Khaitan Chemicals & Fertilizers is fundamentally a maker of Single Super Phosphate (SSP), a low-cost, multi-nutrient fertilizer that it calls the “poor farmer’s fertilizer,” and the acid needed to produce it. Incorporated in 1982, it grew from a single plant in Madhya Pradesh into the second-largest SSP producer in India by capacity through a series of acquisitions and greenfield expansions, before refocusing entirely on its fertilizer and chemical core by exiting non-core businesses like soya processing. The recurring approach that explains the company is a commitment to backward integration - making its own sulphuric acid to control costs and quality - and a deep-rooted focus on serving small and marginal farmers with an economical product, a philosophy championed by its chairman, a long-time Fertiliser Association of India board member.
Business segments
Two deeply intertwined engines - a fertilizer business that is the company’s reason for being, and a chemicals business that exists primarily to feed it, while also selling to outside industries - together forming a vertically integrated whole.
1. Single Super Phosphate fertilizer: the core engine serving India’s small farmers
The company makes and sells a low-cost, multi-nutrient fertilizer under the ‘Khaitan’ and ‘Utsav’ brands, with the second-largest SSP production capacity in India, reaching farmers through a network of nearly 950 dealers.
- A “poor farmer’s fertilizer” - SSP is the lowest-priced fertilizer per kg, delivering 16% phosphate and 11% sulphur along with calcium, magnesium, and micronutrients like boron, magnesium, manganese, iron, and copper, making it an economical alternative to imported fertilizers like DAP for crops such as oilseeds, pulses, and sugarcane.
- Massive, multi-location production base - total installed capacity stands at 11.1 lakh metric tonnes across six plants in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Gujarat, though operations at Jhansi and Malwan are currently shut because high sulphur prices and freight subsidy rules made them unviable.
- Government subsidy unlocks demand - SSP is subsidized under the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) scheme, with the company receiving a fixed per-kg rate for phosphorus and sulphur only after a sale is recorded by a retailer on a Point of Sale device linked to the national ‘e-Urvarak’ platform, a system covering roughly 2.3 lakh retail outlets.
- A seasonal business at the mercy of monsoons - fertilizer consumption is concentrated in just a few months around the Kharif and Rabi planting seasons, so the company’s performance swings with the weather, while its reliance on imported rock phosphate and sulphur exposes it to volatile global prices and currency moves.
2. Chemicals and specialty chemicals: the captive acid backbone with an external business on the side
The company makes sulphuric acid primarily to feed its own SSP plants, capturing waste heat to generate its own power, and sells the surplus along with downstream specialty chemicals to industrial customers.
- More acid is made than sold - in the latest year, the company produced 1.83 lakh metric tonnes of chemicals but sold only 1.28 lakh metric tonnes externally, because a large portion is consumed captively within its own fertilizer manufacturing process.
- Specialty chemicals for industrial buyers - beyond plain sulphuric acid, the product line includes Oleum (used in dyes, explosives, and pharmaceuticals), Liquid Sulphur Trioxide (a key input for sulfonation), and Sodium Silico Fluoride (used in water treatment), sold directly and through co-operative societies and dealers.
- Free power from a hot reaction - the exothermic process of making sulphuric acid generates waste heat, which the company captures via steam turbines to produce up to 6.1 MW of electricity across its plants, reducing its dependence on the external power grid.
- Zero liquid waste - a Zero Liquid Discharge system recycles 100% of the effluent generated at all units back into the SSP mixer as process water, so no liquid waste leaves the plants.
Group structure and partners
The company is a standalone, promoter-led entity with no subsidiaries or joint ventures, listed on both major Indian stock exchanges.
- A family-run board - Chairman and Managing Director Mr. Shailesh Khaitan has led the company since 1984 and served on the Fertiliser Association of India board since 2007, while his son, Mr. Utsav Khaitan, serves as Joint Managing Director overseeing day-to-day operations.
- No corporate web - the company has no holding company, subsidiaries, associate companies, or joint ventures, operating as a single legal entity.
- Clean exit from non-core past - the company completely exited the soya processing division by selling the plant and machinery of its solvent extraction plant in Ratlam, a deal finalized in May 2022.
- A solar deal that never materialized - a planned 26% stake purchase in KRSKA Solar Private Limited for captive solar power was terminated because conditions precedent were not met, so no funds were invested and the company holds no interest in the solar entity.