The V H Group is an Indian conglomerate primarily comprising companies related to the poultry industry, including processed food, animal vaccines, human and animal pharmaceutical and healthcare products. It was founded as Venkateshwara Hatcheries Pvt Ltd in 1971 in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and later shifted its base to

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

for want of favorable climatic conditions required for research of livestock. It has also built Balaji temple at Pune which is a replica of famous Balaji temple of Tirupati. It is also the owner of English football club

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, overseeing two relegations and one promotion with the club. The company invested £130m for a vaccine plant in Switzerland and 150cr for a feedmill in Vietnam in 2010.

Group profile

The V H Group is controlled by the family of Dr. B. V. Rao. His daughter, Anuradha Desai, is serving as group chairperson since his death in 1996. His sons B Balaji Rao and Venkatesh Rao sit on the board of the group's companies. The V H Group has its headquarters in Pune, and has offices in

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The Group has production plants in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and Switzerland, and exports to 35 countries across the world. In December 2010, the group launched Venky's Xprs, a fast food restaurant specializing in chicken. The first outlet opened in Pune, India.

Sport

Blackburn Rovers

In November 2010, the group took over English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club

Blackburn Rovers FC Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. ...

, acquiring a 99.9% stake through a new holding company, Venky's London Ltd. The deal was worth £43 million including taking on around £20 million of the club's debt. After sacking

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...

as the club's manager, Steve Kean was appointed in his place, raising media concern as Kean's agent Jerome Anderson had advised Venky's during its takeover of the club.Conn, David
"How an agent came to hold so much power at Blackburn Rovers"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 21 December 2010. Retrieved 02 August 2016.Hytner, David
"Steve Kean finds value of friends in high places at Blackburn Rovers"
''

'', 16 December 2010. Retrieved 02 August 2016. Venky's oversaw an unsuccessful period resulting in relegation to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

after the

2011–12 Premier League The 2011–12 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 13 August 2011 and ended on 13 May 2012 with Manchester Ci ...

season ending the club's 11-year run in the top flight, then a further relegation to the third-tier EFL League One after the 2016–17 season. Despite Kean leaving Blackburn Rovers in September 2012, criticism of Venky's running of the club has continued, with both fans and the media calling them into question. In September 2016, Venky's publicly stated their commitment to the club.

Businesses

The group includes: * Venkateshwara Hatcheries Pvt. Ltd. * Venky's (India) Limited * VENCO Research and Breeding Farms Pvt. Ltd. * Venkateshwara Research and Breeding Farms Pvt. Ltd. * Venkateshwara B.V.Bio-Corp Pvt. Ltd. * Uttara Foods & Feeds Pvt. Ltd. * Uttara Impex Pvt. Ltd. * Venky's Vietnam Ltd. * Venky's Singapore Pvt. Ltd. * VH Group Bangladesh * Bala Industries & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=July 2017 Agriculture companies of India Food and drink companies of India Companies based in Pune Conglomerate companies established in 1971 Indian companies established in 1971 Poultry industry in India Privately held companies of India Food and drink companies established in 1971 1971 establishments in Maharashtra