Insecticides (India) to cut down dependence on China

In a bid to significantly reduce its dependence on China for raw material, Insecticides (India) Limited has decided to produce the key intermediates in India.

“At present we are importing about 30-35 per cent of the raw material from China. We are planning to produce it locally. When we set up our plant for the intermediates by the end of this calendar year, we would be able to reduce their imports by 7-8 per cent,” Rajesh Aggarwal, Managing Director of IIL, told BusinessLine.

One of the two intermediates, Lambda cyhalothrin, is an insecticide used in multiple crops in different formulation grades. It is used to control a wide spectrum of Lepidopteran and other pests.

“Thiamethoxam, the second intermediate, is used to control a wide spectrum of sucking pests. We plan to manufacture both the intermediates in India by the end of this calendar year,” he said.

He, however, declined to indicate the quantum or value of the intermediates that are being imported from China.

The company reported a total revenue of ₹257.7 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2021, as against ₹237.8 crore in the same quarter previous year, showing a growth of 8.4 per cent.

It clocked a net profit of ₹22 crore in the quarter as against a loss of ₹7.3 crore in the comparable quarter previous year.

For the full year, it reported a net profit of ₹93.4 crore (₹86 crore) on a total income of ₹1,428 crore (₹1,365.8 crore).

WFH drives kharif marketing

Stating that the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have impacted the company’s operations, he said the firm had to work with 70 per cent of the 1,300 employees for about 18 months due to restrictions on people’s movements and health concerns.

With the pandemic-induced lockdowns impacting the movement of people and vehicles, the company has shifted some of its pre-kharif marketing activities to online.

About 50-60 per cent of the marketing activities, meetings with distributors, staff and farmers have been moved to virtual mode.

“Over the last 45 days, we conducted 40 training programmes for crop advisors, development and sales teams. We have conducted over 150 meetings, reaching out to 15,000 farmers in various parts of the country,” Rajesh Aggarwal said.

Besides, over 35 meetings were held virtually to interact with our dealers, distributors and channel partners, he said.

The firm, which announced a ₹100 crore expansion plan three years ago, will be completing the roll-out this year. “We have completed 70 per cent of the expansion plan completed so far. We will complete the remaining works by Diwali this year,” he said.

Post expansion, it would have an annual capacity of 15,000 tonnes, up from the present capacity of 10,000 tonnes.

Outlook

He said the outlook for the current kharif looked bright with the Covid-19 cases coming down and monsoons progressing well. “We are expecting a double-digit growth in the current financial year,” he said.

“We will see the benefits of the augmented capacity in 2022-23. It will help us a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 15 per cent 2-3 three years from 2022-23,” he said.

COMMENT NOW