Thanks, Shubham. Good evening.

On the behalf of ICICI Securities, I welcome you all to the Q3 and FY26 earnings call of Nava Limited. Today we have with us from the management: Mr.

Ashwin Devineni, Managing Director and CEO; Mr. G.

R. K.

Prasad, Executive Director; Mr. Nikhil Devineni, Executive Director; and Mr.

V. S.

N. Raju, Company Secretary.

We will begin with opening remarks from the management, which will be followed by Q&A. Over to you, sirs.

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us.

I would like to begin with a key milestone that underscores our commitment to shareholder value: the successful completion of Nava Global's $50 million buyback, supported by strong dividend flows from Maamba Energy. This transaction reflects the quality of our underlying assets, disciplined capital allocation, and our continued focus on strengthening results to shareholders.

Operationally, Q3 FY26 was a strong quarter for Nava. We delivered healthy revenue growth and a sharp improvement in profitability, with consolidated net profits rising 83.5% quarter-on-quarter.

Our energy business remained resilient. MEL continued to reduce arrears while maintaining high plant availability, and mining posted improved volumes and margins.

Equally important, our growth projects are progressing steadily, from the 300 MW MEL expansion and the 100 MW solar project in Zambia to experiencing early success in our avocado plantations and steady execution of the Kawambwa sugar project. These investments are designed to diversify earnings, enhance cash flows, and build long-term resilience.

We will take any questions now. Thank you.

Hello, am I audible, sir?

Thank you for the opportunity, sir, and congratulations for the great achievement. My first question is, other income jumped sharply to ₹70.4 crore in quarter three compared to ₹26 crore in quarter two.

Can you break this down between dividend, interest, and indicate what portion is sustainable?

You are referring to at consolidation level or at standalone level?

Sir, at consolidation level.

Consol level, it is mainly on account of foreign currency fluctuations.

Sir. What portion is sustainable?

Can you indicate that?

I'm sorry, can't hear you properly. Can you repeat this?

What portion of that is sustainable? Can you indicate on that?

Again, there's a lot of disturbance from the background. Your voice is not clear.

Is it clear now?

Yes,

it is. Portion of that is sustainable?

Please go ahead.

Sustainable other income under consol per quarter is around ₹40 crore.

Sir. Sir, my second question is EBITDA margin expanded sharply to 48.3% from 34.5% quarter-on-quarter.

How much of this expansion is driven by MEL PLF normalization versus cost reversals?

The major contribution is from MEL power plant. This quarter, MEL power plant operated with 97% PLF.

Indian energy business, the PLF was good, but at the same time, few power plants had a planned shutdown activity.

Sir. Got it.

Sir, my next question is, mining revenue grew 16.6% quarter-on-quarter due to higher volume. Is this volume run rate sustainable, or was Q3 usually strong?

In terms of the mining division, I think the average, in terms of sales, are about 35 to 40 to 42,000 tons on a monthly basis. That's what we've been averaging, and that's sustainable.

Sir. Thank you.

I will come back in queue.

Hello, am I audible?

Yeah. Thank you for taking my question, sir.

A few questions from my end. The first one is with respect to Zambia.

In terms of macro perspective, with respect to power, what are the plans of the government to diversify away from hydro power, and do you see any or expect any projects that will generate revenue for us?

I think the answer to that is Maamba, right? They've already diversified from hydro power by signing PPAs and absorbing power from us, from Phase 1, from Phase 2.

Aside from that, they're encouraging a lot of solar projects. We are undertaking a 100 MW solar project, while there are other solar projects also in the country coming up, some commissioned and some yet to be commissioned.

I think they are eagerly diversifying away from hydro power.

Apart from the upcoming 300 MW project, do you see any other project for us?

Yes, we are setting up another 100 MW solar, right? We are also exploring other opportunities in terms of renewables.

Okay. Sir, one question is on the cash that we are receiving from Nava Global.

How do we plan to deploy that? I presume

you're talking about the buyback amount?

Yes, the buyback and dividends.

Yeah. Like we always stated, our primary objective is to ensure that we have enough cash to fund future projects, may it be greenfields or expansions.

Then apart from that, we always look at corporate actions, and we've been fairly generous in this past year with regards to corporate actions, which always boosts shareholder confidence.

Sir. Noted.

Sir, one question is on the avocado and agriculture fund. How do we plan to scale this segment, and how much further do we plan to invest here?

I think on the avocados, see, we have four divisions split into 275 ha each. Right now as we speak, two divisions have already been planted, and the first division has given us the first pilot crop of about 140 metric tons.

I think going forward, we're looking at about a time horizon of 8 years until the full production from all four divisions hits the markets.

For this segment to grow significantly and contribute to the revenue, how much time frame would we expect?

Down the line, 4 to 5 years to be a significant segment.

Sir. I'll join back the queue.

Sorry, are you there?

Sir. Noted.

I'll join back the queue for further questions.

Yeah.

Good afternoon, sir. I have seen the presentation where you have mentioned this H1 of next financial year completion target for solar power plant and H2 for thermal power plant.

I wanted to know that what is the expected completion time for sugar complex?

The sugar complex or the processing unit should be complete by April, around April 2028. I'd say mid-2028.

Okay. My second question is that what is the area of that Nacharam land, sir, and what is the present market value approximately?

Approximately about ₹20 crore is the per acre market value there.

₹20 crore per acre?

What's the total acreage? How many acres?

65 acres. Pardon?

65 acres. 65 acres is the total area of the land, man.

Okay.

Yes, yes.

What is the present market value approximately?

What we know is the fact that the area is garnering a lot of interest, and the market value, say from 10 years ago, has definitely been on the upswing. To give you a precise number at this juncture, we will not be able to, but we know it's on the inclining trend.

Okay. Okay.

Thank you, sir.

Good evening, sir, and thank you for the opportunity. Sir, just wanted to understand the total capex that we'll be spending in the Zambia for the thermal and solar.

Can you help us on the separate amount, how much are we spending on thermal and solar?

Sorry, your voice is being muffled. Can you speak a little away from the phone or so?

We can't hear you clearly.

Now it's audible?

It's better, better.

Yeah. Just wanted to understand the capex that we will be spending for the 300 MW and 100 MW separately in Zambia.

300 MW expansion thermal plant, total capital outlay is $400 million. For the 100 MW solar plant, capex outlay is $90 million.

Out of this, how much we have already spent?

As on 31st December, for the thermal plant, total spent is around close to $190 million. For solar plant, spent close to $10 million.

This includes both debt and equity, huh? This is not just equity.

This is debt and equity.

This debt equity is in ratio of 70:30, right?

Correct.

The entire capex is funded by Nava or even the Zambian government is contributing to the project?

It's 65:35. On the equity side, we contribute 65%, and ZCCM-IH, our partner, contributes 35%.

Okay. The partner contributes 35%.

Sure, sir. Definitely, that gives a good visibility in terms of the power project coming from the Zambia.

When you come to the domestic market, the scenario looks little bit lower in terms of the pricing as well as demand. How do you see the domestic power segment growth going ahead?

I think, as you rightly pointed out, the domestic power scene seems to be on the declining trend. If you look at the exchange pricing itself, I think there's been a drop of about 12% year-on-year.

I think the way we are looking at mitigating this downturn is through mainly entering into long-term and short-term contracts rather than being completely dependent on the exchange, where there's a lot of volatility. I think in this regard, we have informed you last quarter that we have engaged into a long-term, 5-year period bilateral contract with Tamil Nadu for our 60 MW IPP plant in Odisha.

Besides that, we're also looking at targeting a similar allocation for the other units that we have domestically.

At what rate that we have entered into a contract? In PPA, price you can help?

This is at 5.2 per kilowatt-hour. Long-term Tamil Nadu contract.

Sure. Last question, other than the power business, what's your take on the ferro, because the segment is consistently underperforming?

I understand the market is not good. Now given the recent safeguard duty on the steel and we have seen some uptick in the prices on the ferro front, how do you look this segment growth in the coming quarters or probably for FY27?

I think, see, even if you compare the last quarter with this quarter that we're in, there's been an improvement of prices by about 8%, right? I think this has a lot to do with the capital allocation that the government has put upon in terms of infrastructure and so on.

Going forward, we're hopeful that prices, if they don't increase to a very large extent, at least they're going to remain stable. While we don't look at it as a very high-margin vertical, but we are confident that, in terms of the scale, there will always be a good top line in ferroalloy.

Sir, but I'm looking from the operating performance. See, as you indicated that quarter-on-quarter the prices have increased, but when you look at the segmental results, there's a sharp drop in the profitability on the ferro segment.

I'm just unable to digest this, because from 2 crores of EBIT, we are almost at breakeven on the ferro front.

No, I think what I mentioned was from quarter three to the quarter that we are in currently, quarter four, there's been an increase.

Okay. Noted.

Thank you. That's all from my side, and all the best.

Yeah. Thank you, sir, for the opportunity.

My next question is, what is the amount of debt at the end of 9-month FY26?

Close to $200 million.

Okay. Got it.

Sir, my next question is, do we have any tie-up of power for this summer for Indian power plant?

I think in terms of quarter four, we are more or less fully committed.

Sir. Thank you.

That's it from my side.

Thank you for the opportunity. My first question is for the 300 MW MEL Phase 2 and 100 MW solar project.

Can you share the expected capex, funding mix, and steady-state EBITDA and RoCE?

I think we've just answered that with regards to both the plants just a couple of minutes ago. In terms of the capex.

Please go through the transcript.

Yeah. Sir.

Sir, how much is the outstanding receivables from Maamba?

The arrears amount that is yet to be paid is about $30.5 million.

Sir. That answers my question.

Thank you so much.

Yeah. Sir, could you please update us on the Ivory Coast, and also can you give us the payback period that you are expecting from this solar project, the $90 million USD that we are doing?

Yeah. In terms of Ivory Coast, as you're aware, we are currently under exploration for the about 350 sq km concession that we were awarded.

I don't have much to share in terms of the discovery yet. I think that's still underway, when we do have something, I'll get back to you.

Sir. What about the solar investment?

We are investing $90 million USD. What about the payback period that you're expecting from this solar project?

It's 10 to 12 years.

Yeah. Okay.

Okay. Okay.

Okay. Sir, currently in Zambia, what is the mix, sir, between thermal and solar?

How is the mix changing? Thermal and solar, overall Zambia, how is the mix?

Right now we are the only thermal. Yes, yeah.

Initially, Zambia was almost 95% hydro, and we came into the picture with thermal. Now there are quite a few solar plants that are coming up, but they're all without storage.

Possibly the only other baseload apart from the thermal, the hydros. I think there's a fair bit of solar coming up, and there's also talk of some other thermal projects coming up.

I think solar is gaining more traction.

Okay. Okay.

Sir. Thank you.

Hi, am I audible?

Yeah. Could you comment on the increase in employee cost from ₹191 crore to ₹268 crore?

Ma'am,

please tell me which period you are referring to.

9 months comparison. Consolidated.

Consolidated exam.

One moment, please. Yeah.

It is on account of commission. The provision was made in the last quarter, on 9 months period, it is more compared to the previous 9 months period in 2024.

Sir. Another question is Nava Global has bought back $50 million of shares.

Is there any future plan to make it a wholly owned subsidiary?

It is a wholly owned subsidiary. It was a buyback.

The share capital reduced, it is still a wholly owned subsidiary of Nava. Nava owns 100% of Nava Global.

Then

what is the reason for buyback?

Nava was the single shareholder, and hence, after buyback still it holds the 100%. Nava Global bought back the shares, Nava still remains the 100% owner.

Sir. Thank you.

Hi. Thank you for taking my question again.

Sir, first is with respect to commissioning of the power plant and thermal power plant in 2026, if I'm not wrong. What kind of revenues are you expecting from these two power plants?

If you can give us a broad guidance around in FY25 or '29?

On the 300 MW thermal power plant, in case of full-year operations, expected revenue is $180 to $200 million. From the 100 MW solar project, in case of full-year operations, expected revenue is $15 to $16 million.

Sir, could you please repeat again for the solar plant?

It is $15 to $16 million per annum.

By when do we expect the full operation of these two power plants?

It will be financial year 2027-28. '28.

Okay. Sir, just last question from my end.

Do we have any planned shutdown for this FY26 and FY27?

Definitely. All the plants undergo shutdown and maintenance every year, there are going to be plant shutdowns for all our units during the year.

Anything major?

No, nothing major.

Sir. Thank you.

Thank you, sir, for giving me again opportunity. I just wanted to know that we have recently learned from newspapers that MOIL has increased the prices of manganese ore by 5% from 1st February.

Do we have sufficient stock of manganese ore, or this is going to adversely affect our profitability for production of silico manganese?

No, our exposure to MOIL is extremely limited. In fact, we don't buy any lumps from them.

We only buy a very small amount of fines. This should not have much of an impact.

Okay. Then, sir, from where our manganese ore requirement is being met out?

From various sources, mostly outside of India.

Okay. Okay.

Thank you, sir.

Yes. Thank you so much for taking my question.

Sir, could you give us some broad-based idea on capex for FY27 and FY28, where are we looking to spend the capex, and of the capex that we are doing, what kind of revenues we can expect in the next coming years?

That's a fairly broad question. In terms of the current year with regards to the capex commitments, it's all based on the ongoing projects, namely, I think the Phase 2 300 MW thermal.

You have Phase 1 of solar, which is 100 MW committed, with the potential of another phase that may get committed later based on market dynamics. Then on the agri side, as we broadly spoke about, the avocado, where it's a $55 million commitment, and the sugar project, the Kawambwa Sugar Limited, which is a $100 million commitment.

We are expecting all this capex to kind of be undertaken till in the year of till FY27 end, right? Do we have anything in mind for FY28?

Do we have anything on mind?

Yes, we do have projects in the pipeline that we are thinking about. It's too early for us to commit or discuss those projects.

As we progress, as we have projects that we are developing, we also are constantly evaluating new projects that we can take up.

All right. Lastly, on the capex front, what was the capex that was undertaken in the 9 months of this year?

Phase 2 thermal power plant, the capex incurred is between $90 to $100 million, and towards the 100 MW solar power plant, capex incurred is $10 million. When it comes to avocado plantation, the capex incurred is around $8 million.

For the Kawambwa sugar plant, the capex incurred is $8 million.

All right. My last question would be that for the Indian power plants, do we have a tie-up for power this summer?

Yes. I think, like I mentioned earlier, for quarter four, we are more or less fully committed.

I think for the Q1 of FY27 too, we are in the process of tying up most of our surplus quantities.

All right. Thank you so much.

Hello, yeah. I wanted to check on what is the status of mines in Africa?

Lithium or

manganese? Sir, it's about the lithium, manganese mines.

Yeah. In terms of the lithium mines, we're still in the exploration stage.

That's currently underway. These processes take a little while, and they involve various steps.

That's currently underway. We're still in the exploration stage.

Sir. Thank you.

Thank you once again for joining us today. I hope we have answered all your questions.

We appreciate all your continued interest and support, and as we move ahead, we remain focused on delivering sustainable, long-term value for all stakeholders. Thank you, and have a nice day.