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Ch. Prashanth Reddy

Hyderabad , Feb. 12

DALMIA Consumer Care, a part of the Rs 1,200-crore Dalmia group, is currently working on a non-tobacco variant of cigarette.

The company had already come out with a non-tobacco variant of beedi named Varadan.

The company is also working with 15 countries for coming out with products that could be an alternative totobacco. DCC is in the process of researching and testing several products that are likely to be launched shortly. "The research is at an advanced stage," the DCC's Chief Operating Officer, Mr Kartik Raina, told Business Line.

According to Mr Raina, DCC currently sells more than one million sticks per day of Varadan that gives the pleasure of tobacco without the associated ills. After its launch last year, the company had improved the blend of the product so that it would have better acceptance.

Mr Raina said that the company would be focusing on the rural belt, particularly the tribal areas, for the sale of Varadan beedis, which were being used by some smokers as de-addiction agents. The company was also currently test-marketing Chabaaza betel nut powder that has an anti-cancer stance, in seven cities. "The response to the new product is good," he said.

DCC is hopeful of achieving break-even in its operations by the end of the next fiscal. Towards the end of the current fiscal, the company expects to achieve a turnover of Rs 1.5 crore per month as against Rs 75 lakh at present.

Mr Raina said DCC recently appointed Tata Consultancy Services to implement enterprise resource planning for the company. This move was expected to drive the company's business growth by making optimum utilisation of information technology. DCC had already invested in connecting its operating locations across the country on a wide area network.

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