Total Produce and its joint venture partner Tata Chemicals, has unveiled a five-year plans to invest more than £75 million to set up around 40 fresh produce distribution centres in India.
The first two centres will be opened towards the end of 2007 and be located at Ludhiana in Punjab and Kolkata in West Bengal, after which the jv company plans to spread out and scale up over the next three to five years. The first two distribution centres that will come up towards the end of this year will entail an investment of Rs 30 crore.
Homi Khusrokhan, managing director, Tata Chemicals Ltd, said: “We will initially identify 10 vegetables and 10 fruits, select farmers and help them with modern techniques of farming, provide them with the seeds and finally collect, sort and pack the goods to be sold to the wholesale market and to large retail chains.”
