DS Group to fan out to other sectors

Following the steps of many tobacco majors worldwide, DS Group is diversifying its business to various other sectors, such as FMCG, hospitality, education, steel, engineering and infrastructure. At present, the Rs. 900 – crore group owns brands such as Rajnigandha, the market leader in the non tobacco pan masala category and Baba & Tulsi in the tobacco category.
The company had also started a gradual diversification into FMCG a few years back, and has already developed some brands, such as Catch spring water, Catch flavoured water, Catch ready to eat snacks, Catch spices and Pass-Pass mouth freshners. From having a presence mostly in food & beverages (F&B) category, DS group is now looking at diversifying into some other FMCG verticals as well. However, the most interesting diversification could perhaps be the group’s interest in the rubber and steel sectors. DS group plans to invest over Rs. 325 crore to set up a rubber thread manufacturing plant and a steel sheet plant in Agartala. DS Group managing director Rajiv Kumar said : “We are high on having a presence in as many verticals as possible. On an immediate basis, the plants in the Northeast are our primary focus. We will soon also get into the hospitality business in a big way, in a joint-venture with one of the existing big-ticket hospitality chains.” The company plans to produce cold rolled sheets, coils and galvanized sheets from the upcoming facility at Agartala. The plant will have an installed capacity of 1.5 lakh tonne per annum of cold rolled sheets and 50,000 tonne per annum of galvanized steel. The plant is likely to start commercial production by July 2007.

To set up hydel power project

The Rs. 900 crore diversified DS Group, is in talks with the government of Assam, for setting up a 150 mega watt hydel power project in the state. If executed, this will be the first private sector investment in the state’s power sector.
“We are planning to get into infrastructure in a big way. However, the hydel power project will take some time to materialize because of some political factors, “Rajiv Kumar, DS Group’s managing director, said. The group is also likely to bid for some of the largest upcoming infrastructure projects in the region, and in the pipeline is a part of the Guwahati-Shillong road.