Hatsun Agro to invest Rs. 850 cr till end of next fiscal year.

Hatsun Agro Product Ltd. is planning to invest around Rs. 850 crore during the current fiscal year and next fiscal year, in order to set up two milk processing facilities, along with expansion of existing facilities and marketing.

The company recently said that it has been growing at 18 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in the last five years and it is expecting to maintain the same level of growth for the next three fiscal years, due to penetration into new markets.

It is planning to set up a milk and curd processing unit at Dharapuram, Tamil Nadu and another one near Ongole, Andhra Pradesh, as part of capacity expansion before March 2018. The growth in milk augmentation will mostly happen in the new areas of Andhra Pradesh, Telengana and Maharashtra apart from furtehr penetration in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

It is also looking at more active bulk coolers and milk collection centres to be established during current and next fiscal year.

The company plans to install about 22 MW of windmills by January, 2017, to have around 80 per cent captive power usage.

It is also planning to shift cattle feed manufacturing, which is currently around 4,000 tonne a month from third party manufacturing to its own facility in Palani, Tamil Nadu, with a capacity of 15,000 tonne a month. The facility will start production from the beginning of November.

Hansun Agro has invested around Rs. 310 crore from 2014-15, which has helped it to mark a growth of 18 per cent, it said. With the fresh investments, the company is expecting to continue the growth momentum, though the industry is anticipated toi grow at around six per cent in the next three fiscal years, added the company.

BS