What's With Mukesh Ambani & Fruits?

[Chirag 5]

What's with Mukesh Ambani & fruits?

Sangeeta Singh | October 24, 2005

Mukesh Ambani talking fruits and vegetables. Rakesh Mittal crowing over his crop of okra. Abhiram Seth planning rows of citrus cultivation. Ajay Shriram chortling over crushing sugarcane. Vineet Chhabra going ecstatic over gherkins. Planning their retirement? Turning gentlemen farmers?

Neither, actually.

It's just corporate India realising the potential of the agricultural sector. And figuring out that the next green revolution in the country is probably the stuff of mega-bucks.

No wonder ministers and bureaucrats in Le Corbusier's Chandigarh can't stop smiling after Mukesh Ambani, chairman, Reliance India, hinted on October 17 that Punjab could be a goldmine for the supply of fruits and vegetables. Or are pleased with the fact that Bharti's experiment with agri-exports has begun from a pilot farm near Ludhiana.

Ambani's holding his cards close to his chest. His visit to Chandigarh was probably just an attempt to suss out the market. But Bharti's plans are out there for everyone to see, and spearheading the effort is the group's vice chairman, Rakesh Mittal.

The cap he's wearing these days is that of director, FieldFresh Foods, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Rothschild. And as India's first major corporate farmer, he's less likely to be found in his office in New Delhi than checking out the soil conditions of his pilot farm. Alongside, PepsiCo India is developing saplings of kinnows in its greenhouses in the state.

Why this sudden interest in agriculture? What has Bharti's telecom business to do with agriculture, or for that matter, Reliance's existing businesses? "If the country's GDP has to grow at 8 per cent, the agri-sector has to grow by 4 per cent," says Mittal.

That's the politically correct spiel. But under the feel-good factor of contributing to the development of the country is a nose for hard business.

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It seems the elder bro, is all set to capture the market in every possible manner!! Whats Anil upto?? Other than his showbiz and glamour?