GSEC plans diversification

Gujarat based GSEC Ltd, is planning to set up packhouse facility and create a subsidiary for the same.

Samir Mankad, director of GSEC Ltd, said, "We are planning to set up a subsidiary for our new business of creating a packhouse facility for the exportable agricultural produce".

A packhouse is a facility where service of sorting, grading, packing, cold storage, ripping, pre cooling are provided the traders dealing in agri products.

According to Mankad, there is huge opportunity in providing packhouse facility

business as with the increase in the exportable agricultural products there is emerging need of such facility in the country. There is huge dearth of such facility for exportable agricultural produce. The company plans to make an initial investment of Rs 5 crore for establishing packhouse facility.

"We will come up with one packhouse facility either in Ahmedabad or at Indore," adds Mankad. As the entire process is been worked out, the company will finalised the location of its packhouse facility once the new entity is been created. "The new entity will be create soon within this financial year," adds Mankad.

"Our plans is to create and control entire chain of exportable agri produce right upto the overseas market," adds Mankad. The company will have its marketing set up in overseas markets that will cater the marketing part of the agri produce.

The company will be involved in procurement, processing, logistic and finally the marketing of the agri produce in overseas market. The company will procure the agri produce from local farmers and other agri traders.

However, the facility will also be kept open for other business entities who would like to use the facility for exporting their agri produce. "The packhouse facility will be a common use facility," adds Mankad.

The overseas marketing set up will also act as facilitator to the Indian traders and will be a gateway for the Indian agri traders to sell its produce. It expects to generate business of 6 - 7 tons per day.

However, there is no bench mark as packhouse is yet to develop as separate industry.

GSEC Ltd basically into the business in handling of import and export cargo had registered imports growth of 14.3 per cent (y-o-y) in 2006-07 over the year 2005-06. While it recorded growth of 28.1 percent in exports in year 2006-07.