Metro Dairy has set an ambitious target to double its business in two years, leveraging on product launches and tapping new geographies.

The expansion drive comes after the city-based milk major bought out the Bengal government’s stake and brought in a private equity partner.

Metro Dairy, which has a plant in Barasat, will come out with tetra packed milk, plain and flavoured yoghurt and new varieties of ice cream among others as the company builds on its strong presence in the pouched milk portfolio.

Mayank Jalan, chairman and managing director of Keventer Agro, the parent of Metro, said the company expects to touch a turnover of Rs 800 crore by March 31, 2021.

“We will reach this figure by venturing into Bihar, Jharkhand, Northeast and expanding the dairy portfolio,” he said.

Metro, which has film stars Dev and Raima Sen as brand ambassadors, is expanding milk processing capacity at Barasat by 50 per cent to 6 lakh litres a day and putting up new product lines at an investment of Rs 285 crore.

“The company is on course to complete the on-ground investment announced at Bengal Global Business Summit,” Jalan said.

Given the long shelf life of tetra packed milk, the company plans to start tapping neighbouring states. Moreover, it will start selling ice creams in those markets, doubling revenues to Rs 150 crore from the current level.

However, there is a big opportunity in Bengal too. Only 10-12 per cent of milk consumed in the state is organised and pouched.

While in Calcutta the concentration of pouched milk is 88 per cent, it is only 30 per cent in other urban centres of the state where Amul and Mother Dairy are the two big players.

Metro Dairy now constitutes 40 per cent of Keventer Agro’s revenues while export contributes Rs 200 crore, bananas Rs 80 crore and frozen food Rs 20 crore. The company also packs bottled water and mango juice Frooty for Parle Agro and noodles for ITC in its 120-acre food processing complex at Barasat.

Keventor Agro had raised $25 million from Singapore-based Mandala Capital in September 2017 and the PE firm has acquired close to 15 per cent stake in the company. It followed Bengal government exiting the company by selling stake in Metro Dairy.

Jalan said organised banana retailing has the potential to become a major revenue earner going forward. It is now selling around 110 tonnes of banana.