Thank you, Pari. Good afternoon, everyone.

It's my pleasure to welcome you on behalf of Godawari Power and Ispat Limited. Thank you for joining us today for the Q3 and nine-month FY2026 earnings call.

Please note that today's discussion may include certain forward-looking statements and must be therefore viewed in conjunction with the risks that the company faces. We are joined today by Mr.

Abhishek Agrawal, Executive Director; Mr. Dinesh Gandhi, Executive Director; and Mr.

Sanjay Bothra, Chief Financial Officer. May I now invite Mr.

Dinesh Gandhi to present the company's business outlook and performance, after which we will open the floor for Q&A. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Thank you, Sana. Good afternoon, everyone.

Thank you for joining us today on this call. Our financial results and earnings presentations are available on our website as well as on the stock exchange.

I believe that you had a chance to review them. I will take you through the results, post which we can have a question-and-answer session.

I am pleased to share that nine months FY2026 marked a steady performance with slight decline in revenue across operational and financial front. Revenue remained stable with slight decline.

EBITDA and PAT margin stood strong at 22% and 14% respectively, despite softer realizations. Operating momentum remained strong in Q3 FY2026 on YoY basis, with iron ore mining production increasing 46%, while iron ore pellet and value-added product remained steady growth.

Pellet sales temporarily declined during Q3 FY2026 on account of accident in the pellet plant in end of September '25, which impacted production and sales volume during Q3, whereas value-added steel products sales grew 15% YoY. Realization for YoY, nine months and quarter softened across almost all product categories, except ferroalloys and galvanized product.

In Q3, on year-on-year basis, EBITDA margin expanded to 20% from 17% in Q3 FY2025, despite a marginal decline in realization and pellet volumes. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, sales, EBITDA, and PAT moderated, largely due to lower pellet sales volume and softer realization for intermediate and finished product.

Notwithstanding these challenges, margins remained resilient, with EBITDA and PAT margin sustained at 20% and 13% respectively, reflecting company's strong operational efficiency and margin stability. During nine months, production volume showed healthy growth, with iron ore mining and pellet increasing by 27% and 10% respectively, while value-added product remained largely stable with modest 4% growth.

On sales front, pellets had an increase of 17%, whereas it was slight dip of 3% on value-added product. Coming on consolidated financial performance for nine months, revenue dipped slightly on account of softer realization, which were to some extent offset by higher production and sales of pellet, galvanized fabricated product, and rolled structural product.

EBITDA and PAT were lower, primarily due to decline in sales realization. Still, EBITDA and PAT margins remained strong at 22% and 14% respectively.

Now coming on company's growth plan and the updates during nine months of the current financial year, I am happy to announce that GPIL has received much-awaited environment clearance from Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for more than doubling the iron ore mining capacity of Ari Dongri mine from 2.35 million to 6 million tonnes. The consent to operate is expected to be received in few days, following which commercial operations of the iron ore mining and ramp-up of capacity will start, hopefully during the current month itself.

This marks a significant milestone in strengthening GPIL raw material security, backward integration, while reinforcing its long-term visibility and competitive positioning. Environment clearance and consent to establish for 5.4 million tonne crushing and beneficiation plant has also been received, and we expect to complete the work for beneficiation plant by end of Q2 FY2027.

I am pleased to highlight that additional 2 million tonne iron ore pellet plant has commissioned and operations commenced in December '25. With commissioning of GPIL total pellet manufacturing capacity to more than 1.7 times from 2.7 million to 4.7 million tonnes, strengthening its integrated operation and supporting future growth.

These achievements will drive volume and profitability growth in FY2027. Progress on 0.7 million tonne CRM complex remain on track, with land acquisition completed, major equipment order finalized, and bank funding secured.

Construction will begin in April 2026, commissioning targeted for March '27. GPIL is also expanding its captive solar capacity by over three times, from 165 MW current to 540 MW, to support captive consumption across iron ore mine, integrated steel plant, and CRM operations.

Land acquisition for solar expansion has been completed. Execution is currently underway, and these projects are expected to be completed in phased manner beginning from March '26 to March 2027.

In order to operate these projects in more efficient manner and save on the cost of banking, the company has recently decided to set up a battery energy storage capacity of 45 MWh in one of the solar projects to meet the power requirement of captive iron ore mine, where grid tariff is highest at about ₹11 per unit. These equipments, which are being ordered, will be the same composition which our BESS manufacturing facility will commence over a period of next one year.

Additionally, as you are aware, company has decided to venture into manufacturing of battery energy storage system with an initial capacity of 20 GWh with a capex of ₹1,025 crores during 2026-27, and commissioning of BESS project is targeted for Q4 FY2027. The decision to take up BESS project with a capacity of 20 GWh is driven by availability of single-line 20 GWh manufacturing line, which enables better land utilization, lower structural and operating cost, improved manufacturing efficiencies, and supporting higher operating margins.

As a part of company's ongoing efforts to simplify and streamline group structure, the board has approved disinvestment of its entire 37.85% stake in Ardent Steel, which operates a merchant iron ore pellet plant. This stake is being divested for a approximate value of ₹91 crores.

This transaction is expected to probably be completed by March '26. Coming on the ESG front, the company has completed major initiative under its energy efficiency decarbonization project, resulting in higher average DRI production, increased daily steam generation.

The company achieved a score of 76.6 from CARE ESG rating agency, reflecting its recognition as an industry leader with strong ESG risk management and performance. The company continues to make steady progress towards its long-term goal of achieving net zero carbon emission by 2050.

Coming on the market outlook, on international front, global iron ore prices remained rangebound during calendar '26 at USD $95 to $110 range, and currently is stood at about $102, supported in H1 by weather-related production losses. However, rising supply is likely to cap the prices going forward.

China's steel consumption has officially peaked and is expected to gradually decline, although recent stimulus measures, including direct cash transfers, should provide near-term demand support. Global iron ore market is at an inflection point, with supply additions such as Guinea's Simandou project commencing operations in November '25 and expected to export 5 to 10 million tonnes in calendar '26.

Full ramp-up is expected to take longer. Iron ore prices in 2026 are expected to be rangebound, averaging around $100.

On domestic front, NMDC iron ore prices have remained largely rangebound at ₹4,500 to ₹5,500, excluding seasonal fluctuation. Current prices at ₹5,900 reflect the revised structure with statutory levies excluded from January 2026.

Pellet prices have tracked a similar trend, trading at about ₹8,500 to ₹10,000 during calendar '26, with current prices at around ₹10,000 a tonne, which is expected to remain stable during FY2026. India's steel demand is expected to grow steady through the calendar '26, supported by infrastructure-led growth, with budget '26 allocating ₹12.2 lakh crore towards infrastructure capex, providing strong demand visibility.

We believe that iron ore demand in India is expected to remain strong in view of demand growth from newly commissioned and ongoing projects. With imposition of safeguard duty, the prices of finished and intermediate products across value chain have risen by 5% to 10%, which is expected to support profitability in 2026 and onward.

In conclusion, leveraging competitive strength of captive iron ore, strong cash position, and ongoing capacity expansion, company is strongly positioned to deliver sustained growth, value creation, and nurtured by efficiency gain, solar-led cost optimization, and firm commitment to ESG. With this, we can open the floor for Q&A.

Thank you all.

Hi, sir. Sir, my first question is on the capex.

How should one think about the capex over the next three years? What would be the cash outflow for '26, '27, and '28?

See, Siddharth, our capex till now is finalized till end of FY2027. Like the capex in solar to reach a capacity of close to about 500 MW, plus BESS and CRM, all these projects we are expecting to commission by March '27.

Beyond which, we have not yet announced any further capex. Our capex in the next financial year, of course, is a heavy capex, but with our strong balance sheet of around ₹1,000 crore of cash reserve and debt tie-up for the upcoming project except BESS, we are fully tied up with requirement of our cash flow for FY2027.

Sir,

what will be the total capex for FY2027?

Our FY2027 capex will be close to about ₹2,000 crore plus minus ₹200 crore.

Sir, for this year, how much have we spent till now and how much will we spend in the fourth quarter?

This year, I don't have the exact number right now, but we would have spent close to about ₹600 to ₹700 crore in the current financial year.

Okay. Sir, second is on the iron ore mine.

Now given that we are expecting the CTO also coming in in this month itself, how should we think about the mining volumes for FY2027?

Okay. Siddharth, just to answer that.

The CTO, we're sitting in and we are very much hopeful the CTO should receive very soon, maybe this week or maybe next week, yeah. Once that is received, there'll be a very slight increment in the production for this year, probably because only one month will be left for this financial year to get over.

For next year, from 2.35, we're looking at a capacity of 5 million, and then the next year, which is April 2027 onward, we're looking capacity of 6 million tonnes. That is how we plan to ramp up our mining capacity.

Okay. Next year we should reach by to around 5 million tonnes irrespective of when the beneficiation facility comes online?

Yes. I'll tell you what will happen is, by October-November of FY20, oh sorry, for October 2026, we should be able to start producing at a rate of 6 million tonnes because the delay, we'll get only three months of dry season in this next financial year, then monsoons will come.

Eventually, by monsoons, the idea is to get the plant up and running. From October onwards, we want to run the beneficiation at full capacity along with the mining.

That is the entire planning going forward.

Oh, okay. Then last question on the pellet capacities.

Even FY2027 we should reach somewhere around 75% utilization?

No. See, before the new plant was commissioned, we were operating close to at 90% capacity, and our plant has been running well from last two months.

For next year, next financial year, we will operate at more than 90% capacity.

For the entire capacity?

Yes. We should be able to produce more than 4 4.2 million tonnes from next year onwards.

Okay. Sir, lastly on the steel plant, any thoughts on the steel plant or we will take it up somewhere next year only now?

No, see. As we had said earlier as well, we were waiting for the mining EC to get received because we didn't want to overcommit on the capex side.

Now since mining has been received the EC, the team is working on the last-minute details. Hopefully, we'll discuss internally and if we want to go ahead with the steel plant, I think the proposal will be taken in the next board meeting.

Oh, okay, sir. Got it.

This will be a 1 million tonne steel plant only that we will be

Yes, yes. It will be a new location 1 million blast furnace route steel plant.

Primary route.

Okay. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, sir. Sir, my first question pertains to Dinesh ji's remark on the iron ore supply scenario.

One of our competitor like Lloyd has also came up with a large supply. Are we going to see some excess supply in the iron ore space in the domestic market as well for the next 6 to 12 months perspective?

Is that our assumptions? Would that impact our overall performance?

See, I would like to break this question in two parts. In terms of volume supply from Lloyd's, definitely there will be additional supply coming in from Lloyd's, apart from our new pellet plant and there's one more person who has commissioned the pellet plant in this area.

At the same time, the domestic demand has gone up because people are still commissioning their new DRI plants. Volumes will definitely go up in terms of supply from the market, plus NMDC also coming with a 2 million pellet plant which is scheduled for Q1.

There might be some volume pressure, but because of our mining capacity and the beneficiation going up, the quality we make, we have a different end buyers, our target audience is totally different. We don't see a challenge in terms of our performance.

In terms of volume, there might be pressure over a 12 months there might be some lean period, but on the overall performance of the company, I don't see a challenge because of the quality we make. Because we'll be producing two we'll be producing high grade in two plants and a commercial grade in one of the plants.

Because of high grade, we will always demand a higher premium. That will keep our margin intact.

Our customer audience will be totally different than other players in the market.

Noted, sir. Sir, after recent INR depreciation, has the exports been now profitable or it is still not, and what is the difference at which we would start exports?

See, today we are selling everything domestically. We have no intentions of entering the export market at the moment because the delta is very huge.

The delta is more than $15, $17 at the moment. Domestic demand is quite strong, because in last few weeks the entire supply chain of domestic has gone up, right from DRI to billets to steelmaking.

There has been a surge in the finished demand from the market. At the moment, we have no plans of exporting any pellets.

We have very strong demand. Sitting in February, we are almost booked till end of this quarter.

Noted. Sir, my second question pertains to our capital allocation.

Since now our cash inflow is going to go up significantly, we have invested in Jammu Pigments, then we are doing batteries and at the same time steel. Going forward, how should we look at our capital allocation in terms of because Jammu Pigments hasn't done anything yet.

After batteries our whole and sole focus would be on the steel only and or we will still take up those small pockets of capexes because we are kind of a little bit reluctant to do a large capex on a single segment? How should we look at our capital

See, Jammu Pigments, whatever money we have invested, we always have the option of increasing our stake. That we can do anytime.

At the moment, we have no plans to invest any more money in Jammu Pigments. Jammu Pigments will run independently, whatever cash generation happens from the operations.

Basis that only they will look to expand further. We have no intention of investing any further money in Jammu Pigments, just to make it very clear.

On the allocation side, as Mr. Dinesh ji mentioned, our CRM, our solar, and a BESS, the outflow in this year should be close to about ₹2,000, ₹2,500 crores, with our strong cash reserve, with our mining capacity coming up, and our cash reserve going plus from the current financial year.

I think we are well versed to meet all our capital allocation requirement. We don't see a challenge.

Noted, sir. Sir, as you have seen in our presentation, our carbon intensity remains very high despite we using some of the solar.

After assimilating all the solar power projects, basically, what is the final carbon extinguishment

See, we currently at 2.4, 2.4 levels, 2.45 levels. To reduce the carbon density, our new pellet plant, we have switched from coal gas to natural gas, that is one of the initiatives.

With solar capacity adding for my captive consumption, that will further reduce my density. We're also working in one of the carbon capture projects with IIT Bombay.

It's an R&D project for 5 tonne capture per day. If that is successful, I think then we have a clear path to move forward.

You need to understand, for the entire steel cycle, today the major crux where carbon emission is happening is the DRI. Out of 2.4, 2.45, 1.8, 1.85 is the contribution only from DRI.

That is the area where we really need to attack if you want to bring down our carbon levels. On the power plant, we have taken care.

On the pellet side, we have taken care. Now the main challenge remains the DRI, where we have tied up with IIT Bombay.

We are working on an R&D project of 5 tonnes per day. That project should be up and about by coming Diwali, which is 10 months from now on.

The results are good, then we have a clear path how to move forward to reduce our carbon intensity.

Noted, sir. Sir, just one last question if I may squeeze in.

Sir, coal cost-wise next quarter, what are our expectation? I believe we import most of the coal, INR depreciation has hit them, and as well as their talks about Indonesian supply getting hampered.

Your thought

See, Indonesian coals are mainly used for power plants, they're not used for DRI. Definitely it will have a certain impact on the South African prices as well, because there will be a glut in the system, there will be some transfer of a new buyer and new market seller, right?

Our current cost in the Q4 quarter, absolute value is about ₹11,000 of import. Our DRI per tonne contribution is ₹8,000.

In Q1, because we do forward buying, Q1 the cost will vary maximum is about 5% to 7%. We have ensured that.

Any substantial impact if has to happen will probably happen from Q2 onwards, which is almost six months from now on, no point commenting about that.

Noted, sir. That's all from my side and all the best for future.

Thank you.

Hi. Very good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity.

Sir, first question is in the presentation we have mentioned that roughly 452 acres of land acquisition has been done for the integrated steel plant and for the CRM complex. What would be the capex outlay of the 452 acres, if you could give me the number?

To acquire the land?

Yes.

I think it's about ₹32 crores. Am I correct, Bothra ji?

Yes, sir.

It's about ₹32 crores. We have signed a 99-year lease agreement with the state industry department, and the total outflow has been about ₹32 crores to acquire the land.

Got it. Sir, for the capex that you mentioned for ₹2,000 crores to earlier question by Siddharth ji, just wanted to know it doesn't include any steel capexes which are probably going to

No. Steel capex is not involved.

For steel, we will first have to internally discuss, get it approved by the board. Whatever capexes we'll be doing right now, it has nothing to do with the new steel plant.

It's CRM, about ₹1,100 crores, the battery storage, and the additional solar capacity. These are the three major capexes which will happen in FY2027.

Got it, got it, sir. Sir, just, on the pricing front, can you, give us give us some sense on how Q4 is shaping up versus Q3?

See, on the mining side? On the market.

Market.

Market side.

Sorry. See, on the market side, fortunately there has been quite an upsurge in terms of prices.

Pellet is up almost 10% to 12%, DRI is up by 20%, semi-finished and finished almost up by 12%, 13%. The demand is quite strong, and so the change we have realized in last couple of years is usually we used to think Q4 and Q1 are the best quarters for steel.

Earlier was Q1 and Q2 were best quarters for steel, but now what we have realized is there's a change in terms of demand and supply. Now Q4 and Q1 are supposed to be the best quarters before the monsoon arrives.

If you see, Q2 was dull, Q3 was also very dull, and this was the trend last year as well. Q4, the demand is very good, and we're expecting the demand to continue for at least Q1 as well, before the monsoon arrives.

Got it, sir. That is quite helpful.

Sir, on the imported coal, would it be possible to give what the current mix is for us right now, imported versus the domestic coal usage?

See, for our DRI, we 100% completely import RB1 coal. That's about 0.5, 0.6 million tonnes annually.

For our coal gas operation for pellet plant and for our power plant, we do about 0.4 million tonnes of domestic coal. The ratio is about 55 or 60/40.

60% is imported and 40% is domestic. We need about a million tonnes annually to run entire operations.

Okay. That is quite helpful.

Sir, just if I squeeze in one more question. Just wanted to know, the company has acquired four wagons basically for logistics purposes.

What sort of cost savings are we expecting from this acquisition versus what the current mode is?

See, there are two two basically two purpose to buy four four wagons under the railway scheme. One is, with a new pellet capacity, we do realize we want to also sell pellets outside Raipur market, for which the railway is the cheapest mode.

To ensure the rake availability and timely movement of our rakes, we have acquired this acquisition, where one one entire rake will cost us about, I think about ₹24, ₹25 crore. Secondly, the scheme under which we have acquired, there is flat 10% discount on freight for a period of 15 years.

That is the scheme railway has devised. So 10% saving will be there on the railway freight for 15 years, plus the most important point is the timely evacuation of our pellet volumes via rake mode.

Okay. We can lease this out as well, right, during the low demand period?

Yes. If you feel our rakes are not getting fully utilized, we can always lease out on rental basis to other companies and earn extra income from that.

Sir.

Okay. It wouldn't be a separate business line operation that you're

No. This is just a part of infrastructure where we want for a timely movement of our pellet volumes outside Raipur market.

Given a situation, if the rakes are not being fully utilized, we can always rent it out to other players who wants it for better movement.

In fact, in our disclosure, we have clearly mentioned that we don't want to enter into the logistics business. It is for the captive requirement.

In idle case, only it will be leased out.

Okay.

We have clearly mentioned in our disclosure as well.

Got it, Dinesh ji. Thank you so much.

Sir, just one last question. Wanted to get a fair bit of understanding on the other expenses going down by roughly 11% QoQ.

Could you give the reasons behind the same, please?

Can you please come again? Other expenses

Going down on a quarterly basis. So

See, one was because our pellet volumes are quite low. Our pellet plant due to that unfortunate accident was almost shut for a span of 40 days.

Entire October our pellet plant was not running. There might be some contribution basis that as well, because there was no fuel burn, there was no other items purchased.

That can be one of the reasons. Plus, what has happened is the domestic coal for power plant is towards almost rock bottom due to better availability post monsoon.

That can also contribute on the other operating costs going down.

Got it, sir. Primarily because of the lower pellet volumes.

Yes. Exactly.

Mainly pellet volumes, yes.

Sure. That's all.

Thank you so much, sir, and wishing all the very best.

Thank you.

Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity.

My first question is, despite a 6 lakh tonne of pellet production, the sales that we have done seems to be pretty low. I understand some part of the pellet goes into forward integration, but still, believe as compared to the previous few quarters, we've not sold enough.

Any particular reason you want to flag off on this?

There are two two primary reasons, yaar. One was there was couple of people who also commissioned their pellet plant in the same period.

Suddenly there was an oversupply of pellet in the domestic market. The steel market was very dull.

There was absolutely very less demand. The sponge prices were towards rock bottom since COVID, about ₹20,000, ₹22,000.

There was a phase in December where the demand of pellet was quite low. That is why the inventory has gone up.

Since then, all the inventory will be cleared in Q4 because of demand being back on the higher side. Just a quarter-on-quarter analysis.

At today's position, our entire inventory which was piled up in December has been already cleared off.

Right. Good to hear that.

We will be still targeting a 3 million tonne of production this year?

Yes. We might not able to reach at probably exactly, but plus minus 5% we should be there.

Our production volume guidance start of the year, we are very much on track to achieve that.

Got it. Secondly, just the first year of operations for BESS, would it be safe to assume a 40%, 45% utilization or should we assume a little lower?

No, because it's a new vertical, totally a new field, even we have considered a 40% to 50% plant load for the first year. April 2027 to March 2028, we consider a portion capacity of say 8 to 10 GWh only against 20 GWh line.

Right. Margins could be around 6%?

Yeah. For our modeling, we have considered a margin of about 7% to 8%.

Got it, got it, got it.

The reason I'll tell you why is we have considered slightly higher margin compared to our peers is because we have chosen a new technology cell, which is a 628 Ah cell against a 314 Ah cell which others are doing. Because of that, our operating cost will be slightly on the lower side, and hence improved margins.

Right, right, right.

Our first line will be 100% basis 628 Ah cell.

Got it. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Hi. Good afternoon, sir.

Thank you for the opportunity. I would like to know what is our revenue and EBITDA guidance once the entire capex is done?

What is the level of debt that we are expecting to have in the books for the capex?

You talk about next year or once all the new capacities are running at full production? For the

next year and once the capacities are live.

See, from current operations, next year, once our mining will be at full capacity, our operations pellet will be at full capacity, we're looking at a revenue of close to about ₹6,500, ₹7,000 crores from the steel complex. On the battery storage side, if you consider a capacity of 8 GWh, you can consider revenue of ₹5,000 crores.

From the CRM, again, if you consider 50% capacity, which is a 3, 3.5 lakh tonnes, you can consider a volume of close to about ₹2,000 crores. Put together, anything between ₹12,000 to ₹15,000 crores will be the turnover from FY2028.

Sir. Sir, what is the level of that debt that we are expecting to have in the books for the capex?

Dinesh ji?

Debt will be close to about, say, peak debt in FY2027 as of the capex which have been announced till date net debt will be lower, but on a gross side, it will be in the range of about ₹1,500 cr. With the minus cash balance will be the net debt, that depends on the cash flow generation in the next financial year.

What we have done is we have tied up a debt of ₹1,500 crore for all these capex to keep the cash on the balance sheet for our future expansions.

The way we have negotiated with the banks is depending on our cash flows for the next year

We have always choice to prepay.

Exactly. We always choice to prepay, and also we will only draw when there is a requirement.

We kept the both options open of prepayment and draw the money as and when required.

Sir. Sir, I would like to know what was the impact of the new labor laws on GPIL?

Our employee expenses or anything has increased drastically because of that?

See, of course, there will be, because now with the new employee code coming in effectively, now you have to treat your contract labors at the same category of your employees. There will be a very marginal impact, probably I think hardly about ₹7, ₹8 crores on annual basis.

It's not a very huge impact. Just that now the law says even your third-party employees or a contractor employees has to be treated in the same way as you treat your own company employees.

That's the major difference. There are change of law, the change of salary structure, which will be complied from next financial year, and that is very minimal, yeah.

You can say about ₹70, ₹80 lakh a month, that's it. Not very major.

Sir, how much free cash flow are we expecting three years down the line?

It's very difficult because see, if we don't go ahead with the steel plant, then probably from FY2028, once all our capexes are done and the new production capacity comes up, there will be close to about ₹2,500 or ₹2,000 crores of free cash every year. If the steel plant is shaping up and we do decide to go ahead, then for the next three years, all our free money will be invested in the new steel plant.

Difficult to comment at the moment. All depends what capex we plan going forward.

Sir, since you mentioned the steel plant, is there any clarity on when will we make a decision if you want to do it or not to do it? See,

in worst possible scenario, I think which will be the annual board meeting which will happen in April and May, we will have a full clarity on that. Either we are going ahead or we drop it, that's very clear.

Because we were waiting for the mining EC to come. Now since that has come, we're working on the last fine-tune details.

I think by next board meeting, either we'll take it up or we'll drop it. That's for sure.

Sir, what's the expected capex for the steel plant if we do go ahead, and what will be the capacity for it? You're thinking?

Capacity will be 1 million, and the capex we envisage should be somewhere about ₹5,000 crores.

Sir. Thank you so

much.

Thank you.

Thank you for the opportunity, sir. My question is on the incremental sales volume.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. The incremental sales volume once both iron ore mining and pellet come would be 2.7 from the pellet plant and 0.5 from the beneficiation plant.

Is my understanding correct?

No. Firstly, we will not be selling anything out of our beneficiation plant.

Beneficiation plant is being put up to enhance the quality of concentrate, which will feed to our pellet plant. There will be nothing sold out of beneficiation plant, it's part of our internal process.

On the pellet side, if we do a volume of say 4 million, out of which about 1 million will be for captive consumption and 3 million will be for merchant sale.

So 4 out of the 4 million, 1 million for captive consumption and 3 million

Yes, whatever. If we produce 4, we produce 4.2, 4.5, whatever we produce over and above 1 million, that will be for completely merchant sale.

Okay. Sir, my second question is regarding on margin on the CRM complex.

What is the EBITDA margin we're expecting because we will be buying HR coil from outside and

See, exactly, it's more of a conversion business to make value-added steel. We have also filed for two PLI schemes under the new scheme by Steel Ministry.

On year-on-basis, I see a EBITDA operating margins level it's about 8% to 10% on the maximum side, 8%

to 10%. Just wanted a clarity on this margin, because if I look at the HR coil prices, it's around ₹51,000, ₹52,000, and CR coil is around ₹57,000.

Shouldn't the gross margin be 10% as compared to EBITDA margin?

See, on papers, you are very correct. We are getting into value-added steel.

A lot of branding, a lot of marketing will be required. We have to educate our customers, because we will be competing against the all established players like the JSW, Tata, and all that.

That's why, to be a very conservative for initial couple of years to establish ourselves as one of the leading players with the desired quality, we have considered the margin on the slower side. Once you're established, you can definitely consider a 10% on the gross operating margins side, definitely.

Got it. Sir, last question is on our BESS projects, which is give the unit economics for the BESS, like per gigawatt of revenue we can get?

See, if you see, today per megawatt-hour of the entire setup to deliver at site for usage by a buyer is about ₹80 lakh per megawatt-hour. It makes one container at about ₹4 crore.

At our first year of a 8 GWh, you can easily multiply 8 GWh into ₹80 lakh, it becomes close to about ₹6,500 crores of revenue with a operating margin of about 6%,

7% 8 7% to 8%. Got it.

Thank you and all the best.

On a ₹6,000 crore, 8% comes to about ₹450 to ₹500 crore.

Got it. Thank you.

That's all from my side.

Thank you.

You can take the next question. I think he's not there in the call.

All right.

I have one question. What is the difference between BF pellets and DR pellets?

What is the mix, yeah?

Okay. Please complete your question.

Sorry.

What is your mix in producing BF pellets and DR pellets? As you said in one of your remarks that you have higher quality of iron ore, does it mean that you have higher DR pellets mix in your production?

To clarify technically first, basically there are two DR pellets. One is the coal-based DRI sponge, which we operate, and one is the gas-based DRI, which is being operated by mostly Middle East and few European countries.

Even Essar Hazira, ArcelorMittal Hazira is doing the same thing. To make a DR gas-based pellets, the major difference comes in the physical parameters, which is one is the sizing.

For a BF pellet or a coal-based DRI pellet, the size we produce is 5 to 18, where for DR pellet, you need a size of 9 to 18. That is the major change.

Secondly, the strength of BF pellet, there's a parameter called CCS, which is a cold crushing strength. For BF, 220-plus is more than enough.

For gas-based DR pellet, you need a minimum of 270 to 280. That is where the challenge comes to maintain that physical parameters.

That's the reason you get a substantially higher premium in the export market compared to a BF pellet. For example, today a BF pellet premium for a 65 Fe pellet is hardly about $13, whereas for a DR pellet, the premium is as high as about $28.

That is where the difference is technically between a BF pellet and DR pellet. In our case, since there is a strong demand from the domestic market, we have no intentions of making the DR pellet and exporting to Middle East.

We are always have the option of doing that, but at the moment, looking at the current domestic demand, we will keep making BF pellets, which are equally suitable for DRI sponge iron.

Okay. That was

Thank you.

Hi. Thank you once again.

Sir, my question is pertaining to the BESS. You just mentioned that for the first year we would be running at a 45% to 50% utilization level.

On to talk about if the second phase of BESS, will we take the expansion post the first year of running and seeing how things are going on, or will it be being done simultaneously?

No. We've got to be a little cautious, because it's a totally a different field.

There will be huge competition. We will only invest into the second phase once we are able to stabilize the line for the first phase.

Got it. What would be the timelines that I think for the brownfield expansion now it would be a lesser period, right, which would be taken up?

Yes. Probably just to commission the second phase will take maximum about 8 to 10 months, that's it.

Got it. Sir, second question is, could you just give me how the ferroalloy market is shaping up in terms of pricing?

I think the prices has been quite steady over the last six months. How do we see it going

ahead? Ferroalloys prices has been hovering ₹70,000 plus minus 5% benchmark.

On the lowest side, it went to ₹68,000 when the market was dull in Q3. Today when the market is good, the prices have moved up to about ₹74,000.

Ferroalloys for the entire year has been operating at ₹70,000 plus minus 5% range, and I feel this will continue. Since the market is good right now, I feel the prices should be about ₹74,000, ₹75,000 for a few months going forward.

Okay. That is quite helpful.

Sir, one last question. Wanted to know, there have been discussions about expanding the Boria Tibu mine.

What's the management's view on

We have full plans to expand the Boria Tibu mines. As we have commented earlier as well, the mines being low grade, we have to put up a beneficiation plant inside the mines, for which substantial area would be required.

We have already started the process of preparing the TOR to file for the new EC along with the beneficiation plant. We see that plant up and running in say FY '30, which is three years from now on, bare minimum.

Got it. Have we applied for the TOR?

No. The documents are under preparation.

We have finalized how we want to run that mines along with beneficiation. The TOR will be filed in Q1 of next financial year for the new EC.

You can consider about 12 to 50 12, 15 months of EC period and then another 15, 20 months of plant erection, three years from now on.

Got it. This would come regardless whether we proceed ahead with the steel plant or no, right?

Yes, definitely. Because today to feed my pellet plant, I need about 5 million tonnes of concentrate.

It's always nice to have a backup of a million tonnes of same grade from a different mine. If you don't put up the steel plant, this will be an alternate source.

If there are some challenges because of probably extended monsoon or something, we can always feed the mines to the pellet plant.

Okay. What capacity expansion are we planning, from 0.7 to what number?

4 million.

So

4 million, 100% 4 million beneficiation, the output of concentrate will be close to about 1.5 million tonnes. At 40 at 40% recovery.

Got it. Yes, that was quite helpful.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Hi. For the expanded pellet capacity of 4.7 million tonnes, what is the corresponding iron ore which would be required?

Sorry, come again. You were not clear.

For the expanded capacity of 4.7 million tonnes of pellet, what is the iron ore which is required to make that?

On apple-to-apple basis, we need about a 5 million tonnes of iron ore. To make that 5 million tonnes, we will have to beneficiate the 6 million.

Out of 6 million, about 15% to 20% there will be yield losses to upgrade the quality of iron ore. From 6 million, we'll do about 4.75 tonnes of concentrate, which will be sufficient enough to feed my entire pellet plant.

Okay. The entire 6 million tonnes of iron ore capacity will be used?

We won't have extra to sell?

100%. Rather than selling, we would like to probably extend our mining life.

Because I tell you another reason, because if you happen to sell in the market, as per the new MMDR Act, because our mines was allotted in the captive category, we are allowed to sell 50% apart from our consumption, but then we have to pay additional royalty. The royalty amount will be ₹1,000-plus.

It doesn't make sense to sell additional. Better to reserve and extend your mining life or have a buffer stock if something goes haywire in the mine because of extended monsoon or it can be anything, yeah.

Got it. Post this expansion, on 4.7 million tonnes, what will be the split between high-grade pellets and low-grade pellet?

Split will be about 70% will be high-grade, 30% will be low-grade.

What is the current split?

Current split is again it's same. Current split is about 65 is high-grade, 35 is low-grade.

One plant will continue to remain like that. The ratio will change to 80%.

So 80% will be high-grade, 20% will be low-grade.

Okay. Our margins, we are expecting our margins to slightly improve with

Exactly. Whatever challenges we're going to face from the pressures, the supply side because of Lloyd's and other competitors, we will very much negate that with our quality and higher premiums.

Got it. Thank you and all the best.

Thank you so much.

Hi, sir. First on the mining side.

Now with the expanded capacity and ramping up of the mines, will there be some change in the cost structure given the operating levels that would be coming in? How should we see the mining cost moving over the next two years?

See, the mining cost should remain on the similar levels, primarily there are the two reasons. One is, because of additional mining, our mining cost will slightly go up because the way our mine is, it's not a very opencast, flat land.

We are going well below the sea level. Currently we're mining at about 100 meters, and to reach 6 million, we have to probably reach about 140, 150 meters.

Our mining cost will go up. That will be compensated by the volume, the solar plant we have established, the new battery storage, as well as the beneficiation.

We still expect the mining cost to be at ₹3,000 levels in the longer term, which is currently right now.

Okay. Secondly, with all the power projects coming online in the next two years, what kind of cost savings would we have on the energy side?

See, on mining side, today the grid tariff is about ₹11, which will be replaced by a power of say ₹3. On the plant side, the grid tariff is about ₹7, which will be replaced by ₹3.

On total put together, our average cost of generation, which is currently about ₹3.75, should be well below ₹3.

The payback should be less than two years for the entire solar?

No, for mining, the payback is about three years. For my plant side, the payback is about four 4.5, 5 years, because the tariff is on the lower side.

Oh, okay. Got it.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Ma'am. After all expansions, what could be total turnover of the company in 2020 2030?

2030, sir?

2030,

yeah, 2030 2030.

Total turnover of the company, right? Yeah.

Expected guidance.

Of course. I do understand that.

Total turnover of the company, I'll tell you. 7 plus 13 roughly at about ₹25,000 crores.

Sir. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for joining us on this call. We hope we have been able to answer all your queries.

In case you have any further questions, please get in touch with us or to our investor relation team. Thank you very much.

Thank you, and with this, you can conclude this call. Thank you very much.

Dinesh bhai. Thank you.