Capital Foods, Pantaloon to float SPV for Rs 300 cr mega food-parks project

MUMBAI: City-based FMCG player, Capital Foods and Kishore Biyani-led Pantaloon Retail, plan to float a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that would invest Rs 300 crore in setting up two mega food-parks in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The two parks will be set up in Shilwar in Maharashtra and Kolar in Karnataka and the companies are presently awaiting Government approvals for the projects.

The SPV will be floated after obtaining regulatory approvals, Capital Foods' Chairman and Managing Director, Ajay Gupta, told media here.

"We (Capital Foods and Pantaloon Retail) are planning to float a SPV soon that will set up the two proposed mega food-parks. We are expecting an approval from the Food Processing Ministry on the same by June," Gupta said. Construction work will commence immediately after receipt of approvals, he added.

The parks are being set up under the Mega Food Park Scheme of the Government that aims to encourage Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in creating rural infrastructure in the food processing sector.

Of the total cost of Rs 300 crore, Rs 50 crore will be funded by the Government, Gupta said.

"Of the balance, 70 per cent will be brought in by Pantaloon Retail while 30 per cent will be pumped-in by us (Capital Foods)," Gupta said.