Lal Qilla basmati to invest Rs 25 cr

Amritsar-based Amar Singh Chawal Wala (ASWC), owners of the famous basmati rice of Lal Qilla brand, is coming up with a new unit at Chhaba (Amritsar) with an investment of Rs 25 crore to serve the European market.

Production has partly started in the new unit, likely to be fully operational by April next year. The unit will have a production capacity of 200 tonnes of basmati rice a day.

Also, the firm is planning to set up a turbine for generating 1 Mw of captive power by next year.

The turnover of the company in the last financial year was Rs 100 crore, and this year it is expecting 10 per cent growth. Once the new plant is operational, the company hopes to achieve a two-fold increase in turnover.

Fifty per cent of the production of basmati rice is for export, cater to the demands of export market. The company exports basmati under the Lal Quila brand to about 50 countries like those in the Middle East, the US, Canada, Malaysia, Mauritius, and South Africa.

Director Arvinder Pal Singh Manchanda said, "We want to increase our presence in Europe because there is tremendous opportunity of branded rice exports there. Earlier, industrialists used to import paddy and got it processed. Earlier, a duty of 465 euros per tonne was imposed on rice entering Europe but now it has been cut to 165 euros per tonne.