We believe that the horizon is nothing but the limit of our sight. Our endeavor is to give every person a taste that is truly unmatched by ever expanding our horizons. Our vision is to tirelessly pursue excellence in every grain and make our products a household name world over.
THE QUEEN OF ALL RICES
Basmati is long grain aromatic rice that is grown in the Indo-Gangetic Plain beneath Himalayan sub ranges. The fertile alluvial soil, fresh and cold air and the sweet water from the ranges contribute primarily to the unique characteristics associated to the grain. The rice is long and separate after cooking, having a distinct aroma and discrete nutty taste. This is what makes it the worlds favorite variety among large rice-eating populations. At KRBL, we have spent our three generations perfecting the Basmati grain, our core competence.
A TRADITION. A CENTURY. - THE EXPERTS THE JOURNEY UPWARDS
KRBL Limited, a one product - one focus company that hails a 120-year heritage, is in existence since 1889. Today, the name KRBL Limited is identified with its distinct perception of quality. It is our committed quality-consciousness that has made us the undisputed leader in this highly competitive industry. A Public Limited Company with 57per of its shareholdings held with the promoters, KRBL happens to be the first Indian Company to have brought in foreign investment into the industry. Being held by foreign collaborators, leading banks and the public, KRBLs shares are quoted at both national stock exchanges, NSE and BSE. KRBL is a only company in rice industry to receive a credit rating of A1+ from ICRA. The Governing Body of KRBL Board consists of eminent experts in their respective fields; some having served in leading positions in MNCs. KRBL thus stands to gain immensely from their vision, dedication and passion for their profession, rich experience and exposure to global trends in tune with the times. In its legacy of nurturing and motivating talent, KRBL has always retained in its fold the cream of top professionals in the industry. KRBL today stands at the top slot of the Indian rice industry, unmatched and unparalleled in every aspect. In its march towards the leading position, KRBL has laid down exacting norms for every step of its operation – right from the stage of selecting the right seed of paddy to be sown, till extending a hand of support and assurance to the foreign buyers who happen to be at the marketing end of the product. KRBL has always been ahead of times in the Basmati arena – whether it is bringing home the most sophisticated and modernized milling technology, or installing a truly world class rice processing facility, or setting up benchmarks for the whole industry with regard to consistency in quality, aesthetic packaging, parexcellent hygienic standards, etc. Each and every minute detail in the process is attended to with utmost care. Success doesnt come easily, and KRBLs journey towards the summit, too, had not been an easy one. It is KRBLs relentless hard work over the years, ongoing R and D process, and stringent quality control at every stage, and above all, its guiding principles of integrity and transparency that have placed KRBL where it stands today.
AN AMBITIOUS LAB-TO-LAND PROJECT THE SEEDS OF SUCCESS INDIAS LARGEST BASMATI CONTACT FARMING PROGRAMME
At KRBL, the march towards improvisation is a never ending process. KRBL is the amongst the few to be proud to be actively associated itself with the IARI, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, and has participated in their continuous endeavor to understand and improve the Basmati attributes further. India today is the home of worlds best basmati, and KRBL can confidently claim its contribution in commercializing the efforts of the scientific community that are constantly progressing to improve the prospects of basmati globally. KRBLs forward focus, with right scientific guidance, resulted in it being the first to promote todays popular Basmati varieties such as Pusa Basmati - I and Pusa - 1121 varieties. What is more, KRBL has on its own panel of eminent scholars and scientists itself, thus furthering and widening the horizons of achieving excellence in Basmati, day by day, year after year. Milled Rice is only as good as the paddy that is procured- this is the reason KRBL lays so much stress on R&D and seed multiplication and distribution. KRBL owns a 700 acre seed farm wherein our scientists and extension workers toil to produce the best quality seeds under Quality Seeds Development and Improvement Programme (QSDIP). The top pedigree is selected and processed in an in-house seed preparation and packing plant. KRBL guarantees optimum germination and quality, as a result of which KRBL seeds are in higher demand than any other. The seeds are sold to farmers along with complete support from our Agri Division. This ensures production of paddy with the optimum levels of generic purity and aroma and also other specific basmati qualities. The seasons best paddy arrivals naturally find their way into the mills of KRBL. Despite being home to the worlds most superior quality rice, our Contact Farming programme started in late 90s only, with a view to ensure quality attribute in production of basmati and, at the same time, to enable the farmer to make a respectable livelihood, so that his interest to produce basmati is kept alive. As a matter of fact, there was a general perception in India that Contact Farming is just distribution of the seeds to the farmer with a buy-back agreement when the crop is harvested. Whereas, KRBLs vision is an altogether different towards the whole concept. KRBL considers the farmer as the most important and fundamental link of the basmati value chain. Hence, when the company got into Contact Farming, it has evolved and established a true economic model of public-private partnership in contact farming – systematically and fruitfully. KRBL today is proud to be the pioneers as well as being the largest initiative covering a vast area of 230,000 acres and association of 80,000 farmers which is under its constant surveillance right from the stage of sowing of the paddy till the harvest. Right from production of high quality foundation seeds with requisite levels of generic purity, distribution of these seeds to the farmers, farm management through the period of cultivation such as administration of fertilizers, pesticides, etc., harvesting of the paddy, post-harvest handling, etc. are all undertaken under KRBLs watchful guidance. A fullfledged Agri Services Division with a team of more than 65 people is dedicated to the task of providing proper extension services to the farmers. At the harvest, KRBL procurement team assists the farmers in storage and gives them the option to either sell to KRBL at pre-committed prices or at new market prices in KRBL owned action yards. KRBLs organic farming covers about 5000 acres of area wherein certified organic basmati is grown. Organic basmati seeds and farm inputs are supplied by KRBL every year to these farmers as part of the organic basmati program. Organic basmati is purchased from the certified farmers paying an additional premium amount to support their livelihood. A comprehensive farmers helpline system is in place for knowledge transfer on organic regulations in addition to the full time service of field officials.
OLD IS GOLD
INVESTMENTS INTO THE FUTURE TO ENSURE PERFECTION IN EVERY GRAIN
The older the wine gets, the finer it becomes. Same goes for Basmati. That is why it is difficult for anyone to sustain in this business. Basmati needs a minimum ageing of 12 - 18 months, so as to flower in all its unique and special attributes. Hence, one has to plan two years in advance. The paddy purchased one season is kept in store for minimum one year and then is shipped out covering a span the whole of next year. Today, KRBL has the capacity to store 1 milion MT of rice and paddy at any given time valued at over USD 650 million. Thus, it is not just sufficient if one has the capacity to let his investments remain blocked for two years. More important is to ensure safe storage of the paddy for such a long duration. One needs huge warehousing space with most hygienic storage conditions, and ongoing fumigation and safe custody of cargo. With its warehousing capacity of over 6.5 million sq. feet equipped with comprehensive systems for ensuring maximum protection from ground moisture, rain, humidity, bird droppings, rodents and infestation through micro-organisms and insects, KRBL is clearly a cut above its peers. KRBL has always been ahead of its times. And the same is true with respect to the technological innovations it brought into the Indian Basmati arena. The era of modernization in rice milling was flagged off by KRBL, as they were the first ones to have understood the need for bringing in modernization in basmati milling. KRBL gave a platform to world class rice machinery giants such as Buhler, Satake, Sortex, Cimbria, and others to establish themselves in India. Over the years, the Indian industry got into a transformation mode, but the undisputed fact is that KRBL is the one and only company which had the vision and courage to invest so hugely on such advanced technologies. KRBL doesnot shirk from facing challenges, and that is why it continues to stand at the threshold of experimenting and improvising the systems. World machinery leaders such as Buhler are continuing to work hand in hand with KRBL in this domain.
THE LARGEST MILLERS OF RICE IN THE WORLD
Having been the first ones to have brought home the worlds most sophisticated milling technology, KRBL today happens to be the Worlds Largest Millers of Rice. With its milling capacity of 195 MT per hour and investment of over USD 130 million, a proud feat which no one can match, KRBL stands tallest in the global rice scene with the ability to process 1 container in 6.46 minutes to produce 43,000 containers containing about 900,000 MT of annually. It not only mills Basmati and other Long Grain Rices for its own exports and domestic marketing, but also occasionally assists the Government of India by milling and supplying high quality rice for its Public Distribution Scheme. KRBLs rice making facility is the most advanced one in the country, with its first-hand, world-beating technologies. Equipped with Networked Soft Logic system, KRBL has achieved 100 percent automation. It means non-stop production, round the clock, round the year and complete online integration for easy fault diagnosis and correction. Meticulous planning, detailing and control over each stop of processing cleaning, parboiling, drying, milling, polishing, grading, sorting, weighing and packaging - have enabled KRBL to get closer to their vision of achieving zero defect quality
INTEGRATION – ALIGNING OURSELVES WITH THE FUTURE
KRBL happens to be Indias first integrated rice company with a comprehensive downstream product chain. Each and every bit of the byproducts undergoes valueaddition. Oil both high quality edible oil as well as industrial oil is extracted out of the bran, leaving out the deoiled cake which finds its way in cattle feed production. Glucose plant is getting fully functional for the production of glucose from rice. Husk is also used for extraction of Furfural which is in high demand in the solvent industries. Besides, KRBL is the only company to be generating and meeting its own power requirements out of its own byproducts, besides selling the surplus power to the State Electricity Board. This innovative and unique fleet is believed to be the basis of future of rice milling in India. Additionally KRBL has been approved for Carbon Credits and both plants have been approved by UNFCCC. KRBL has increased power generation capacity through its wind power plants located in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
NO. 1 THE WORLD OVER AN AROMA THAT TRAVELS THE WORLD THE GRAIN OF TRUTH
KRBL happens to be the largest exporter of Basmati Rice, for which the Government of India has been rewarding it with its coveted APEDA Export Trophy consecutively for the past fourteen years. Not just this, KRBLs India Gate Basmati Rice is the Largest Selling Basmati Brand in India for the last six consecutive years as per AC Neilson. It has also won Indias most Preferred Brand by AMGF for six consecutive years, as the voted choice of consumers preference. In appreciation of its innovation in packing, India Gate has also received INDIASTAR 2006 from Indian Institute of the Packaging and PFFCASTAR 2008 award. KRBL is ranked 7 by Dun and Bradstreet in its list of Indias top 500 companies on account of the total income in the Food and Agro processing sector in 2009. Greenpeace India ranks KRBL as one of the top green companies in its Safe Food Guide (version 2) for propagating GM free policy. We are also awarded with CONCOR EXIM Star award for Enhanced performance exporter and financial performance exporter. Further we are the largest brand in the Middle East with Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia among others leading the way. It requires a greater insight into the market pulse and deeper product knowledge to reach the top position, both in the international as well as in the domestic market. It has been possible for KRBL, and the credit goes to the visionaries at the helm of the operations and to their most dedicated and skilled professionals. Besides their huge work force of about 1,000 people on its direct payrolls, KRBL further provides indirect and ancillary employment to more than 50,000 people across the states. We attribute our No. 1 position to our partner importers all over the world. Our global presence ranges from North America and Canada to Europe, Middle East and Africa and caters to over 35 countries. Our share in the Saudi Arabian market, the oldest and the largest market of Basmati rice, stands impressively at 15per. We market basmati rice under our own brand India Gate , Train and Al Wisam brands in association with our partners in Saudi Arabia. Amongst our dominant presence in Middle East, it is important to note that India Gate is the brand leader in Kuwait. Equally impressive is our presence in the 2nd biggest branded market, USA, wherein we have visible presence with India Gate brand through a well established network. We cater to retail chains such as Carrefour, Metro, HEB, Fiesta, Shoprite, Spar, Pick and Pay, Geant, Spinneys, Lulu among many others. Besides we have a strong presence in several African markets and South East Asia markets. Rice is a symbol of purity, hospitality, simplicity, fertility, prosperity and plenty. And, Basmati is the queen of all rices on the planet. KRBL has combined the 120 year-old traditional milling knowledge with the modern technology to preserve all the characteristics of this very pristine Basmati grain. And, KRBL has been single-mindedly striving to give the best of it to everyone across the globe.
