Kishore Biyani, promoter of retail chain Future group, seems to be in the thick of action. After scrapping talks with L&T Finance to sell his insurance venture, Biyani is now ramping up stake in his group companies. Over the past one year, Biyani has increased his stake in Future Consumer Enterprises, the food and FMCG arm of the group, to around 41% against 39% in June 3013. Future Consumer Enterprises, formerly known as Future Ventures, is engaged in procuring, processing and supplying agricultural commodities in loose and packaged form under various private brand names, besides operating the KB Fairprice chain of convenience outlets in urban and rural markets. Some of its private label FMCG brands include Tasty Treat, Clean Mate, Care Mate, Premium Harvest and Fresh and Pure. While the stock is up over 45% in the current calendar year, nearly 70% of promoter holding is pledged. Also, growth seems to be a challenge, what with sales for 9MFY14 falling 34% to ₹509 crore over the same period in FY13. The big positive, though, is that the company has pared its debt of ₹186 crore to ₹1 crore in FY14.