Jayant Agro to raise money for expansion

Vadodara-based, Jayant Agro Organics Ltd, one of the world's largest manufacturers and exporters of castor oil and its derivatives, is planning to raise funds for its new project and expansion plans.

The castor major is also planning to go in for a major cost-cutting drive to improve the financial performance of the company.

Talking to Business Standard, Vikram Udeshi, director of Jayant Agro Organics, said, "The company is planning expansion and a new project, which will be discussed in the forthcoming general meeting."

The board will also focus on the modality to raise fund for the expansion as well as for the new project in the meeting, he added.

The company is planning to raise funds through rights issue or debentures or warrants or bonds"" full or partly convertible or on a preferential basis "" subject to the approval of board of directors.

On the company's plans to further scale up production, Udeshi said the company had already enhanced production under its recently concluded expansion and was now focusing on new expansion, projects and cost cutting.

When asked about the size of the fund the company intends to raise, he said, "It will be decided by the board of directors." The company's plant in Vadodara, which had an installed production capacity of 45,000 tonne per annum, was raised to 55,000 tpa in May this year.

Jayant Agro-Organics has a crushing unit located in Palanpur in Gujarat with a crushing capacity of 350 MT oil/day. It has a solvent extraction plant also located at Palanpur in Banaskantha that has one of the largest castor growing area accounting for 75 per cent of India's castor seed production.

The gross turnover from the castor oil and its derivatives and the net profit stood at Rs 1,323.25 crore and Rs 6.42 crore respectively for the year 2005-06.