Venky’s to build aquafeed plant in Bangladesh

“We are diversifying into aqua feed and are setting up a 3,500 tonnes plant to make floating aqua feed in Bangladesh,” Venkatesh Rao, Managing Director of VH, said.

The project which is in collaboration with the Sterling University and being executed by Group company Uttara Foods and Feeds Pvt Ltd (UFFPL) will go on stream in January. Plans are also afoot to make vaccines and mineral mix for fish, he said.

Rao observed that the opportunity was huge in Bangladesh and added that the scope in coastal states of India like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu was being ascertained.

Cattle feed expansion
VH has also entered the business of pelleted cattle feed in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan a few months ago and is working to increase the yield of milk in India. “We are putting up a plant in Switzerland to make mineral mix,” Rao said, adding that discussions were currently under way and the plant is expected to become operational in around eight months.

With poultry feed the current mainstay of UFFPL, the company will achieve a turnover of $188 million during this fiscal year. Going forward, 10-15% of its business will come from cattle and aqua business, Rao said.