According to the GCL chairman and managing director KH Gharda: "Right now the company is running into losses. But we hope to turnaround soon. The large, diverse and unpredictable, seasonal nature of the market with many competitors naturally has lessened the profitability of the business. We are gradually trying to shift from our existing agrochemical business to the production of fancy polymers in large scale. We are also facing tremendous competition in the overseas market, not from the foreign players, but from the Indian players."

"About 65 per cent of our agrochem products are exported to international markets. The sales of our overseas business is around Rs 200 crore annually. In the polymer sector, our sales stand at around Rs 35 crore. This year, we are expecting a profit of Rs 5 to Rs 6 crore from our exports in polymers. Now we are looking into second generation agrochemical products," he added."In India most of the agrochemical business is under a total downturn. This is because of the huge competition in the market and the production of fake and spurious products that are being sold. Some of the local companies are adopting aggressive marketing strategies. By dealing directly with retailers they save the distributor margin and are able to sell at very competitive prices," he said.

The total turnover of the parent company is around Rs 350 crore. The company also has a subsidiary, Gujarat Insecticides Ltd (GIL), which has recorded a steady growth in sales and profit with a turnover touching Rs 83 crore including exports of Rs 13 crore.

The parent company will also be introducing two more products in the agro market - diflubenzuron and pesticide pyrazole - in this year. GIL is also going to introduce meta-chlorobenzaldehyde, meta-bromobenzaldehyde and 2-hydroxy quinoxaline this year.

From producing high quality agrochemicals in three existing manufacturing facilities, Gharda is gradually establishing itself into specialty polymer at Panoli plant. The company is also in talks with some international players for large scale contract suppliers so that it would diversify its business in a large scale.