Indian poultry giant Venkateshwara Hatcheries Group (VH Group) launches its operations in Bangladesh today. The $650 million conglomerate, which claims to be the largest fully integrated poultry group in Asia, looks to produce broiler and layer food locally, said a company statement. The company will set up its own factory in Jessore, with an estimated monthly production capacity of 4,500 tonnes. A number of international celebrities, including Bollywood actors Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty and Fardeen Khan, as well as Australian cricketer Brett Lee and Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, will attend the launching ceremony at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. Uttara Foods and Feeds Private Ltd, which is a concern of VH Group, will produce broiler and layer food locally, using state-of-the-art technology. "The venture would bring in better technology and market access for the poultry industry in Bangladesh which would ultimately benefit thousands of people employed in the sector," said B Venkatesh Rao, joint managing director of VH Group. VH Group was the first company in India to start using specific pathogen-free eggs. It pioneered the concept of parent franchisee operations, popularised cage farming, and introduced for the first time in India, the concept of inactivated and combination vaccines. Earlier in 1996, the company set up a state-of-the-art plant in Pune to manufacture pelleted poultry feed by importing technology and machinery from Switzerland.
Source: The Daily Star
