Rallis
to invest Rs 200cr
Business Standard
December 24, 2007
Rallis India, a Tata Group company, plans
to set up a manufacturing plant for agrochemicals and
intermediary product under a special economic zone at
Dahej in Gujarat, and a pesticide formulation unit at
Jammu, with a total investment of Rs 200 crore within
the next one or two years.
"Apart from agrochemicals and pesticide, we are
looking at adjacent areas like speciality chemicals
and seeds for growth. We would also like to build our
international business, which at present constitutes
22 per cent of our portfolio. For some Indian companies,
it is up to 45 per cent. If that is taken as a benchmark,
we would like to reach that level," said V Shankar,
chief executive officer and executive director, Rallis
India Ltd, on the sidelines of a press conference for
the launch an insecticide brand, Takumi.
The funding for the new units would be from internal
accruals, he said. Recently, the company had sold a
part of its surplus land at a profit of Rs 87.38 crore.
Rallis, which has have five plants in India, had a turnover
of close to Rs 700 crore last fiscal, with 55 per cent
of its revenue coming for the insecticide division.
This apart, the company is also open to overseas acquisitions.
"We are open to both organic and inorganic growth,"
he said. Rallis would also introduce more hybrid seed
varieties for wheat, paddy and mustard in the coming
years, said Shankar.
Recently, it had launched BT cotton seeds in collaboration
with Nuziveedu Seeds.
Takumi has been invented by a Japanese company, namely,
Nihon Nohyaku, and co-developed by Rallis its plant
at Ankleshwar.
"Our ambition is high. This (Takumi) may become
one of the largest selling product in the Rallis portfolio,"
said R Gopalakrishna, executive director, Tata Sons.
Currently, Applaud, another insecticide sourced from
Nihon Nohyaku, is the largest-selling product of Rallis.
|
|