Industrial biotechnology company Praj Industries on Thursday reported a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 52 crore for the quarter ended March 2021. The company's PAT stood at Rs 24.86 crore in the year-ago period, Praj said in a statement. Income from operations grew by 91.40 percent to Rs 567.1 crore compared to Rs 296.29 crore in the corresponding quarter of FY20.

The revenue is up over 60 percent quarter-on-quarter and margins have also expanded this quarter.

On ethanol production Shishir Joshipura, MD & CEO at Praj Industries said, “The whole push on exporting sugar, diverting sugar for ethanol production has all led to a situation where companies are realising that producing ethanol is a very good step for sugar companies for the simple fact that the cash cycle is so much more positive compared to the sugar cash cycle. So that is one very positive development that has happened.”

On ethanol blending Joshipura said, “If we look at the blending program and we have an ambitious target of reaching 20 percent by 2025, we are at about 7 percent right now so nearly tripling of the capacity is what is required.”

On raising funds for capacity additions Joshipura said, “We are witnessing doubling of enquiry levels and we are geared to meet this additional demand. We have a strong balance sheet, and we don’t need to raise any debt.”

On market share, he said, “Given the fact that we command over two-third of the domestic market because we have very strong technology play, we are very confident that we do have some very exciting years ahead of us.”

For full management commentary, watch the video

(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)

First Published:May 7, 2021 12:59 PM IST