New Delhi: Kings Infra Ventures, promoted by the late RSP leader Baby John’s son and credited for pioneering commercial shrimp aquaculture in the country, is investing over Rs 45 crore to ramp up its shrimp farms in Tamilnadu to 300 acres.
The company has 12 shrimp growing ponds now (each pond as big as a soccer field), in Tuticorin in southern Tamilnau.
The city-based company, which is traded on the BSE, has been into shrimp farming since 1987 when it opened the first few ponds in Tuticorin and currently has 12 active ponds, which will be scaled up to 48 in the first phase and to 180 across 300 acres by the end of FY23.
The company expects to invest over Rs 45 crore for this expansion, Shaji Baby John, the chairman and founder of the company told P T I.
To achieve this, on a sustainable and scalable basis, it has early this month roped in Japanese multinational NEC Corporation to usher in latest AI and IoT-based technologies to to usher in a new culture of shrimp farming based on sustainability and full traceability.
John also expects production to almost double to 20 metric tonnes on completion of the second phase of expansion bu March 2023. In FY21, its production stood at 11 mt and had a revenue of Rs 37 crore.
As the production goes up with expansion, we set a target of growing revenue by 70 per cent this fiscal to Rs 55 crore, and Rs 225 crore topline by FY23, as there is good demand for Indian shrimp outside, John said.
Under the tie-up with NEC, the Japanese conglomerate will bring in artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of things (IoT) and other digital technologies, which will provide an impetus for the next phase of sustainable and environment-friendly aquaculture development in the country, John said.
The new farms will be based on precision aquaculture under the proof of concept project using recirculated aquaculture system-based shrimp farming along with AI and IoT.
This technology has the potential to disrupt the global aquaculture technology by the multifold increase in growing densities with more predictability and traceability, he said.
Kings Infra, earlier known as Victory Aquafarm, is credited with pioneering shrimp aquaculture in the country by setting up an integrated farm across 126 acres in Tuticorin district of Tamilnadu in 1987 and has since been a leader in the seafood and aquaculture business and exports its products to the US, the EU, Japan, China and other leading markets.