Safex Chemicals to invest Rs 100 cr in agri-tech segment in next 3-4 years

Agrochemicals maker Safex Chemicals Ltd on Tuesday said it plans to invest Rs 100 crore in its new agri-tech arm, AgCare Technologies, in the next 3-4 years for launching an interactive tech platform and for setting up a manufacturing unit.

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.

The company's revenue is expected to increase to Rs 1,220-1,250 crore by end of 2022-23 fiscal with the recent acquisition of UK-based Briar Chemicals, from Rs 783 crore in the previous fiscal.

Currently, Safex Chemicals has six manufacturing units in India, one in the UK.