Marubeni Announces Affilation with ITC Limited (India) in Foodstuffs.

Tokyo, Japan, Dec 28, 2006 - (JCN) - Marubeni Corporation announced on December 25 that it has recently agreed to a comprehensive affiliation with ITC Limited (ITC), with foodstuffs as the principle area of business. ITC is one of the most important conglomerates in India.

Under this affiliation, Marubeni and ITC will together examine the possibility of joint handling of the export of soybean extract/maize, maize products and fruit and vegetables produced in India, joint establishment of the infrastructure for grain, including silos, joint engagement in the business of pressed oil and soy-bean protein production, and joint handling of textiles and chemicals, such as plastics.

Marubeni has been engaged in business with ITC in the area of soybean extract produced in India, but has signed a basic agreement for the affiliation with a view to a more extensive undertaking. This is the first comprehensive initiative taken between an Indian firm and a Japanese general trading company.

ITC Limited, formerly The Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited,

Business Activities: Tobacco (the largest company in India), hotels (manages the Sheraton in India), paper manufacturing, printing, farm produce, processed foods, apparel and other areas.

ITC Limited, formerly The Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited, is one of the most important conglomerates in India. It ranked third in India's private corporations in terms of after-tax income for the term ending in March 2006. Annual sales of the department handling farm and marine products in its International Business Division reached approximately 40 billion yen, accounting for about ten percent of the sales of the entire company.

ITC handles the export of livestock feed, food grain, coffee, spices, fruits, prawns and other products. In addition, the company is promoting the introduction of a system called "e-Choupal," which connects some 20,000 farm villages via an IT network and manages the supply and demand and production histories of 300 million farm families. This system has been adopted as a teaching material at Harvard Business School and has attracted global attention.

Since the establishment of its Bombay office in 1952, Marubeni has been actively engaged in business in India. In 1996, Marubeni became the first major Japanese general trading company to establish a local subsidiary in India.

The company has undertaken power plant construction projects and other projects, and has traded cotton yarn, iron ore and machinery/chemicals. To date, the company has been engaged in the export of tea leaves, marine products and soybean extract in the foodstuffs category.

Marubeni positions the country not only as a producer, as has been the case so far, but also as a giant consumer market over the medium term. In April this year, Marubeni assigned to India full-time employees in the area of foodstuffs.

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