Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to ABB India Ltd Q3 July to September quarter CY 2025 earnings conference call. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that the conference is being recorded, and any unauthorized recording of this call is strictly prohibited. The recording will be made available on the company's and SEBI's website subsequently. I now hand the conference over to Mr. T.K. Sridhar, Chief Financial Officer of ABB India Ltd. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. T.K. Sridhar.
Good morning. Very good morning. Thank you very much for sort of conducting the first few words about it. So, ladies and gentlemen, welcome and a very good morning once again. Welcome to the Q3 2025 investor call of ABB India Ltd. So on the call, along with me, are Sanjeev Sharma, the Country Managing Director of ABB India. I have Kiran Dutt, who leads Electrification business in India, and also Sanjeev Arora, who leads the Motion business, and Subrata Karmakar for the Robotics. Unfortunately, Balaji, who leads the PA and Process Automation division, is not able to join because of his customer commitments. So with this, I hand over the call to Sanjeev to take us through the initial macro and the market slides of ABB. So over to you, Sanjeev.
Thank you, Sridhar, and good morning to all of you. Happy to welcome all of you to this, our quarter three performance session. I'll give you some business highlights followed by financial highlights by T.K. Sridhar, and then we'll have a question and answer session. Next slide, please. If you see the business highlights, we had a 13% base order growth, and 14% revenue growth. But if you compare last year, we around in this quarter had some large contracts, large orders. If you look into the overall order growth, that looks minus 3%, but the base order growth was quite healthy. Profitability is 16% up quarter on quarter, and it is minus 7% year-on-year, profit after tax. There are mixed issues, I think, which we'll take up in the financial presentation. I will give you more details then.
We continue to maintain a strong cash position, nearly INR 5,000 crores. We continue to expand our portfolio and bring more premium products to the market because the market is demanding it. We have introduced IE5 ultra-premium SynRM motors, and this is SynRM motor technology and free from rare earth materials. We also successfully commissioned some ABB Ability SCADAvantage solution for THINK Gas Private Ltd, enabling end-to-end automation and digitalization for compressed gas distribution network. Sustainability is on target, and I'll give you more data. All our motion factories are certified as Zero Waste to Landfill as on date. Next slide, please. So we saw a good revenue growth of plus 14%, and as said, net of large orders, we had minus 3% orders growth, plus 17, 13% in the base orders.
Our order backlog stands at INR 9,895 crores, gives us a good visibility of revenues in the coming quarters. Renewables, buildings and infrastructure, discrete automation process industries, I think these are the themes which are built around the opportunities we saw in the marketplace. Next slide, please. You can see that the diversity of our portfolio plays in diversity of applications, right from wind turbine converters to gas chromatographs, oxygen analyzer for leading integrated energy player, electrical instrumentation for global F&B player, robotic solution for EV mobility, insulated case circuit breakers for power distribution equipment company, process automation and drive solution for Metal. We can see our 18 businesses playing this 23 market segment, always keeps the robustness of the business model at the company level. Next, please.
The key element of our expansion of our business is to continue to expand into new market segments, also new geographies, and also keep introducing and reintroducing our technologies to our partners and customers. And our team does customer connect programs across the width and the depth of country in the market segments as well as geographies and customer large and the medium and the small size customer base. And that's something that keeps us growth initiatives and the growth impulse that we need in fact the company. And that has been the drumbeat for the last many years, and our team continued to have that drumbeat going. Next, please. Our focus on diverse business market segments, which is spread in 23 market segment. We continue to see high engagement and high response in data center, electronics, and renewable.
Our portfolio is, you know, resonating well in these, and these are the long-term gains. I think we see a much more capacity build-up coming in these areas in the near future. The moderate growth is basically the segments in the middle, and the low growth segment that we see at this point of time, which continue to rotate over a period of time, are listed on the right column. Next, please. The theme for the quarter is giving an idea about textiles, a deep dive. India is the world's second largest producer of textile garments with 4.6% share of global trade. It is expected that it will grow at 8.6% CAGR. The competitive advantage of India into this sector is availability of raw material and also skilled manpower at competitive cost, which is a driving element for this business to happen.
Government is paying attention and has some good initiatives in this area, including the PLI scheme and the GST rationalization to both boost domestic demand. And also there are key trends, which are right now affecting. I think there is a bit of a challenge for this sector with the U.S. tariff impact. But at the same time, India is diversifying itself and creating more partner countries to mitigate those tariff impacts. Infrastructure is being modernized, and also more sustainable manufacturing practices are being brought in this area. And ABB offers motors, drives, PLCs, engineering tools, service, and support, and a host of other solutions in this particular market segment. So we always make sure that, you know, we have a good proposition for this growing and important segment in the country. Next, please. On the sustainability in practice, we are on track.
You know, our target for reducing the GHG emissions was 87%. We have achieved it at 87.05%. Zero waste to landfill units. We had targeted that in 2025, four units will be zero waste to landfill. We have achieved four, so great job done by our team and locations. We also focus on that our units will turn water positive units. That is, we put more water in the ground than we take it out. Our target is four units. We have already achieved three. One unit remaining is under certification at the moment. Most likely, by the end of the year, we'll achieve the target. Water recyclability is at 44%, and our target is 50% for this year. Next, please. On the CSR and performance with purpose, we continue to focus on education and skilling, diversity and inclusion, communities and environment.
For the last 10 years, we always spend 100% of CSR allocation. Now, having done these programs for a period of time, we can really see visible impact, wherever we have engaged. We do it in a very institutionalized way, and our teams can see the impact on the communities and the targeted programs that we have taken. Next, please. For 2025 outlook, I think tailwinds are private consumption, government capital expenditure, and moderating inflation. Headwinds, as we know, trade uncertainty is playing out around India. We have prolonged geopolitical tensions which haven't found a way to subside, but I think we'll have to see that through. Of course, there's a volatility in the global financial markets, and there's a lot of fluctuation on the forex.
So these are the things we need to navigate, both on the opportunity side and the challenges side as we finish 2025 in one and a half months and then also, enter 2026. Next slide, please. So here, I hand it back to T.K. Sridhar to take you through financial highlights. Over to you, Sridhar.
Thank you. Thank you, Sanjeev. So I think we now get into the most meaty part of it, which is the numbers where I think people are waiting for more information sharing. So if you look at these set of numbers, which is there on the slide, so the orders, base orders, which we call, have a an execution cycle, which is shorter compared to the larger orders, which more represent the project orders or the long-term system orders. So we have grown for the quarter, a 13% growth, which is as per what we understand with the market dynamics, which is there. This is pretty healthy stuff, at least because it gives us the visibility of revenue conversions going forward, just not depending on the large orders which are there in the backlogs at this point of time.
And this is spread across all the business divisions in the respective business segments. It's not just in one division which has really helped us to do it, but it is across. It's an, I would say, a good recovery which has happened from the previous quarter, where we could see certain offshoots which are coming up. That's about the orders. When we come to the backlogs, INR 9,900 crores of backlog roughly on the books. This would definitely be executed over the next quarters. We do have a plan, and there are no slow-moving or long-term orders, slow-moving or non-moving orders. Everything is lined up for execution in the few quarters to come. This has almost 30% of it as a composition of large orders.
So it is basically 70%, which are the smaller orders which will get executed on a month-to-month basis, revenues, but because we have a backlog, and we said that we would definitely be executing it. So it has generated the 14% growth and profitability. We are at 15. 4 on PBT, compared to sequentially 14.9, but compared to the previous year of 20.5. We will dwell upon this as we go forward, and that's more due to the material cost impact. We have a mixed issue of revenue which we are having because we are definitely pushing the new technologies around and also forex, which Sanjeev alluded to in his section. And also, last but not the least, the very recent impact of QCO or the BIS certification, which is needed for the locally manufactured products to be used in the production, right?
So this is basically the overview of how we are for the quarter. And the cash balance, INR 4,500 crores, of course we could have done slightly better over here. We have stocked up strategic inventories to make sure that we are not bound by any QCO obligations which could come up as a surprise or a delay in certification. So we need to serve our customers because we have committed delivery lines for the backlogs, and we have done a conscious strategic stocking up over there on the inventories, which I'm pretty much sure will get liquidated as we go into 2026. The next slide. So this gives us a bit of a more granular view of the P&L. If you look at it, of revenues we did discuss, and then we come to material costs.
Material costs is something which I know that people are looking at as to what could be the increase in material costs. I think it's better that we go business area by business area so that you have a bit more granularity on it. Overall, if you see it's an issue of mix of revenues, the portfolio changes which has happened, and also on the competition, which has intensified in quite a few segments. Also the fact that we had an ability to command a premium in the post-COVID era, which has now sort of dried up. That's something which is not now there. Also under the market dynamics, which are slowing down, the decision on quite a few orders, and therefore opportunities, are restricted in the market to play with.
Last but not the least, we have the QCO impact as well. So that's how it is. Other expenses, if you look, they are more or less steady. No one-offs as what I would see in the expenses if you see that. Yeah, unlike the last quarter, we did not have any big forex impact in this particular quarter. But I think the rest of it is basically mathematical calculation. So this is how we have an overall P&L structure for this. If you go to the next slide. Electrification, I think, on the electrification, in Q3 2024, we had almost INR 560 crores of a large order, right, which is not there in this particular quarter.
So that means against INR 1,700-INR 1,800, if we round it off. If you take off INR 600, then we're talking of INR 1,200 crores. I think the base orders have still grown in year electrification. That's something which is important to note, and we have been consistent in that particular effort. The revenues, I think, are across all divisions. There have been no division which is finding it difficult to execute the backlog and the revenues. The backlogs definitely is down 2%. It's more related to the pace of execution faster than the pace of intake of orders, and that's therefore a reflection of that, but I'm sure that as the market picks up and we are able to be successful, we should be able to also line up the backlogs going forward. Now comes the profitability element.
So I think there were a bit of questions as to what is the impact which is playing out in electrification. So just to give you a bit of a picture on it, I think both MO and EL have similar issues, okay? So they have a issue of mix, which is basically what we do, which is a reflection of both market segments where we play out and also the portfolio what we have used to deliver the solutions to the customers, right? I think that's how we see the mix. So that means if a high profitability segment is absent in this particular or lower in this quarter, but we have gone because I take you back to those slides where we used to say what are the high growth markets, the moderate, and the low growth markets.
Naturally, the competition also plays out accordingly in these particular segments. That has a reflection on the mix topic as what we see. The mix is one thing. Then, of course, the competition as what we see in the Ltd opportunities what we have at this point of time, which has also got an impact on how the pricing is done. And then followed by the QCO and the forex impact. Now just to call out some of to draw a bit of a color, what's the mix impact in electrification? Probably up 1% could be the mix impact which we have because that's the portfolio changes what has happened, as the market segment changes what has happened where we have delivered these particular revenues.
And competition, clearly, I think, as I said in the past, we had a clear advantage of 1%-1.5% in which we used to claim a price minimum, which is no more, which is not there at this point of time. And QCO impact, it depends on business to business, ranging between 0.75%-0.8%, sort of a percentage is what we have. And forex, 0.6%. So roughly, this works out to a gap of 3% on an average, which used to be the trend earlier in EL, in the last three quarters as what we have seen, right? So if you look at it, a gap of this is contributing to that, right? And so that's how I see EL thing. But I think all these are they something not normal. According to me, we have gone through these particular cycles.
Cycles at this point of time are softening, as we see. Therefore, we play out. We continue our investments as is needed for the future. We see that the opportunities are there. They are something which are not drying up at this point of time. Of course, the decisions are delayed. We also make sure that we pick those opportunities which are relevant for our portfolio and good to play and good to participate in. So that's basically an approach what ABB has, and that has been consistent even in the past. If you go to the next motion, right? So motion, again, I think we had a good order intake in this particular quarter. Of course, we had a large order which played out in motion to the exte INR 150 crores , which was not there.
And to the extent of INR 900 crores was what was there, INR 990 crores, which was also there in the last quarter, the similar year. So again, a good base order growth. So, motors have been having good base order growth is actually a bit of an what you call a refreshing sign because that's the early trends which pick up to see that how the market is behaving. And so that's how we do it. So more and execution 9%, as you know, as a value- limited, a lot of system orders and large orders which are also sitting as a part of the motion backlogs. And that is that's why you could see at 4,100 the backlogs which are there.
And they have probably a higher content of large system orders and long-term orders which will get executed over a period of 12 to 18 months as what we see. So now coming to profitability, I did, we did talk about it in the Electrification. So here, I think the mix is again 1-1.5% which plays out. And then we have the market dynamics of, and the competition, is more intense in terms of degree over here. And that's how we see because Motion has a larger play in core sectors as well as the middle sector as what we used to see. So therefore, and that's where the competition is intense. And then, and they have a higher impact in terms of the competition dynamics.
They also have a bit of a QCO impact and, of course, forex impact because they have a huge content of forex which is there. So overall, I think, 4.5%-5% variation in motion compared to the previous profitability levels. And what is now can be attributed to QCO and forex impact to the extent of 1-1.5%. And then you have the market dynamics and the mix playing out on the rest, which is more market-led topics as what we see. If you go to the next. So now the question could be, so is this QCO impact going to remain for some time? Answer to that is yes, because the dates are definitely changing. So we are preparing ourselves to make sure that we get our slots, get our preparation done for navigating this particular challenge. And every business has an action plan.
I'm sure that will also, I mean, it will take some time, probably another two to three quarters minimum, which would take this particular issue to be resolved, or and for at least ABB as what we see. What is this really QCO impact? I think this was a question which had come to us. I think we normally been using our locally designed products to serve the customers, but as they have to go for approvals and they have to wait for the process to be completed, so naturally then we need to definitely use imported equipment to serve the customers, and therefore that's causing a cost which is higher when you import, and definitely a forex volatility which is impacted to the imported denominated currencies, right?
So these are some and a couple of these things. So can we come out of this faster? Yeah, whatever results are there. So we need to make sure that we are able to work on this consistently in a focused manner. So the next coming to PM PA. I think PA was pretty interesting. So they are cyclical in nature, because they operate more on the core sectors of metals, mining, and oil and gas, and a little bit on pharma sort of it. So they see that the order intake stagnant because the decisions, especially on larger expansions are getting delayed. And they are more relying on retrofits and sort of smaller size orders. And they don't have any large orders at this point of time, and that's basically why the revenue levels are also sort of stagnant at 600 crores.
They have a backlog which is falling down because the revenue is coming out of these particular exhausting the backlogs. Profitability is pretty much consistent. They don't have a QCO impact. They are systems businesses. So they have multiple vendors to whom they could source the material. So they relatively are less impacted by the QCO impact. But for the forex impact, they are, because they are long-term contracts, they have forex variation clauses. And therefore, they are not much impacted on it. But they have, because they are long-term contracts, the probability to have improvements on the designs, on the optimization of the processes is better yielding them. And also, they have a higher content of services to the extent of 30% in their offerings. And therefore, they have a better ability to maintain the margins as what we have seen in the past.
Robotics. I think this Robotics, definitely, ABB globally announced the divestment of Robotics. So we still have the decision in India is fully dependent on the board's evaluation and the next set of processes which will happen, which is at this point of time not decided. So they did have a good order intake in this particular quarter to INR 203 crores. And so that's something, and that had come from their segments which they play out in automotive and electronics area and general industry. So that's how it is. Backlog stronger, profitability again. So I think it also depends here more on the mix and a bit of a forex. They don't have much of QCO impact over here. So that's how, and they had a bit of a lower service revenues in the last two quarters. And therefore the profitability is muted as we stand, right?
So this is basically how the segments perform. And then finally, we go to the chart which looks at the channels to the market. If you look at it, again, we have a similar ratio of this thing. Nothing much changed compared to the previous year. But only things to note, on a cumulative nine-month basis, the service open for them, the ETO or the projects has basically come down to 8%. We have services at 13% and products still at 79%. So I think the ratios more or less remain the same, not much of a change as what we see. So, yeah, that's probably the last slide. Yeah, I think this is the commentary from the finance side. And so we are exactly 30 minutes from when we started.
We have the next 30 minutes for Q&A. I think we can now open the call for the Q&A topic.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on your touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question comes from the line of Sumit Kishore with Axis Capital. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. My first question is in relation to your margins. Your profit margins for the quarter are closer to the lower end of the wide band of 12%-15% that you wish to operate in. Qualitatively, if you could elaborate, you know, whether margin pressures around material cost, the market dynamics, post-COVID correction are all factored in, or we still have some room to go, can this be the new normal for profitability in coming quarters after the record highs that we saw in the last calendar year? So your comments here will be very useful. That's my first question.
Sumit, Sanjeev, I'll take this question, okay? Sumit, I think when I had definitely elaborated more than adequately on the profitability movement segment by segment at the overall level, right?
Yes.
So I think that's already answered. So I don't want to repeat it again because that's the thing. So now question is, and as rightly, even in the last calls which we had said, so we are at the lower end of the percentages what we want to operate in. And we're doing it at pretty high levels of 15%. That probably registered in the mind as a new normal for quite a few of the markets. But I think we are at the end of the day in an engineering industry. And so we have our cyclical impacts to be handled. So now coming back to what are the topics?
I don't think we don't have any one-off topics other than what we told about, the mix, the market dynamics as what we understand, which more related to the competition scenario playing out and the investment on the Ltd investment decisions what we have, and of course, the forex and the QCO. So I don't have anything much more than that, and when will we improve or move forward as in this particular journey? Probably I think the QCO should be addressed in another three to four quarters as what we see because that's the timeline what the government has also given. And therefore, I should assume that that is what the time with everyone in industry will take. That's how it is.
The balance part of it is dependent on how the market develops and how the private consumption and the investment decisions on the private, on the public sector happen. So that's how we see. Just to give a bit more color to our answer on this, do we find opportunities dying out at this point of time? No. Yes, the opportunities are there, but the decisions are delayed. And the choice of customers today are quite variant. And the only thing, a factor which we need to probably unknown at this point of time, on account of geopolitical topics between India and China, how does it play out is what we need to see, right? So that's something which is unknown at this point of time and left to the best guess of you guys.
Sure. So in the backdrop of what you said, and what Sanjeev mentioned on the call earlier, when these orders are higher 30 up 13% year-on-year, they are stable quarter on quarter. So, you know, is it right for us to sort of interpret that, given the decision-making is a bit deferred in the backdrop of the macro environment, geopolitical tensions? Is this level of base orders, absolute terms, likely to persist for some time before we see a breakout, because of a more diversified CapEx cycle playing out? So across the three segments, you know, the main ones, electrification, motion, and process automation, how should we think about where we are in the CapEx cycle and how this can play out over the next 12-18 months?
Okay. So Sanjeev, so would you like to take up this, answer?
Yeah. So we have had a very good cycle post-COVID, wherein we enjoyed very good growth, both in expansion of orders, revenues, profitability, and all elements. And that was on back of India growth story as well as a lot of CapEx put in by the government in the right places. And also, we had a good support in our segments that we were focusing, the new segments, mid-segments, and also large core segments. So at this point of time, for last few quarters, now there is tentativeness in the market in terms of CapEx formation as well as expansion projects. They are good. They're at a good level, but they are not in a very strong expansionary mode.
So, from our perspective, this is a cycle which comes as a correction after a strong growth, whether it takes one quarter, two quarter. Our perspective is this is going to come back, the growth is going to come back, and we will ride that cycle because our 18 divisions focus on these very dynamic 23 market segments. The moment the order intake and the order formation takes place, it will directly reflect in our books, in the orders, revenues, as well as in the capacity utilization, which directly impacts the profitability as well. Yeah.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Kishore.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Renu Baid with IIFL Securities. And we'll advise every participant to stick to one question. Thank you.
Thank you. I have two questions if they can be addressed. The first would be, given that the team has mentioned that they're seeing some green shoots in base orders, and if tariff settlement is near, do you expect pickup in the investment cycle or broad-based pickup in large order finalizations, which has been not the case for the last two to three quarters? What would be your view on the likely revival or recovery in the CapEx momentum? And if the momentum is the way it is there today with flatish book and just early teens growth in base orders, would you think it would be possible for ABB to manage double-digit growth in CY26? Or probably that too would be a year of moderation or consolidation, like 25.
In case if you can give any comment on the recent relationship on which NVIDIA and ABB are working together for solid-state drives for AI data centers. In your view, by when you think the product for this market would be available and ready? In case if that product is available in India for ABB, to what extent it can increase the TAM for us in the DC market? Thank you.
So, Sanjeev, I think we could invite Kiran and Sanjeev Arora on this because they are reading the market quite stronger for EL and MO, any of 75% of business. So, I have Kiran over here. So, Sanjeev.
Please, please.
Kiran, so you could throw some color with some EL and motion. Suppose Sanjeev Arora could throw.
Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Sanjeev and Sridhar. I think it's a good question in terms of the market, how it's behaving. And also a quite an elaborate question in terms of what exactly we are trying to do in data centers as well. I think let me pick up from a few of the segments of the market. Let me just pick up something on renewables, rail, and maybe something on data centers since the question is there. When I look at the way renewable sector is behaving, what we see is a good expansion in terms of the renewable market, specifically when it comes to renewable. I'm also looking at something known as Battery Energy Storage Systems, which we call it as BESS. So that's something which is really topping on the charts in terms of the opportunities which are available for the future as well.
And we are also looking at something on green hydrogen, which is also becoming very prominent as a sector in the market. When I look at rail, you have seen a lot of expansions across investments from the government and also into the metro sectors, metro rail across the various cities of India. So that's something which is an investment which is coming across. And, we find that this is going to really contribute to the base orders, going forward. On the data centers, when I look at, it, I segregate into two parts, one in terms of, hyperscale and the second one in terms of the colocation data centers. When I look at hyperscale, yes, there is a bit of a sluggish, kind of a movement in India at this point of time, or in the probably in the Q3.
We are also looking at a bit in terms of sluggish growth there in hyperscale. At the same time, what is important to understand is how exactly the colocation data centers are behaving. I think colocation centers, data centers, there is a huge demand for them in terms of the capabilities what they can extend, and also the preference of the customers. They want to have colocations which is really supporting them in their day-to-day processes. We feel that data centers in colocation would grow, and we have seen substantial growth in Q3 as well. We would like to go forward with our services and solutions to them even this quarter as well and last quarter as well. We have been doing the same. Maybe over to.
Yeah. Sanjeev, Sanjeev Arora.
Yes, thank you. Thank you, Sridhar. Thank you, Sanjeev. And thanks, Kiran. I think I echo what Kiran has just mentioned, so giving a flavor of the discrete part. Base orders, as Subrata has mentioned, they have been very good for us, and you know that shows the early signs of positivity in the market demand. Because when we compare to last few quarters, yes, there was a challenge, and Kiran has well explained on the segments part, but then when we touch upon the cement and the steel and the oil and gas part, I would say that the investment cycle has started in these segments as well. So cement, we are seeing a bit of a revival and upturn in the investment. Same goes for steel industry, and also we do see a good pipeline in the oil and gas sector.
So, yes, the markets will be a bit dynamic. Price pressures will be there. But the good part is that demand will also be sustained in the coming quarters as we, as we see now. So that's the comment from my side.
Yeah. Thanks, Sanjeev. Thanks, Kiran. So, Renu, I think hopefully this gives you a more granular view than at the company level. So because at least only process automation and Robotics, process automation forms only 13%, and we alluded, and that's some of the comments which Kiran and Sanjeev have given also applies to them in a way. So I think overall, we feel that when the market would be at similar levels as what we see at this point of time, the next one or two quarters. And then probably we could see something which could be on the positive side as what is the attention at this point of time.
Got it. Anything on the NVIDIA opportunity or TAM for India?
Yeah. So I think that, and that question is reserved for Sanjeev. So Sanjeev, so on a larger scale, you could probably give some color on that.
Could you repeat the question, please?
The engagement of NVIDIA.
Oh, solid-state cooling solutions. The recent engagement with ABB partnering with NVIDIA for AI data centers to develop solid-state drives and cooling solutions. In your view, can the solutions be available to ABB in India when the products are prepared and ready? To what extent can it increase our TAM in this particular segment?
At this point of time, I don't have the complete details of this particular deal. I know as much as you know in terms of intent of ABB Express with NVIDIA. As a principle, if there's no geographical restrictions of application of those technologies, all technologies ABB develops, they are naturally available to our customers here in India.
Got it. Thanks much, team. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Renu.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, please restrict yourself to one question. The first question, the next question comes from the line of Atul Tiwari with JP Morgan. Please go ahead.
Yeah, sir, thanks a lot. Sir, my question is on this QCO. Could you elaborate a little more on, you know, what exactly is the nature of this QCO order, you know, which is leading to higher imports and how long this impact will continue before you adjust to the QCO fully?
So, Atul, I have actually in my commentary elaborated quite a bit, including what's the impact on QCO, right? So for the benefit of, again, I think probably people joined in late or missed out what I said. I think, what is QCO? The, you know, the government, you know, in its mission for Atmanirbhar, this thing has made sure, wanted to create a system where Indian manufactured or developed products are more used. And before they use, I think they had to be tested and qualified by the Indian Bureau of Indian Standards. And that's something which is getting done. So now in that, until now, it was not mandatory, but now it has been made mandatory. So therefore, all the products have to be, whatever we manufacture, including the subcomponents, have to go through the testing and certification of these particular instruments.
And it takes a lot of time because the number of labs are less, the number of slots are less, and there are so many people competing for the same slots. And therefore, it is definitely a problem. So probably I think, and that's exactly why the government also keeps extending these particular deadlines because they know that there is a strain on what do you call it, capacity issue which they have to address, right? So but now, on the other hand, having come to know that this is a problem at hand, so we need to make a decision which is better, but in terms of serving the customers.
So we have no other option if we want to keep the customer service ability as a main criteria to use imported material, to make sure that they are already certified for the global laboratories that which could be used, right? So that's something. What is QCO about and how are we handling that? So to address this, because there is going to be definitely a lot of time which will be taken to get our product certified and so forth, the others as well. And therefore, you know, in the interim, we have no other option but to import material to serve our commitments to the customers. So what does this mean? What used to be locally developed and which we are using at a cheaper cost, which we now need to import, for the base cost itself increases, number one.
Number two is that you have a forex which is attached to this particular transaction, so that's also subject to volatility. So you have an impact on both. So how long will it continue? It could continue as what I said to another, three to four quarters is what I mentioned.
Okay, sir. So very purposely, this order which was designed to promote Indian-manufactured equipment is leading to higher imports. You know, that is the, so that's what I wanted to understand. So as an industry, are you guys not representing the government that it is serving the opposite purpose of whatever was intended?
So you think that we will not do it, Atul? So we have done it through a lot of other associations everywhere. Every industry is making sure that it is complying, it is representing itself to the right authorities to do it. But I think it's a government objective. It's good.
Yeah. Atul, Atul, you can also help us by writing an analyst report and publish it in the major media. And, Sunny can help you with all the information. Any help that we can get to get this thing through is always good. But it's a matter of time. It will be, it will be sorted. But, but yes, that's the stage we are right now.
We need to go through it, Atul. We have no other way, okay?
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Thank you, sir. Thanks.
But it's good in the overall interest of the nation in the long run. That's how we look at it, okay?
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Lavina Quadros with Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Just wanted to check, sir, on the Robotics. I'm sorry if I missed it, but it was discussed earlier. But on the Robotics arm, given the parent has sold it at a valuation, earlier there was a thought that maybe the Robotics arm gets listed separately. I mean, how is, how are the Indian shareholders going to get compensated for it? Just to understand. Will it, will the arm be separated out or will the valuation be in line with what is being offered to the parent? Thank you.
Sanjeev, you'd like to answer that,first ?
Sure. So we had made it clear at a global level that the Robotics business will find its own footing, so that they can find their growth path in the future. Initial interest was to list that company. But then we had, in the interest of the shareholders, we got a very good offer from SoftBank. The global board decided to choose SoftBank to be the future owner and take this business forward. As for India assets are concerned, these assets will be evaluated by the board, independent directors included. We will follow the due process of evaluating it. After the valuations are done, like we have done in the past, and the local board is satisfied, based on that valuation, separation of this asset will be done into a new company.
But then this is something not given. This is subject to ABB India Ltd board approval. Yeah.
Understood. Sir, sir, just one last on this, Sunny. So listing is unlikely, but a separate valuation will be decided, and then you'll follow the due process. Broadly, at least as of now, that's what seems to be the case.
Absolutely.
Great. Thank you.
Absolutely. So that's how these assets are dealt with. If you see the history of similar assets separated from ABB India Ltd, we follow a very tight governance model that is led by the ABB India Ltd board. Yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Sameer Thakur with Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, thanks. So, you said that the pipeline for Energy Industries and process industries, that is still there. And, is this just a problem of converging to orders? And, are you seeing that pipeline is increasing or, is there an underlying issue with the demand or the loss of market share there?
Sanjeev, you'd like to ask questions?
Is it for a specific market segment?
No, I think it's for process industries in general, process automation.
Okay.
Which is.
Process automation.
Oil and gas, cement, steel, and other core sectors.
Is Balaji not there?
Balaji is not there.
Balaji is not there on the call. I think he's in the customer.
So as such, you know, if you really look into the focus of ABB into the process industries, we have a very distinct focus on market segments like oil and gas. We have mining, we have cement, we have pulp and paper, metals. So these are the market segments, which, you know, we participate with the, their CapEx cycle as well as their OpEx cycle. And CapEx cycle is sometimes the greenfield project, and sometimes it is the expansion of the project. And also sometimes they have the upgrade of, their digital infrastructure, energy efficiency infrastructure. So we find that these sectors, given they are the continuous industries, they continue to invest in all the cycles.
It is the intensity that changes only when the greenfield projects kind of are announced or major expansions are announced by these players who are operating in this market. So our typical drumbeat and our rhythm is around OpEx as well as the expansion in the normal course of the business, and that we see is quite robust at this point of time. And that continues to be robust because these are substantial industries. They have to continue to invest into the area we are. Now, when it comes to the major expansion, the greenfield expansions in certain market segments, we definitely see there is a greenfield expansion, but it is not widespread.
I believe the cycle of expansion, you know, the demand versus how much capacity is available. There is likely to be an upsurge in the capacity expansion of many of these segments. At the same time, one has to also keep in mind, this is something which I cannot say as a confirmation, but in the news media, there is a clear mention that between India and China, now there is a thaw of relationship and more and more businesses are opening up. So it is unclear what will be the impact of Chinese imports in the country.
So I think all our customers who are in these process industry segments, they will be also evaluating very closely how this will play out, whether the Chinese imports will flow into the market, you know, in an uncontrolled way, whether that will impact their price realization in the market. So I think that part is unclear at the moment, and that will define the future demand curve of these industries in our opinion.
Okay. Thanks. If I have to squeeze in one more, just coming back to, again, QCO, there was a deadline in November 2025 as well for some of the products. So, just I also wanted to check if I understand clearly that imports, the QCO-related imports, that will keep on going. Is that the right way to think of? We had earlier imported, I think, in March, April, May in that quarter. And probably going ahead, we have to keep importing unless we get the certifications.
Yeah. So what happens is this. The government keeps moving these particular dates, right? So what has come in, what we thought as we were working in the second quarter, that November is the date before which we have to close this. And in case we don't do it, so then we have to definitely use the imported subcomponents what we require, right? So but we go with that anticipation. And we try our best to get it qualified in the laboratories, right? But in case if we see that there is a delay, we have no other option but to make sure that we have to import more for the future requirements. But then the government, as we near to this thing, so the government takes a call to extend it. So this is basically exactly what I said.
So now, the government keeps moving these deadlines depending upon how the progress is and how they are able to monitor this particular process. So we need to go with that and be in line with the process for certification. So I think that's a bit of an. There is no definite saying that it will close at this date, come what may. It's not going to happen because, as I mentioned earlier, the capacity is less, versus the work to be done, which is humongous, right? So that's taking more time. And therefore, we have to go along with what the government is directing us to do.
Okay. Thanks. That is what I said.
Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, please restrict yourself to one question. Next question comes from the line of Amit Mahawar with UBS. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Morning, Sanjeev and Sridhar. Congratulations on maintaining a very good order momentum in these orders. Better than industry maybe. Sir, I just have one question. You know, you have the book in process automation, which is maybe around 13-14% down. EP is the only segment where we've grown very well, 15% in top line. And I don't worry about margins except on the key issue. But do you think in CY 2026 we can touch 10-12% revenue growth, given that mobility orders will take some time, given that energy is not a large basket for us, and the discrete portfolio for us is growing more in just short of teens or less than that? So a qualitative assessment, Sanjeev, you know, which will help us. Thank you.
So I think it's fair to say, as process automation is concerned, net of Robotics, it will be only 13% of our portfolio, 12%-13% of our portfolio. So we take benefit of industry cycle whenever there are large CapEx projects and the large consolidated orders coming to us or system orders coming to us. Other than that, we continue to gain on the ETO, which is engineer-to-order business, which is largely sitting in MO and EL. So that continues to benefit. And then, of course, we have the EL business, which is the product business, which is made-to-stock and made-to-order, you know, fast-moving products in the marketplace. So in the made-to-order, made-to-stock and ETO, I think the business is quite robust. And we do feel that, you know, given the backlog that we have, the execution of it is well lined up. They're clean orders.
So, we will see an uptick of revenue growth with that as we go forward, both in EL and MO. But then there are some long gestation orders sitting in the mobility side that you are right. So, I think if you net that out, I think rest of the book-to-bill orders as well as in the EL and MO will continue to push the revenues upwards. And as far as the PA is concerned, it goes through the cycle. So, we have seen it for a very long period of time. And whenever they cycle on the large orders pick up in that area, of course, they positively contribute to us. Yeah.
Thank you, Sanjeev, and good luck.
Thank you, Amit.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Rahul Kachary. This is Nagpuri Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. You know, I just have one question. You know, you've touched on, you know, delay in order finalization, I think, in your opening remarks. Now, you know, it's very clear that I think the entire order inflows are supported by these orders. You know, but in the last four quarters, we've got only INR 400 crores of large orders. I want to understand, you know, if you could highlight, you know, discussion with clients and, you know, if it is further possible to quantify, you know, the kind of large orders that we are looking at over the next maybe three to four quarters. I think that would be helpful.
So normally we don't give those particular future projections as such, right? So we just only give a color on how the markets are. And that's exactly what Kiran or Sanjeev or Sanjeev Sharma did allude to at this point of time. So, I mean, when it large orders definitely are widespread in all the three business areas, such as electrification, motion, and process automation. What we are seeing is at this point of time, the opportunities are there, but the decisions are getting delayed. It's not moving the same pace as what it is. But I think the good part is the base orders keep growing, and which is what our focus is. So I think, to be honest, we cannot give a direct sort of an projection or a number to this particular question. I'm sorry that this sort of policy which we have.
Sure. In that case, is it possible you all can highlight the kind of growth that you are thinking of, you know, when you are talking about classifying certain industries into high growth or medium growth or low growth? Is that something you can do?
Actually, we don't give any growth projections, right? So we only say our ambition is to be there in the trajectory of how the market is moving and, what do you call, maintain that momentum as what we have seen. And I think, of course, post-COVID, we had very, very high, fast growth, I think, which is now softening out to the extent what is possible. So our always ambition is to be in the double-digit corridor as what Sanjeev was mentioning earlier.
Sure. Appreciate that. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Aditya Mongia with Kotak Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for the opportunity. My question was more relating to, at a broad portfolio level, gaps that you see emerging as the market conditions change, as well as opportunities that may be coming in the market that we don't currently serve. In a sense, from an inorganic perspective, how actively are you thinking about your portfolio at this point of time?
I can take this. At a global level, with the Robotics sales as well as how we generate cash, I think we are fairly quite robust company globally. Also at a local level, our cash reserves are quite heavy. Our global CEO in the last call has made it very clear that ABB is looking for large-ticket inorganic options around the world. Whenever such options are exercised, they also have a footprint effect in India. We participate with our books in those acquisitions as well. That's one part which is very much in play. I think there's a very strong and solid intention of the management to grow our bolt-on portfolio.
So that's what we are looking for, that the existing businesses should acquire businesses which complement their existing portfolio and also their ability to serve their customers even more effectively or the channel partners or the channels even more effectively. So that's very much on. And we also have the similar focus in India for India in organic approach other than the global, wherein we do have a list. And but it takes two to tango. So the lists we are working on. And we stay again focused on the bolt-on opportunities for the existing businesses. And also the specific new emerging market segments which are relevant in India and relevant for our business in India, they find that focus. And this is done not only by us. It is also participated by our global divisions.
They, together with our global division, local divisions, they're always focused on those opportunities. We do have a pipeline. We will let you know soon we succeed either globally or locally with these opportunities we see in the marketplace.
Thank you for your response. Last one, only question.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraints, we have reached the end of question and answer session. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. T.K. Sridhar for closing comments.
Thank you very much. I think it was a very interesting discussion, right? So, on QCO, on the market dynamics, and the opportunities, as well as Robotics piece of it. So thank you for supporting us. And also thank you for giving some valid inputs around our businesses. And wish to talk to you.