Rabo India to work with state govts on food, agri strategy

Rabo India Finance, the 100 per cent subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Rabobank, has chalked out a plan to work with the Central government and various state governments to develop a food and agri-processing strategy.

The Centre, in its Budget for the year 2004-05, had indicated that food and agri processing will be among the thrust areas.

"We have worked out a strategy where we will work with the Union ministry of Food Processing Industries and also with state governments in a bid to work out their food and agri processing strategy. Apart from just financing, Rabo India Finance aims to bring incremental knowledge at the table and assist agencies in the entire supply chain," said Sanjiv Bhasin, chief executive officer, Rabo India Finance.

Bhasin added that some of the state governments that Rabo India has already been working with are Punjab, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

"We are aggressively looking to work with other states in the fields of agri processing," said Rabo India CEO.

Elaborating the scope on financing the biotechnology sector, Bhasin said that biotech financing in the country is still in its infancy stage.

"The biggest issue concerning biotech financing is that one never is sure where the research will lead to," said Bhasin. He added that since biotechnology spans almost all spheres of life, there is a greater need to understand the evolution of this industry.

Rabo India aims to bring specialised knowledge and expertise on the fast developing Indian marketplace and deliver corporate and investment banking solutions to clients in five knowledge sectors - Food and Agribusiness, Life Sciences (including Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare and Biotechnology); Telecom, Media and IT, Infrastructure Development and the Financial Services sector.

Rabobank is the largest financial services provider in the Dutch market with over 100 years of industry practice and experience.

Founded in 1998, Rabo India Finance provides the entire spectrum of fund and fee based products and services in India drawing on its local resources as well as Rabobank's global network spanning 194 offices across 34 countries.