Hikal is planning to commission a new multipurpose plant at Panoli in the second half of FY2023, says Vimal Kulshrestha, President - Crop Protection Business, Hikal Limited.

Kulshrestha said, "Demand continues to remain strong in the domestic market, and there are also indications from our existing global customers for a higher forecast next financial year. We are also witnessing a rise in inquiries from existing as well as new customers for potential collaborations. Construction of our new multipurpose plant is on track at Panoli. We expect to commission it in the second half of FY '23."

Talking about Capex, Sameer Hiremath, Managing Director, Hikal Limited said, "Currently, I mean, we're investing about Rs. 300 crore to Rs. 400 crore of Capex every year. So, assets turn off about 1.5 for the new Capex. If our baseline last year is Rs. 2,000 crore and you do our asset turn of 1.5% of the new Capex, it adds up to about Rs. 3,000 crore-plus."

"In our own product business, demand for existing products remains intact from our key customers, and the demand supply scenario remains favorable in the domestic market. We are getting good traction of new fungicides in the pipeline from customers. We are in the process of strengthening our presence in Europe and Latin America. We also continue to explore new product opportunities in the business and presently are working on five-six products and are at different stages of development," commented Kulshrestha. 

"Our CDMO business continues to receive new inquiries from new and existing customers. We are intensifying our efforts to strengthen the relationship with customers in Europe, U.S. and Japan by further integrating key account management. On future plans, as our Taloja operations have resumed, efforts are focused towards covering the production loss of the first quarter to the best extent over the next three quarters. To ensure stable availability and better pricing of key RM, we embarked upon the strategic supplier base development, de-risking the supply chain from China through backward integration," added Kulshrestha.