German firm to set up distribution centres in Hyd

Metro group, the German-based supply chain market leader, plans to set up collection and grading centres in Andhra Pradesh at an investment of Rs 350 crore.

Metro makes investments in cold chain infrastructure and supply chains for agricultural produce catering to the needs of core demand customer groups such as hotels, restaurants, caterers, small traders and retailers.

Announcing the group's plans at the launch of the Metro Sheep Farmers Training Programme launched here on Friday, Harish Bahadur, managing director, Metro Cash & Carry India Limited, said, "We plan to set up two distribution centres in Hyderabad in the coming months. The sheep training programme is the first step to improve the skills of farmers in better livestock management." We also plan to undertake a fisheries programme as we have done in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, he said.

The training programme will be conducted in eight districts of Warangal, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Medak, Prakasam, Karimnagar, Kurnool and Anantapur.

Around Rs 2.7 crore is being spent by Metro and German-based DEG and will be implemented in partnership with the state department of animal husbandry and Confederation of Kisan Organisations (CKO), a non-political farmers' organisation.

The training includes modules on scientific breeding techniques, vaccination and deworming camps. The programme will benefit about 22,600 sheep farmers in the state. An estimated 5,70,000 sheep will be vaccinated.

Metro Cash & Carry India, in association with the government of Karnataka, recently completed a similar training programme in that state where 18,000 sheep farmers were trained and over 3,75,000 sheep vaccinated across 12 districts.

Metro commenced operations in India in October 2003 with two distribution centres in Bangalore. The group has operations in 28 countries including Vietnam, China, Romania and Poland.