Netafim to scale up operations in India

Netafim India, a subsidiary of drip irrigation pioneers Netafim ACS of Israel, proposes to expand its operations in the country by participating in the forthcoming micro-irrigation projects in several states.

The company is already the market leader in India, having acquired nearly 15 per cent share in the Rs 300-crore drip irrigation equipment market in the country. Its turnover has been growing annually about 40 per cent, almost double the average growth registered by the industry.

Netafim Managing Director Zvi Feler told media persons yesterday his company was already contributing to various wasteland development and micro-irrigation projects, apart from promoting this water-efficient system of irrigation, in 11 states.

These include some major projects like the Andhra Pradesh micro-irrigation project in Kuppam and potato farming project in Dholpur in Gujarat.

Netafim has its manufacturing plant at Savli (Vadodara) in Gujarat. "The capacity of this plant is proposed to be expanded by installing another machine, which will most probably be bought locally," Feler said.

The company might set up another manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh once the new micro-irrigation projects became operational in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra in about three years, he added.

He said Netafim was not merely an equipment supplier but a complete irrigation solution provider company.

The equipment it manufactured and supplied in India was the latest and the same as used in advanced countries like the US or Israel.

He pointed out that drip irrigation, which facilitated the provision of precise quantity of water to individual crop plant, helped to produce far higher crop yield with much less water. It had been found to be very successful in the cultivation of vegetables, fruits and field crops like sugarcane.

Many state governments are providing subsidy, ranging from 30 to 70 per cent, on the cost of installing drip irrigation system. Banks were also financing drip irrigation projects, he said.