The big names are all here — Tata, Bajaj, Maruti, UB, BPL, Kirloskar; a veritable who’s who of the Indian corporate sector. India’s first trade fair in South Africa, which gets off the blocks tomorrow, at the National Exhibition Centre, Nasrec, just outside the city, going by the number of participants promises to be a mega affair, with a host of Indian companies vying for a slice of a market that has just been opened to them.

The fair, christened Indexpo ‘94 and jointly organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), a public sector concern and the Indian High Commission in Pretoria, has attracted over 230 top-of-the-line companies. Billed as a window on the manufacturing capabilities of the world’s twelfth largest economy, Indexpo will seek to advertise India’s technological capabilities in spheres ranging from consumer goods, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, food products, textiles, traditional handicrafts to machine tools, plant machinery and software.

UB to grow barley, manufacture malt

The breweries division of United Breweries has developed strains of high-yielding barley used in making malt, in turn used in making beer and malted food. After research of four years, the company now proposes to commercially grow barley and manufacture malt in Belgaum, Karnataka. The malt will be manufactured in a new factory in collaboration with Canada Malting Co, Ontario, the largest malsters in the world. UB is expected to invest Rs. 15 crores in the project, said Mr. J. S Dhamija, president of the breweries division. UB proposes to use India as a base to export the malt to countries in Asia.

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