Reliance Ind to spend $1.3bn in milk business

India's biggest listed firm, Reliance Industries Ltd, could spend 50 billion rupees ($1.3 billion) by 2010 in distribution and retail sale of milk, the Times of India said on Monday, quoting unidentified sources.

The investments may rise to 70 billion rupees later, it said.

The paper said Reliance Dairy Foods planned to handle milk procurement, collection and distribution across the country.

A company spokesman declined comment on the report.

The paper said Reliance aimed to compete with existing local dairy product makers Amul and Mother Dairy and would buy milk from 70,000 villages across India, including the states of Punjab and Haryana in the north and Andhra Pradesh in the south.

Reliance, India's top private refiner and petrochemicals maker, is spending more than $5.5 billion on retail operations.

It runs Reliance Fresh convenience stores and other speciality formats for electronics and apparel across India.