ITC eyes Rs. 70,000 cr. from foods by 2030.

The foods division of ITC Ltd. plans to contribute 65-70% of the expected Rs. 100,000 crore revenue target by 2030, according to a top official.

“Our CEO has set a revenue target of Rs. 100,000 crore by 2030,” said Hemant Malik, divisional chief executive, foods division, ITC.

“The foods division will like to account for 65% to 70% of it.” Last fiscal, the division earned Rs. 8,668 crore, accounting for 19.7% of the total revenue.

“We have been growing faster than the market rate. We have to register 16% to 17% annual growth to achieve the targeted revenue,” he said.

During the last Global Investors’ Meet in Tamil Nadu, ITC had announced its plan to set up an integrated food manufacturing and logistics facility at Pudukottai in two phases, entailing an investment of Rs. 1,200 crore.

The first phase was inaugurated recently. ITC, which has lines for producing biscuits, snacks and noodles, would soon start making wheat.

Pointing out that the company enjoyed a 15% market share in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Malik said that ITC was gearing up to commence work on the second phase of the plan that involved setting up a logistics centre. The project would be completed in two years.

For the last two years, ITC had been marketing ghee under the Aashirvaad Svasti cow ghee brand in the south. Now, it is scouting for land to set up a production unit. “We have already run out of space in Pudukottai. We might get some land nearby. The investment might not be huge. Apart from ghee, the new unit will have a production line to make snacks and ready-to-drink fruit juices,” he said.

ITC recently entered the pouched milk and curd segment. In the next two weeks, it will introduce its paneer product in Kolkata and Patna. On Monday, ITC launched ready-to-drink milk-based beverages under the Sunfeast Wonderz Milk brand. “It is the country's first fruit flavoured milk shake. It comes in four variants and is produced at the Kapurthala unit,” he said.

THE HINDU