With the Centre recommending lifting of the endosulfan ban in all states other than Kerala and Karnataka, Excel Cro Care Ltd, Coromandel Fertilisers and Hindusthan Insecticide Ltd, the three major companies which manufacture the pesticide, can soon sell their stocks worth crores of rupees in the market. The Centre’s decision favouring the companies in the Supreme Court is a great relief for these endosulfan manufacturers as the ban had resulted in huge losses to them. Three of these companies, operating in India, make the country the largest manufacturer of endosulfan in the world.
According to the annual report, Excel Crop Care’s profit dipped to the tune of `39.95 crore in 2011-12 after the Supreme Court banned the production and sale of endosulfan in May 2011. The report mentions that the ban has affected the profit.
The export revenue of the company increased to `255.8 crore from `232.24 crore following an SC order during September and December that allowed partial export of the stock. The closing stock details in March 2012 show around `16.30 crore inventories including raw and manufactured endosulfan.
The EID Parry which owns the Coromandel Fertilizers Ltd reported a dip of 10 per cent in its turnover after the ban. Sabero fertilizer manufacturing company under Coromandel, which produces endosulfan and other plant protection chemicals, incurred a loss of `61.224 crore. “Sabero’s revenue from operations for the year ended on March 31 was `358.43 crore with a net loss of `61.24 crore. The production of Sabero during the year was impacted under judicial restraint. However, the company was able to get permission for utilisation of capacity up to 75 per cent starting December 2011,” the annual report said.
Meanwhile, for HIL, which is a Central Government enterprise, 50 per cent of the company’s sales profit was earned through the sales of endosulfan.
The ban will continue in the state but it doesn’t mean the people here will not have exposure to the pesticide as most of the vegetables we need are imported from neighbouring states including Tamil Nadu.