Indian Agritech Cos receives $532M investment till April 2020.

Agritech companies have received an investment of $532 million till April this year for growth and tap the market that has the potential to reach $24 billion by 2025, according to an EY report. 

"India's burgeoning startup ecosystem has been actively playing its part in disrupting the agriculture sector. Agritech startups are operating in an attractive market with an estimated potential of $24 billion by 2025," EY said in its report 'Agritech - towards transforming Indian agriculture'.

The agritechsector is helping in solving many challenges across the spectrum of the traditional agriculture value chain. 

The potential of agritech market can be segmented into supply chain tech and output market linkages ($12 billion), financial services ($4.1 billion), precision agriculture and farm management ($3.4 billion), quality management and traceability ($3 billion), and market linkages -farm inputs ($1.7 billion), the report said.

However, despite witnessing strong investment activity in the last few years, market penetration in the sector is still very low at around one percent, it added. 

"Agritech players operating in the addressable segments in India have received a cumulative investment funding of $532 million as of April 2020," said Ankur Pahwa, Partner and National Leader E-Commerce and Consumer Internet, EY India.

The global investors can harness their learnings from their success stories in the agritech segments to help them realise their full potential in India, he added. 

Pahwa said there would be consolidation in the industry as larger players begin to acquire regional players to achieve scale in market linkages as also extend into other service domains. 

In July, Union Minister for Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar said the Indian government will fund 112 startups in the first phase, with a sum of Rs 11.85 crore in the current financial year. 

The funds will be given to the startups selected by different knowledge partners and agribusiness incubators in the area of agro-processing, food technology, and value addition, he said.

(PTI)