Britannia plans to set up second unit in Bengal

Britannia Industries has announced plans to set up a greenfield unit in Bengal, its second in the state, with investments of Rs100-150 crore, the company's managing director Varun Berry, said.

Speaking to reporters after the company's annual general meeting on Monday, Berry said the company is looking for a greenfield manufacturing unit in the state as the demand for its products is growing.

Britannia currently has only one manufacturing unit in Taratala, which is one of the oldest units of the biscuit giant. "There is not much scope to expand the (Taratala) unit. But we are trying to improve the efficiency of the unit. It is not very economical now," he added.

He said the state government has offered some incentives, which Britannia would evaluate now. "We shall invest Rs100-150 crore in the plant. Ideally, we would require 20 acres for the plant," he added.

He said the company is yet to formalise project plans and expects to start work on the second plant sometime next year.

"Once we start work, it will take 12-14 months to complete," he added. Besides Taratala, Britannia also has a contract manufacturing facility in Bengal. The company also has one plant each in Odisha and Bihar. He was confident that east is about to become the No. 1 market for the company by sales volume. "We are looking at a facility in North East also. We are contemplating new units in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. All the new plants would come up in next three years and the investment in each plant would be Rs100-150 crore," he added.

Britannia is setting up a greenfield factory at Bidadi near Bangalore, which is scheduled to be commissioned later this year. The firm is also setting up its first rusk manufacturing unit in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, Berry said the company will finalise a decision on entering dairy business in the next three months, adding that consumer demand still sluggish.

Britannia, which sells its products under brands like Good Day, NutriChoice, Bourbon, Marie, reported an estimated 10 per cent growth in sales, but with reduced margin.

Britannia reported a 13.2 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs219.1 crore for the quarter ended June. During April-June 2015-16, the company had posted a net profit of Rs193.7 crore. Its net sales grew 8.2 per cent to Rs2,162 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs1,997.8 crore a year ago.