On Tuesday, Safex Chemicals Ltd., a manufacturer of agrochemicals, announced plans to invest Rs 1 billion in AgCare Technologies, its new agri-tech division, over the next three to four years to launch an interactive tech platform and establish a manufacturing facility.
Speaking to PTI, the company’s Group Director Piyush Jindal said, “We are investing Rs 100 crore from our own kitty. We are not raising any funds. The investment is planned for the next 3-4 years.”
The plan is to launch an interactive technology platform to integrate the entire value chain in the agri-economy. Key stakeholders, especially farmers, can buy quality crop protection products and get services like weather updates, experts’ help and mandi rates on this platform, he said.
“A pilot study of this interactive tech platform will be conducted in January-March. We plan to go live in the next fiscal year,” Jindal said, adding that the platform will be expanded in a phased manner.
Jindal further said a new manufacturing unit will also be set up to meet the demand of existing and new products like cattle feed solutions that will arise from the proposed platform.
Safex Chemicals will be leveraging its existing domain expertise for setting up the tech platform. The company has already made some investment in technology and plans to expand the team gradually, he added.
With the recent acquisition of Briar Chemicals, a company based in the UK, the company’s revenue is anticipated to rise from Rs 7.83 billion in the preceding financial year to Rs 12.20–12.50 billion by the end of FY2022–23.
Safex Chemicals currently operates six manufacturing facilities in India and one in the UK.