New Delhi, Mar 2 (FN Agency) Private equity (PE) investments in the agri-tech space have skyrocketed in the last four years growing at more than 50 per cent annually to reach Rs 6,600 crore between 2017 and 2020, a joint report by Bain & Company and industry body CII has said. The report said that investors have focused on opportunities that address systemic issues, building sustainable systems and ensuring inclusive growth. “Several global tech giants see this space as a new growth opportunity and are investing in innovative solutions for crop health monitoring and yield estimation,” it said. As per the report titled ‘Innovation in India’s Rural Economy: Disruptive Business Models are Stimulating Inclusive Growth in Agriculture and Rural Finance’ released on Wednesday, significant domestic and international investments are being pumped into the sector to improve efficiency and access to credit.
Parijat Jain, partner and leader of Bain’s Agribusiness practice in India said, “Disruption in India’s food and agriculture will evolve from traditional agriculture to new farming models, advanced agri-tech services, and new food products. In the last six years, several start-ups have emerged to reduce systemic inefficiencies among inputs and marketplaces, precision farming, processing and storage”. As per the report, India’s rural economy contributed nearly half of the nation’s overall GDP in 2019–2020. Two-thirds of India’s population participated in its rural economy in the past two years, and agriculture—the largest sub-sector within rural economy, had the highest share of output, contributing approximately 37 per cent of the total rural GDP. “India’s rural economy is poised for future growth enabled by rural digitisation, affordable technological access, financial inclusion initiatives, FPO and FPC community empowerment, improved infrastructure and access, increased investor focus, and a surge of tech startups in the space,” said Tarun Sawhney, Chairman, CII Rural & District Economy Council.