Sita Shree eyes Gujarat for castor, mustard processing

Indore-based Sita Shree Food Products Limited, a wheat and pulses processor and supplier of food products to organised retailers, has set its eyes on Gujarat for castor seed and mustard seed processing plants.

The company plans to conduct a feasibility study on the market within a year.

"We are currently expanding our wheat and pulses processing capacity, besides setting up a soybean processing plant near Indore. Once the expansion is completed within a year, we will move into other territories like castor seed processing and mustard seed processing in which Gujarat is a leader," said Dinesh Agrawal, managing director of Sita Shree Food Products.

The company is closely watching how its competitors like Gujarat Ambuja Exports Limited (GAEL) are doing in this segment, he added.

Sita Shree is setting up a solvent extraction plant of 500 tonne per day (TPD) capacity for soybean, an oil refinery with a 100 TPD capacity and a 5 TPD lecithin plant for processing by-products.

At a total project cost of Rs 48.12 crore, the company is also expanding its flour mill capacity from 150 TPD to 425 TPD.

Besides marketing packaged products under the 'Sita Shree Regular' and 'Sita Shree Gold' brands, Sita Shree supplies food products to organised retail players like Pantaloon Retail and Reliance Retail.

To part finance its expansion plans, the company is entering the capital market with an initial public offering (IPO) aggregating Rs 31.50 crore. Sita Shree turnover stands at Rs 80.74 crore, driven predominantly by bulk packing product segments, said the managing director.