The Hindu Business Line : Beta Group to expand, diversify biz

The Rs 4,356-crore Beta Group, maker of the popular Nut King brand of snack foods, is set to expand and diversify its cashew and infrastructure businesses respectively. Promoted by Dr Raj Mohan Pillai, brother of the cookie king late Rajan Pillai, the Beta Group is putting in place a Rs 250-crore expansion plan to set up four Nut King factories in the metros.

As part of its infrastructure business, the group also plans to start a desalination plant in Tamil Nadu with an investment of $200 million. The Beta Group's Director for Business Development, Dr Suprieya Sadarangani, told Business Line that the group was in talks with the Tamil Nadu Government to set up a plant with a capacity of 30,000 tonnes per day. The first meeting is set for November, she said and if the plan fructifies, the company could go in for an IPO to fund the project. The group will partner with Russia-based Varia Oil for the venture.

Setting up desalination plants is a diversification for the Group's infrastructure division, that provides cargo handling facilities, Dr Sadarangani explained.

To set up factories

Meanwhile, Beta Group plans to set up four Nut King factories over a year involving an investment of Rs 50 crore. This would be raised internally, she said. This, along with the existing Rs 80-crore turnover, will make Nut King a Rs 250-crore-brand in the next two years.A Nut King factory is already up at Patan, near Pune in Maharashtra. Trial production will commence from November, she said. The group is on the lookout for joint venture partners in the metros for the Rs 50-crore nut-processing, packaging and marketing projects, a note from the company said.

Expanding presence

The Beta Group currently has 36 factories spread across five States — Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. It also has a plant in Sharjah and another in Thailand, controlled from India, the note added.

Beta has set up a $20-million joint venture operation in Sharjah to cover the UAE market. It is also in talks in Bahrain to find partners to supply to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and other neighbouring countries. This will enable the Beta Group to utilise the Bahrain Trade Agreement with the US to its benefit, as there are no taxes for imports into the US from Bahrain, the note said.

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