Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Borosil Q3 FY26 earnings conference call hosted by ICICI Securities. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes.
Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded.
I now hand the conference over to Mr. Manan Goyal from ICICI Securities.
Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Manan Goyal
Thank you. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
On behalf of ICICI Securities, we welcome you all to Q3 and nine-months FY26 results conference call of Borosil Limited. Today, we have with us senior management represented by Mr.
Shreevar Kheruka, Managing Director and CEO; Mr. Rajesh Kumar Chaudhary, Whole-Time Director; Mr.
Anand Sultania, CFO; Mr. Rituraj Sharma, President; and Mr.
Dhawal Patel, Head, Investor Relations. Now, I hand over the call to management for initial comments on the quarterly performance.
Then we will open the floor for Q&A session. Thank you, and over to you, Shreevar sir.
Shreevar Kheruka
Thank you, Mr. Goyal and ICICI Securities, for arranging this call.
I wish all of you a good good afternoon. The Borosil team is delighted to be communicating with you once again.
I'm pleased to inform you that Borosil Limited's board has approved the financial results for quarter three and nine-month year ended financial year ended '26 during our meeting on 5th February 2026. We have submitted our results and an updated presentation to the stock exchanges, and they're also available on our company's website for your review.
I'm pleased to share that Borosil Limited delivered a steady performance in the nine-month financial year '26 with consolidated revenues from operations at approximately INR 912 crores compared to INR 838 crores in the [same period?] .
This translates to about 9% year-over-year growth. Despite a challenging year, and we'll come to the reasons for the challenges shortly, the nine months growth highlights the nine months growth highlights the resilience of our business model, strong execution capabilities, and the continued trust of our customers, keeping us well positioned.
We also have a fantastic team that that ensures in spite of the odds driven by BIS, we are able to continue path ahead. We shall focus on the year-to-date performance rather than quarterly.
Reason for that, the Diwali this year was quite early as compared to the last year, and hence, the quarter three numbers are not comparable. This point was also noted in the last conference call in the in the last quarter.
Coming to the nine-month financial year '26 numbers at the consolidated level, the company recorded an operating EBITDA before investment income and one-time items of INR 145 crores compared to INR 140 crores in the same period last year, marking a 3.4% year-over-year increase. The operating EBITDA margin was slightly lower at 16.2% compared to 17% in the previous year.
We'll come to the reasons for that in a short period of time. Other operating income for the nine-month financial year '26 includes INR 18.1 crores from shared service support income compared to INR 12.6 crores in the same period last year, with the related expenses reflected under total expenses.
Profit before tax for the period was INR 86.2 crores compared to roughly the same INR 86.3 crores in the previous year. Last this year includes a one-time stamp duty expense provision reversal related to demerger of INR 7.2 crores, which is shown under the head other income, and also includes one-time expenses of INR 1.8 crores towards professional fees for a strategic assignment.
The income from investments on the other side is INR 2.6 crores, and royalty income is INR 7.6 crores in nine-month FY26. Last year during the same period, the company had recognized a one-time income on account of transfer of tenancy rights of one of its properties of INR 13.5 crores, with income from investments of around INR 4.0 crores.
Coming to depreciation, the depreciation increased by INR 5 crores, while finance costs declined by INR 6 crores, primarily due to debt repayment in nine-month FY26 as compared to last year. The gratuity and leave provision on account of the new labor code is approximately INR 4 crores in the nine-month FY26, which is shown as an exceptional item.
As the result, PAT rose marginally from INR 63.1 crores in nine-month FY20 in nine-month sorry, it rose marginally from INR 63.1 crores in last year's nine months versus INR 64.1 crores in nine-month FY26, reflecting a tepid growth of approximately 2% year-over-year. Another point on the balance sheet is the company generated robust cash flows of approximately INR 130 crores in the first nine months of this year.
Therefore, as a result of all of this, at a consolidated level, Borosil Limited maintains a strong balance sheet with investments, cash and bank balance of approximately INR 104 crores, and a total debt, including working capital, of INR 91 crores, resulting in a net cash position of roughly INR 13 crores. Coming to the operating performance, I want to start with a big trend that we have seen and we have been a part of is the shift from plastic to glass.
As we see in the results, India is shifting from plastic storage and plastic lunchboxes to glass storage and lunchboxes. It's not just a material shift, but also a change in usage behavior.
India's food storage and lunch habits undergoing a quiet, but decisive transformation. For decades, plastic lunchboxes and storage containers dominated Indian kitchens and office bags.
This was driven by affordability and convenience. Today, that dominance is being challenged by health awareness, hygiene expectations, and lifestyle evolution.
This marks a fundamental behavior change. Glass lunchboxes are becoming the preferred choice for office lunch, college meals, travel and long commutes, and a fitness-led routine.
Due to exposure to informative media and medical content, Indian consumers are far more aware of chemical leaching from plastics, stains, odors, and long-term health impact of various plastic lunchboxes available in the market. Glass, especially borosilicate glass, answers these questions with no chemical leaching, no reaction with organic food, and safe reheating.
Glass also offers visible hygiene. What you see is what you eat.
This transparency builds confidence, especially when food is consumed outside the home. Borosil's credibility of being the glass experts and scientific precision, along with the brand trust, makes it the favorable deciding factor for customers.
Borosil has customized the glass lunchbox and the storage range for daily Indian usage. This is reflected in the numbers that we will see on the growth in the glassware business.
India's INR 4,000 crore lunchbox market is seeing growing demand for safe, microwave-friendly, and sustainable products. Borosil stands out with its mass premium glass lunchboxes, offering durability, leak-proof design, and microwave compatibility, making them a hero product in our portfolio and a clear beneficiary of this structural trend.
Coming to numbers, as far as the category is concerned, Borosil has the glassware range has grown by an impressive 21% in nine-month FY26 compared to the same period last year, with a revenue of INR 231 crores compared to INR 191 crores in nine-month FY25. This reflects growing demand for glassware as well as trends which I've just spoken of.
Coming to Larah, Larah opalware segment recorded sales of INR 314 crores in this year nine months compared to INR 292 crores in the same period last year, which is a growth of 7%. Non-glassware segment, which encompasses a wide range of small home appliances, insulated bottles and flasks, cookware, and other kitchen essentials, posted a very tepid 2% increase in revenue.
Turnover for this segment reached INR 349 crores in nine-month FY26 compared to INR 341 crores in the same period last year. The main cause for this was the BIS compliance requirements, which have dramatically affected our Hydra bottle sales, as some of the channels or many of the channels are only accepting BIS-certified steel products.
As we have already communicated in the quarters past, our team has recognized these headwinds, and we have now the board has approved the project for upcoming manufacturing facility in Rajasthan for these bottles through our wholly owned subsidiary, Stilenes India Limited. This project includes three double-wall production lines for vacuum insulated steel flasks, bottles and containers, with an estimated capacity of close to 4 million units per year with an estimated capex of approximately INR 65 crores.
Estimated commercial production from two of these lines is expected by the end of quarter four of this year, that is in March, in the next month, and from the third line by the end of quarter one of financial year '27, subject to receipt of necessary approvals. This investment of INR 65 crores will be financed through a mix of equity, debt, and internal accruals.
The expansion reinforces our commitment to Make in India, will enhance cost efficiency and ensure BIS compliance, and of course, strengthen our supply chain resilience by reducing dependence on import, especially the rupee depreciation which we have all seen. During this nine-month period, the company has also strengthened its focus on cost discipline to improve operating efficiency.
Expenditure on advertising and sales promotion remained well controlled, declining from INR 62 crores to INR 60 crores in this in this nine-month FY26. Again, the main reason for this was the lack of availability of of the bottles, which therefore were not there was no reason to advertise, but we switched some of that advertising to glassware.
Power and fuel costs also saw very good reduction, falling from INR 64 crores to INR 56 crores over the same period, underscoring the effectiveness of our ongoing cost optimization initiatives and margin focus approach. The company is further investing INR 75 crores towards setting up a 20-megawatt ground mounted solar plant with a battery energy storage system that will further reduce the overall power cost, and this project is expected to be commissioned in this month itself, that is Q4 of FY26.
This phase three of solar shall take care about 65% of the overall power requirement of the company, which means that from as as a large power consumer, approximately 65% of our total power will come from renewable energy sources, which is also fantastic from a ESG perspective. The company's Jaipur manufacturing facility was also awarded the gold medal at the prestigious India Green Manufacturing Challenge 2025 by the International Research Institute for Manufacturing India.
This recognition underscores our continued commitment to sustainable manufacturing practices, energy efficiency, and environmentally responsible operations. The award reflects the strength of our process optimization initiatives and reinforces our focus on integrating sustainability with long-term operational and cost efficiency.
As a cornerstone of Borosil's long-term strategy is its Make in India commitment. In addition to the capex already outlined before, we also, as we all are aware, we operate one of the country's largest opalware facilities at 84 tons per day, which will soon be expanded to 90 tons per day, alongside a 25-ton-per-day borosilicate glassware plant that was commissioned in early 2024.
Building on this foundation, we are expanding our footprint with manufacturing facilities in some of the other areas that we have that that are in our product range. Between FY18 and FY25, the company has delivered strong and consistent growth, with revenues recording a CAGR of 23.5% over seven years, and EBITDA expanding at a faster 34.3% CAGR, reflecting operating leverage and thereby improved profitability.
Since the acquisition of Larah, which is the opalware brand, in 2016, revenue increased from INR 48 crores in that year to INR 384 crores in FY25, reflecting a 26% CAGR. Also, the non-glassware portfolio scaled from INR 23 crores in FY17 to INR 453 crores in FY25, achieving an exceptional 45% CAGR, underscoring the company's ability to successfully grow into new target categories as well as create long-term value.
In keeping with this, another point to note is that in May 2025, Government of India notified the safety of household, commercial, and similar electrical appliances, that is the Quality Control Order, 2025, marking a significant step towards enhancing consumer safety, quality assurance, and market regulation. Effective 19th March 2026, that is in the next month, the order mandates BIS certification for a broad range of electrical appliances, including coffeemakers and cooking ranges, hobs, ovens, and similar appliances.
Accordingly, the company is building up not only a domestic supply chain, but also advancing inventory to mitigate potential sales disruptions, as non-certified products will not be permitted for sale in India beyond the prescribed timelines. I'm happy to note that having the experience of the issues we have faced in our Hydra bottle category, we have been aware of this for quite some time now, and thereby have already moved a large part of our sourcing from international sourcing to local sourcing, and thereby do not expect any material impact of this QCO on our appliances range.
Borosil is leading India's shift towards healthier, eco-friendly kitchens by replacing plastic with microwave-safe glass and stainless steel products. Rising incomes and growing health awareness are driving adoption, while aspirational design, educational marketing, and a focus on hygiene and elegance are helping Borosil convert plastic users into glass and setting new standards for the modern kitchen.
Borosil's strong omnichannel presence spanning general trade, large-format stores, leading e-commerce and quick-commerce platforms, and growing B2B and export networks have driven deeper market penetration. With availability in over 24,000 retail outlets, we have built a well-diversified revenue base serving both urban consumers as well as rural ones.
Borosil's strong brand equity, diversified portfolio, and expanding manufacturing footprint have geared the company for long-term sustainable growth, both on the revenue as well as the profitability side. With that, I would now like to open the floor to any questions that you may have.
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session.
Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two.
Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles.
Our first question comes from the line of Bhavin Rupani from Investec. Please go ahead.
Bhavin Rupani
Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity.
First question related to Hydra. I understand we have 3.6 million or 4 million pieces of expansion coming in couple of quarters.
How should one understand ramp-up of this category, that is first, and second is what is our EBITDA margins that we are targeting from this category at peak utilization?
Shreevar Kheruka
As far as ramp-up is concerned, like any manufacturing facility, it may take 3 to 6 months to come to let's say at 100% capacity utilization. We hope to do it in 3 months, but with the experience, normally takes about 6 months to get there.
In the meantime, we also built the last year good domestic sourcing
Operator
Sorry to interrupt you, sir, but your voice is breaking.
Shreevar Kheruka
Let's try that again. Is it better now?
Can you hear me?
Operator
Comparatively better.
Shreevar Kheruka
Okay. As I was saying that I think that it may take between 3 and 6 months to ramp up the facility to 100% capacity utilization, but in the meantime, the team's been working very hard to develop a domestic sourcing ecosystem, and that's also delivered good results.
I do believe that between our own production as well as the domestic sourcing, we have a very good chance of going back to at least last year's level of Hydra in the coming year.
Bhavin Rupani
Any sense on peak EBITDA or ROCEs that we plan to clock from this plant?
Shreevar Kheruka
Quite frankly, I think this is a question I'd not like to take at the moment. The reason is that a lot of it depends on the achievement of the productivity as well as the material efficiency or the scrap rates, as is generally known.
Obviously, our target would be that we should generate a ROCE of 24%. That's our target for across our business, and therefore, this business is no different.
That would definitely be a target for us to achieve. Again, the first few months, there's likely to be higher scrap rates and lower manpower productivity as our team learns the process.
Obviously, we can never compromise quality while delivering the product to the customer. Keeping that in mind, I think I would stay away from that except giving you a target what is to be expected in the coming 6 months, I don't know, but long-term, we definitely will achieve this target of 24% return on capital on the investments we have made, which includes of course, the working capital as well, yeah.
Bhavin Rupani
Fine, and this 24% is pretax?
Shreevar Kheruka
Yes, pretax.
Bhavin Rupani
I understand we don't disclose subcategory-wise details on Hydra, but would it be possible to specify what growth or degrowth we have seen in this category as compared to last year? This is just to help us more appreciate it.
Shreevar Kheruka
30% degrowth.
Bhavin Rupani
30% degrowth, okay. Yeah.
Right.
Shreevar Kheruka
That's subject to material availability only, not demand. Demand's been strong, but we've not been able to supply.
Understood,
Bhavin Rupani
okay. Sir, next question is on small kitchen appliances.
We earlier in our calls indicated 50% of supply chain is now in India. How should one understand the progress of the same in this quarter?
Shreevar Kheruka
I think we are now inching towards 60, and I think by the end of the coming year, we'll be at 85%.
Bhavin Rupani
You had mentioned about incremental capex in this category as well from FY27 onwards. Any form, timelines, or any finalized figures that we have done during the quarter?
Shreevar Kheruka
Sorry, I didn't quite get the question.
Bhavin Rupani
We plan to manufacture this in-house, and the capex for this will be done from FY27 or '28 onwards.
Shreevar Kheruka
No, I said we are considering it. We've never announced any manufacturing in this yet.
We have only indicated that we are considering it, but at the moment, I have nothing to disclose in terms of capex or if we're going to do it or when we're going to do it. Yes, given the fact that BIS has been implemented on this, We are evaluating what products we should do because a big range of products.
You can't do everything. We have to understand whether to do it, if we're doing it, what to do, what will the cost be compared to already local supply available, and so on.
I don't have any update on that at the moment.
Bhavin Rupani
Got it. Sir, next question is on opalware.
Opalware expansion timelines you spoke about 6 60 TPD of expansion, and what would be the incremental capex for this expansion?
Shreevar Kheruka
No, that's just small. That's just a debottlenecking, there's no material capex for this, nothing to discuss here.
That will happen at the time of the next furnace reconstruction, which will happen next year. Next year.
Bhavin Rupani
How much time But there's no
Shreevar Kheruka
There's no material
Bhavin Rupani
Yeah. When we do realignment or reconstruction Sir,
Operator
if you have a follow-up question,
Bhavin Rupani
I think yes.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Akshat Mehta from Seven Rivers Holding.
Please go ahead.
Akshat Mehta
Hello, am I audible?
Operator
Yes, sir, you are.
Akshat Mehta
Sir, just again want to understand what is the kind of current demand environment that you're seeing for each of the glassware, opalware, non-glassware, and how has it evolved in quarter three and what's going on in quarter four now?
Shreevar Kheruka
Actually, demand, I think, which was a bit depressed in the first half of the year, has definitely picked up in the second half of the year, okay. This is across product categories.
Of course, as you can see, our glassware is doing the best amongst all the three ranges that we have, and that is because of a shift in behavior as already highlighted earlier. Quite happy to see growth of glassware.
The team's done a wonderful job, and we have some tailwinds in our favor from a overall structural perspective. As far as demand for appliances has been fantastic.
Our stainless steel again, the same trend on health and better products, upgrading kitchens, all of those trends are leading to very strong demand in appliances and steel. There's also great demand, by the way, for the double-wall bottles, but because of our inability to supply, we've not been able to satisfy that, and that's a setback for us for this year.
Opalware [bit?] , and the growth has not been great, and that's something I think we need as a industry, we have to look into this and get some excitement back into opalware.
The category's been there in the market for quite some time, and I think it needs a bit of a refresh. We are also thinking about what to do, and evaluating what needs to be done to push the demand here.
Akshat Mehta
Okay. Following up on that, sir, specifically in the Hydra segment or the stainless steel flask segment, last quarter, you said that there's a lot of stress on the channel in terms of procuring domestically.
People are not able to supply the demand that was there from the players, right? How has this been in this quarter and in Q3, and then probably now a couple of months in Q4, because we've seen some margin improvement quarter-on-quarter as well, what's happening there?
Shreevar Kheruka
No, as far as the demand, like I said, we have actually taken a big hit because we are not available in many of the shops and many of the large-format stores, and so on. We've taken a hit that shelf space has been taken by others in this period, those who had local manufacturing.
It's been unfortunate, and I guess it's a miss on our side, and we're bearing the consequences for that miss. Going forward, I think once our plant is up and running, then I think that's certainly something that we will be able to get back that shelf space because the brand remains very strong in the segment.
We've never compromised on quality. Even today, we could technically fill this space with lower quality products, which we've chosen not to do so.
Akshat Mehta
Sorry, sir. Last quarter, you said that even not just you, but everyone else in the industry is also seeing a crunch because domestic suppliers are not able to supply the amount of demand from players like you, Cello, Milton, and all of that.
There has been a glut in terms of supply. I was asking specifically on that.
Has that situation improved in 3 or 4 months?
Shreevar Kheruka
Last quarter in that sense has been better than the quarter before, and I believe Q4 will be better than Q3 because even the manufacturers in India, as I already mentioned, we found that some people have been able to start ramping up more capacity and also supplying quality product. I think we're over the worst of it, and I hope then this Q4 and ongoing quarters will be better from our supply perspective from domestic.
Akshat Mehta
Sir, can you share the utilization levels of both the furnaces for opal and for glass?
Shreevar Kheruka
Opal is close to 100%. I would say 95%, and glass would be about 90% now.
Akshat Mehta
Okay. Thank you.
Shreevar Kheruka
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Sameer, an individual investor.
Please go ahead.
Hi, I had two small questions. Number one, our revenue growth has been very lukewarm over the last few quarters.
Can I basically attribute almost the entire part of this due to the Hydra reasons that we're not really selling that piece? Is that the main or the majority
Shreevar Kheruka
[inaudible]
of the revenue?
Shreevar Kheruka
That's literally the only reason.
That's truly wonderful. Secondly, just a comment.
Your shareholding pattern, if one goes over a long time, has been from an FII perspective, foreign institutional investors, has been sub-1%, and I know we are a small-cap company. From a brand perspective, we are literally top of the heap.
Everybody knows across India Borosil as a brand, but our market cap is 3,000 crores, small. FII holdings are sub-1%.
How do we get the news out to the investment community that we are a force to reckon with? Isn't that a missed opportunity as we go forward?
Shreevar Kheruka
Look, from management's perspective, A, we don't control our stock price except we control performance, and the performance hopefully drives the stock price, right? There's very little I can say about stock price.
B, on the FIIs, we do have quarterly calls such as this one, and once in a while, we participate in various shows, conferences that many of the larger players such as ICICI, for example, organize. Beyond that, our focus is definitely to grow our business.
As you already mentioned, we are a small company, only 1,200 crores of or 1,100, 1,200 crores of top line, and I think we'd need to hit closer to the 2,000 crore mark to start getting more interest from more FIIs, and I think that will happen. We are focused on performance, and I'm sure eventually the word will automatically get out, and coverage as well as holding of FIIs should increase if we do the right things, expand revenue and margins.
Okay. Thank you so much.
Shreevar Kheruka
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask a question may press star and one on the touchtone telephone.
Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touchtone telephone. Our next question comes from the line of Bhavin Rupani from Investec.
Please go ahead.
Bhavin Rupani
Thanks for the opportunity again, sir. Wanted to ask on opalware.
As you said, we plan to do realignment of furnace. It will be shut for how many days and what is the capex that we plan over here?
Shreevar Kheruka
This is something we do every 2 years and a half, okay. It's not something new.
Normally, it gets shut for 30 days, 30 to 30 40 days. That's a range of shutdown, but we always plan for the inventory so that we don't lose any sales at that period of time.
This will happen not in this financial year, in the next financial year, I believe. It's roughly per furnace about 15 to 16 crores roughly.
We have two furnaces. This is a part of maintenance capex.
You can assume that, let's call it 15 crores per year because I'm saying there's two furnaces, so that 15 crores per year is our maintenance capex over there because every 2 and 1/2 years, you spend about 32, 33 crores in this rebuilding.
Bhavin Rupani
Right, and sir, on glassware, we are hitting almost 90% utilization or close to that, any plans for further expansion?
Shreevar Kheruka
This is already in the planning phase, probably in the next quarter or so, we'll be able to make some announcements here in terms of expansion.
Bhavin Rupani
It will be greenfield, brownfield?
Shreevar Kheruka
No, brownfield. We have space in the existing facility to expand by 50%.
Bhavin Rupani
Sir, any guidance on capex for FY27?
Shreevar Kheruka
FY27 capex has not been approved yet by the board, I would not like to take a stab at it, but we see many growth opportunities, there will be reasonable capex in FY27, I think. Let's see.
Bhavin Rupani
Okay. Couple of questions for Anand sir.
Sir, what is our absolute inventory, receivables, and payables number as on December '25?
Shreevar Kheruka
Anand, you there? Anyone from the finance team?
Anyone there?
Operator
The management line has been reconnected.
Anand Sultania
Hello?
Shreevar Kheruka
Anand, did you hear the question?
Anand Sultania
Sorry, I dropped off from the call by mistake. Bhavin, can you please repeat the question?
Bhavin Rupani
Sir. What is our absolute inventory, receivable, and payable numbers as on December '25?
Anand Sultania
Inventory as of 31st December '25 is roughly 324 crores, which is about 99 days of inventory. This includes the inventory that we are trying to build up for the appliances in terms of the Quality Control Order, which is going to be implemented.
Receivables is about 35, 36 days.
Bhavin Rupani
Absolute number of receivables as well as payables?
Anand Sultania
Receivables is about 120 crores.
Bhavin Rupani
Payables?
Anand Sultania
Roughly 83 crores.
Bhavin Rupani
Perfect. Also, sir, we get some royalty income from Sir, but
Operator
if you have a follow-up question, please rejoin the queue. Thank you.
Our next question comes from the line of Keval Ashar from IO Research. Please go ahead.
Keval Ashar
Hi, thanks for taking my question. I've got one question.
Shreevar, we've taken initiatives on backward integration as well as cost control. These are ongoing.
Once this initiative are executed, how do we see the margin spanning out on the EBITDA level from current levels of 16%?
Shreevar Kheruka
I've mentioned this in the past that we believe that we should be in the low 20s and in fact here in this year, had we had Hydra supply, we would be closer to most likely more than, in fact, than 18% EBITDA. With the supply rather coming back and with other further cost solar project, but in another Sorry to interrupt you, sir,
Keval Ashar
but your voice is breaking.
Shreevar Kheruka
Sorry, okay. Like I said before, our is to go to the low 20s in the very short foreseeable future.
This year itself, while we have reported 15%, we would have been closer to 18 or slightly more than from the we had supply of Hydra. With the further cost measures and further utilization of our furnaces, I think we see a clear road map to low 20s.
Then, we'll try and further, but low 20s is what I see on the horizon.
Keval Ashar
Got it. Sure.
Thanks, and all the best for the coming years. Thanks.
Shreevar Kheruka
Thank you.
Operator
Our next question comes from the line of Resham Jain from VVD Asset Managers. Please go ahead.
Resham Jain
Hi, Shreevar. Good evening.
I have this question on glassware. With 90% utilization, are we optimized in terms of margins?
I think initially, we were of the view that glassware margin would be very similar to opalware. Just any comments on this?
Shreevar Kheruka
I'll answer this in a few senses. As far as our production is concerned, having now run this production for a couple of years, we've identified areas where we can further cut costs and reduce mainly fuel costs, and that's something we are working on.
I believe that we should be able to further bump up margins by reducing those costs. Over and above that, the solar project that we have now doing will definitely improve glassware margins because the cost of energy we're paying is still very high for our glassware production line.
That will reduce reasonably substantially. Over and above that, our focus in the first 2 years of this glassware furnace was to sell the entire capacity across various segments, which I believe that the team's done a fantastic job to achieve.
Having achieved that, there is scope for cutting off maybe some areas and adding more profitable products. That is some scope there, but that probably will happen not next year, the year after, I think.
That's more of a scope to happen the year after. The glassware margins are very attractive, and while they're not at opalware margins yet, I still stand by my statement that in the next 2 years, we probably will achieve or surpass the opalware margins.
I'm quite confident about that.
Resham Jain
Just on all the three divisions, if we look at independently, we don't get margins, but given that glassware, you will have with brownfield and the product mix improving, margin should improve. Opalware also with not much of capacity, the premiumization journey should keep happening there, there also margin should improve.
In non-glassware, with Hydra coming in, which is a significant portion of non-glassware, there also margin should improve. Basically, there should be, as Keval asked in the previous question, this should happen in the next 2 years is how one should think about?
Shreevar Kheruka
As far as opalware and glassware is concerned, I'm very confident of it happening immediately, in the very foreseeable future. Hydra, it's the first time we're producing it, and we would need to see how quickly we can ramp up the production output as well as the efficiency.
Being very honest rather than just give a rosy picture and say margins will improve, we need to be realistic. Our eye will be very closely on that ball over there, but yes, logically, having manufactured the product, it should give you manufacturing margin versus quote-unquote trading margin.
Therefore, definitely there should be a structural improvement in margin, but I don't want to comment on that till I see, proof of pudding has to be in the eating, I want to see it.
Resham Jain
Understood. The last one is with respect to the non-glassware business.
If I look at Hydra degrowing by 30%, which is a good portion of the business, the other part, the appliances and the cookware, seems to have grown at maybe 3x faster than the industry. What has led to this growth, and will you be able to sustain this growth in coming year as well?
Shreevar Kheruka
I already said that, our stainless steel range and our appliances have done phenomenally well before, and they have been growing at really good rates. We are still scratching the surface of this industry, both for appliances as well as for the serveware, cookware, stainless steel products.
I don't see that other players or their growth because those players are much bigger than us, and therefore, the overall market growth has a bearing on their growth, whereas we're too small, and therefore, we still can grow even if the overall market is not growing that rapidly, with innovation and with things we're doing at the margins. I don't see that at least for the next 2, 3 years being a challenge, and we should be able to grow independently of the overall growth rate of the market.
Obviously, as we hit bigger and bigger size, then the overall growth rate does matter, but at this moment, I don't think at least in the short run it's going to impact us much.
Resham Jain
Perfect. Thank you so much, and all the best.
Shreevar Kheruka
Thank you.
Operator
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Shreevar Kheruka
If we are done, then I think I just want to wrap up by saying thank you all for your questions and your active participation. We remain very confident about the future at Borosil Limited.
We remain extremely bullish on India and the trends we are seeing in the market moving towards glass, moving towards healthier options, moving towards stainless steel, and we also are very committed to Make in India. We believe that India's a great place to manufacture, and the change in policies for solar have been a absolute game changer from our production cost perspective because the cost of energy is reducing in the country, and plus the cost of transportation and other overhead expenses are also reducing.
I think it's going to be a great next 5 years, and we look forward to be a part of that journey. Thank you very much, and see you after one quarter.
Operator
Thank you. On behalf of ICICI Securities Limited, that concludes this conference.
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