Food and Agri-tech
At Trilegal, we have developed extensive domain expertise with a special focus on start-ups in the agri-tech space. We routinely assist businesses in this sector with corporate transactions, policy advisory, regulatory compliance, drafting of technology contracts, commercial contracts, restructuring, fundraising, data protection rights, and data security.
Agriculture in India is undergoing a paradigm shift with a focus on technology adoption as a means to improve crop productivity, quality, farmer income and overall efficiency of the food supply chain. As per news reports, the sector is projected to become a USD 34-billion market by 2027, from USD 4 billion currently. In particular, the Union budget 2023-24 has provided much-needed impetus and sprung renewed interest in the food and agricultural sector from entrepreneurs and investors.
- Creation of a Digital Ecosystem:The government has proposed the creation of a “digital ecosystem of agriculture” by leveraging technology to create innovative agri-focused solutions. Announcements have been made to set up: (a) a decentralised storage capacity to help farmers store their produce and realise remunerative prices through sale at appropriate times; (b) an electronic trading portal, the National Agriculture Market (eNAM) that creates an integrated national market for agricultural commodities for providing quality driven price discovery to the farmers and; (c) a national level digital extension platform to help extension workers upskill and deliver curated content to the farmers. The government has also proposed the digitisation of village-level credit cooperative societies known as Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and the creation of digital public infrastructure as an open-source public good to strengthen the delivery of information, services and inputs to the last-mile farmer.
- Increased Financial Support and Global Competitiveness:To catalyse increased entrepreneurial and technological interest in the sector, the government had tied up with several knowledge partners and agri-business entrepreneurs for training, developing and providing financial support through the ‘agriculture accelerator fund’. The increase in the agriculture credit target for the fiscal year 2023-24, specific budget allocations to incentivise scaling up of food processing capacity, support for Indian food brands abroad to become global leaders, and laying down guidelines for providing financial assistance in purchase and rental of agriculture drones are other such initiatives being undertaken.
- Focus on Public-Private Partnerships:The government seeks to tap the synergies typical of public-private partnerships and has initiated pilot projects with various market players in the agricultural supply chain to assist farmers with optimising value from their yield.
At Trilegal, we have developed extensive domain expertise with a special focus on start-ups in the agri-tech space. Our lawyers keep abreast with the latest opportunities and challenges in the agri-tech sector. We have assisted agri-tech start-ups, both financial and strategic investors, corporate landowners, innovators, and small and multinational firms with corporate transactions, policy advisory, regulatory compliance, drafting of technology contracts, commercial contracts, restructuring, fundraising, data protection rights, and data security. As food/agri-tech innovations often deploy diverse technologies, we bring together our cohesive multidisciplinary and multijurisdictional teams of qualified experts who offer well-rounded legal advice.
Some of our clients in this sector include –
- Cargill
- Heineken International
- Hindustan Lever
- IDH Farmfit
- LAD Promoters Pvt Ltd
- LDC Venture
- Lightrock India Fund I
- MTR Foods
- Ninjacart (63Ideas Infolabs)
- Nutreco
- Wilmar International
