IFC to back Jain Irrigation's $50-million capital expenditure plan

The World Bank's investment arm has proposed to invest an equivalent of up to $40 million in rupee-denominated debt to part-finance JISL's capex

International Finance Corporation (IFC) is planning to back the $50-million capital expenditure plan of Jain Irrigation Systems Limited (JISL), an integrated agribusiness player. IFC has proposed to invest an equivalent of up to $40 million in rupee-denominated debt to part-finance JISL’s capex.

JISL is one of India’s largest integrated agribusiness players, with operations in Micro Irrigation Systems (MIS), plastic pipes and sheets, dehydrated vegetables, processed fruits and other smaller businesses, including tissue culture, agri-tech solutions and green energy. Headquartered in Maharashtra, JISL is India’s leader in MIS and the second-largest globally; it is also the largest manufacturer of plastic pipes in India.

The proposed IFC financing will support JISL’s operations in India. The capex programme will spread over for the next 12 months and include expenditure on expansion of operations in MIS, plastic pipes, tissue culture, and solar products in India and funding future growth.

IFC, the investment arm of the World Bank, said that it would provide long-term capital, which is not easily available in an industry subject to variations in profitability due to weather patterns and fluctuations in productivity.

JISL had revenues of approximately $1 billion for the financial year ended March 31, 2017, and a market capitalisation of approximately $930 million as of February 2, 2018. As of December 31, 2017, the sponsors, the Jain family, owned 28.5% of JISL, listed on the National Stock Exchange and BSE. Institutional investors owned 43.1% and the rest of the shareholding was held by public shareholders.