ITC Bengal food unit to cost Rs 300cr

ITC Ltd, the cigarettes, hotels and consumer products company, is planning to invest around Rs 300 crore for developing a new food processing plant in West Bengal.

"We hope to start work on the integrated food processing plant during 2008," Y C Deveshwar, chairman of ITC, told reporters on the sidelines of CII (eastern region) annual general meeting here. The company is in the advanced stage of negotiation for acquiring 40 acre of land in Howrah for the purpose.

The West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBIIDC) would assist the company in the acquisition process.

According to Nazeeb Arif, vice president, corporate communication, this move is in line with the company's plan of expanding the snack food business in the eastern part of the country on the account of rising in demand for the product in the region.

The Kolkata-based company manufactures snack food under the brand name 'Bingo' and apart from the cigarettes other items in its portfolio includes biscuits, salty snacks and ready-to-eat foods.

Commenting on the imposition of excise duty on non-filter cigarettes which brought it on par with filter cigarettes, the chairman said, "The tobacco industry has sought a review of the matter with the government."