In India, annual production of pulses ranges from 11 Mt to 15 Mt, with yield of about 600 kg/ha.

Due to the wide gap between supply and demand, import of pulses has increased from 0.38 Mt in 1993 to 2.82 Mt in 2008. In India, pulses are grown on 22-23 million hectare

area with annual production of 11-15 million tonnes and yield of about 600 kg/ha. India accounts for about 33 per cent of world area and 22 per cent of world production of pulses. The growth rate of area under pulse crops is just 0.04 per cent during the period 1967-68 to 2009, as a result pulses share in the total food grain production has reduced from 17 per cent in 1961 to 7 per cent in 2009. The net availability of pulses has come down from 60 g/day/capita in 1951 to 31 g/day/capita in 2009 (ICMR recommends 65 g/day/capita) due to stagnant/ decreasing production and rapid increase in population. Due to the mismatch between supply and demand of pulses, prices of pulse crops have increased exorbitantly. To meet the demand for pulses, India has been importing a large quantity of pulses in recent years. The import of pulse crops increased from 0.38 Mt in 1993 to 2.8 Mt in 2008 (about 16 per cent of the domestic consumption)

Cultivated in all three seasons, mostly under rain fed conditions and very vulnerable to weather changes. Nearly 60 percent are produced in rabbi season. Indian production which contributes to nearly 25% of global output is almost stagnant at 1215 million tons in last two decades. According to Assoc hams Pulse Production Report 2010, pulses production growth registered (CGAR) at 0.27% in last five decades Average annual pulses output is 13.5 million tons from 1990 to 2010.

 Major producers are Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Indian pulses output touched ten years high of 15.11 million tons in 2008 Annual domestic pulses consumption is 1718 million tons. India is facing severe shortage of pulses since many decades and dependant heavily on imports.

Another important factor to notice in the above table is the rate at which imports and exports have grown over the period. Indian exports of pulses have grown by a mere 0.13% CAGR as against its imports which have grown at the rate of 3.34%. This simply shows the rising demand for pulses by Indians in coming years.
A Tata Strategic Analysis report indicated that by the year 2018, India will require 38 million tons of pulses to meet its population's nutritional requirements a. Quality black gram seeds for farmers b. Critical technology interventions to increase yield per acre through a PoP (Package of Practices) c. Mechanism to buy-back at an attractive price. Through these commodity groups, it is easier for the farmers to adopt new technology and services. Also, the buy-back plan has also been routed through the commodity group concept.

Rallis has helped improve farmers yield by 40% to 500 kg/ac thereby increasing the farmer income by another Rs. 5000 per acre.

PoP booklets, demonstrations and farmers diary have been included as part of farmer education programs in the area. Such Farm to Fork initiatives were also undertaken at other places like Malerkotla, Punjab for Green Gram (Moong) and Latur, Maharashtra and Gulbarga, Karnataka for Pigeon Pea (Toor).

Addressing the distribution side The bought raw produce is processed under stringent Quality Standards by TATA Chemicals at a Mill selected by Tata Chemicals. The processed Pulses (Dals) are packed in a hygienic and clean environment at the Packing Centers.

These Dals are then distributed through the extensive distribution network of TATA Salt under the brand name I Shakti Dals. I-Shakti Dals override on the existing infrastructure of systems, teams and channel partners distributing salt. The synergy in distribution is leveraged as the channel partners are now able to receive clubbed orders of pulses along with salt and are servicing retail outlets for both pulses and salt.

Within a very short time, I-Shakti Dal is now available in 10 biggest states of India and shortly they will be available nationally
We will invest more in i-Shakti which will serve as our umbrella

food brand. The Tata group indeed has strong links with the farmer community which can be leveraged for this. Tata Chemicals has 690 rural outlets called Kisan Sansar in the north and east. Rallis, its subsidiary, with a range of agro-chemical products, has a customer relationship programme called Kisan Kutumb in the south and west. Together, they touch base with over 5 million farmers across the country. In fact, the group has launched a private-public partnership with the Tamil Nadu (for urad dal) and Punjab (for moong) governments called Grow More Pulses. Having homed in on pulses as the staple facing a chronic shortage not yet addressed by the government (unlike the crisis in edible oils), Tata Chemicals has been running a pilot in Tamil Nadu for the last one-and-a-half years. Pulse prices have risen sharply in the last few years because of the poor supply, not compensated even through imports. Pulses are produced by few farmers and those who do have low productivity. This despite high consumption in our country, says Hiran. In the companys estimate, the annual demand for pulses could shoot up from 18 million tones now to 34 million tonnes in the next 20 years. As the current domestic production is only 14 million tones, a huge effort to improve productivity is required. The lack of farming best practices has led to low productivity, keeping the farmer disinterested in the crop, according to Hiran. Experts point out that yields in India are as low as just 50 to 55 per cent of that in neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh (over 800 kg per hectare) and Sri Lanka (over 950 kg per hectare). Pulse production has grown at a rate (0.7 per cent) way lower than population growth in the last 30 years. Tata Chemicals plans to remove such supply issues by coaxing more farmers to take up pulses for farming. Helped by Rallis, it is ready to get farmers to stop treating pulses as marginal crops. It will inform farmers of better seeds, irrigation and give them an assurance of buy-back. The pilot in Tamil Nadu has a network of 4,000-5,000 farmers who have been roped in to cultivate 5,000-7,000 acres of urad dal. Punjab (moong), Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka (toor) are other states which will start supplying other variants next year. The rest will be bought from farmer cooperatives and millers. Once processed, the pulses moong, urad, toor and chana will be priced between Rs 85 and Rs 100 per kilo, with smaller packets also. Retail, both urban and rural, will be taken care of by the Tata Salt-iShakti distribution chain spanning 1.5 million outlets. Tata Chemicals largest consumer product, salt, has managed to maintain its market lead despite competition from Hindustan Unilever, ITC and Marico. Packaged staples till now have seen different kinds of flour and rice but pulses have been given a miss by food giants. Organised retail services a part of the urban consumers with its private labels of pulses. Tata Chemicals bid to integrate the supply chain would help its foray since cutting out the middlemen would arm it with an advantage over retailers. It plans to rein in 600,000 hectares involving 230,000 farmers and sell 500,000 tonnes of branded pulses in the next five years. It will start with Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra and roll out i-Shakti in the rest of India by June, 2011

Addressing the consumer side I-Shakti pulses are unpolished whereas almost all Dals available in the market today are polished. Polishing is done to make the Dals heavier (to reduce cost) and also shinier (to make it look attractive).

But by employing such practices these lots of adulterants/polishing agents are added to the natural dal which have harmful effects (Oil/ Color polish for Toor Dal and Stone Powder polish for Moong Dal) when consumed.

Unpolished Dals are costlier but more nutritional. As polishing also deprives Dals of its nutrition due to scruffing of surface (Most Protein is in the Husk and the upper most surface) by rough materials like Leather (most times), Rubber (sometimes) or Coconut Husk (on rare occasions).

The pulses are 100% desi, colour sorted and graded to give consistent grain size and clean Dals. Besides, The shelf life of I-Shakti Dals, is higher at 6 months.

Extension into pulses forms an integral part of the Tata Chemicals strategy of being in Living Essentials segment.

The philosophy driving this Farm to Fork initiative is to empower every stakeholder in the value chain of Dals; starting from the farmer producing raw gram to the housewife and her family consuming the Dals
The shortfall has led to retail prices rising steadily to peak at an average level of about `90 per kg in 2010, practically doubling over the last three or four years. Tata Chemicals has entered into the mostly unorganised market for pulses (there are a few regional level players) with a unique business model where it has partnered with subsidiary company and crop protection chemicals major Rallis India. Rallis is mainly responsible for farmer engagement and overseeing production while Tata Chemicals handles the procurement, packaging, pricing, distribution, marketing and retail stages. Together the two companies have created a supply chain that runs literally from farm to fork. In bringing the i-Shakti range to market, Tata Chemicals has successfully leveraged several of its

internal capabilities. At the farm end it has worked with the extensive farmer networks that have been developed over years for its farm business; at the distribution end it has piggybacked on the network set up for Tata Salt; and at the brand level, it has extended the existing i-Shakti name into a broader food brand. Our team is very thin on the ground as we have been able to leverage capabilities both at the front and back end, says Mr Hiran. Where Tata Chemicals adds value is in the quality of the product. The company buys unpolished pulses from large farmers, mandis (wholesale markets) and mills and then oversees the laser / colour sorting and packaging process so that i-Shakti dals are farm-fresh, unadulterated and hygienically processed. According to managing director R Mukundan, the mission is to not only increase production of pulses in India and help bridge the existing gap between demand and supply of pulses in the country, but to also provide better quality and hygienic pulses for the Indian household. One of the biggest challenges in the pulses business is in getting regulatory clearances and licences from government bodies such as Agriculture Product Marketing Committee and the Pulses Storage Control Order that limits the quantity of pulses that can be stored at any point of time (meant to prevent hoarding practices). As of now, Tata Chemicals has got the goahead in only two states Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, a state in western India but Mr Hiran is confident of winning over several others. We want to be present in at least 12-13 states. With higher volumes, we will be able to derive economies of scale, he explains. The second challenge is getting the pricing right both the procurement price Tata Chemicals pays the farmers and the mills from where it sources the pulses, and the retail price that consumers will be willing to accept. Getting this balancing act right is a complex task as it involves judging the fluctuations in the commodity market price of pulses, getting the right weather breaks, predicting yields of pulses crops in the next season, and so on. Its a new business and were on the learning curve. The business is working capital intensive and margins are thin. Pulses are a traded commodity; prices fluctuate which makes managing the supply chain critical, says Mr Hiran. As of now, Tata Chemicals is selling less than 1,000 tonnes, but expects to grow the business to touch about 300,000 tonnes within the next five years. Whats more, the companys plans for i-Shakti are to develop it into a complete food brand. Theres a new menu being drawn up at Tata Chemicals and pulses are just the appetiser. Bon apptit

The pulses range has been priced between Rs.95-100 for one kilogram pack and will be available in SKU's of 1 kg, 500 gram and 250 gram. Apart from the traditional Kirana' stores and modern format food retail chains, Tata Chemicals will utilise its Tata Kisan Sansar outlets as well as its existing strong salt distribution network to market i-Shakti Dals across the country.

Tata Chemicals Managing Director R. Mukundan said i-Shakti was launched with the mission to not only to increase production of pulses in India to help bridge the existing gap between demand and supply of pulses in the country ; but also provide better/ reliable quality, hygienic pulses to Indian household. Leveraging upon the synergies in the farm and consumer space, we are happy to have managed to influence a sizable section of the Indian farmers' community to undertake pulses' cultivation and see the fruition of our efforts in this direction. The Indian population is largely vegetarian, coupled with a stagnant domestic production; the country is faced with domestic-supply gap. While the annual supply is 15 million tonnes, demand exceeds 18 million tonnes, creating a dependence on imports. Taking cognizance of this situation, Tata Chemicals and Rallis India joined hands to leverage upon their strength with a large section of farmers across India. Tata Chemicals with its wide reach in Northern and Eastern India, and Rallis India with a strong network in Southern and Western, India successfully completed pilot projects towards Farm to Fork' aspiration. Under the aegis: Grow More Pulses' (GMP) launched as a PPP (Public, Private Partnership) in Punjab and Tamil Nadu respectively, the farming community in India was induced the cultivation of pulses, through which the procurement and marketing i-Shakti Dals' is undertaken.

India'sretailsectorwasundergoingatransformationandwithathreeyearCAGRof46.64%,retailwasthefastest growingsectorintheIndianeconomy.Traditionalmarketsweremakingwayfornewformatssuchasdepartment alstores,hypermarkets,supermarketsandspecialtystores.Westernstylemallshadbegunappearinginmetrosandsecondrungcitiesalike,introducingtheIndianconsumertoanunprecedentedvarietyinshoppingexperiences.India'sv astmiddleclassanditsalmostuntappedretailindustrywerekeyattractionsforglobalretailgiantswantingtoent ernewermarkets.WhileorganizedretailinIndiawasonly2%ofthetotalUS$215billionretailindustry,itwasexpe ctedtogrow25%annually,drivenbychanginglifestyles,strongincomegrowthandfavourabledemographicpat terns.Aretailconsultingandresearchagencyhadpredictedthatby2010,organizedretailinginIndiawouldcross US$21.5billionmark.1Unlikeinthedevelopedworld,fooddominatedtheshoppingbasketinIndia.Whilefooda ccountedforonly9.7%ofthetotalprivateconsumptionexpenditureforanaverageAmerican,15%fortheJapan ese&British,fortheIndian,itwastheprincipalcomponentoftheirconsumptionexpenditureaccountingforasm uch53%.Sincemuchofthiswasnonbranded(includingperishableitemslikefruitsandvegetables),thebrandedfoodindustrywashominginonconv ertingIndianconsumerstobrandedfood.Atthesametime,ahugepopulationbaseof1.08billion,growingatabo ut1.6%perannum,providedalargeandgrowingdomesticmarketforfoodproducts.Also,thecountry smiddlecl asshadbeenexpandingduetorapidurbanization,increasingpercapitaincomeandcreditcardownerships,incre asedparticipationofwomenintheurbanworkforce.Thesegmentagedbetween2045yearswasemergingasthefastestgrowingconsumergroupandthemeanageofIndianswasnow27years,ame

anagethatreinforcedspendingacrossallretailingchannelsofgrocery,non-groceryandnonstores.Unsurprisingly,food&groceryretailerscontinuedtobethestapleofretailingin2005,accountingforofo verallretailingvaluesalesasshowninFig-