ETC Agro in talks with IFC to finalise terms for $30 million loan

KOLKATA: ETC Agro Processing India, a subsidiary of African agricultural conglomerate ETG Group, said it is currently negotiating with International Finance Corporation (IFC) for a $30 million loan for setting up four pulses milling plants in Kolkata.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be $98 million, which will be used for setting up the plants, to meet working capital needs and trading expenses.

Responding to ET mail, ETG said that the company is in discussion with IFC to finalise the interest rate and other terms for the loan. It has also said that the full project would be live by mid of this year.


IFC, the private investment arm of World Bank, said in its disclosure that the proposed $30 million investment will be for five years. According to IFC, ETC Agro is India's largest pulses processing and marketing platform. ETC Agro is a 60% subsidiary of ETC Group. Founded in Kenya in 1967, ETG is one of the largest agricultural conglomerates in Africa.

"The proposed project entails final construction of a cluster of four pulses milling plants in the Port of Kolkata in an area zoned for green business activities such as grains milling, tea packing, etc," IFC said, adding that the construction is nearing completion and milling has been already ongoing on 50% of entire installed capacity.

In India, its multi-location processing capacity will be about 500,000 MT on an annual basis. The India operations are also active in wheat milling and biscuit manufacturing.