Turkish firm makes major apple deal with Indian fruit importer

Turkish apple producer Engin Tarim has made a major deal with Indian apple importer IG International for 50,000 tons of "best-of-breed" apples for the next three years.

The joint venture, IG-EnginTarim, will nurture and cultivate five apple varieties over the next three years in around 500 hectares (1,235 acres) in northern Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The regions are known as some of the best locations in the world for growing rich varieties of apples due to climate conditions.

"This partnership will bring scalable production, expertise, network and quality assurance to all our customers," IG International Director Tarun Arora said in a statement posted on LinkedIn on Tuesday.

The joint venture becomes the largest apple growing consortium in India.

Engin Tarim is known for its environmentally friendly approach to cultivation of apple, in addition to its technological proficiency and modern outlook, IG International said.

Known as the largest one piece apple grower in Europe, Engin Tarim has a production capacity of 55,000 tons of first rate apples and a depot that can stock 17,800 tons.