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G. Gurumurthy

COIMBATORE, May 6

DRINKING wine in public places may not be seen as a right etiquette. But offering wine samples for promotional campaigns need not be considered so.

At least, this is how the organisers of the Agri Intex 2002, the third international agricultural fair to be held here between August 1 and 6, view wine selling business.

The Cointech Trade Fair Complex, organising the agri show, has written to the Tamil Nadu Government seeking permission to allow a private grape processing company from Maharashtra to display the products from their winery at the Coimbatore fair.

The fair organisers have also sought the State Government's permission for the Mumbai-based wine company, Indage India, to serve samples of non-toxic wines for the visitors at the fair. The Agri Intex fair has promised to rope in several major food processing companies to display their products in this third edition.

Incidentally, Indage India, which has grape processing plant in Maharashtra and is involved in the export of grape-based drinks including wine, is evincing interest in setting up a grape processing unit at Theni district of Tamil Nadu where grapes are being cultivated on a large scale. The project, which is at a preliminary stage, is proposed at an outlay of Rs 10 crore.

The organisers of the Agri Intex 2002 have also approached the Tamil Nadu Industries Minister, Mr Se.Ma. Velusamy, seeking sales tax exemption for all farm products including machinery/equipment sold at the fair. Such sops would lead to frequent staging of similar fairs, they claim.

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