What Elico does

Elico Ltd. is a Hyderabad-based, privately held Indian manufacturer of electronic analytical instruments founded circa 1964. The company designs, develops, and manufactures a broad portfolio across five product categories: spectroscopy (Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometers, NIR, UV-VIS, Visible, Fluorescence), electrochemistry (water and soil quality analyzers, pH/EC/DO meters, ion analyzers), liquid chromatography (HPLC isocratic and binary systems), online analyzers (the Aquasense family for water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants, and chlorine/turbidity), and Lab on Wheels (turnkey mobile testing laboratories mounted in vehicles). Core offerings include the PE 149 e-Jal portable multiparameter water quality analyzer (handheld, GPS and cloud-enabled, integrating potentiometric, conductivity, colorimetric, and nephelometric technologies), the PE 100 e-Mrittika multiparameter soil analyzer (with crop-specific fertilizer recommendations via SMS and mobile app), the SL 299 portable NIR spectrophotometer, and the BL 222 bio-spectrophotometer.

The company's commercial model is built on direct, quote-based enterprise and government sales, primarily to Indian central and state government programs. Its flagship customers include the Government of India's Jal Jeevan Mission (under whose Drinking Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance Framework e-Jal and the Mobile Water Testing Lab are officially showcased), the Government of Odisha Agriculture Department, the Government of Bihar Agriculture Department, and the Government of Haryana, with an international G2G precedent in Nepal. Revenue is generated through hardware sales of instruments, recurring sale of reagents and consumables tied to the installed base, turnkey mobile laboratory solutions (vehicle integration, equipment, deployment services), and a Technology Services line covering product engineering, R&D services, software development, and OEM/ODM engagements. Pricing is quote-based with multi-year contract cadence, and the GTM motion is enterprise field sales supported by an India-wide service network, a toll-free support line, and active participation in government tenders and industry events including G20-B20 summits.

Elico is led by Chairman & Managing Director Ramesh Datla, with DVS Raju listed as founder. The company has no disclosed institutional investors, no M&A activity, no public funding rounds, and no disclosed parent company or subsidiaries in the input data. Notable recognition includes the Frost & Sullivan India Growth Leadership Award in Laboratory Analytical Instruments (2012) and the Jal Jeevan Mission–Startup India Innovation Challenge win (2021).

Name

Elico

Legal name

Elico Ltd.

Website

https://elico.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

1964

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Elico designs, develops, and manufactures electronic analytical instruments including spectrophotometers, portable water and soil quality analyzers, HPLC systems, and mobile testing laboratories. It sells primarily through direct tenders to Indian central and state government agencies, particularly the Jal Jeevan Mission and state agriculture departments.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scientific Analytical Instruments

NAICS

Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516), Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing (334519), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451)

SIC

Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)

akta.pro primary industry

Test & Measurement Equipment (Oscilloscopes, DAQ, signal analyzers, calibration benches) (IMAGAFAC)

Keywords

• Analytical instruments
• Water quality testing
• Soil testing equipment
• Spectrophotometers manufacturing
• Mobile testing laboratories

Headquarters

HQ city

Hyderabad

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Scientific Instrumentation Sales: Sale of analytical instruments including spectrophotometers, AAS, HPLC systems, water quality analyzers, and electrochemistry equipment. One-time hardware sales with potential for aftersales service contracts.
2. Reagents and Consumables: Sale of reagents, tablet reagents, and field test kits for water and soil testing. Ongoing consumable supplies for installed instrument base.
3. Mobile Laboratory Solutions: Turnkey mobile laboratory solutions including vehicle integration, equipment installation, and deployment services for government and institutional customers.
4. Technology Services: Product engineering, R&D services, software development, and OEM/ODM services for specialized analytical instrument development.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Elico designs, develops, and manufactures electronic analytical instruments for scientific and industrial testing, spanning spectroscopy (AAS, NIR, UV-VIS), electrochemistry (water and soil quality analyzers, pH/EC/DO meters), liquid chromatography (HPLC), and online multi-parameter analyzers (Aquasense series). The company also produces turnkey mobile water and soil testing laboratories integrated into vehicles for field deployment, plus reagents and OEM/ODM technology services. Customers are primarily government departments, public institutions, and industrial buyers across India and select international government-aid programs.

Product overview

Elico offers a comprehensive portfolio of scientific analytical instruments organized into five main product categories: Spectroscopy (AAS, NIR, UV-VIS spectrophotometers), Electrochemistry (water/soil quality analyzers, pH/EC/DO meters), Liquid Chromatography (HPLC systems), Online Analyzers (Aquasense series), and Lab on Wheels (mobile testing laboratories). The core products include the PE 149 e-Jal™ portable multiparameter water quality analyzer (handheld device with GPS and cloud connectivity), PE 100 e-Mrittika™ multiparameter soil analyzer (provides fertilizer recommendations), SL 299 NIR spectrophotometer (for agriculture/food analysis), and mobile laboratories (vehicular units for on-site testing). These instruments serve water quality testing, agriculture/soil analysis, food & beverages, academia/research, and homeland security applications. The company emphasizes integration of multiple measurement technologies (potentiometric, colorimetric, nephelometric, electrical conductivity) in single devices and connectivity features including GPS, NFC, cloud storage, and mobile app integration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• e-Jal: Portable Multiparameter Water Quality Analyzer for testing key water testing parameters including pH, EC, TDS, and temperature. Features GPS tracking, cloud storage, and supports tablet reagents.
• e-Mrittika
• Aquasense
• AQUASpec

Products and services

• PE 149 (e-Jal) Portable Multiparameter Water Quality Analyzer Handheld portable water quality analyzer integrating potentiometric, electrical conductivity, colorimetric, and nephelometric measurement technologies. Measures pH, EC, TDS, turbidity, and temperature with 5-inch display, GPS tracker, cloud storage, USB/Bluetooth/NFC connectivity, and support for tablet reagents. Tests more than 25+ chemical parameters per APHA, DIN, and BIS methods. Targeted at government water-quality monitoring programs and field surveillance.
• PE 100 (e-Mrittika) Multiparameter Soil Analyzer Portable soil analysis instrument determining pH, conductivity, nitrate, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and other soil parameters. Provides crop- and soil-specific fertilizer recommendations via SMS and a mobile app, with NFC tag integration and cloud data storage. Targeted at state agriculture departments and soil-testing programs.
• SL 299 Near Infrared Spectrophotometer Compact, portable NIR spectrophotometer with 900nm-1700nm wavelength range and InGaAs detector for quantifying moisture, fat, and proteins in agricultural products, animal feeds, and food quality testing including fruit ripeness analysis.
• PE 138 Water Quality Analyser Microprocessor-based multi-parameter water quality analyzer measuring pH, EMF, temperature, electrolyte conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), dissolved oxygen (DO), colorimetric, and turbidity parameters. Targeted at laboratories and water-treatment monitoring applications.
• PE 147 Dissolved Oxygen Analyser Precision dissolved oxygen analyzer with direct measurement of pX (activity), pH, ORP, EMF, concentration, and temperature. Features programmable calibration up to 10 points with memory backup and RTD probe.
• BL 222 Bio-Spectrophotometer Bio-spectrophotometer with 7-inch touch screen and built-in PC, offering wavelength scanning from 190-1100nm and spectral bandwidth under 1.8nm. Designed for DNA/RNA quantitation, protein analysis (Bradford, Lowry, BCA methods), bacterial culture monitoring, and kinetic assays in life-science and biotechnology laboratories.
• Aquasense Online Multi-Parameter Water Analyzer Series Automated multi-parameter online water analyzers covering water treatment plants (Aquasense WTP), sewage treatment plants (Aquasense STP), chlorine and turbidity monitoring (Aquasense RC+TU), and a flexible modular monitoring platform (Aquasense SENCON). For continuous, online process analysis by municipal and industrial water and wastewater operators.
• HL 459 HPLC Isocratic System Isocratic high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system for liquid-chromatography separation and analysis applications, supporting pharmaceutical, chemical, and biochemical laboratory workflows.
• HL 460 HPLC Binary System Binary gradient HPLC system for liquid-chromatography separation and analysis applications, supporting pharmaceutical, chemical, and biochemical laboratory workflows.
• Mobile Water Testing Laboratory Automated mobile water testing laboratory mounted in vehicles for real-time water-quality surveillance in rural and urban areas. Features real-time sample analysis at site, scalable configurable parameters, GPS tracking, RFID geo-tagging, analysis time under 10 minutes, and automatic data transmission to a centralized server. Deployed by state governments under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
• Mobile Soil Testing Laboratory Air-conditioned mobile vans equipped with soil-testing equipment for field testing in agriculture applications. Provides on-site soil-fertility analysis without requiring samples to be transported to static laboratories, used by state agriculture departments to reach farmers in remote districts.
• Elico Water Reagents and Field Test Kits (FTK) Reagents (powder reagents) and Field Test Kits (FTK) for use with Elico analytical instruments, providing ongoing consumable supplies for the installed instrument base in water-testing and laboratory applications.
• Elico Technology Services (Product Engineering and R&D, Software Development, OEM/ODM) Technology services covering product engineering and R&D, software development, and OEM/ODM services for specialized analytical instrument development, with defined engagement and business models. Targeted at instrument brands, engineering teams, and OEMs seeking embedded analytical platforms, custom hardware/software development, or contract manufacturing.

Quantifiable outcome

• Can test more than 25+ chemical parameters as per APHA, DIN, BIS methods
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• NIT WarangalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerELICO signed MOU with National Institute of Technology (NIT) Warangal for joint research projects. Collaboration aimed at advancing analytical instrumentation technology through academic-industry partnership.
• Jal Jeevan Mission, Govt of IndiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerElico's products (Portable Multiparameter Water Quality Analyzer e-Jal and Automated Mobile Water Testing Laboratory) have been showcased and recommended as part of the Drinking Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance Framework by Jal Jeevan Mission.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Hach (Xylem): Hach is the global leader in water quality testing instruments (spectrophotometers, portable and online analyzers, reagents), serving the same municipal water, industrial and field-testing customers as Elico and competing head-to-head for Jal Jeevan Mission-class tenders.
• LaMotte Company: LaMotte is a US manufacturer of water and soil testing instruments, kits and reagents with a long product portfolio that mirrors Elico's combination of spectrophotometers, handhelds and consumables for environmental and agricultural testing.
• Tintometer / Lovibond Water Testing: Lovibond manufactures portable colorimetric water testing kits, spectrophotometers and reagents — a direct product overlap with Elico's e-Jal handheld, FTK field kits and reagent lines, both targeting drinking-water compliance testing globally.
• Palintest: Palintest makes portable water quality testing equipment and reagent-based kits used by water utilities and field operators — closely comparable to Elico's PE149 and FTK product lines in use case and customer profile.
• SEAL Analytical (formerly Systea): SEAL Analytical produces continuous flow and discrete analyzers for water and wastewater labs — a like-for-like competitor in the wet-chemistry/online analyzer category where Elico's Aquasense product family sits.
• Metrohm: Metrohm is a leading manufacturer of titration, ion chromatography and electrochemistry instruments — its water quality analyzer portfolio overlaps with Elico's electrochemistry and pH/EC product lines for laboratory and process customers.

Broad incumbents

• Shimadzu: Shimadzu is a global analytical and measuring instrument manufacturer with UV-Vis/NIR spectrophotometers and chromatography systems that compete with Elico's spectroscopy and HPLC lines for the same Indian academic and QA/QC customers.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific: Thermo Fisher's Analytical Instruments division (spectroscopy, chromatography, water analysis) competes broadly with Elico's full instrument portfolio; it is a much larger incumbent frequently seen in regulated Indian government and academic bids.
• Agilent Technologies: Agilent manufactures spectroscopy, chromatography and mass spectrometry instruments widely used in Indian pharma, food and environmental labs — a broad incumbent whose atomic absorption and UV-Vis lines directly compete with Elico's SL 270 and AAS products.
• Merck (MilliporeSigma) Water Testing: Merck's water testing business (Spectroquant, Millipore) sells spectrophotometric reagent kits and instruments for water analysis — overlapping with Elico's reagent business and AQ-Check style consumables for water testing laboratories.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/elicoltd
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/elico-limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Elico