We are augmenting scale through organic and inorganic routes in the current geographic markets and expanding into new geographical markets, said Nareshkumar Ramjibhai Patel, Executive Chairman and Managing Director, Ami Organics.

“We will continue to expand via organic and inorganic growth routes to increase production capacity and product portfolio. Factors leading to likely increase in domestic production and exports in future include the government’s policy initiatives to support local manufacturing in the pharma sector. Also, a shift in investments from regulated markets to developing markets, like India is well expected. Apart from that, global end users are looking for alternatives to China,” added Ramjibhai Patel while recently speaking at a virtual press conference to announce the company's plan to launch an initial public offering (IPO) from September 1-3, 2021.

Sharing Ami Organic’s inside plans, Ramjibhai Patel said, “Our specialty chemicals are used towards the development and manufacturing of advanced pharmaceutical intermediates for regulated and generic active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and New Chemical Entities (NCE), and key starting material for agrochemical and fine chemicals. We have developed and commercialized over 450 pharma intermediates for APIs across 17 key therapeutic areas since inception and NCE. The company will look for capacity additions in a phased manner to ensure optimal capacity utilizations; may consider acquisitions to selectively expand in other verticals as a long term strategy to strengthen its competitive position.”

Ramjibhai Patel is confident that the company's acquisition of Gujarat Organic Limited’s business will enable foraying deeper in the speciality chemicals sector. Ami Organic has recently acquired two manufacturing facilities for a total consideration of Rs. 93 crore at Ankleshwar and Jhagadia.

“We will invest further in development of pharma intermediates to be used in manufacturing of final products whose patents are nearing expiration. We decided not to depend on just one customer or segment and rather have a strong and diversified portfolio. Our major business comes from pharma and our focus is on intermediates. We have three manufacturing sites now and two of them have been inspected by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). We are R&D driven manufacturer of specialty chemicals with varied end usage, focused towards development and manufacturing of pharma intermediates for regulated and generic APIs and NCEs. Key starting materials (KSM) for agrochemicals and fine chemicals. We aim to diversify our product portfolio by strengthening R&D capabilities," said Ramjibhai Patel

We are ramping up recruitment of scientists with varied experience, and developing new products meeting domestic and overseas regulatory standards," added Patel.

Strong R&D focus to diversify product range

"We share strong and long-term relationships with numerous domestic and global pharmaceutical companies. Some of the pharma intermediates manufactured by us command a significant market share both in India and globally. Our reach is in over 150 customers across India and 25 countries," said Abhishek Haribhai Patel, Chief Financial officer, Ami Organics.

“In 2020, we received a second EIR from USFDA for the manufacturing facility at Sachin. We also commenced a new R&D lab and a new solvent recovery plant at Sachin. In 2021, we initiated the acquisition of Ankleshwar and Jhagadia units from GOL. Owing to the acquisition, the company has further diversified and strengthened its chemical speciality portfolio. From 425 pharma intermediates in March, 2019, we have 450 intermediates in March, 2021. The products added to the existing chemical specialty portfolio find end use in cosmetics, dyes, polymers and agrochemicals and will enable Ami Organics to foray further in the speciality chemicals sector,” added Abhishek.

On research and development, Abhishek said, “We are continuously investing in R&D activities to stay ahead and create a differentiating factor and sustainability. For FY 2019, our R&D expenditure was 1% of Rs. 2.4 crore revenue from operations and in FY 2020, it was 4% of Rs. 8.6 crore and 1.9% of Rs. 6.5 crore during FY 2021. We have a 2,200 square meters DSIR approved in-house R&D facility at Sachin supported by an ADI. There is a specialized team of 66 R&D professionals and a strong focus on new scientist recruitments. The company has filed 8 process patents filed in India and 3 process patient applications pending.”

Sharing the export statistics, Abhishek mentioned, “Between FY 2019 to FY 2021 export revenue growth was 22%. In FY 2019, exports revenue was 50% of Rs. 118.3 crore from operations. In FY 2020, it was 46% of Rs. 110 crore and 52% of Rs. 175.7 crore in FY 2021. We have 52% of the revenue from operations and 73% of export revenues are contributed by Italy, Finland, France, and China. We have well established and long-term relations with domestic and MNCs across large and fast growing markets globally.”

“We pursue strategic acquisitions and partnerships to complement organic growth and internal expertise. We are developing internal capacities and production abilities to achieve organic growth and exploring strategic acquisitions to strengthen capabilities and technical expertise. To further improve the product infrastructure and overall manufacturing capabilities in the speciality chemicals sector, we will utilize the land area available in the Jhagadia unit (15,830 square metre) to explore potential brownfield expansion opportunities. The plant is helping us in backward integration and we are expecting more growth after FY 2024-25,” said Abhishek Patel while outlining the future outlook.