Heritage Foods, founded in 1992, fuels Andhra CM Naidu's wealth

Hyderabad: While Andhra Pradesh chief minister, N Chandrababu Naidu has emerged as the richest chief minister in the country, a close look at his election affidavit shows that majority of his wealth comes from the value of the shares his wife Nara Bhuvaneswari holds in Heritage Foods Ltd, a listed company, which he founded in 1992. Bhuvaneswari is the vice chairperson and Managing Director of Heritage Foods Ltd.

He declared total assets worth Rs 936 crore, making him the richest chief minister in the country. In Heritage Foods Limited (HFL), his wife holds 2,26,11,525 shares. At the time of filing the election affidavit, the value of each share of HFL was Rs 337.85, resulting in an asset value of Rs 7,63,93,03,721, or Rs 763 crore.

Besides Heritage Foods Ltd shares, the remaining Rs 173 crore comes from a personal loan, gold and silver jewellery owned by his wife Nara Bhuvaneswari. The latter is also vice chairperson and managing director of HFL.

Further, the Naidu family jointly owns several properties in Kuppam, Chittoor, and Hyderabad.

Interestingly, Naidu entered the dairy business by founding Heritage Foods in 1992, as part of the economic reforms initiated by the then finance minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, as the dairy sector was liberalised and private entrepreneurs were encouraged to invest in milk processing and marketing.

Naidu personally visited Delhi to pay homage to Dr Singh, who passed away last week. Naidu's wealth has also led to criticism from the opposition YSRCP.

YSRCP spokesperson Puttha Sivasankar Reddy ridiculed Naidu, stating that he prioritises personal wealth accumulation over the state’s development. He accused Naidu of using the state’s financial distress as a smokescreen.

“While the state is shrinking in debt, Naidu’s assets are skyrocketing,” he remarked, further highlighting that the shares of Heritage Foods, owned by Naidu’s family, witnessed a significant surge since the TDP returned to power.

Naidu’s governance enriches only his family, leaving the state burdened with debt and economic stagnation, he said.

However, sources close to Naidu dismissed these charges by the opposition YSRCP and said Heritage Foods Ltd had grown in scale over the years, brick by brick, since 1992 and not the wealth accumulated overnight.

Presently, Heritage Foods has a total market value of Rs 4,400 crore with revenues of Rs 3,750 crore and operates in 12 states of India. Heritage Foods has an asset value of Rs. 600 crore. Currently, the business is managed by Bhuvaneswari, who is the managing director, and Nara Brahmani, who has been the executive director for the last 10 years. Brahmani is the wife of Naidu's son, Nara Lokesh, who is also a member of the Andhra cabinet.

"Chittoor was the largest milk-producing district in united Andhra Pradesh. It was also the home district of Naidu. In 1992, there was a milk surplus, and there was a marketing crisis for the milk farmers. In 1992, as part of the economic reforms initiated by the then finance minister Manmohan Singh, the dairy sector was liberalised and private entrepreneurs were encouraged to invest in milk processing and marketing. Spurred by this opportunity, Naidu set up Heritage Foods in 1992 with an initial capital of Rs 50 lakhs and set up Heritage Foods’ first milk chilling unit in Chittoor. Loans were obtained from the Bank of Baroda. Naidu was the managing director of Heritage Foods for two years. In 1994, when he became a minister, he vacated the post of managing director, and his wife, Bhuvaneswari, became an executive director and subsequently a managing director. The company went public through an IPO in 1994 and has been growing ever since,” a close aide to Naidu told DH.

The aide also pointed out that loans were obtained from Bank of Baroda and other nationalised banks towards expansion activities and post-Covid, Heritage Foods was declared a debt-free company.