A sortie into UP

No stemming this tide

After recovering from the demise of tycoon Ramesh, the Pais of the Manipal Group have jumped from the field of higher education and healthcare into stem cell research. Manipal Acunova, that was set up to cater to the needs of US-based companies that wanted to outsource their clinical trails, drug discoveries, and other research activities, is now making news. The Manipal Group has decided on investing Rs 45 crore to position Manipal Acunova as a competitive biotech and clinical research company and eventually lead it into the world of stem cell research. The new facility in Bangalore, presently under construction, will have research carried out in the fields of diabetes, cardiac muscle, and spinal cord injury repair. The group may just have something worth watching out for, as they have not only got tie-ups with some of the majors in the industry like Biocon and Pfizer, for their research but have also got enough experience of working in clinical research through its Manipal Hospitals. Perhaps nothing can stem an IPO in the next couple of years.

Chinese fields of fortune

Ajit Thomas, the tycoon behind the A.V. Thomas Group of companies, will make history with AVT Natural Products the first to start a marigold plantation and processing unit outside India. The tycoon, in a strategic alliance with a US-based company has decided to set up this post-harvest unit in China, which incidentally is a great choice considering its low-cost production, comfortable weather and tremendous support given by the government in the form of incentives etc. AVT Natural Products, at present, already holds a record of sorts: having the world8217;s largest marigold contract farming operation and being the largest marigold oleoresin producer and exporter in the country. The tycoon8217;s company makes up 70 of Indian exports in this Rs 300 crore sector. The tycoon presently uses contract farming at his work fields in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, and will thus do the same in his China unit too. With the demand for marigold oleoresins increasing by 10 each year, the tycoon believes he can only cater to growing demand by expanding to other countries where he can concentrate on post-harvest processing and cost-effective products. China may be the answer.

Date mix-up

Verghese Kurien has been through hell in recent times, all thanks to the sudden raids on Amul8217;s production facilities. These were set off by a consumer who had apparently found larvae in Amulspray, a milk powder under the Amul brand. What made things worse was that instead of finding samples of poor quality products, they found a bunch of products with wrong production dates printed on them. The dates were months ahead of the actual date of packaging. Thus it appeared as if Amul was trying to pass off goods as fresher than they actually were. Though Kurien feels that the raids were a well-organized plan by his rivals even MNCs, who wish to bring disrepute to Amul, the tycoon confessed that the packaging problem was due to human error. His consumers may or may not recover soon, but the tycoon sure has made a quick recovery. He is now getting his goals for milk exports in order, and plans to export milk worth Rs 150 crore under the Amul brand this financial year! A raid here and there, clearly can8217;t shake Amul much.

dilipcherianhotmail.com