ITC Signs MOU Amount of 10,000 Crore with GOI In Food Processing Sector
It was an expected revelation from ITC during the World Food India. The leading FMCG giant signed an MOU with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India to invest a sum of Rs. 10,000 crore in the food processing sector in India. Earlier to this, ITC’s agribusiness head had given hints to BW Businessworld that they might declare something huge in numeric terms for food processing in the coming days.
ITC which had already entered a relatively difficult vegetable retail market a day before the signing of the MOU had been selective in markets. For instance, an untapped unorganized potato market with a potential worth Rs 70,000 crore, which is relatively difficult for others, besides ITC has a strong 40,000 village’s connectivity network, thanks to its e-Chaupals.
As part of the Rs. 10,000 crore investment plan, ITC will be setting up 20 state-of-the-art Integrated Consumer Goods Manufacturing & Logistics Facilities in 12 states across India. At these facilities, the company would be manufacturing its world-class branded food products, including Aashirvaad atta (the wheat flour brand), Sunfeast biscuits, Yippee noodles, Bingo snacks, B-Natural juices, and processed fruits and vegetables.
ITC was the Platinum Sponsor for World Food India 2017 with a strong presence and participation in the first-of-its-kind event to showcase India’s food sector potential. ITC’s contribution includes participation in the World Food Street where visitors can savour cuisines cooked with Indian ingredients, a gala dinner showcasing the finest Indian cuisines by ITC Hotels to national and international dignitaries and an exhibition displaying the company’s full range of farm to consumer value chain.
Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Sanjiv Puri, CEO and Executive Director, ITC Ltd, said, “With a population of 1.3 billion, India’s consumption market is projected to triple to USD four trillion by 2025 with the bulk of expenditure going into food products. Improvement in agricultural yields and increase in the level of processing from the current 10 per cent to 30 per cent can increase the GDP by as much as five-fold.”
“ITC with a strong legacy of working closely with the farmers and a vision to be the largest food and consumer products company in India is well placed to make a strong contribution towards this transformation story of the country’s food processing sector”, he added.
ITC is today the third largest player in the branded packaged foods segment and has set an ambitious target to reach a revenue of Rs. 1, 00,000 crore by 2030 and become the no. one player in the consumer FMCG space. Fuelling this vision is an overall investment outlay of Rs. 25,000 crore in furtherance of the company’s “India First” strategy.
