In June 2018, Skretting formed a joint-venture with local partner West Coast Group. Mumbai-based West Coast is an integrated aquaculture enterprise, operating on the Gulf of Cambay. It is the country’s eighth largest exporter of shrimp and a leading domestic processor/distributor of frozen seafood and other food products.

This plant, currently being constructed in Surat, Gujarat State, will open in the first-quarter of 2020, supplying products and support to aquaculture farms along the west coast. The location will provide access to approximately 10% of the country’s current shrimp production and 8% of its total inland fish farming output. It is also the region with the most future growth potential. The plant will have a feed production capacity of 50,000 tonnes, comprising 35,000 tonnes of shrimp diets and 15,000 tonnes of fish feeds. There are already further expansion phases planned that will raise the longer-term production to 120,000 tonnes per annum in two phases.

The joint-venture is in line with Skretting’s strategy to continue its expansion into nutritional solutions for warmwater aquaculture species. The joint-venture is being managed by Skretting India’s General Manager Puneet Pokhriyal.