What’s going on with Millat?
After a very good year by its own standards, things are a little cloudy
M
illat Tractors had a very good year even by its own standards. The company’s unconsolidated net profit after tax stood at Rs5.78 billion in fiscal year 2021, which was an astonishing growth of 169% year-on-year. And already in the first quarter of 2022, its earnings grew by 16% yearon-year to Rs1.3 billion. To help place these numbers in context, it helps to have some context on the tractor industry in Pakistan. According to the Pakistan Economic Survey of 2020-2021, there are only 634,000 tractors operating in Pakistan. This, however, is a significant increase from when there were only 35,700 tractors in 1975, 157,300 tractors in 1985, 252,000 tractors in 1994, and
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401,700 tractors in 2004. Granted, this is an improvement from the decades before, this still means that the penetration of tractors in Pakistan is only 0.09 horsepower per hectare of cultivable land. Compare that to the required power of 1.4 horsepower per acre. How important is agriculture to Pakistan? The sector contributes 18.5% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employs 38.5% of the national labour force. Even our state emblem is made up of four crops: jute, cotton, wheat, and tea. Yet for a country that prides itself on its agricultural base, we do not have enough of the one machine one really needs: a tractor. According to the Pakistan Economic Survey of 2019-2020, there are only 634,000 tractors operating in Pakistan. This, however, is a significant increase from when
As a result, this has led to cheap tractors when compared to tractors around the world, but is still unaffordable for the majority of farmers in Pakistam there were only 35,700 tractors in 1975, 157,300 tractors in 1985, 252,000 tractors in 1994, and 401,700 tractors in 2004. Granted, this is an improvement from
