Laila Group set to clock turnover of Rs 400cr

City-based ayurvedic major Laila Group is expecting Rs 400 crore turnover in 2003-04, a phenomenal jump from Rs 150 crore in just two years.

Speaking to Business Standard, group chairman Gokaraju Ganga Raju said that the group recently acquired five sugar mills, one each at Hanuman Junction in Krishna district and Palakole in West Godavari district, and the famous Nizam Sugar Mills Limited crushing and distillery units at Bodhan, Metpalli and Medak in Telangana region.

Ganga Raju, who has a penchant for acquiring sick units and turning them into profitable ones, said that he renamed the Hanuman Junction mill as Delta Sugars. He said that he took over the loss-making Delta Paper Mills at Bhimavaram and within four years it was in the black.

"The group's turnover has received a big boost from the newly acquired companies. We had forayed into 22 areas of manufacturing and business and registered profits in all of them," Ganga Raju said.

He said that the group is now foraying into the hospitality industry and the state tourism department had already allotted land for the construction of a star hotel and a multiplex to be named as 'Laila Resorts' in Vijayawada.

"We are also setting up a big prawn feed manufacturing complex at Palakole in collaboration with an Indonesian partner," he said. However, he added that a major chunk of business to the tune of Rs 80 crore, had come from the flagship Laila Impex, a totally export-oriented unit, which manufactures bulk extracts of ayurvedic raw materials and phytochemicals.

"Ninety per cent production of this firm is exported to the US and the remaining 10 per cent reaches almost every country in the West. It is a registered manufacturer-exporter with the Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO), Chennai. The company has been accorded an export house status and we hope to get trading house status soon. Plantex, another 100 per cent export-oriented company, supports Laila Impex," Ganga Raju said.

He said that the demand for manufacturing and trading in herbal extracts in the domestic ayurvedic market is met by Chemloids, the group's first export company set up in 1976, Laila International and Herbex. Herbex is located at Aswaraopet (Khammam).

The group's prestigious customers include Himalaya Drug House, Hindustan Lever and Charak Pharmaceuticals. Chemloids received an award from Basic Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics Export Promotion Council for achieving outstanding exports in the small-scale unit sector.

"Laila Finance Limited, which markets financial products, is planning to set up 24 branches all over the state in two years. The firm has already roped in VIP customers in the state and Tamil Nadu. Laila Aquatech, situated at Bapatla (Guntur), nurtures 100 million shrimp culture. The unit concentrates on growing tiger prawns and fresh water fish. The second phase of this unit has been taken up in 60 hectares," said Ganga Raju.

Laila Group has also entered the education sector by establishing Alluri Seetharamarajau Academy of Medical Sciences (ASRAM) at Eluru, Gokaraju Rangaraju Institute of Engineering and Technology (GRIET) in Hyderabad and a junior college at Aswaraopet. The group has plans to open colleges all over the state.

Committed to discharging its social commitment, Laila Group has adopted 20 Girijan villages around Aswaraopet and is striving to provide education, health and drinking water to the tribals. The group is also footing the bill for running 100 Ekopadhyaya schools (one-teacher schools) across the state.