j

Journal of Scientific & Industri al Research Vol. 58, February 1999, pp 89-95

The Plant Tissue Culture Scene in India : [II] Financial Considerations for Technology Sustainability*

SA Bapat and S H Iqbal **

National Centre For Cell Science, NCCS Complex, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411 007, Maharashtra, India

Received: 06 August 1998

As a par! of ou r ongoing study on the various interacti ons of the plant ti ssue cu lture (PTC) industry and as a part of a project (under CSIR Emeritus Scienti st Scheme), on "Study and Development of Models for Transfer of Ti ssue Culture Technologies", th e influence of financial policies on the PTC industry has been investigated . We have interacted wi th several financial managers as well as industry personnel, in order to iden tify the barriers as well as possible solutions in order to overcome the limiting factors. This communicat ion is a brief compil at ion of the views expressed by these two groups . The PERT (Project Evalu ati on and Review Techniques) network analysis for a test case of estab li shment of a micro propagation project fu rther illustrates the influence of the fi nancial aspects of the PTC industry. The implications of these analyses may provide guidel ines in formul ating effecti ve mechanisms for the sustenance of the industry.

Introduction

Several biotechnologies in the last few decades, have

had an impact on the soc ioeconomi c conditions of man­

kind. Our prev ious paper l identified the various inter­

faces at which problems are being rea li zed in the plant

ti ssue culture (PTC) industry and presented detail ed data

related to the gaps between the industry and R & D

institutes that essentially arise due to mis-communica­

tion. In a nutshe ll , the challenge to the in stitutionali zed

research on technology development is to increase the

level of competence for the integration of their process

protocols with the components of the production system.

However, apart from the technology development

interface between instituti onali zed research and the in­

dustry, a further study of the ro les of the other interac­

ti ons viz. those of the industry with the government ,

financial and market sectors was felt to be the obvious

next area of ou r research. The paper attempts to present

the influence of fin ancial polic ies on the PTC industry.

The results of these analyses may provide guidelines in

formulating effecti ve mechanisms for the sustenance of

the industry.

*Communication No. NCCS-SP-98-0 I ** Author for correspondence

Methodology

. Communications were sought with the industry as

well as financ ial instituti ons. Separate sets of question­

naires were structured fo r each group to obtain the

relevant detail s. Discussions with some of the respon­

dents were also useful in e lic iting a clearer picture of the

requirements. The aspects on which communications were initi ated

with the industry included : the volume of capital inves t­ment made by the promoters, the percentage of refi­

nance, rates of interest appl ied, cost remuneration of the

product along with reasons for the same, problems in

sanctioning loans for setting up a ti ssue culture unit,

requirements and possible changes that could be made

in the current financing policies, etc. The issues covered

with financial institutions included : deta iling of the

norms for the sanctioning of projects based on criteria

such as project cost, promoter's stake, techno-economic considerations to be applied to the project, technical

assessment authority for such projec ts, repayment

schedules projected; as well as other issues such as problems faced in recovering dues from errant firms and

opinion of the financial experts on the problems cur­

rently being faced by the industry.' The inputs from the industrial and financ ial inst itu­

tions were then further analysed with the basic cons id­

eration that cost is always assoc iated with the duration

90 J SCI IND RES VOL 58 FEBRUARY 1999

of any act ivity. In anal ys ing the financial influences on the PTe industry, we have primarily considered the vari ous activities in volved in the estab li shment of a putative micro propagation unit, which served as a test case. These activities were then subjected to PERT ( Project Evaluation and Review Techniques) network analys is2 in order to arri ve at the expected durati on and variance of each activity and overall expected durati on for project executi on and the financial implications therein . Only then cou ld the opinions of the industry and financial instituti ons be understood in terms of cost objectives of a micro propagation project. The underly­ing assumption in the tcst case is that the tissue culture produc ti on technology and the marketing strategies have already been put in place; detail s regarding delays in these act ivities do not fa ll under the purview of the current paper.

Results and Discussion

J Industry opinions The major bone of contenti on in the industry seems

to be the reluctance on the part of the Government to recognise the micro propagati on industry as an agricul ­tured based industry. It is now widely recogni sed and even accepted th at the commerc iali sa tion of micro propagation results in the production of a large number of "true-to- type," di sease-free seed stock with restorcd vigour, whi ch in turn , translates into increased produc­ti vity fo r the farmer. This activity shoul d thereby be handled in a manner similar to the large-scale producti on and avai labi lity of hybrid seeds ach ieved th roughout the country and which was one of the driving forces along wit h others like improved irri gati on, th at brought about the Green Revo lution inlhe sixties. The industry opines that unlcs~ th is rea lisat ion dawns upon the "powers th at matter" to fur ther popu larise ti ssue cultu re products and reach out to the farmer, the real ;ldvantages of the kchnology c,[nnot be reaped, making the en tire efforts taken so far by the entrepreileurs and technologists, fut ile.

The es till1 Jtes of the project co. t of the developme nt . . . , ) 1 I '

of tl1l: miCro propagation lI1C1Llst ry , :l11( t lc recent 03t·\ cn !lccted by li S e~; labl: ~;I1 thar revenue cost:-; and invest­l1lC nl ill the inclwlry are quite high. Thi~ , aic1l1g wilh the ! i.,L,; ;[:->",k'i ak'd with the producti on of hi ghly peri~hablc !" (lJ Lil: 1-; . ir' !1 f! g,':q ~,i i 011 p,-Ti0(1:-; as \'lei I as \ he un "novin a'. cc pt;,!);! it y or t h\..' prudllc is ill the m;; rl, ct arc a II 1Inc(" '­ta ;n ,-'GIICerls til at dcter eil l investor ill tlli .' fie ld. Hence, s '- ~ un n .~ r f" lliancc" ,i,\ e,lriv ; t. .. ;lo<;si h!( duri n ~; project

commiss ioning, and at the lowest poss ible rates can become a major priority for the entrepreneur, rather than the technical considerations and inputs required for pro­duction .

The industry personnel have responded almost unan­imously on its requirements of financial inputs needed to sustain the activity until market acceptability. These include:

• Long-term Finallcial Assistance fo r the Producing Uni t(s) The need fo r x tended financial assistance pri mari Iy

ari ses from the ex perience of the industry that even today, no techno logies are available in such a state that they can be directl y translated into production with immediate effec t. Additional time and revenu es are re­quired for thi s transiti on to take place; this in turn , can ensue only after the production fac ility has been created wi th the sanct ioned loans. Thus, the loa n repay ment has to be resc heduled in view of lower producti on (and sa les) of pl ants in the initi al few years , before it stabi­li ses. Even in the case of es tab li shed micro propagat ion units today, costing of plants is not remunerative; one of the major reasons for which is the fact that the installed capac ity of the unit cannot be full y utili sed due to technology and market co-ord inati on prob lems. 11 thus becomes a constant battle against time for the ent repre­neur to reach a phase when repayment of borrowed capital can be in iti ated.

• So.fi Loans with M(/rg ined Interes/s SllUu/d be Extended to tIle Industry Consider;llg Tissue Culture a Priority Sector The exc lmion of tile plant ti ssue culture act ivity from

the ag ricultural sector virtua ll y den ies to thi s industry, va rious types of subsidies /access to financi ng schemes/ tariff concess ions that cou ld not on ly make the differ­ence: in sustai ning or clos ing down of a vi able activ it y, but also reflect on an upliftment of the agric ultural economy of the cou ntry in the long run . The repre­sentat ives (almost 95 per ce nt ) from the indus try de­mand that the mi cro propagation units be considered a hit,h-priority ac t i vi ty for seed product ion and accoru­ingly, receive cap ital flillcling ai l1larg i n~11 interes t r,lte, from the financial institution s ,, ~ a prol1lol iona i meas lIn; for the industry.

Anl)thcr aspect kr·cin. i, t h ~ lt the ag ri L'lil tl! :C: fil1 ,lJ i<: ­

iiig in "titLlt ions do no t h.l ve a p8!ic)' or d:rl'Cl financf'. hut re finance l1li crn propagat ion units . Thus, eve n though c<lp ital (, ,111 be accessed lJlldc r Ilk' rundlf1 .~ ~l v ail-

J

BAPAT & IQBAL: PLANT TISSUE CULTURE SCENE IN INDIA 9 1

able for the agricultural sector, the advantage of low interest rates is not reali sed by the entrepreneur, but onl y serves to decrease the ri sk of investment for the com­mercial fin ancing instituti ons.

• Delays in Sanctioning o.lLoans A rough estimate of the time required for loan sanc­

tion (as reported by the industry), is 12 to 24 months. Most units are forced to bear such delays stoicall y and hope to deal favourabl y with the changed marketability of the products despite the uncertain and continually shi fting time-frames of producti on. Delays are espe­ciall y true in cases where projects are refinanced by agri cultural fi nancing instituti ons; the same project is doubly appraised, once by the commercial bank and again by its agricultural coun terpa rt. A reason for these delays that has been arri ved at and quoted by most entrepreneurs (about 90 per cent) app lying for loans is the absence of quali fied persons in the fin ancial institu ­tions to appra ise the project and appreciate the techn ical inconveniences in the de lay of essenti als .

• Increasing Crop Loans Gil'en by the Bonks to Farmers Using TC Plal/tlets TC plantlets are more expensive than the conven­

tional planti ng materi als, a lthough in the long run , a

cost-benefit analys is wil l favour TC plantl ets. Since it is an immense and somewhat impract icable effort for each and every com mercial unit to promote their cause to a

wide secti on of farmers , :tn increase in the ex isti ng farmer / agricultural culti va ti on support sc hemes spe­cifically .vi th tissue cult ure seed material will achieve this very easily and with min imal addit iona l in puts.

• inciustlY R&D Should be F{(nded by the Government to a Grea ter Exten t than at Present The lack of cOl1lp l et~ production tec hnology pack­

ages in R&D inst ituti on:-. has led to thi s conc lusion. It therefore becomes es ')cntial fo!' the inJustry to establish in-housc R&D which is a co~rl y anu lengthy propos i­ti on for detail ing process parameters. However, this demand. to a ccrt(]in ex ten t, also reflects a lack of awareness on part 01 the inuu<;try; :;omc government depart men ts : tS well as financia l i n stitution~4 regu larl y invite clnc! fund projects in the R &D un its of the i n du ~lry .

2 Filial/cia! Illstitllt ioJIU/ Opi/liOll.\·

;\s a !ogiL'a! nex t .,tep. the; hi -tech :l~ribusi nc~ s di 1--; ions of i ; na nc I ali nsti till iUll ~: \w rc Lonl acted. These de:.!i ';: idl the t'ina!lCing of 11 01. (>:11) li"SlIC CUlture companies,

but also related agribusinesses such as drip irri gati on, fl oriculture, mushroom culti vati on, poultry manage­ment, and farming. Thus these indi viduals could give an unbi ased opinion of the current financial status of the PTC industry, limitations faced by the same in the market, potential of the technology in compari son to the other agriculture related businesses, etc. The opinions of these business managers regarding the industry have been as follows:

• Reasonable Availabili~)I o.f Finances f or the Industry The quantum of the loan sancti oned primaril y by the

instituti on as well as in refin ance schemes from agricu l­tural financial instituti ons varies with the project , the bac kground of the in ves tor, the debt: equity ratio and the pay-back period according to the report submitted for sancti on. Moreover, based on the feasibility and the tec hnical capabilities projec ted in the latter, the loan is either processed for sancti on or is rejected. The rates of interest fo r such loans are gu ided by RBI instructions and vary from bank to bank based on the PLR (Prime Lending Rates). Broadl y speaking, the rate of in terest ranges bet ween /4- 18.5 per cent , depending on the tota l borrowings . The financial institu tions hold the view that these rates, when compared to the cu rrent i ndu ~ tria l

lending rates (approx imately ranging between 20-24 per cent), shoul d be considered as being reasonable.

• Reasonable Subsidization for the Indllstry Polic ies targeted spec ifica ll y fo r the ti ssue cu lture

ind ustry or generall y fo r the comme rcialisati on of biotec hnology processes do ex ist. Un fortunate ly, the entrepreneurs in the fie ld are not sufficientl y informed about these resources and hence fa il to avail of the ir benefi ts. Some of the schemes include:

(i) The soft loans made availab le by the National Horti cult ura l Boa rd Financia l Assist a nce Schemes-l,

(ii) The 'Techno logy Development Fund ' and 'Pro­gramme Aimed at Techn ological Self Reliance' (PA TSER) schemes by the DSIR (Department of Sc ientific & Industria l Resea rch) tn "encour­age modern isation and up-gradati on of technol­ogy , product mix ratio ldisation and C'(P('rt promot ion",

Technol o ~v til1 a ll c in ~ clnd d(~\ie i (ln ·, ll e~nt

schemes ti rin;mcial illSiillltiol1 s4 , <tIlJ . ~ ., ( i i i)

Capital subsidy from the (Jo \,ernlilent of Indi a.

92 J SCI IND RES VOL 58 FEBRUARY 1999

• Overestimation of the Capacity of the Technology In their eagerness to get loans sancti oned, most entre­

preneurs either by themselves or by being mi sled, pro­ject over-optimistic estimates of production and sales. Considering the wide range of plant species being com­mercially propagated today, it becomes di fficult even fo r a technical expert assessing the project, to identify the true commercial potenti al of a particul ar system(s) . Only when producti on ensues, do the limitati ons of the system manifes t themsel ves, often as a surpri se even to the entrepreneur.

Another consideration along the same lines is the producti on of a coordinated product mi x of more than one plant species fo r max imum resource util isation. Although most labs do attempt to produce several plant spec ies, hardly any of them achieve a good balance of product mix and production scale in co-ordination with the market demand . The trend at present is such that the fac il ity is stretched to exceed its installed producti on poten ti al at the peak of one season, yet remains idle for signi ficant stretches of times once the main season is over. Thi s lack of co-ord ination between the market and technology needs to be fi ne- tuned; it is neither projected in the proposals sent for sancti on, nor is any leeway considered for the same.

• Uncertain Marketing Strategies The ideal market fo r tissue culture products initi all y,

was thought to be the export market wherein it was beli eved that the ava il ability of cheap labour in India would give the product a cost advantage. However, thi s has not turned out as ex pected due to several reasons. The lower production efficiency of the average worker in India neutralises the advantage of lower personnel costs. Infras tructural fac i I ities, electricity, chemica ls and consumables are either more expensive or of poor quality. Moreover, the export market is a fluid one requiring a fa irl y high level of market surveill ance which almost none of the new firms and very few of the old ones can affo rd to inves t in. The unpredictability of exports has fo rced many fi rms to target the domestic market, resulting in a loss of lead time in optimizing the production of new varieties / species ill vitro and market es tab lishment. Some companies have tried to market the same va ri eti es developed fo r export, but have achieved limi ted sales with thi s approach. The shifts in the time scales between the setting up of a uni t and achieving market sales of the volumes from those projected earlier in the proposals submitted fo r loan sanction, snowballs

the financial liabilities of the unit , very often to such an extent that it becomes impossible for the entrepreneu r to service the debt, thereby forcing closure.

• Lack of Technical Expertise in the Industry The plant tissue culture industry besides being highly

technical, is at present, in an extreme fl uid state requ ir­ing constant changes as per the market dictates. Techni­call y, what appear to be simple protoco ls, are to the rea l ex pert , not so simple at all , but need to be enhanced into several well-defined steps that further, will have to be integrated smoothly into the whole production system. Even in the cases where technologies have been es tab­li shed elsewhere, a capability to adapt and apply the same is requi red. Unfortunately, such add itional techni ­cal inputs are often overl ooked in the rush of other ac ti vities . There is also a dearth of technology managers in the industry who can apprec iate the need for opt imiz­ing production in as short a time as possible as well as for establi shing a continuous technical quality monitor­ing schedule encompass ing all stages of production, tak ing into consideration the perishable nature of the product. A failure or delay at these end-points reflects on market sales thereby upsetting the financial balance. Most of the companies who have faced such problems are struggling to ex ist.

3 PERT Network Analysis The vari ous acti vities considered in the es tabli shment

of a micro propagation unit as a test case, have been listed in Tab le I . The optimi stic, most likely and pessi­mistic duration values fo r each ac ti vity have been as­sumed based on our personal experience of the industry. The acti vities being considered include all the preli mi ­nary functi ons start ing from the preparation of a busi­ness pl an and deta i led report to be submitted for loan sancti on, to the tria l lab and greenhouse production of plantlets. As mentioned earl ier, the present test case does not consider any delays due to the non-performance of acquired technology; th is aspect has been covered in our prev ious paper I. Further, the considerat ions for estab­li shment of farmer demonstration plots, de lays due to a difficult / slow market acceptance, etc., whi ch would additi onally, reflec t adversely on the project length have not been included in this analys is as a separate study on these fac tors is in progress.

From the optimist ic, most likely and pess imist ic va l­ues of the time es timates of the various act ivities li sted in Table I , the expected duration and variance of each spec ific acti vity was computed. These values along with

,.

BAPAT & IQBAL: PLANT TISSUE CULTURE SCENE IN INDIA 93

the specific description of the individual activity, con­tributed to the design of the project network which is

depicted in Figure I. The critical path prior to the commencement of com-

mercial production is seen to extend from activity 0 ---7

I ---72 ---7 3 ---7 6 ---7 9 ---7 10---7 I I. The total project length

is equa l to the sum of the expected duration of each

activity over the above critical path , i.e. 41.83 months or 3.49 y, with a variance of 10.66 months and a standard

deviation of 3.26 months . Thus, for an entrepreneur who begins right from scratch, it is a total period of almost 3.5 y to get a "feel" of the production potential of the system. By then , under the current financial schemes, s/he is committed to production since repayment is expected to have begun. Hence, he/she invests a further period of at least 6-8 months in order to bring the product out in the market; which, in turn, increases the project length to 4.0 to 4.15 y. The entrepreneur thus gets trapped in a vicious financial cycle wherein repayment

Table I - Time estimates for PERT analysis of the establi shment of a commercial ti ssue culture production laboratory

No. Acti vi ty Time Estimates (in months)

Optimistic Most Pessimistic Expected Varianceb

likely duration"

0 M P

Preparation of business plan 3 5 12 5.83 2.25 (market surveys sourcing technology and land, etc.)

2 Preparation of detailed report 2 4 2.17 0.25 with identi fied product mixes and markets

3 Submission of project report and 6 9 24 11.00 9.00 sanctioning of term loan

4 Land acqui siti on 2 6 2.50 0.69

5 Finalisation of technical 2 6 2.50 0.69 collaboration

6 Civi l const ruction of lab 6 10 15 10.17 2.25

7 Greenhouse erection 2 4 10 4.67 1.78

8 Personnel training 3 5 3.00 0.44

9 Lab co mmissioning 1.5 3 1.67 0.11

10 Trial lab production (s tarter 6 9 12 9.00 1.00 culture establishment and 2-3 cyc les / subcultures

II Trial gleenhouse accl imat ization 2 4 6 4.00 0.44

Commercial Product ion 2

O+4M+P IP-O] f\'ote: a - Expected duration = 6 ; b - Variance = L-6

Figure I - Network showing the establ ishment of tri al production of a micro propagation product

94 J SCI INO RES VOL 58 FEBRUARY 1999

is ex pected to begin even before sa les revenues can be rea li sed.

The above analysis thereby serves to validate the first two requirements of the PTC industry viz. that , longer te rm fin ancial assistance for the produc ing ullit(s) should be sanctioned, and, soft loans with marginal interests should also be ex tended to the industry consid­ering tissue culture a priority sector. Essentially, all the requirements of the industry have been identified be­cause, in case of finan c ial borrowings from institutions at the current interest rates, it becomes imposs ible for a capital intensive activity like commercial micro propa­gati on to service the debt . Thus, some entrepreneurs (e ither the small-sca le producers or those already in an agri-related business) prefer to pitch in their own re­sources in order to avoid the above problems. However, thi s does not refl ect too well on the macro-economics of

the micro propagat ion business in the long run.

Conclusions On a financial consideration, the PTC technol ogy

seems to have been prematurely commerciali sed and, that too, on an accelerated track of expectations. Its major applications, being dependent on factors like es­tabli shment of a more stable technology base, creation of better micro-environment, market acceptance, etc. would probably be rea li sed .in a decade or so in the future. Currently, there appear to be two types of Indian

investors: (i) Those with foreign ti e-ups who imported technol­

ogy and es tabli shed buy-back arrangements with the ir collaborators. These were usually the large and more ambitious investors. Thi s type of rush in investment at an ea rl y point of a new business, seems to have been due to an exaggerated promotion of the techno logy than to sound financial producti ve reasoning. Al so, at that stage, it was also not very c lear to the entrepreneurs that the translation of the apparently s imple micro propagation process into sa les revenues would be a formidable task. The foreign co llaborators, in all probability , had no intention to own, much less, operate ti ssue culture com­panies in India ; they were merely trying to carry the ir Indian counterparts through to a stage at which they themselves would be assured of a steady supply of pl anting material of their own specifications. In this case, the strategy that proved to be most successful, has been a collaboration with the Indian in vestors possess­ing an ability / experience to raise funds through public stock offerings and create assets which would eventu­all y buyout the ir share of venture capital , usually at a

high profit. Currently , there seems to be a shift in incli­

nation of such type of investors towards the domestic markets .

(ii) Those re lying on Indian technologies, for these investors, PTC became a source of substantial in vest­

ments at a point when major product revenues from sales

were several years in the future. A cons ideration th at these entrepreneurs failed to reali se is th at the type of

venture financing that is essential for such projec ts (quite popular in the United States of America, where in

it has resulted in the rapid formation of several biotech

start-up companies in the last two decades5) virtually does not exist in India. Without the availability of such

venture capital, the expensive and long- term develop­ment needed in order to come out with a product which

would dominate for a long time, becomes a serious and

substantial drain on resources.

The recent experience has thus indicated that, in vest­

ments in agro-biotechnology have tended to be based

more on the effectiveness of appeals to institutional and

corporate finance on the stock markets. Many firms

which are genuinely into production acknowledge th at they over-estimated the time and technology and are

bracing themselves for continued low margins (or even losses) in their product lines for several years. Onl y

those with a stable financial backing can sustain to carry themselves into the future and continue to exist. The

entrepreneurship has thus been more fi nancial than tech­

no logically productive, geared to produce profits from

financial arrangements and stock market transaction. The future of the PTC industry if studied from purely

financial considerations appears uncertain and w ill

probably be politica ll y and soc ially shaped. The severity of these moments of uncertainty will determine it s sus­tenance. A heartening feature that e merged when the

opinions of the financial in stitutions were communi­cated to the industry, was an acceptance of the criti c ism, albeit with the following reservations:

(i) Certain ex periences of the past wi th agricultura l

systems have indeed , indicated th at subs idies bring about a deterioration in commitment. However, as far as PTC products are concerned, subsidies today are neces­sary and may be granted selectively as a means to introduce a good product until the adva ntages of the system are manifested in the minds of the end-users. Later on, the same may be discontinued.

(ii) Being a biological production system, PTC has its own complexiti es . However, industry personne l do ac­

cept that any technology developed should indeed stand

BAPA T & IQBAL: PLANT TISSUE CULTURE SCENE IN INDIA 95

to the tests of time on its worth . In the past, the technol­ogy base may have been poor; today, knowledge is in place with a large number of plant species, and is being implemented as best as current resources can permit.

(iii) The industry today wishes to counter the present uncertainties by means of the sanction of protectionist financial policies to tide over to a more promising future. It does seem necessary, to a certain extent, that in order to avoid a dilution of the efforts taken so far, fin ancial sustainability be brought about by means of more inno­vative policies than those currently available. A docu­mented suggestion3 is that the green house may be used to integrate into the nursery business until the time that ti ssue culture sales can be reali sed.

(iv) It is al so apparent that the various units are working ad hoc without meeting on a common base that would access them the maximum benefits possible. However, the various firms must do so in order to search for and find technological and organisational innova­tions. As the PTC industry has more to serve the country directly for improving agriculture and forestry produc­tivity, financial agencies too must attempt to popularise their schemes to the required extent. Such developments

in the future will lead to better chances of survival than at present.

Acknowledgements The authors wish to express their thanks and acknow­

ledge the financial assistance for this study under the CSIR-Emeritus Scientist Scheme. We also wish to thank the Director, Nat ional Centre for Cell Sciences, for extending all the facilities required for the study. Fur­ther, the views expressed openly by several officials from financial institutions as well as the tissue culture industry are duly acknowledged.

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