SALIC, Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Investment Company has planned to make step up investments in the agricultural ecosystem of India.
And according to Salic and United Farms Investment Company group chief executive office Sulaiman AlRumaih, they are interested to deepen their involvement in the Indian food processing sector and assessing newer investment opportunities.
SALIC is a wholly-owned by Public Investment Fund and it already possesses a 29% minority stake in LT Foods subsidiary Daawat Foods. And now the company is all set to invest in agricultural projects and livestock production by joining forces with governments across multiple geographic areas in the Indian subcontinent. It notices that with agriculture contributing more than 15% to India’s GDP, there is a significant potential for us also to invest in and aid in the development and evolution of the food processing sector of India,” Sulaiman stated.
The Indian food processing sector, ranked number five across the globe is growing at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 12% and is expected to touch the US $730 billion mark by FY24. It accounts for 32% of India’s food market and holds a share of 11.6% of the employments in the domestic food industry. Low farm productivity, lack of mechanization, high perishability, and insufficient supply chains are some factors that hamper the functions of food processing and exports.