ITC to enter dairy biz, setup plant in Bihar

ITC Ltd, the FMCG major which earlier announced its plan to enter into the dairy sector is entering the sector next fiscal, reported Hindu BusinessLine.

The brand is planning to sell a bouquet of value-added products such as ghee.

ITC is expecting its 2, 00,000 litres a day milk processing facility at Munger, Bihar, to be operational over the “next few months”.

However, the brand name of the dairy business is yet to be finalised.

“We are hopeful of launching the dairy products by next year (2015-16),” said Chitranjan Dar, Chief Executive, ITC's Foods Division.

The Munger plant will produce a number of value added products like ghee.

“Pulp milk is unlikely to be the immediate focus of the company,” added Dar.

ITC is planning to set up similar processing facilities in other parts of the country.

According to Dar, ITC would leverage its own backend process to facilitate procurement of milk from the farmers.