ABD to pump in Rs 400 cr in expansions

ABD, makers of 'Officers Choice' whisky, is investing Rs 400 crore on expansion, which will include acquiring bottling units or setting up of greenfield facility.

Allied Blenders and Distilleries (ABD), makers of 'Officers Choice' whisky, is investing Rs 400 crore on expansion, which will include acquiring bottling units or setting up of greenfield facility.

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"In order to attain a level, where 50 per cent of our requirements will be met internally, we are looking to acquire two to three bottling plants," ABD Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Deepak Roy told PTI.

If the acquisition plan does not fructify, the company may opt for greenfield manufacturing facility in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal, he added.

At present, ABD has three bottling plants in the country and have arrangement with other 27 bottlers for contract manufacturing.

ABD is also looking to set up a greenfield plant in Maharashtra to ensure ethanol supply for its plant.

"We are heavily dependent on other players for supply of ethanol, which is a basic raw material for spirits and we have plans to set up our own greenfield distillery to meet our requirement," Roy said.

When asked about the total investments he said, "Total estimated investments in both bottling, inclusive of acquisitions, as well as distillery would be to the tune of Rs 400 crore, which will arranged through a mix of debt and internal accruals."

Commenting on the company's plans to diversify product portfolio, Roy said, ADB planned to reduce its dependence on its single brand 'Officers Choice' and intends to launch products such as Rum in the domestic market in 2009.

ABD reported a growth of 30 per cent in sales of the Officers Choice brand to 6.6 million cases in the last fiscal.