Part of a century-old conglomerate the Murugappa Group, Coromandel International Ltd. is one of the largest fertilizer companies in India with a market capitalization of Rs 25,850 crore. It is engaged in the business of production and sale of fertilizers, specialty nutrients, crop protection solutions, organic fertilizers, and bio-pesticides.
The company communicated on Wednesday that it plans to make a significant investment of Rs 1,000 crore towards expanding its crop protection business and start a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business division. The time frame for the proposed capital expenditure has been as the next two years.
The board of directors gave their approval to scale up the business and make inroads in the specialty & industrial chemicals sector in a meeting held on Wednesday.
Arun Alagappan, executive vice chairman of the company commented on the development, “Coromandel’s current capabilities in Crop Protection Chemicals offers a strong starting position and flexibility for play in Speciality and Industrial Chemicals. With India’s high import dependency in specialty chemicals, global supply chain diversification trends, and strong policy push by the Government, these businesses offer significant growth prospects in addition to supporting the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision of the nation.”
He further stated, “Entry into CDMO business is a strategic portfolio choice where Coromandel can leverage its expertise in handling complex chemistries at commercial scale and strong development capabilities across various chemistries.”
As of 11:38 IST, the fertilizer stock was trading at Rs 880 a piece, 1.5% up from its Wednesday closing price of Rs 866.95 per share.
As per the recent investor presentation post-December Q3FY22 results, Coromandel International had 17 manufacturing sites, 750+ retail outlets, and 20,000+ dealers. It has a 4.5 MT capacity of NPK and SSP and is the nation’s second-largest Phosphatic marketer and largest SSP seller with a 14% share.
Written by Vikalp Mishra
