January 18, 2007

Suguna poultry to invest in livestock vaccine project

The Suguna Poultry group is investing Rs 40 crore (US$9 million) in a bio-technology project which would involve initially in production of poultry vaccine and subsequently expanded to the entire range of livestock, the company said.

The project will be an independent venture by the promoters of Suguna and Basedin Hyderabad.

Work may be started in two months and the project would be commissioned within the next two years, B. Soundarajan, Managing Director of Suguna Poultry Farm Ltd said.

The vertically integrated poultry group is with aims to raise business volume from the present Rs 1,100 crore  (US$249 million) to Rs 3,000 crore (US$680 million)  over the next 3-4 years and is drawing on its vaccine project to provide in-house poultry health solutions.

Soundarajan said though vaccines in poultry production constituted less than one percent of the cost, vaccine usage is a crucial aspect in achieving the desired productivity.

At present, there is a demand-supply gap in poultry vaccine, he pointed out.

The three local poultry vaccine-producing companies currently cater only to 60 percent of  demand, Soundarajan said. The decision by Suguna to get into vaccine production would cater to domestic demand, besides tapping foreign markets for vaccines like South-east Asia and West Asia, he said.