Fertiliser maker Coromandel International will commission its Kakinada plant expansion by the second half of this fiscal.

“Nearly 90 per cent of the work is completed,” Mr Kapil Mehan, the company's Managing Director, told Business Line on the sidelines of a function to mark anti-child labour day on Tuesday. Coromandel is spending Rs 450 crore to expand the approved capacity of its Kakinada facility from 15 lakh tonnes to 19 lakh tonnes.

Super-phosphates

It is also setting up a green-field single super-phosphate plant (SSP) in Punjab at a cost of Rs 116 crore. The 800 tonne per day unit, including a 400 TPD granulator plant, is expected to be ready within two years. the company's move to sharpen focus on the SSP segment comes on the back of spiralling phosphate fertiliser prices.

This fiscal, the company will also be expanding its farm mechanisation solutions business by undertaking paddy transplantation on 10,000 acres, using innovative techniques. “What we intend to do is undertake paddy transplantation using innovate farm mechanisation solutions to demonstrate their efficacy to farmers. Once we get proper feedback on the project, we will expand this business,” he Mehan said. The company, part of the Rs 17,000-crore Murugappa Group, sees a big opportunity in this business as the farming community continues to face acute labour shortage.

Mechanisation

In paddy alone, the market size for farm mechanisation is estimated at Rs 10,000 criore.

On fertiliser price trends, Mr Mehan said that although globally fertiliser prices were ruling at $100 less than last year's prices, in India prices have risen on account of the rupee depreciation. “Prices will depend on volatility in the forex market. We have no other option but to pass on the price increase to our customers,” he said.

amitmitra@thehindu.co.in

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