Cargill Inc., a multi-national food major with a presence in 70 countries, started operations in India in 1987. Today, the company is one of the largest originators and marketers of several commodities in India. Siraj Chaudhry, Chairman, Cargill India, in an exclusive interaction with The Dollar Business, talks about Cargill’s journey in India – trials, tribulations, triumphs and the road ahead.
TDB: How would you describe Cargill’s journey in India so far?
Siraj Chaudhry (SC): Cargill has been in the Indian food and agriculture space for the last 30 years, a segment that is important to a large section of this country’s population i.e. farmers and consumers. And, so far, it has been the most rewarding part of our journey in India. We have been helping people thrive by applying our insights and our 151 years of experience. Initially, we traded in sugar, sold seeds and then forayed into the edible oil segment. As we grew, we kept expanding our footprint. Today, our business comprises refined oils, food ingredients, wheat flour, grain and oilseeds, cotton, animal nutrition, bio-industrial products and structured finance. We have come a long way and have built a large and credible business in India.
TDB: Cargill started operations in India in 1987, way before economic liberalisation and thus it has been a witness to the liberalisation process. How has India progressed since then?
SC: One good thing has been that since liberalisation began in 1990 nobody has tried to turn things back – and each government has only added to the reform process initiated by the proceeding one. An important point worth considering here is that no government is ever able to change any domestic economic policy in isolation from the rest of the world. Between 2000 and 2007, when world economy was growing, everything that was done looked good. However, this was not the case during 2008-2014. Going forward, I expect the economy to look up.
TDB: What has been the biggest challenge faced by Cargill India so far?
This story is from the September 2017 edition of The Dollar Business.
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This story is from the September 2017 edition of The Dollar Business.
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