By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : Eastern Group of companies based in Kerala’s Idukki district has tied up with UAE-based Jaleel Traders to set up a state-of-the-art spices and pulses processing facility in Ras-Al-Khaimah.
“This new venture Eastern Middle East would help the company to consolidate and expand its market share in the Middle East region. The two companies would share the investments equally in the new venture and the total investment would be Rs.30 crores (Rs.300 million),” Eastern Group chairman M.E. Meeran told reporters here Saturday night.
“The new company would come up in the next few months and would focus mainly on importing pulses, rice, dry fruits, nuts, herbal dry leaves and spices from around 42 countries. It would be sorted, cleaned, powdered and packed there,” said Sameer K. Mohammed, managing director of Jaleel Traders.
Jaleel Traders, started in 1972 in Dubai by M.V. Kunhumohammed, is a leading wholesaler with a turnover of $125 million.
Eastern started production of curry powder in 1984 with nine employees. Today it has 2,500 employees and has diversified into production of mattresses, readymade garments.
“Our curry powder division is the biggest and has a turn over of Rs.162 crores (Rs,1.62 billion). We have factories in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and are now setting up one in Andhra Pradesh,” said Meeran.
The joint venture is expected to provide a better reach for Eastern products across the Middle East. The targeted turnover for 2011 is 1 billion dirhams ($270 million).
“We decided to set up the firm in UAE as currently there are import restrictions for various items into India, and since Dubai is a free port there would be no such problems,” added Meeran.