At the outset I would like to wish you all a very happy new year and prosperous new year 2015.
2014 will be remembered as a significant year not only for the politics but also for the socio economic set up of this great country. We witnessed the largest democratic exercise in the world produce one of the most stable government India has seen in many decades, beckoning hope for billions.
Not only India but the World has changed more in the last year then it did for many years together. As a responsible and a professionally managed farmer cooperative, IFFCO Is taking pro active steps to match up to the pace of change that takes place all around us. This requires us to innovate and also contribute to new ideas. We believe that it is our duty to match steps with the visionary who is now leading us into the future.
IFFCO is therefore contributing to the ideas of a clean India (Swach Bharat Abhiyan), financial inclusion (Jan Dhan Yojna) and domestic manufacturing (Make in India). We have pledged Rs.10 Crores towards the Swach Bharat Abhiyan. Our employees and our 39,000 cooperative societies are doing their bit by keeping their surroundings clean and healthy and inspiring everyone around them to do so. We are also through our dense network in India appealing to common citizens to open a bank account and are leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that anyone and everyone connected with IFFCO has a bank account.
IFFCO not only makes in India, but makes for India as well. Our five state of the art fertilizer manufacturing units produce the best quality fertilizers for the Indian farmers, something that we are immensely proud of. All our business decisions and overseas acquisitions aim at making in India and making for India.
The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) recognized our efforts and in its report titles “World Cooperative Monitor 2014” ranked IFFCO as the No. 1 cooperative amongst the top 300 cooperatives in the World today (GDP per capita basis).
Another piece of news that came from ICA was the election of Mr. Aditya Yadav on the ICA global board.
The election of Mr. Yadav, who is also a member of the IFFCO Board, ensured that India has a say on the most powerful global platform for the cooperative sector.
While back home, the elections for the IFFCO Board were the most talked about in the Indian Cooperative sector. It was a one of its kind “cooperative democratic” exercise in India and was lauded for its transparency, peaceful conduct and moreover, the importance it gave to its female members.
IFFCO produced around 56.60 lakhs MT till December 2014. Though the production was affected this year due to policy matters and minor technical snags, but we are still able to produce to the best of our abilities.
Although there were piling inventories and unconducive market conditions but despite that our marketing team was able to register sale dos around 80 Lakh MT. Which is better than what we achieved last year.
I am very happy to announce that due to sound financial management and expenditure management by our finance team along with the efforts of over 6000 plus work force and the directions of an able board members we have already crossed Rs.1000 crores profit.
For these startling efforts by our dedicated workforce IFFCO won various laurels at national and international platforms. Our production and marketing teams won over ten FAI awards this year in various categories of Production, Energy Saving, Environment Protection, Marketing, Use of ICT in Agriculture amongst others.
It gives me immense pleasure to share with you that our Joint Venture project in Jordan has formally started its production and operation. It has also achieved financial closure of around $860 million. We have temporarily suspended our plans of the Urea project in Quebec, Canada due to cost overruns. Our partners are in agreement with the decision of the temporary hiatus and we will restart the project at favorable time. Besides this both IKSL and IFFCO Tokio General Insurance along with other joint ventures are on track and doing well.
The year gone by has taught us some valuable lesson in cooperation, teamwork, knowledge sharing and adaptability. It has taught us to be always be geared for change and we can only achieve this by equipping ourselves with latest trends in organizational management and also in technology.
2015 will be a year when we set new milestones for ourselves. We will together work towards a vision 2020. I also appeal to you all to keep yourselves updated and use technology especially social media to communicate better with your peers and spread the cheer and warmth around you.
The year 2015 will also be celebrated as International Year of Soils, as declared by 68th UN General Assembly. It is my request to you all to promote the slogan of “Healthy Soils for Healthy Life”. IFFCO is doing its bit to make it happen through our “Save the Soil” campaign, which is running successfully across the country. Let’s work together to promote balanced use of fertilizers and conserve the environment.
Lastly, I would like to extend my sincere regards to our Chairman Sh.B.S.Nakai, our Vice Chairman Sh.N.P.Patel and other distinguished members on the Board of IFFCO for showing the way forward. I am also thankful to Government of India especially the Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Agriculture and cooperation along with our Joint Ventures partners and our a Associates around the world along with their respective Governments for extending valuable support to us from time to time. I would also like to thank the India and International Media, our suppliers, bankers, and consultants for their valuable support. Above all, I am thankful to all the members of the IFFCO family including the IFFCOs employee union and IFFCO offers Association. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks here to our member cooperatives especially marketing Federations and cooperative societies for their cooperation it was due to them that we could serve over 5 crore farmer members present across the length and breadth of India.