Sir Gulam Noon’s firm is looking for acquisitions in Mumbai too

 

Ahmedabad: Britain’s ‘Curry King’ Sir Gulam Noon wants a pie of the market from where curry originated. The chairman of the Noon Group (now part of the Kerry Group Plc) wants to acquire food processing units in Gujarat, Mumbai and northern India.

Sir Gulam told DNA his company wanted to first establish an office, in the western region of the country.

 

“We are looking at other acquisitions in Gujarat, Mumbai and northern India,” he stated.

 

“Besides catering to the domestic market, we want to export food products from India to our global markets.”

 

Sir Gulam was in Ahmedabad after 20 years, at the behest of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi who had invited him to visit the state a few years back.

 

The 4.8 billion euro Kerry Group acquired Noon Products in 2005.

 

It has 200 factories spread across the globe. It supplies 15,000 varieties of food, food ingredients and flavour products to customers in more than 140 countries.

 

Sir Gulam and his partners made a fortune of £126m by selling shares in the company. He said he sold his company after the Kerry Group’s chairman gave the assurance that none of his factories would be moved elsewhere.

 

Sir Gulam was among the lucky ones who survived the terror attack on the Taj Mahal hotel on November 26.

 

“After surviving a plane crash, this was the second life threatening ordeal I went through,” he said. “Luckily, instead of going to the restaurant, I had ordered for dinner in my room.

 

“On hearing gunfire, I along with my brother and senior colleagues from Kerry Foods locked ourselves inside our room on the third floor,” ha said. Amid the gunfire and explosions as well as constant calls to and from family members and friends, he wrote a two-page note in bullet-points to his family, telling them what they should do in case he got killed.

 

“I then wrapped it in two shower caps to prevent it being smudged by my blood and hid it in my hip pocket. Early morning, after we were rescued and I got out safely, I threw the note in a dustbin.”