Piccadily Agro Industries Ltd has announced plans to expand its ethanol production capacity and double malt & barrel storage capacity.
The company began its commercial operations as a sugar manufacturing entity in 1994 at Indri, Haryana. Thereafter, it diversified and set up a grain-based distillery in 2007. Since then, the company has been steadily developing its distillery business.
At Mahasamund, Chhattisgarh, the company has acquired land and is setting up a 210 KLPD distillery. The project is progressing on schedule, with construction of the facilities underway. Machinery for the factory has been ordered and delivered to the site. The plant is expected to be commissioned in H2 FY2025. The company selected Chhattisgarh for its greenfield expansion due to the state’s investor-friendly regulatory environment and its proximity to raw material sources planned for future growth. As the business settles down, the company will upgrade to value added investments.
In its annual report, Harvinder Singh Chopra, Chairman & Managing Director of Piccadily Agro, stated: “In FY2025. company announced a growth plan by investing Rs.1000 Cr in 3 years for capacity and business expansion. We have invested nearly Rs.450 Cr in FY2025, another about Rs.250 Cr is in the pipeline while the balance amount of up to Rs.300 Cr is planned to be invested for acquisitions and mergers. With the above, we are well on our way to increase our capacity by four fold, in line with the same we plan to grow our business by four times from our current base over the next 3-5 years. The funding of the same has happened through mix of fully convertible warrants and compulsory convertible debentures of Rs.262 cr and Rs.161.25 cr through Term Loans. In addition, the
promoters have also subscribed to an additional Rs.5O cr. The balance is expected to be funded through internal accruals. With this external funding and profits from the years operation, the Company’s net worth or equity has nearly doubled from Rs.341 crore as on 31 March 2024 to Rs.683 crore as on 31 March 2025. Long term borrowing has increased to Rs.142 crore as on 31 March 2025. The Company is now operating with a much larger balance sheet whose size has increased from Rs.739 core as on 31 March 2024 to Rs.1,146 crore as on 31 March 2025.”
Chopra further noted, “Much of the first phase of this expansion path witnessed commencement of execution in FY2025. At Indri, distillery capacity is being increased from 78 KLPD to 220 KLPD for ENA/Ethanol and from 12 KLPD to 30 KLPD for malt. The new lines are expected to be commissioned in Hl FY2026. The barrel storage capacity is also being scaled up from 45,000 to 100,000 barrels, of which 30,000 extra barrels has already come on board. To support this growth, barrel warehousing capacities are also being increased. To spread production risk, the Company has also taken up a site in Chhattisgarh at Mahasamund, where a new 210 KLPD distillery is being set up, which is expected to go on stream in H2,FY2026. The Company has also forayed into setting up an international production facility at Portavadie {Scotland), where land acquisition is complete and the process of evaluation of plant and machinery is underway.”
To successfully execute this next round of growth, the Company has also started putting in place the internal building blocks. The senior management team has been strengthened by inducting a highly experienced Head of Sales and an experienced CFO. The SAP based internal financial ERP solutions has been implemented with more of its modules being rolled out, which is focused on streamlining operating processes and institutionalising better corporate controls across the organisation. Human resource processes have been further strengthened with the introduction of an ESOP scheme for 1% of paid-up capital and 1/3 of that has been granted.
Chopra also reflected on the company’s legacy in sugar production and stated that over the years, the sugar business has grown and today there is capacity to process 5,000 tons of cane crushed per day and produce white crystal sugar. Unfortunately, the sugar industry in India operates under strict government controls and there is strong regulatory overhang. Consequently, today, this business is not core to the Company’s operations and alternate avenues are being explored including divestment or demerger.
