadha said the new production line with 80,000 tonnes per annum capacity will become operational in the next two years and cater to both domestic and global markets.

The JV is into B2B (business to business) segment only.

"Our aim is to empower the farmers and diversify their cash crop beyond sugarcane. We have helped these farmers to double the potatoes output with the help of new technologies. Their income has increased by 50 per cent over the last 3-4 years, " said Chadha.

Princess Astrid of the Kingdom of Belgium, Finance Minister of Uttar Pradesh Suresh Kumar Khanna and Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh Manoj Singh attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of the production facility.

Wave Group already has two sugar manufacturing plants in Bijnor area and has been procuring sugarcane from farmers.

The potato processing plant set up by the joint venture firm has helped in enhancing farmers income of this region, Chadha said.

"We are helping farmers in accessing good quality seeds for potato production. We are also procuring all potatoes from farmers at a very remunerative price," Chadha said.

Around 2,500 farmers are expected to benefit from this expansion.

This is in addition to the 500 farmers in the region who have been provided sustainable livelihood opportunities through the plant's interventions.

The productivity of potato has gone up from 17 tonnes per hectare to 32 tonnes per hectare.

The Bijnor plant caters to both domestic and export markets, with North America, Middle East, South East Asia and Japan being the key destinations overseas.

Filip Wallays, Co-CEO of Agristo, said, "The Bijnor plant is a testament of how results can be achieved when vision and technical expertise are combined. Partnering with Masa Global Food has allowed us to contribute in a meaningful manner to the rapidly evolving Indian agriculture and food processing sectors and ensure development of all stakeholders."  To ensure the holistic development of farmers and the overall development of the region's agricultural landscape, the JV firm Agristo Masa has hired agronomists from Belgium and The Netherlands.

The joint venture firm is also assisting farmers in this region in farm mechanization.

Wave Group is into real estate, sugar and food processing businesses. It has real estate projects in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.