Jain Irrigation Systems, the agri-irrigation leader, has decided to invest Rs 350 crore in the next fiscal, to increase pipe manufacturing and irrigation systems capacity besides exploring new opportunities in the North. 

Recently, World Bank has sanctioned loan worth $60 million after considering the environment-friendly projects the company undertakes. The company plans to raise remaining fund through internal accruals and term loans from banks at reasonable rates. 

After recently acquiring 1,250 acres near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, the company is planning future setups in the North especially in Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand, for establishing agriculture R&D centre for tissue culture fruits, soil testing, besides food processing centre and pipe manufacturing facility.

Presently, the company has a land bank of over 2,500 acres in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Behind this, Jain Irrigation is also presently working on enhancing manufacturing capacity of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene (PE) pipe and PVC sheet in Jalgaon from 49,721 to 67,826 tonnes, while, it plans to raise capacity of agro processing capacity to 38,542 tonnes by financial year 2009, from its last year registered figure of 3600 tonnes.

With expansion plans laid out, the company targets a turnover of Rs 3,200 crore in FY’09 against Rs 2,400 crore achieved last fiscal. 

The company’s irrigation system contribute about 50 per cent, pipe segments 30 per cent to its total turnover, while the food processing accounts for the rest.