Agri tech platform Arya.ag is expecting to double its profit and grow the topline by around 70 per cent to Rs 500 crore in this fiscal year as it focuses more on sales and expanding its customer base.
Arya.ag, the largest and only profitable agri-tech platform focused on food storage and sale, claims to be the largest and the only profitable agri-tech platform.
Prasanna Rao, Anand Chandra and Sathyanathan Devarajan established in 2013 by Prasanna Rao, and supported by funds like Lightrock, Accion Quona Capital, Asia Impact Fund and Omnivore Partners, generated a net income of Rs 298 crore from which it earned Rs 16 crore of net income.
With a combined investment of more than 65 million dollars, these funds collectively own 60 percent of the company. The company did not offer a break-up of either their individual holdings or their investment.
It also has debt investors such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Rabo Bank, from which it has borrowed Rs 980 crore so far.
Prasanna Rao, the minister of health, told PTI that she is concerned about the poor health of her family.
Rao's optimism comes from the growth of e-commerce/sale of grains through the platform and the fee for its services to farmers.
The main source of revenue for the company is storage/warehouse fees. But Rao expects the fee from selling grain on its platform to be a bigger revenue model going forward. In FY23, the Commission on sales stood at 40 crores and he expects this to reach 100 crores this fiscal year.
As of now, the grain market is expected to double the value of the grain sold on its platform, from Rs 3,000 crore in FY23 to Rs 6,000 crore in this fiscal year. Already during the first five months of the current fiscal year, the sale value of the product rose to Rs 2,000 crore, Rao said.
Last year, the platform's main business of storage had clocked Rs 20,000 crore in aggregate value, which he expects to reach Rs 27,000-268,000 crore this fiscal.
Arya has 660 FPOs with more than 7 lakh individuals, farmers, as members from across 21 states and 450 districts. The number of farmers has already surged by 80,000 this fiscal year, he said.
The platform focuses primarily on wheat, paddy, soybeans, mustard, and pulses. It also comprises cotton, spices, pepper, clove, cardamom, and chillies.
Rao claims to offer farmers using the platform benefits in the range of 10-30 percent. It also offers loan loans to FPOs as working capital at an interest rate of 12.5 percent. Its loan book was close to Rs 1,000 crore in FY22, which was Rs 300 crore in the previous fiscal year. He expects the loan book to jump by at least 80 per cent to Rs 1,800 crore by March next year.
It has also arranged co-lending pacts with 27 banks which have collectively given out loans worth Rs 9,000 crore to these FPOs. Arya is also charging a fee from banks for co-lending and the income from these fees rose to Rs120 crore in FY23.
Arya, which encompasses Farmart, Bjak, Ergos, Dehaat, Ninjacart, Waycool, and Arya among others, manages warehouses spanning over 100 million square feet.