Mumbai, Jan 11: Sterlite Power, a leading global power transmission player, on Monday said that it has raised Rs 200 crore in debt financing from Allianz Global Investors (Allianz GI) – one of the world’s leading investment managers with focus on sustainable investments.
This transaction is one of the first infrastructure sector financing deals for Allianz GI in India. The Rs 200 crore facility from Allianz GI has been raised as a non-convertible debenture with a three-year tenure and is part of the larger refinancing exercise undertaken by Sterlite Power to reduce its holding company borrowings.
Sterlite Power is increasingly focused on integrating renewable energy (RE) to the grid. The company enjoys an impressive track record of completing projects on time with the highest standards of quality and safety.
Commenting on the transaction, Mr Pratik Agarwal, Managing Director, Sterlite Power, said, ”This transaction with Allianz GI is a strong validation of the continued trust reposed on us by the banking and investor community, and the rise of power transmission as an asset class with promising returns. We remain focused on our endeavour towards greening the grid by delivering some of the most challenging and impactful transmission projects in the country.” (UNI)Eat meals Hyderabad, Jan 11 (UNI) Hyderabad-based The Taste Company on Monday announced entering into Ready to Eat Market and claimed that it is the first company in India to offer Non-Vegetarian Ready to Eat Meals besides vegetarian.
Making high-quality, tasty, and hygienic all-natural ready-to-eat Indian meals that cater to Indian Consumers, the Company has built a new factory with state-of-the-art advanced dehydration and freeze drying technology unit at Patancheru, on the outskirts of the city that can produce 2 Million Meal Boxes per month.
The Company has spent close to 3 million dollars (Approximately Rs.22 Crore) on infrastructure and R&D to innovate and create products according to customers’ expectations, Taste company which was launched almost a year ago by Martech Solutions provider ‘ way2online’ founder Raju Vanapala said in a release here.
The Taste company has seen tremendous traction during the pilot basis in the last 6 months and has gained trust among thousands of consumers already.
Focussing on Ready to Eat Indian Breakfast and Meal categories, The Company uses traditional home-style cooking methods that eliminate the need for preservatives or artificial colours, flavors and holds on to the authentic taste, flavor, and aroma of “Ghar ka khana,” Mr Raju, the CEO of the company said.
Besides offering Non Vegetarian meal boxes –Chicken Curry Rice and Exotic Prawn Rice, along with Vegetarian Meal options such as Classic Dal Rice (Dal Chawal), Special Veg Rice, and Dal Khichdi, the Company also has ready to Eat Breakfast product range such as Classic Rava Upma, Pongal, Semiya Upma.
Consumers just need to pour hot water and can eat directly from the box and the meals take 3-5 minutes to be prepared, with no hassles of cooking, the release said.
All the products have a shelf life of 6 months and the prices range from Rs. 89 to Rs. 149.
A 40-member professional team right now, the Company has partnered with several companies, airlines, co-working spaces, multiplex chains and coffee chains as well.
The company’s products are already available in Trujet airlines too and will soon be available on the largest airline and in huge multiplex chains too.
The Taste Company Products are available in almost 500 modern retail outlets across Hyderabad and Bengaluru market and the company is targeting to expand this to 3000 outlets by this year end, he said.
The products are now available on two renowned e-commerce platforms, Amazon and Flipkart as well as their own website www.thetastecompany.com.
As per Swiggy’s 2020 report, most ordered dishes were mostly Indian foods such as biryani, masala dosa, and dal makhani, and not pizza, pasta, or noodles. Aligned with the expectation of Indian consumers, our products are truly indian , tasty, filling, nutritious, and most importantly easy to consume. So, we see great market fit and massive opportunities for our ready to eat food products” Mr Raju said.
“More than 71 per cent of Indians prefer Non-Vegetarian food and this demand was left unaddressed by the present instant food brands, who were still experimenting with the breakfast range.
The Taste Company is steps ahead in its product research and innovation to come up with a non-vegetarian and vegetarian meal range complete with breakfast products beyond Upma and Poha,” the CEO said.
According to a survey by Assocham, about 79 per cent of Indian households with two working partners today prefer ready to eat food products owing to time constraints.
According to Nielsen, the easy-to-make breakfast market in India is currently pegged at Rs 275 crore and growing at a rate of 17 per cent. However, the ready-to-eat meals market is still valued at less than 100 crore owing to the negative perception among the Indian customers,” he added. (UNI)
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