Thank you, Vibha. Just to add, we will begin this call with opening remarks from the management, following which we will have the floor open for an interactive Q&A session.

I would also like to point out that while some statements made in today's discussion may be forward-looking in nature, a note to this effect was stated in the concall invite sent to you earlier. I would now like to hand over to Mr.

Sreekanth Reddy for his opening remarks.

Thank you, Gavin. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Sagar Cements earnings call for the quarter and year ended March 31st, 2026.

Let me begin the discussion with a brief overview of the market, post which I will move on to Sagar specific developments. As indicated earlier, overall demand during the quarter remained resilient, particularly in the first 2 months, supported by a sustained construction activity.

However, momentum moderated towards the later part of the quarter due to labor shortages during the festive season and the impact of the unseasonal rains. The pricing environment also remained stable, largely driven by improvement in realizations in the non-trade segment.

Moving on to Sagar specific developments, during the year, we completed the minimum public shareholding requirement in Sagar Cements in Andhra Cements through OFS, providing added financial flexibility at the parent level. We also closed the year on a strong note, with volumes for both quarter and the full year growing by 8% and 11%, respectively.

Our total volumes for the year stood at 6.1 million ton, broadly in line with our expectation, reflecting steady execution despite a dynamic operating environment. Demand remained resilient across our key markets, particularly driven by sustained traction in infrastructure and rural segments, which supported the top-line growth of 20% during the quarter.

Revenues were also added by favorable pricing trends in the non-trade segment, leading to an improvement in overall realizations. Looking ahead, we remain optimistic about the demand outlook across our core regions.

Continued construction activity, supported by government-led infrastructure spending and stable rural demand, provides strong visibility. Based on this, we expect our volumes to be in the range of around 7 million ton for FY '27.

On the operational front, our EBITDA per ton for the quarter stood at ₹445 as against ₹218 per ton reported during Q4 FY '25. Going forward, we expect profitability to improve, supported by structural cost efficiency initiatives.

This includes benefit from WHRS, an increasing share of renewable energy through solar power, logistics optimization, and efficiency improvements from ongoing plant upgrades. Power and fuel cost stood at ₹1,422 per ton as against ₹1,406 per ton reported during Q4 FY '25.

Freight cost for the quarter stood at ₹848 per ton as against ₹822 per ton during Q4 FY '25. From an operational point of view, Mattampally plant operated at 59% utilization, while Gudipadu, Bayyavaram, Jeerabad, Jajpur, and Dachepalle plants operated at 84%, 69%, 95%, 44%, and 38%, respectively, during the quarter.

During the year, the group opted to be taxed under Section 115BAA of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Accordingly, deferred tax assets and liabilities have been remeasured.

The group has recognized the deferred tax asset on the carryforward business losses and unabsorbed depreciation in Andhra Cements Limited based on projected future taxable income, which provides convincing evidence that sufficient taxable profits will be available to utilize the losses. Profit after tax for the quarter stood at ₹100 crore.

As far as the key balance sheet items are concerned, the gross debt as on 31st March 2026 stood at ₹1,672 crores, out of which ₹1,379 crores as a long-term debt, and the remaining constitutes the working capital. The net worth of the company on a consolidated basis as on 31st March 2026 stood at ₹1,861 crore.

Debt-equity ratio stands at 0.74:1. Cash and bank balances were ₹107 crores as on 31st March 2026.

On the CapEx front, the company has successfully commissioned 2.8 megawatt of the waste heat recovery system pertaining to the AQC boiler out of the 4.35 megawatt on 12th May 2026. The balance capacity of 1.55 megawatt relating to the preheater boiler is expected to be commissioned by end of June 2026.

Further, our expansion projects at Dachepalle and Jeerabad are progressing, and we remain focused on executing these projects within defined timelines and budget. These expansions along with our existing surplus capacity position us well to capture the incremental demand.

The Board of Directors of the company in their meeting on 30th March 2026 have accorded in-principle approval of amalgamation of the Andhra Cements Limited, subsidiary company with Sagar Cements, subject to necessary approvals from the authorities concerned under Section 230 and 232 of the Companies Act, 2013. Further, the Board of Directors in the meeting held on 13th March May 2026 approved the establishment of a new division, the Superfine Building Materials, to capitalize on the growing demand for advanced, durable, and eco-friendly construction solutions.

The division will focus on high-performance superfine materials derived primarily from our GGBS and fly ash, catering to precision construction and sustainable building applications. These products will support applications such as ultra-high-performance concrete, structural repairs, interior finishing, and cladding solutions.

The initiative aligns with the company's long-term growth strategy and aims to strengthen its presence in advanced building materials segment. Overall, we are confident of sustaining healthy growth over the medium to long term, supported by capacity additions, operational efficiencies, and business diversification.

That concludes my opening remarks. We would now be glad to take any questions that you may have.

Thank you.

Vibha, as you would have seen, the petcoke and the coal prices are on an uptrend, which we did indicate in our presentation. Fortunately, in our case, the inventories of the fuel is relatively available till middle of Q2.

We do not expect a significant cost increase in a short term. On a medium to longer term, yeah, we have to see the outcomes of the war.

As it stands, the petcoke prices are on a increasing trend from what we used to be close to around $120, is already hovering around $136 to $140 on a CIF basis. That should invariably add up another ₹200 up to clinker level.

At cement level, it should definitely add close to ₹100 to ₹150 on the current kind of a blend for us. We expect things to shape up better and fairly quickly, but we have inventories all the way up to middle of Q2, Vibha.

Sir, you were saying that we won't be impacted till middle of next quarter, like Q2, and the prices that have gone up so far, the impact is ₹100 to ₹150 per ton basis. Is that what you are saying?

On a cement basis, yes, Mr. Rajat Sethia, at the current price trends that we see in the market where the petcoke landed costs and everything we did indicate in our presentation.

When it fully starts impacting us, I think that should be the net impact on us to. We see that impacting us from middle of Q2 onwards if prices don't come down.

Okay. Have we started stocking up inventory at current levels or we are waiting?

Not yet. I think we are still in negotiation.

We are switching to some amount of domestic coal, we are still evaluating options to source mostly domestic. Our ability to switch to any of the fuels is helping us to focus more on domestic coal.

How much of imported coal substitution would be known probably by end of this quarter itself, Mr. Rajat.

We'll be in a much better situation to communicate exactly what the real impact is going to be for us by end of this quarter.

Okay. Sir, other expenses have gone up by 28% on Q-on-Q basis.

Is there anything that you can share to understand this?

Yeah. Prasad here, sir.

I will update on that. There are one-off expenses for the quarter.

There is an mine bearing lands as it's a close to ₹7.5 crore we considered during the current year. Also there is a one District Mineral Foundation, which relates to one of the subsidiary company, that is Sagar Cements (M) Private Limited, is that close to ₹3.24 crore we considered during the quarter.

Both put together close to ₹10.5 crore, one of the expenses we considered in the current quarter. Okay.

That is the only one-off. The overall other expenses, if you look at, they are 700-plus.

Even if we remove 100, ₹10 crores, then the growth, which has been 28%, will come down to 26%. Everything else, would you say, is normal or

Yeah. Rest all is normal, in line with the operations.

These two elements are the one-off expenses.

Okay. Has anything been shorter in this quarter in terms of the prices and that's why this is up so much?

Because even on a year-on-year basis, it is up 14%. Just trying to understand whether this ₹700 crore of cost base is the normal cost base on a quarterly basis.

There are couple of promotional activities we spent during the quarter. That's what it's a part of the other expenses.

I will give you in detailed, sir, post this meeting.

Sure. The idea is to understand whether the cost base at ₹700 crore is going to sustain or how should we look at it.

Sir, second, if you can talk about how is the current quarter progressing in terms of volume and the pricing?

Mr. Rajat, the current quarter progress on a volume front, yeah, year-on-year number is up of 7%.

It's reasonably progressing in line with what we have indicated for a 7 million for the complete year in terms of our volume outlook. Though there is some amount of slowdown because of the elections where the labor outgo and they coming back, we expect things to start stabilizing before end of this month.

For that, we see a very strong demand outlook for the current year for most of our operations, Mr. Rajat.

Sir, pricing compared to

Price from middle of April to now, the prices have been stable. From exit of March to end of April, the prices picked up by almost ₹25 per bag, and more or less from then on, it has remained flat in our case, Mr.

Rajat.

Okay. Thanks.

Last one, last couple of years, you must be seeing that the volume guidance that we talk about at the beginning of the year, we generally are not able to meet it because of various reasons. Now that we are targeting 7 million tons, which is a 15%, 16% kind of volume growth, maybe 15%,

do you You should note like last year, we did indicate close to 6 million. We crossed 6.1 million.

We do expect even in the current year, the 7 million target that we are trying to achieve is purely because of the ramp-up. Cuz you should be aware that our Jeerabad plant is upgrading itself, and we are hopeful that before the end of this quarter, the plant upgrade would happen by additional 0.5 million.

At the same time, ramp-up of Andhra Cements also is happening both in terms of capacity, but notwithstanding the capacity expansion, we do expect a ramp-up at Andhra level. That is the reason why we are expecting a 0.9 million ton kind of an additional volume.

Though the markets that we operate are likely to grow anywhere between 12% to 15%, we did not pencil in the entire 15% growth for ourselves in the region alone. There is an 0.5 million ton and for more than three quarters, the incremental 0.5 million should be available in Jeerabad where we have always been operating up of 90%, Mr.

Rajat. We are hoping that to be very close to the indicative target, Mr.

Rajat. Last couple of years, as the prices did not support us for volume growth.

We usually don't want to lose cash for the sake of volume. We probably would have underperformed on the volumes purely on account of not wanting to lose money.

We don't chase market share. We actually conserve the cash.

That is our philosophy, and that remains. Given the current demand outlook and the current pricing kind of a thing, we are more than hopeful to achieve 7 million tons, Mr.

Rajat, for the current year.

Thank you so much, and wish you all the best.

Thank you, sir.

Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity and congrats on a good set of numbers.

Just a few questions on the Superfine Building Materials division that we're setting up. I understand, might be a little similar to the one existing player that has started off with GGBS.

Is there some sort of cost synergies we also have in this space? Or is there some advantage to getting into this venture?

Mr. Raghav, good morning.

See, it's an extension for our existing business because we are in GGBS space. We have been one of the old players in the GGBS space, but we are limited to only two of our manufacturing facilities, one at Bayyavaram, that is close to Vizag in Andhra, and Jajpur in Odisha.

We have access to both fly ash as well as the GGBS. As I mentioned, there are advantages because we do produce GGBS and we need to invest very minimal amount to separate superfines.

Currently, the GGBS is sub-4,000 Blaine on a fineness. With a minimal investment, we could separate the fines that come out of the production.

Our target is to look at anywhere between 10,000 to 20,000 kind of a Blaine separation for both fly ash as well as GGBS along with microsilica. These products primarily cater to advanced construction material and also into the high-performance concrete, sir.

We are already in that segment, especially we do have a very strong relationship with players who would definitely need this product going forward, especially into the precast segment. We are leveraging on our relationship.

At the same time, our target is to get into advanced building materials which are very similar to the product range that we already have. We are also looking at some of the innovations and the technical solutions that we want to offer.

Part of that, this is the first step towards giving advanced solutions where we could definitely do a lot of value add to ourselves as well as to our customers, Mr. Raghav.

We would be more than happy keeping the stakeholders updated on the progress that we are making. This is only a first step towards getting into a much higher end and technically advanced kind of solutions and the materials that we as a company, we would want to enter, Mr.

Raghav.

Sure, sir. Any kind of longer-term maybe volume targets from this?

Also, is there some indication of versus our current products within the advanced space or just cement, what would the kind of premium maybe be in terms of pricing premium or discount for some of these products? See,

I would not like to comment on the price premium because they are into very, very different segment, because GGBS, as I mentioned, for a low Blaine, that is sub-4,000 Blaine, typically sells on an ex-works basis anywhere between ₹2,500 to ₹3,000 per ton, whereas the superfines sell up of ₹30,000 per ton, Mr. Raghav.

That's the delta. Volumes typically would be very, very low for these.

These are more technomarketing-related, this is not something which is sold like a commoditized kind of a product like cement. It needs team.

It needs the technical capability. It also needs a lot of R&D, which we are already into it.

We would want to come into that segment with a lot of experience handling these materials even in the past. That's what I would like to highlight at this point of time.

We would be more than happy to come back to all of you at appropriate time, and it's not too far. We would be keeping you updated from time to time about the progress that we are making in this particular product.

It's not only this product, but also into the solutions. We have been engaged with some of the very advanced construction solutions where there are not many players or no players in some of the activities that we have done, which is purely technical in nature, where we definitely like to add value to ourselves as well as to the clients that we have been servicing, Mr.

Raghav.

Sure, sir. Thank you.

Hi, sir. Good morning.

Am I audible?

Very much. Good morning, Mr.

Rajesh.

Great, sir. Sir, first question pertains to the Jeerabad grinding expansion expected to come in Q1.

Would we be engaging in clinker sales in FY '27 also?

Or they will be

fully used for

your cement? I think in the current year, we do expect some amount of clinker sale.

Quantifying that at this point of time is definitely going to be a challenge because the ramp-up takes time. During this time, there is a possibility that we still might do some clinker sale, but it is subject to the price of the clinker, we never lost margin at the expense of the clinker.

We do expect some amount of clinker sale as the grinding unit is likely to ramp up in a phased fashion. During that time, we definitely would have some clinker sale, Mr.

Rajesh.

Okay. Sir, clinker margin would be EBITDA margin level would be similar to number which you have reported in

For that location, yes, sir. For that location, as a margin, as a percentage, yeah, we did not compromise in a big way because that location has its advantages, Mr.

Rajesh.

Correct. Understood.

Second, on the exceptional items in Q4, what exceptional cost line items are there in the operating cost, or one-off in nature?

Mr. Rajesh, our CFO did update, but just for the clarity sake,

yeah,

there is a road infrastructure as well as some DMF-related expenditure at our Jeerabad unit, which actually needed clarity from regulatory this thing. We did make the provisions.

I think from here on, we accumulated for at least 3 years since we started the unit. From here on, it is going to be part of the operational income.

It's not very, very significant amount either way, Mr. Rajesh.

It only because

it's compounded, it looks higher, but from a spread perspective, from an operational impact, which we are going to make provision on a month-to-month, on a quarter-to-quarter, yeah, it may not significantly alter in a big way, Mr. Rajesh.

In Q4, the number which you would have accrued, would that be the normalized number? ₹10 crore, so that would be for multiple quarters, right?

Yes. It is for multiple years, Mr.

Rajesh.

Multiple years.

If I

want to remove the impact for preceding period, that would be how much?

I think, Mr. Rajesh, we would revert to you with specific that information.

It spread over 3, 3.5 years, again, it's a very volume-specific kind of a number

on ton of

limestone. We would be happy sharing that data offline, Mr.

Rajesh. It's 3.5 years spread, from a cost perspective, once we normalize it, it's not a very, very significant one.

It should be less than ₹2 crores per year kind of an impact, if I may have to say. With the increased volume of sale, I think that number probably on a per ton basis is going to be even tapered out to much lower number, Mr.

Rajesh.

Okay. In the other income, there is a higher number, ₹11 crore.

What is that pertains to, and is there any land monetization which has happened?

You're talking of inflows, Mr. Rajesh?

I think it's mostly to do with the incentives that we received, Mr. Rajesh, during the current year quarter.

Oh, what I understand, that would be part of your revenues, right, the Jeerabad incentives?

Yeah. Ravi, the other income is the income on OFS, say we diluted stake in Andhra Cement.

Other income is inclusive of that.

Understood. Okay.

Lastly, is there any guidance on the superfine business on revenue and EBITDA? I understand it would be too early, but any ballpark number you are working with for FY '27, '28?

Mr. Rajesh, I think we would revert with very specific presentation pertaining to that in due course of time.

Kindly bear with us. What we do expect is up of 30% kind of a margin as a minimum in that business line.

The top-line and the bottom-line numbers, we would be happy to come back to all of you. Kindly bear with us till the next quarter end, please.

Understood. Lastly, on the operating cost, with the clinker unit at Andhra also stabilized, excluding the fuel price increase and the packaging cost increase, have our numbers stabilized?

Are there rooms for further reduction in the operating cost?

Hello? Hello?

Sreekanth sir, Prasad sir, we can't hear you.

Yeah. Rajesh, I think there is some disconnect.

Sreekanth sir will rejoin again.

Sure. Okay.

Maybe if you could answer what sort of cost normalization which is still expected on the company level now because this is second quarter your Andhra Cement

Post commissioning of preheater at Andhra, it is in line with the sector right now. Earlier it is close to ₹200 to ₹250 per ton higher when we compared with other units of us and even in line with the sector.

Now post-commissioning, yeah, everything the fuel-related and all, it comes back to normal. Today we are incurring around 700 to 700 kcal per ton of clinker.

Earlier it is around 775 to 780. Now at clinker level, it is normal.

Going forward, we are going to commission the new VRM for the cement grinding. That is going to be commissioned by September this year.

Post that, the overall whatever cost saving we estimated, we are going to achieve that, sir.

Okay. Given the current scenario, any guidance on the margins?

Can we expect further improvement in margins from this quarter margin performance for ₹430, ₹440 level, or Yeah.

Definitely it is going to be in line with the sector right now. It is going to be in line with other units of Sagar.

We have to see going forward based on the cost pressures, and again it is correlate even on to the cement price. Probably this year we were expecting it is going to be better than the last financial year.

Understood. Great, sir.

Thank you. I'll come back in queue.

Thank you, sir.

Hi, thanks for the opportunity. I'm audible?

Great. My first question would be about overall market, sir, overall in South particularly.

If you could just tell us about the pricing trend across South region and overall for all markets as well, it'll be great, please.

We took the price increase during second week of April, yeah, across all the regions.

Across all the regions, yeah, we are able to achieve close to ₹25 to ₹30 per bag most of the regions.

Let me

add just that.

See, the price that we have seen right now in Hyderabad, from a retail price perspective, we are close to ₹295, sir, which was at ₹290, and the wholesale price was hovering at ₹225, which actually got increased to ₹268 by exit of April to even the current price. As I mentioned earlier, we did get ₹25 kind of a per bag price hike.

If you look at Vizag, yeah, the current retail price is at ₹295 with a wholesale price reading around ₹265. Again, it's product-specific.

For each market, there is a specific product. For Hyderabad, it is PPC.

Now you look at Sholapur, the current price is at ₹288. Brahmapur, the price is at ₹280, ₹295.

Bhubaneswar is at ₹300. Indore is at ₹278.

Bangalore is at ₹310. Again, this is for our product.

We are typically in a B segment, B category segment. It's hovering anywhere between ₹290 to ₹295, Mr.

Satyam.

Understood. Thanks for that, sir.

Sir, is the price sort of sustaining? Is the demand there?

As I mentioned, sir, the price picked up primarily in a non-trade segment in the middle of April. Though we tried to increase few at few places, price more or less remained where it was without any kind of price increase till till 15th of this month or rather till 12th of this month.

In some places, of course, we did see whatever we tried to increase, especially in the Eastern India into certain extent to in Indore markets, yeah, the ₹5 increase that we attempted, we could not sustain, prices more or less have been very, very flat with slightly negative bias in in in the central as well as in the eastern markets for us, whereas in South, we we we could sustain the same price what we have increased middle of April. Even so far, it is holding up.

Though I have to admit that the additional price increase we could not get, but more or less the prices remained where they are.

Understood. Sir, my next question would be about the incentives.

How much incentive did we book in this quarter and for the whole year, and also what are we expecting for 20 FY '27, if that could be given,

please? See, our incentives primarily receivables in Telangana remained where they are, there has not been much.

We expect some amount of incentives to be picked up where we have accumulation of around ₹100 crores for last 10 years. We have seen a small trickle down in Andhra.

We are not penciling in either of them. The only incentives which we have been receiving consistently is from our Madhya Pradesh asset.

We expect anywhere between ₹25 to ₹30 crores for the coming year, Mr. Satyam, for the Madhya Pradesh asset.

Understood. Sir, my last question would be That would be

on account of capital subsidy as well as some amount of electricity incentives that we have.

Got it. Sir, my last question would be about your sale mix across the states, what percentage did you sell across?

I think we made it part of the presentation. If you look at our investor presentation, it's on slide 6, Mr.

Satyam. I think it is very elaborate rather than giving you a number.

You need any further refinement to that, we would be more than happy to furnish, but we did indicate those in our investor presentation, investor and analyst presentation.

Sure, sir. I'll have a look.

Thanks.

Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity, sir.

Sir, one question with regard to your MP plant. Just wanted to know will it continue till FY '30 or how much we can expect there?

Mr. Kamlesh, the incentives there are to tune of around ₹171 crores so far.

We are also eligible for the expansion project additionally, but this ₹170 crores is spread over 7 years. This is primarily on the capital subsidy, sir.

Is the case with the electricity incentive. These are valid for 7 years.

Out of that, we are close to completing close to 3 years now. They are available for next 4 years, Mr.

Kamlesh. I'm talking only of the first asset that we have built.

For the expansion project, yeah, they would be available for next 7 years to be paid in seven equal installments for the overall kind of incentive. We would revert to you once the CapEx is firmed up.

There is a government sanction which we need to get for the expanded project. Once we get to know of the numbers, we would be happy furnishing.

The numbers that I have indicated is for the first investments that we have done.

In total for the first phase, we are expecting ₹170 crore and out of that we have already got roughly around 100 around ₹70-odd crore, like say last year?

Close to that number, sir, close to ₹65-odd crores we did receive. We have another ₹110 crores to be spread over 4 years' time.

Added to that, we would also have an electricity incentive, which again is a performance-driven, we are not able to quantify that at this point of time, but that should be anywhere between ₹7.5 to ₹10 crores additionally over what I have mentioned, Mr. Kamlesh.

Lastly, sir, if we see standalone performance, our margins look to be very subdued, like say below ₹150 mark. Where do we see these margins?

I do understand that prices are not in our control and we can work only on our cost part. Like year after year, we are seeing this performance, and on top of that, we have seen a benefit of consolidation in the industry as well.

Overall, the performance looks to be very subdued, and what are our aspirations, like say over next 1 to 2 years, where do we see these margins going?"

Mr. Kamlesh, I'm sure you'd appreciate, I think the Andhra has been a significant drag on us in terms of Andhra Cement.

Fortunately, the CapEx and everything is working out extremely well, you'd have seen even in the last quarter, yeah, we are very close to the break-even. I think with the turnaround in Andhra, I think from a cost perspective and everything, we are back to where we were once.

For the pricing, on the cost front and all, we are back to a very good kind of a position with Andhra new preheater coming up. The efficiency of the new preheater is extremely good.

At the same time, our investments, which we have done over last 3 years, we are extremely confident on our margins going forward. Irrespective of the prices, I think we should start delivering the numbers from here on, Mr.

Kamlesh.

Great, sir. Thanks a lot, and best of luck.

Thank you.

As I've indicated, for most of the southern states, we did get ₹25 per bag on an average kind of a hike starting from middle of April. As indicated earlier, we are able to sustain most of it.

The growth numbers from what we did narrate even during the previous call, yeah, we do expect a strong demand growth in both Telugu states of AP and Telangana. We do expect anywhere between 5% to 10% growth in Tamil Nadu.

Karnataka, we expect a 5% growth in for the coming year. Going back to Odisha, yeah, there has been a lag, but fortunately the government spend has started picking up.

Internally, we did pencil a 5% growth for the demand for Odisha. For Madhya Pradesh, we are expecting anywhere between 5% to 7.5% growth for Madhya Pradesh markets.

I think bags, there has been a taper down from what we have seen. We were paying extra ₹5 to an average cost that we used to pay before.

We have seen almost a ₹2 kind of a drop per bag. It has come down.

The real impacts of war, I think we just started seeing them. Given this scenario, yeah, what we have penciled in is almost additional another ₹100 on account of all the miscellaneous things that includes the bags and at the same time availability and also the pricing of explosives.

Also, there has been a ₹23.75 per liter hike in terms of commercial diesel, which has its impact on the mining. We have penciled in almost additional ₹100, we are factoring around ₹225 to ₹250 per ton kind of a price increase on account of both fuel and as well as miscellaneous expenditure.

I'm talking this in general. It could vary on the inventory and all.

That's what is what we have penciled over a period of time. Again, this is kind of a moving number.

As it stands, that's what we have seen if everything had to be passed on at this point of time. It is impacting almost ₹250 per ton on account of fuel and various other cost items that have gone up during this time.

Sir, just wanted to know, actually, I have joined late. Sir, any update on the land disposable, the timelines on the land bank and when can we expect the proceedings?

See, I'm assuming that you're talking of the Vizag land of Andhra Cements.

Yes, yes, sir.

We got all the approvals. The government indicated that they are preparing a final GO, not for us alone, but in general for monetizing all the industrial lands, which the grant has come from the government historically.

Like in Telangana, where the government promulgated a government order where there is a small fee which we need to pay to the government and it automatically gets converted. Even Andhra government is contemplating similar kind of an GO.

We are just awaiting for it. Some of the critical approvals have already we have received, primarily from GVMC, that is the Greater Municipal Vizag Municipality and the Urban Development Authority, we did get the approvals.

The GO from the government is awaited. We were to receive the GO, but specific to us, but government wanted to come up with a generalized kind of a GO to get most of these conversions simplified.

They wanted to come up with the GO. We are expecting anytime it might come.

At this point of time, it is still fluid, but we are more than hopeful that over next 6 months, we should have got the GO in place for us to monetize, Mr. Inderpreet.

Thanks a lot, sir.

Thank you.

Yeah. Thanks again.

Sir, last year at the starting of the year, we had guided for net debt position of around ₹1,300 crore, while we ended the year at almost 1,550-plus. What really happened that we had to take more debt?

What gives us confidence that the number that we have put up for the next year debt, we will be able to achieve it?

What you have to remember, Mr. Rajat, is this debt includes an unsecured debt from the promoter group for fulfilling the Andhra project.

We were not wanting to draw the entire amount. If you track us, we were to do the rights issue for Andhra, yeah, which we could not do the rights issue, but we went for an OFS.

That actually has elevated. We always have indicated that the debt levels would not be higher than what it is so that we would not cross the current levels.

At the same time, yeah, we did accelerate some of the solar investments and everything, which where the payback period was fairly short. That is actually adding up to our EBITDA or rather cost level.

We thought that is more prudent than trying to keep debt at the static level. Having said that, yeah, from here on, we expect debt to be paid out fairly quickly with the operating income, Mr.

Rajat.

Thanks, sir. In terms of our EBITDA per ton, there was a time when we used to do 6, ₹700 per ton basis.

Do you think we are in a position to go back to those levels in the next 1 to 2 years?

I think in the current year itself, we should be very close to 600 because the significant improvement for us has come from the cost itself, Mr. Rajat.

The last year ended at almost 450 to 480, and we are more than hopeful that with the Andhra plant becoming as efficient with both the grinding plants becoming operationalized, for us, adding this 150 is not an external issue, it is more an internal issue. We believe that the current pricing may not deteriorate.

That's the caveat that I need to put. Even if it doesn't go up, with the current prices remaining flat, I think we should be close to that number, Mr.

Rajat. It's primarily on account of the savings that we are getting from the investments that we have made so far.

Okay. These internal investments that will contribute, timeline-wise, by when they will start kicking in from

Sir, I think Andhra is already operationalized, especially on the clinker line. The waste heat recovery as well as the grinding capacity at Jeerabad should be completed before end of this quarter itself.

Though 3/4 of the WHRS is already operational as we speak, but before end of the quarter, we are more than hopeful that these savings should start kicking in at the levels that I've indicated. Andhra's grinding capacity, which again should also save on the energy side, should be completed before end of September itself, Mr.

Rajat. That also should start contributing for half of the year, half year for the current financial year.

Got it, sir. Got it.

Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you for the opportunity. This is a continuation to the last participant's question.

How much CapEx is pending for us to be incurred on both the Jeerabad expansion as well as on the Andhra Cements side, and how much will be incurred in FY '27, and by when do you expect both of these units to start commissioning?

I would appreciate if you could look at slide number 16 on the presentations that we have uploaded, Mr. Rahul Agarwal.

Just for the convenience, the Andhra expansion, the pending CapEx is close to ₹140 crores, which we are likely to complete in the current financial year. Gudipadu is at ₹17 crores, and Jeerabad expansion, we have ₹33 crores spending.

As mentioned, the Jeerabad expansion should be completed before end of this quarter itself. Is the case with the waste heat recovery at Gudipadu.

Andhra's expansion should be completed before September, sir, this September.

Got it. Got it.

On the Vizag land, you mentioned that a lot of clearances are in place and you're still awaiting the final notifications from the government. As of today, what is your assessment of the market value of that land?

See,

again, I'm going with the reckoner rate, sir. Though there has been some increase, but I'm going with the old reckoner rate.

It is at ₹4 crores an acre. Net of expenditure, we are likely to receive around ₹3.5 crores per acre.

We have around 100 acres, we were expecting ₹350 crores spread over 2 years' time. When the GO gets received, in the first year, we expect to receive around ₹150 crores and the ₹200 crores over the next 12 months' time post that, Mr.

Rahul Agarwal.

Got it. One last one, sir, on top of the expansion CapEx that you highlighted earlier, is there any recurring maintenance CapEx that we need to do, and what is the quantum of that that you expect on an ongoing basis?

Again,

we did present part of our presentation, sir. Just for the convenience, at each location, the general maintenance CapEx across all the units should be around ₹50 crores, sir.

Got it. Got it.

Thank you so much, sir.

Thank you.

Hi, sir. Sir, thank you for the opportunity and congratulations on good set of numbers.

Sir, I just had one question which is related to balance sheet and more on working capital. Your working capital days has increased significantly from March to March '25 to '26, and this is largely driven by decline in payable days.

Can you throw some light on what happened during the year and also how do you see this going forward?

I think when market situation is very, very difficult, sir, the credit days and everything gets extended. At the same time, as indicated, the fuel prices were at elevated levels.

When you stock up, you end up using higher working capital. I think by end of the year, we more or less have reached to stability.

I think going forward, yeah, we would like to minimize the utilization of the working capital. This happened because the business itself has expanded, sir.

If you look at the working capital limits were very similar even for a 5 million sale, but the sale got extended. Was for some of the clients, the credit days also got extended, so that definitely put some amount of pressure on the overall kind of working capital utilization.

We expect moderation going forward. Please keep in mind that we are going to add another million ton sale into the overall kind of numbers what we have done previously.

There is some amount of reassessment. With especially the fuel with the increased price, for same volumes if we have to do, still, yeah, we need to put in more money.

I think that's the scenario that we are in. With slightly better realizations and better margins, we do expect moderation in the overall kind of utilization of the working capital, Mr.

Parth.

Largely, payables is linked to basically or raw material stocking up, fuel stock

It's on either side, sir. One is the credit days for the finished products, and at the same time for the raw material for the input.

In addition to that, yeah, in Q4, in the month of March, we secured close to 76,000 tons of US NAPP coal, which is close to ₹80 crore worth of value. That we took by sharing the foreign letter of credit, so that is going to have 180 days credit period.

That is one of the reason to reflect the higher number,

sir. Perfect.

Got it, sir. Thank you so much for answering my questions.

Thank you.

Hi, sir. Yeah.

Thank you. Sir, my question pertains to your discussion on saying that net debt numbers would largely remain flattish.

Just wanted to understand, first, in the working capital, what is the incentive outstanding at the end of March '26?

Prasad, can you help me with that? Yeah.

Rajesh, it's around ₹23 crore we have to receive incentives.

Most of the around 67, ₹68 crore which is accrued in P&L, large chunk of that got received this year?

Yes, sir. Yes.

Even this ₹23 crore we were expecting in second quarter.

Okay.

Yeah. Since now the numbers are in place, now we have to reach government to submit an application to get the money.

That we are going to initiate probably in the next week. We were expecting somewhere in middle of July, we can get the incentives.

Understood. Sir, this year we're talking of total CapEx of close to 3 300 to ₹320 crore including maintenance CapEx, and interest outgo, if I'm not wrong, would be close to ₹200 crore, somewhere north of ₹500 crore of cash flow would be required.

If we assume all of that comes from EBITDA, we're talking about at 7 million tons

Mr. Rajesh, I think, yeah, sorry for barging in.

I think you should understand that CapEx need not come from EBITDA alone, sir. We have structured even some of the energy-efficient projects through lease finance.

Except for the spending 3 and the maintenance CapEx, the other projects are subject to the market conditions, and at the same time, based on the payback, we would like to take a call with lease finance options that exist for us, Mr. Rajesh.

Okay. From a cash flow perspective, for FY '27, what is the CapEx outgo you're looking at?

I understand you have few leased out projects.

It is close to 140 140 to ₹100 ₹190 crores is the total CapEx that is pending for three ongoing projects, Mr. Rajesh, but there is an undrawn credit.

Our drawal plan is whatever we would have repaid, that is what is required for us to implement the project. That is precisely is the plan, and that's what we did indicate even in our presentation, Mr.

Rajesh.

No, I was looking to your presentation where you mentioned ₹290-odd crore is what you're looking at, ₹275 crore.

Out of that, there are three projects. Two of them are solar, both at Mattampally as well as at Jeerabad, and at the same time Gudipadu in terms of optimization, sir.

Those are options which we would like to exercise as we would progress. Our interest is to pay down the debt.

We are looking at other alternatives to implement the project, primarily on a something like an equipment finance kind of an option or lease finance option is what we are pursuing, Mr. Rajesh.

Once you remove that, we should be sub-₹240-odd crores. That includes the maintenance CapEx, Mr.

Rajesh.

Okay. That would be, sir, and any land sale you're factoring in in your assumptions when you're expecting

Yes, sir. We did pencil in close to ₹150 crores for the current financial year.

Net of taxes?

That is net of expenditures, yeah, net of all the other expenditure.

Understood. That will means you're factoring in close to ₹500-odd at EBITDA margin level.

Sir, on

cost side if I look at, Yeah, please tell me, sir.

From a budget perspective, we have penciled in ₹580 crores, sir, which is ₹100 more than what we have achieved last year. As I mentioned before, that ₹100 is actually coming from the overall savings that we are likely to receive in the cost optimization alone, Mr.

Rajesh. What we have also penciled in is whatever would be the incremental cost that are likely to happen from here on, we are assuming that it would be a pass-through where market should absorb them, Mr.

Rajesh.

Understood. Correct.

If I just want to understand the OpEx break-up between your standalone and Andhra Cement, they are at quite different cost levels. If I look at your operating cost for your standalone entity, that averages of close to ₹3,800 per ton, and the Andhra

Rajesh, I'm sure you'll appreciate that is one of the reason why even in a difficult time we went with an investment, because whatever we invested in Andhra has a very strong payback. Now with the investment more or less coming to conclusion, yeah, the gap between Andhra and standalone should be very, very minimal, sir, because the gap again, very specific to Mattampally to Andhra, the gap would be only the waste heat recovery cost-related issue, or else more or less there is a complete alignment on cost.

That's what gives us confidence that from here on our margins are going to be, I would not say very high, but healthier like how it used to be before. That is one of the reason why we aggressively pursued the CapEx even in a difficult time.

Understood.

I see a ₹1,000 difference between both the entities on costing side, ₹3,800, ₹3,900 versus ₹4,800, ₹4,900. Am I missing something?

Andhra OpEx is close to ₹4,900-odd on a full-year basis.

Mr. Rajesh, again, it depends on what are all the line items that you're looking at, because the logistics cost could be very different because the market spread is very different.

I think we would be more than happy to run through on an offline, Mr. Rajesh.

Sure, sir. Sure.

Lastly, on the land sale, I understand the GR you're expecting from the Telangana government, but in the interim, have you lined up or are you in some advanced stage of discussion with buyers? Once the GR is out, you may be able to dispose of and generate that

Rajesh, I think Yeah, there has been an engagement,

but

as everybody needs clarity, right? We obviously have appointed a consultant who has helped us to reach out to few of them.

We are in discussion, but nothing is concrete till the timeline and everything gets evolved. That, I think and it should not be a big challenge selling a land in Vizag, though that size of land for Vizag is very big.

With the activity that is happening in Vizag now, we are reasonably sure and confident of executing the transaction fairly quickly, because our idea also is not to sell it as a single block. The idea is to make it into viable blocks so that yeah, we don't have to break it down into smaller pieces, but some manageable pieces.

I think sales should not take longer than 2 years, Mr. Rajesh.

That is the reason why we penciled in the entire ₹350 crores spread over 18 to 24 months with bulk of it around 150 to be received in the first year and the rest in next 6 to 8 months, the balance to be received, Mr. Rajesh.

That's all. Thank you, sir, and all the best.

Thank you.

Thank you again. Appreciate each one of you for joining on the call.

I hope you could get all your queries answered. If not, please feel free to connect us at Sagar or CDR.

We would be more than happy to address them. Thank you again.

Have a great day ahead. Thank you.