Press Release For Immediate Publication KHET-SE AGRIPRODUCE LAUNCHES ITS OPERATIONS IN PUNJAB ~ Rolls-out its 1st fresh produce procurement and distribution centre ~ Mumbai, 12th May 2008: Khet-Se Agriproduce India Pvt. Ltd., a 50:50 JV of Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL) and Total Produce, Ireland (TOTAL PRODUCE), launched its operations with its first state-of-the-art procurement and distribution facility for fresh fruits and vegetables at Malerkotla, Punjab. Khet-Se is a B2B cash and carry business for fresh fruit and vegetables sourcing, packaging and distribution across India. Operations of its 1st such centre has been started, which will cater to the requirements of Ludhiana and Patiala. This distribution centre has the facility of sorting, grading and packing of all fresh produce; 4 Ripening Chambers of 10 MT capacity each (to ripen fruits like Banana) and 4 Cold Storages of 25 MT each. Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Homi Khusrokhan, Chairman, Khet-Se Agriproduce India Pvt. Ltd. And Managing Director, Tata Chemicals Limited, said, "Being in the forefront of this exciting time provides us with an opportunity to innovate and create a new business model that will be a first of its kind in the country. There is nothing more satisfying for our business than the fact that it is contributing to the upliftment of the farmers and small retailers and enabling them to grow, not by handing out sops, but by making the basic tenets of their business self sustaining." Mr. Eugene Caulfield, MD, Corporate Development, Total Produce, said, "Total Produce is honoured to be associated with such a fine organisation as Tata Chemicals. Tata Chemicals has strong links with Indian farmers with its sales of fertilisers, chemicals and other grower requirements through its network of Tata Kisan Sansar distribution centres throughout India. This will help Khet-Se have a big advantage in sourcing high quality fresh produce." Mr. G. R. Goves, Chief Executive, Khet Agriproduce India Pvt. Ltd., added that Khet-Se aims to bridge the gap between producer and end consumer which will significantly increase efficiencies, improve shelf-life and reduce product loss in the supply chain. For this, it has already partnered with farmers to develop their skills to raise the quality of Indian farm produce through training on good agricultural practices. Similarly Khet-Se plans to partner with small retailers and help them in developing competencies to manage their business more effectively. He also said that the next Khet-Se distribution centre will begin operations in Mumbai in the next 6 months. Khet-Se will be bringing about a change in the way the fresh produce category operates by targeting the small fruit and vegetable retailer through its conveniently located wholesale stores. It will only cater to registered B2B customers such as small retailers, organised retailers the institutional segments comprising of hotels, restaurants and caterers. Khet-Se offers the benefit of hygienically handled, high quality produce which is delivered absolutely fresh to its B2B customer segments. About Tata Chemicals Limited Established in 1939 at Mithapur, and part of the US$ 28.8 B Tata Group, Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL) today is the second largest producer of Soda Ash in the world with manufacturing facilities across four continents. TCL is the pioneer and market leader in the branded, iodised salt segment. TCL is also India's leading manufacturers of urea and phosphatic fertilisers. Its urea plant at Babrala is the country's most energy efficient fertiliser unit and produces 12% of the country's urea output in the private sector. Phosphatic fertilisers are manufactured at its plant in Haldia. The acquisition of an equal partnership in Indo Maroc Phosphore S.A. (IMACID) along with Chambal Fertilisers and the global phosphate major, OCP of Morocco in the year 2005 was the first step that TCL took towards internationalization. In early 2006, TCL completed the acquisition of the UK based Brunner Mond Group (BM). In 2007, TCL entered in to a 50:50 joint venture with Total Produce, Ireland, the third largest fruits and vegetable distribution company in the world and Europe's largest and most accomplished fresh produce provider, to set up a fruits and vegetables distribution business in India. TCL also plans to leverage its expertise in Chemistry & Agriculture, together with its in-house research capabilities in biology and crop genomics to develop a significant presence in Bio fuels space. The TCL Innovation Centre was created in mid 2004 to develop world-class R&D capability in the emerging areas of nanotechnology and biotechnology. In early 2008 TCL successfully completed the acquisition of General Chemical Industrial Products, (GCIP).General Chemical's subsidiary, General Chemical (Soda Ash) Partners (GCSAP), is one of the largest Soda Ash producers in the USA with a capacity of 2.5 million TPA of natural Soda Ash. The Company's mining and manufacturing facilities located at Green River Basin in Wyoming, USA, are assets of a very high quality, providing access to some of the world's largest and most economically recoverable trona ore deposits that are then converted to Soda Ash. The acquisition of GCIP takes TCL's global Soda Ash capacity to around 5.5 Million Tonnes per annum. About Total Produce Total Produce is one of the leading operators within the European general produce sector. The group generates a turnover in excess of EUR 2 billion, has almost 3,900 employees and trades from more than 80 facilities throughout Europe with operations in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Holland, Belgium, France, the Czech republic and Slovakia. The company also has an operation in India. The group is comprised of the general produce business, which was demerged from Fyffes Plc on 30 December 2006. Shares in Total Produce were admitted to trading on the IEX and AIM markets of the Dublin and London stock exchanges on the 2nd January 2007. For further information, please contact Kirby Furtado / Tushar Gandhi from Vaishnavi Corporate Communications (Mumbai) at (022) 6656 8787 / (0) 98216 74905 / 99870 69281 or email at kirbyw@vccpl.com / tgandhi@vccpl.com