Indian Potash Limited, also known as IPL, is a

fertiliser A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrition, plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from Liming (soil), liming materials or other non- ...

company based in India. It was incorporated under Indian Companies Act with the objective of import-handling, promotion and marketing of Potash in India. It imports, handles, promotes, and markets potash fertilisers in India. It sells fertilisers such as

Muriate of Potash Potassium chloride (KCl, or potassium salt) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt ...

Triple Super Phosphate Superphosphate is a chemical fertiliser first synthesised in the 1840s by reacting bones with sulfuric acid. The process was subsequently improved by reacting phosphate coprolites with sulfuric acid. Subsequently, other phosphate-rich deposits such ...

Monoammonium Phosphate Ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP), also known as monoammonium phosphate (MAP) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (NH4)(H2PO4). ADP is a major ingredient of agricultural fertilizers and dry chemical fire extinguishers. It also has ...

, and

Sulfate of Potash Potassium sulfate (US) or potassium sulphate (UK), also called sulphate of potash (SOP), arcanite, or archaically potash of sulfur, is the inorganic compound with formula K2SO4, a white water-soluble solid. It is commonly used in fertilizers, prov ...

. Dr. PS Gahlaut serves as both the Managing Director and Director of Indian Potash Limited, a prominent fertilizer company in India. The company was formerly known as Indian Potash Supply Agency and changed its name to Indian Potash Limited in 1970. The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, India. It is India's largest potash firm.

History

Indian Potash Limited was founded in 1955 as Indian Potash Supply Agency. After independence of India from British rule in 1947, there were a number of importers of Muriate of Potash (MOP) mainly for application on tea/coffee gardens and other plantation crops. In 1955 these importers formed a consortium for joint working and named it as Indian Potash Supply Agency (IPSA) for import and distribution of MOP across India. The main objective of IPSA was to create awareness among the farmers on the use of Potash. In 1970, IPSA was converted into Indian Potash Limited (IPL) and its equity base was expanded with Cooperative Sector, Fertiliser Companies in both Private and Public Sectors with major shares with Cooperative Sector.

Company

Currently, Co-operative sector holds more than 70% of shares in the company and the largest shareholder is

Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited, also known as IFFCO, is a multi-state cooperative society engaged in the manufacture and marketing of fertiliser. IFFCO is headquartered in New Delhi, India. Started in 1967 with 57 member cooper ...

with 33.99% holding. Other major shareholders are Gujarat, Andhra and Tamil Nadu State Co-Op Marketing Federation Cooperatives. Madras Fertilisers Limited is the largest Public sector shareholder in the company while Gujarat State Fertilisers and Chemical Limited is the largest shareholder from the Private sector. IPL is the largest importer of fertiliser in the country and second largest buyer of fertilisers in international market. IPL imports fertilisers through all the Indian ports and it is the only company in India which handles fertilisers throughout the year at all ports. The company is also active in production and marketing of Cattle Feed, dairy products, sugar and trading of precious metals (gold and silver).

Plants

In order to strengthen the relationship with farmers, the company has started production and marketing of Cattle Feed all over the country. They commenced the production and distribution of feeds from two plants one at

Sikandrabad Sikandrabad is a village and a municipal board, just outside of Bulandshahr, Bulandshahr city in Bulandshahr district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh. It is part of the Delhi NCR region. Sikandrabad tehsil i ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and another at

Renigunta Renigunta is a suburb and outgrowth of Tirupati located in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a part of Tirupati urban agglomeration. Tirupati Airport is located in Renigunta. It is also one of the mandals in Tirupa ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

to meet the requirement of states in northern and southern India. IPL has footprint in

Dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

industry as well. They have established one dairy plant in Kundli (

Sonepat Sonipat is a planned industrial city and administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from New Delhi. It lies 214 km (128 miles) southwest of Chandigar ...

district),

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

and another dairy plant at Sikandrabad in Uttar Pradesh. They work in close coordination with

Mother Dairy Mother Dairy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board which is a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying of the Government of India that manufactures, markets a ...

to develop their dairy division. They have acquired five Sugar Units in Uttar Pradesh during the financial year 2010-2011. The company is also working on two joint venture products namely Green Field Port Facility on Gujarat coast and an Integrated Sugar Complex with Co-generation and Distillery in

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

Production and sales

The total volume sales of all products during the year 2015-16 stood at 7.8 million tonnes. MOP or Muriate of Potash is the flagship product of the company and was able to achieve sales of 2.78 million tonnes in the year 2015-16.

Financial performance

The total revenue of the Company during the year 2015-16 was at INR 16,650.23 crores. The Company earned a Pre-tax Profit of INR 247.47 crores and Net Profit of INR 161.91 crores.

References