Speed of Thought
Mayank Singhal speaks as fast as he thinks. It reflects on his company’s growth
X IF YOU THINK you speak fast, you should meet Mayank Singhal. The Vice Chairman and MD of PI Industries, a major player in agrochemicals, can dumbfound you by his speed of thought and speech. And his company’s growth is a worthy match. More important is the consistency. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, PI Industries has grown its revenue and profits each year since 2018. And in the first nine months of FY22, it has grown its revenue and PAT by 16 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively. Plus, PI’s margins are way higher than its industry peers. “Our focus is to be on the higher end of the value chain with more complexities, which offer exceptional margins,” explains Singhal, an easy pick for the jury of the BT-PwC India’s Best CEOs ranking as the winner in the agri and allied sector.
PI sells insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, etc., under its own brands, and also provides R&D and CSM (custom synthesis manufacturing) services to large agrochemical companies globally. “We initially had very strong inroads in Japan, then we moved into Europe, the American continent, and now Brazil and some other parts of the world,” says Singhal of his company which has 75 per cent of its revenue coming from overseas.
With so much expertise in chemicals and chemistry, it was but natural for Singhal—and PI—to move into pharmaceuticals. “We will start with intermediates, then look at APIs, and eventually move into the CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organisation) model,” says Singhal. Anil R., Analyst at Geojit Financial Services, is bullish about PI’s growth potential: “The company’s focus is going to be on value-added products. They have strong R&D, and have the capacity and technical knowledge.”
The company is aiming for 20-25 per cent growth over the next several years. “We are looking at the M&A route in the pharma space to catapult to the next level, and also working on certain organic approaches internally,” says Singhal, whose colleagues say “dynamism” is the word that best describes him. More like dynamite, we think.