May 26, 2004

The Economic Times

Avesthagen will raise $1.6 m more for Aquas

M S ANAND

HYDERABAD: Avesthagen Gengraine Technologies (Avesthagen) is planning to raise resources to the tune of $1.6 million for its joint venture company Avesthagen Quality Agriculture Services (Aquas) which is into labelling of genetically modified (GM) foods. The newly formed company has also signed an agreement with Kerala government for certification of herbal products.

“Attempts are on to raise $1.6 million. The company is in talks with a cross-section of venture capitalists for garnering funds,” biotech industry sources told ET. Avesthagen had earlier raised funds from ICICI Ventures, Tata Industries, and Global Trust Bank, to the tune of $5 million in two phases.

Targeted at the food and beverage market, Avesthagen had earlier signed an agreement with the city-based International Crop Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT ) in March this year. According to the company's own estimates, the main segments like GMO testing, food testing, and seed market, are pegged at $400 billion, $32 billion and $800 million, respectively.

“The agreement with the Kerala government for certifying the herbal products is a prestigious project that Aquas has bagged,” sources said. Even though the investments flow into the new project — Aquas-Kerala — is yet to be worked out in association with the Government of Kerala, the initial cost is pegged at Rs 3 crore.

The Government of Kerala has invited Avesthagen as the company has achieved the distinction of becoming the first company in the south- east Asian region to offer globally accepted testing and certification for genetically modified organisms (GMOs), through global alliance with the US-based Genetic ID Inc.

“The company is likely to forge more such alliances with other state governments too, as it has emerged as a niche player after bagging a US patent for multiple use of genetically modified (GM) technology,” sources said. Its patent application titled ‘A Process for Generating Cytoplasmic Male Sterile (CMS) Lines in Rice and Other Crops by RNA Editing’ has been published by the US Patent Office in August last year.

The patent covers the development of a new technology that enables production of new hybrids in less time as against the time consumed through the conventional route. The technology can be used across all crops for the production of high yielding hybrids. CEO Dr Villoo Morawala Patell said.