Strategic buyers and investors are eyeing distressed agro-industries and ancillary companies, attracted by the prospect of acquiring processing facilities, established supply chains, and operating licences at steep discounts through the corporate bankruptcy framework.
The deals span the breadth of the country’s agricultural economy, including poultry breeding, rice milling, ethanol manufacturing, fish feed, sugar trading and fruit processing, and have attracted multiple competing bids, signalling rising appetite for the sector.
Across National Company Law Tribunal benches in Mumbai, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Indore and Kolkata, at least eight food and agribusiness companies have changed hands in recent months through the corporate insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
The tribunal recently approved Arainfra Projects’ acquisition of Dhule-based Megi Agro Chem Ltd, which manufactures grain-based ethanol for pharmaceutical, potable alcohol and biofuel applications.
In January, the tribunal approved Supreme Capinfra Pvt Ltd’s acquisition of Mumbai-based C&M Farming Ltd, a poultry breeder and trader, through the insolvency process. Nimantran Horticulture Pvt Ltd and Salawat Real Estate had also sought to acquire the company.
Around the same time, the Chandigarh bench approved Shiva Shakti Grains (India) Pvt Ltd’s acquisition by SPSS Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. Gurdaspur-based Shiva Shakti Grains manufactures and wholesales basmati rice, wheat and rice bran oil.
“We have been receiving queries from our existing clients to look for stressed assets in the agro-processed industry for quite some time now,” said Ruchi Khatlawala, partner at law firm Little & Co. “Acquirers are betting that operational turnarounds can deliver returns that justify prices that appear modest relative to the headline liability figures.”
According to the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), a body under the commerce ministry, the sector grew 5.4% year-on-year in FY25, supported by record production and higher trade volumes. Agriculture and allied activities contributed 17.8% to India’s GDP.
Khusnuma Nagwaswalla, partner at law firm Agram Legal Consultants, said the underlying infrastructure is often viable, while it is the capital structure that fails.
“The clustering of food-sector resolutions reflects broader stress in the country’s agribusiness, where companies built during a period of loose credit and aggressive expansion have struggled to service debt against volatile commodity prices and thin margins,” said Nagwaswalla. “For acquirers, the bankruptcy process offers a clean break from legacy liabilities, a feature that conventional mergers and acquisitions cannot replicate.”
Agricultural processing has attracted several new players, mainly small- and medium-scale businesses in the post-pandemic period.
Harshal Anjaria, founder of Ahmedabad-based boutique capital-raising advisory firm Shreeyam Advisors, said brownfield manufacturing units, particularly in agro-industrial belts in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Karnataka, are drawing interest from multiple bidders, including first-time buyers of stressed assets.
In December, the tribunal approved Sakuma Exports Ltd’s acquisition of Kolkata-based Kejriwal Sugar Agencies Pvt Ltd, for which Hindcon Solutions and Kejriwal Sweeteners LLP had also shown interest. In November, fish feed maker Nexus Feeds was acquired by a consortium led by G Ramakrishna Reddy after tribunal approval.
Last year, the Hyderabad bench approved Nandi Irrigation Systems Ltd’s acquisition by P Bhadriah and Sons, while the Mumbai bench cleared Jayesh Choudhary’s acquisition of Nakoda Fruit Products Pvt Ltd, a maker and exporter of candied papaya cubes.
A total of 8,833 companies across sectors were admitted to insolvency until the end of December, according to data from the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.
Of these, resolution plans for 1,376, or 15.58%, have been approved since the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was introduced in 2016.
Source: Economic Times