Asbah to soon launch fortified rice, invest over Rs 50 cr

Asbah, a brand owned by DCP India Pvt Ltd, today said it will invest over Rs 50 crore to launch new product 'fortified rice' in the domestic market.

A relatively new brand launched in India in August 2016 sells basmati rice, dalia, poha, suji and maida here. It also exports basmati rice.

"We have really progressed and our products are being sold in major cities. As part of our expansion, we are focusing on fortification of rice. We are investing more than Rs 50 crore," DCP India Pvt Ltd Director Gaurav Jain told PTI.

The funds will be sourced through equity and debt. A separate unit will be set up at Sasiabad, Haryana, he said, adding that the new product be ready in the next six months.
 

The company has already done research and development with the government's Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Now, food safefy regulator FSSAI has also come up with fortification norms.

"Earlier, fortified products were not allowed to sell in the absence of fortification norms. FSSAI's has notified fortification norms. We are going to be the first to take benefit of it and deliver a fortified rice product in the market," Jain said.

Jain explained that the company would use broken rice and grind it to make powder and add protien, iron and zinc to it as per FSSAI norms. The powder would be converted into rice grain form using a separate machine.

"This will be ready within six months. It will be blended with original rice and will cater to poor section of society to ensure nutrition," he said.

A separate unit with machine with 5 tonnes per hour capacity would be set up Sasiabad, Haryana for this purpose.

To boost export of dalia, poha, suji and maida under Asbah brand, Jain said that the company has invested Rs 2 crore to improve shelf life of these items for export purpose.

"We have ordered a machine, which will help in reducing the moisture level and get the shelf life up to one year. Then we will start export of these products," he said.

Haryana-based DCP India Pvt Ltd, which has been trading of commodities for last 45 years, has recently entered into processing of agri-commodities under the brand Asbah.

It has a processing unit for basmati rice at Sonipat with a capacity to handle 42,000 tonnes a year. It has similar capacity for dalia, poha, suji and maida at same place.