Tata Chemicals Ltd has become the first Indian company to launch its salt brand in West Asia, under the brand name Topp Salt, a senior company official told Crisil MarketWire. While the company hopes to garner 30 percent market share in West Asia, it is also launching the same brand in Southeast Asia, he said. "We sent our first shipment to Dubai three weeks ago. The response has been very encouraging, and we have already got a repeat order," said Satish Sohoni, chief operating officer, food additives business, Tata Chemicals.

"We have started with Dubai and will move on to Abu Dhabi and Sharjah to cover the entire United Arab Emirates. Then we plan a rollout in Oman, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia," he said. Sohoni was speakingon the sidelines of an investor conference late Wednesday. The West Asia foray will be through Tata (UAE) FZE, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata International. The total retail market for salt in West Asia is estimated at 120,000-130,000 tonne. "We are aiming to capture 30 percent market share within 18-24 months," Sohoni said. At a retail price of 1.5 dirhams per kg of salt, the total market size works out to Rs 210-230 crore.

Tata Chemicals has also identified Southeast Asia as a potential growth area, Sohoni said. "We have already got formal approval from the Singapore authorities and the first shipment will leave within four weeks," he said. After this we are looking at Malaysia, as well as Indonesia, although that market may be too big to service through exports alone, he said. Tata Salt is the largest selling salt brand in India, with an estimated 40 per cent market share.