ITC's chief operating officer (COO) of the dairy and beverages business Sanjay Singal said the fresh dairy business of the company started in West Bengal four years back, adding that the share of the division in the organised sector is substantial and growing. According to him, there is no national player in the organised dairy business, adding that the market for fresh dairy (milk) in West Bengal is around Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.

Expressing concern over the increasing income gap between urban and rural India, the Amul MD said the Indian economy is based on three 'S' -- small farmers, small traders and small workers; small retailers and small middlemen; and small consumers.

According to the 2022 Workforce and Increments Trends Survey by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, the average India 2022 increment is expected to go up to 9.1 percent from eight percent in 2021. Moreover, the 2022 projected increment is higher than the pre-COVID-19 increment in 2019 by 50 basis points (bps). A basis point is equal to 1/100th of a percentage point.

The merger will help the group offer a wider portfolio of refractory products and 'become an alternate source of supply to China for steel, cement and non-ferrous manufacturers' globally.