Emami Biotech Ltd, a part of the Rs 3,700 crore Emami Group of Companies, is planning to treble its edible oil refining capacity with an investment of around Rs 550 crore. This would help the company to capture 10 per cent of the Rs 15,000 crore branded edible oil market in next three years, said a senior executive from the company.
Speaking to the reporters in Chennai recently, Manish Goenka, director, Emami Group of Companies said, “We are expanding our capacity to double capacity in existing facility in Haldia and setting up new refineries, one each in South and West to cater these regional markets.”
He added that the company is targeting Rs 1,500 crore market to become one of the top three player in the segment in the country, in the next three years.
The company is expanding the existing refinery in Haldia to process palm oil and soyabean oil from 1,000 tonne per day (tpd) to 2,000 tpd, with an investment of around Rs 100 crore.
It is also setting up a 1,200 tpd refinery at Krishnapattinam, in Andhra Pradesh, for palm oil and sunflower oil, with an investment of around Rs 200 crore.
Both the expanded facility and new refinery are expected to commence operation in August, 2011. It is presently depending on exclusive third party refineries to process Sunflower Oil.
Besides, it is also looking for space in Maharashtra and Gujarat to set up a refinery for palm oil and soyabean oil, with a capacity of around 1,500 tpd with an expected investment of around Rs 250 crore.
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The investment would be from internal accruals and debt. The company launched its edible oil business almost a year ago with processing and marketing sunflower oil, palm oil, mustard oil and soyabean oil under the brand Healthy and Tasty.
The brand has presence in six states, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand, at present. It is planning to complete the pan India market expansion in the next 18 months with a direct reach to around 500,000 outlets. It has identified a strategy to build the brand around the product that in demand in each region.
It has tied up with local celebrities in West Bengal to promote the mustard oil brand which has more demand in the region, while in Tamil Nadu, it would focus on sunflower oil market. The company is planning to spend around Rs 20 crore in building the brand in the six states, he added.
The company, which is expected to reach Rs 1,800-1,900 crore turnover in the present fiscal, aims to reach a turnover of Rs 5,000 crore in the next three years, said Goenka.
Plans personal care, hospital foray
Emami Ltd, the flagship company of Emami Group of Companies, is looking at overseas acquisitions in personal care segment, said Manish Goenka, director, Emami Group of Companies.
“ We are aggressively looking at acquisitions in overseas countries including Middle East and Europe. The target could be mid-sized FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) firms in personal care segment,” said Goenka.
The company is also looking at acquiring hospitals in any part of India. It is to be noted that the company recently joined the race to acquire majority stakes in Sterling Hospitals, Gujarat, from private equity investor, Actis.
Emami presently has six hospitals in Eastern India and plans to double the number of beds in two to three years. It has three more multi-speciality hospitals, one in Bhubaneswar and two in Kolkata, under pipeline, with an expected total investment of around Rs 800 crore. With around 1,000 beds in six hospitals at present, it would have 2,000 beds in next two to three years. It also has plans to expand its pharmacy chain by entering South Indian market, he added.
The company has also plans to enter into health food business by launching a glucose-based drink, probably in the next summer season.
It is also in the preliminary stage of launching household products like floor cleaners, repellants, which would be ready for launch in another 18 months, he added.