The Paradeep Phosphates ltd (PPl), a major phosphatic fertiliser producer in the country, reported a sharp fall of over 41 per cent in its profit after taxes for the fiscal 2012-13, a year that was described by the company officials as the most difficult for the industry in over a decade.
Company officials pointed out at a media meet here on Saturday that the demand in the country for phosphatic fertilisers declined by about 35 per cent in the year.
PPl Managing Director Sharad S Nendurdikar attributed this to the sharp fall of rupee against dollar which has pushed up the cost of raw materials, a very skewed subsidy regime that encourages use of Urea at the cost of phosphatic fertilisers and the practice of delaying the release of subsidy that accrued to the industry which has increased the interest burden on the producers. The erratic monsoon last year also added to the basket of troubles by reducing consumption.
Nendurdikar disclosed that the problem of the delayed release of subsidy was so acute that the Fertiliser Association of India, a body representing fertiliser companies in the country, recently moved the Supreme Court pleading for an order to pay interest on the delayed release of subsidy which stood at over `35,000 crore on March 31 this year for the entire industry.
In answer to a question on whether the company plans to pass on the increase in costs to the customer, he said that since there is a huge inventory of five million tonnes, no price increase is being contemplated till the stock is cleared.
PPl Chief Operating Officer DS Ravindra Raju said the company’s expansion projects and steps to introduce new products are going on and would help the company improve its performance once they are completed.
On the CSR front, the Managing Director informed that the Navrtana Krishi Vikas Project has covered 347 villages now and the development activities in the neighbourhood of the plant are going on. It is operating six mobile soil testing laboratories in the PPP mode and has been chosen by the Department of Agriculture of the Government of Odisha as an implementation partner for Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India.
Others present at the meet included General Manger (HR) Dr Suvendu Das, Chief Financial Officer Ranjit Kumar Nanda, Vice-President (Marketing) Sunil Gupta, VP (Operations) KM Joshi and Group Chief Information Officer V Seetaramaiah.