Biscuit major Britannia will look to invest Rs 300 crore as capex to set up a dairy unit, the company Chairman, Nusli N Wadia, told shareholders during the company’s annual general meeting on Monday.

According to Wadia, the company’s largest integrated food park is coming up at Ranjangaon in Maharashtra. The dairy unit is expected to be a part of this integrated food park.

This apart, the company has also lined up a unit at Mundra in Gujarat. The unit will have two lines - one for biscuit making and the other for rusk making. The unit will cater specifically to the export market of Nepal.

The other greenfield project for the company is setting up of a plant in Guwahati in Assam.

“The company will also look to increase the share of its in-house production facility to 65 per cent from the current 55 per cent over a two-year period,” Wadia said.

The current in-house to third party manufacturing mix stands at 55:45 for Britannia. The company has been consciously trying to ramp up the share of in-house offerings over the last few years.

Britannia Industries, Wadia said, will also look at consolidating brands i.e. bringing multiple smaller brands under one major pillar brand. It has already done so with ‘TimePass’ (biscuits).

‘TimePass has been rebranded and included under 50-50. The shape has also been changed,” he added.

Results

Beating street estimates the company has maintained a near flat standalone net profit to Rs 209 crore for the first quarter ended June FY18. The standalone net profit in the year-ago-period stood at Rs 210 crore.

Total income during the quarter under review stood at Rs 2,229 crore, a 7 per cent year-on-year increase.

“There has been no impact of GST on us,” Wadia said responding to shareholder queries. A uniform rate of GST has only worked in favour of the company. Under the GST regime, the tax rates on biscuits, rusk and cheese were pegged at 18 per cent, 5 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively.