Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited (BOM:500165)

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Oct 5, 2026

Summary

FY2025-26 revenue rose 3.2% and EBITDA increased 1.2%, while PBT before exceptional items declined 0.9%. The board recommended INR 2.50 per share; management cited competition and input-cost volatility while outlining efficiency and growth plans.

Good morning, dear shareholders. I am Bhaskar Bhat, the Chairman of Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited. I am participating in this 106th AGM of the company from the registered office of our company in Mumbai. On behalf of myself and my colleagues on the board, I extend to all of you a warm welcome to this annual general meeting. Let me also welcome our directors on the board. All our directors are present at this AGM that is being conducted by video conferencing. Before I request the directors to introduce themselves to the shareholders, let me make a mention of the changes that have taken place in our board of directors since the 105th annual general meeting. As it has been informed at the 105th annual general meeting, Mr. Hitoshi Nishibayashi, non-executive director, who was liable to retire by rotation at that annual general meeting of the company, did not seek reappointment due to health reasons, and retired as a director of the company on June 30, 2026. Mr. Hirokazu Kotera resigned as executive director of the company with effect from the close of business on March 31, 2026 on the directions of the promoter company, Kansai Paint Company Limited, Japan, which had nominated Mr. Kotera as a director on the board of the company. The board has placed on record its sincere appreciation and gratitude for the valuable contributions made by Mr. Nishibayashi and Mr. Kotera during their association with the company. I would also like to mention that the board has placed on record its sincere appreciation and gratitude for the valuable contribution made by Mr. P. D. Pai, chief financial officer, who retired with effect from the close of business on July 31, 2025, after service of 36 long years with the company. I now request our directors present at this annual general meeting today to introduce themselves one by one to the shareholders. First, I request the directors participating at this annual general meeting from the registered office to introduce themselves. Mr. Takashi Tomioka. Thank you, Bhaskar. Good morning. I am Takashi Tomioka, non-executive director. I am participating in this meeting from the registered office of our company at Mumbai. Thank you, Mr. Praveen Chaudhary. Good morning. I am Pravin D. Chaudhari, Managing Director. I am participating in this meeting from registered office of our company in Mumbai. Thank you, Mr. Uday Bhansali. Good morning. I am Uday Bhansali, Independent Director. I am also the Chairperson of the Audit Committee and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. I am participating in this meeting from the registered office of our company in Mumbai. Thank you. I now request Ms. Sonia Singh to introduce herself. Good morning, shareholders. I am Sonia Singh, independent director of your company. I am also the chairperson of the stakeholders relationship committee, the corporate social responsibility committee, and the risk management committee. I am participating in this meeting from Mumbai. Thank you. I now request Mr. Gen Yokota, participating from Japan, to introduce himself. Good morning, shareholders. I am Gen Yokota, non-executive director. I am participating in this meeting from the Hiratsuka R&D Center of Kansai Paint, Japan. From Japan. Thank you. Thank you. Shareholders are requested to note that the chairman of the audit committee and nomination and remuneration committee, Mr. Uday Bhansali, and the chairperson of the stakeholders relationship committee, Ms. Sonia Singh, are, as you are aware, present at this meeting. I also wish to inform our shareholders that the representatives of the statutory auditor, SRBC & Co., LLP Chartered Accountants, and the secretarial auditor, JHR & Associates, company secretaries, are attending the meeting. I would also like to inform our shareholders that the quorum for the meeting is present at the meeting. In compliance with the circulars issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and SEBI on holding annual general meetings by video conferencing or other audiovisual means, without the physical presence of the shareholders at a common venue, this AGM is being held accordingly. In accordance with these circulars, the annual report for the financial year 2025-26, along with the notice of the AGM, have been sent on 11th June 2026 by electronic mode to those shareholders whose email addresses are registered with the company, or the depository participants, while physical copy of the annual report has been sent to the shareholders on request. Further, physical communication containing the web link where the annual report 2025-26 is available was also sent to the shareholders who have not registered their email ID. The annual report, including the notice of the AGM, given on page numbers 134 to 145 of the annual report is available on the website of the company and has also been forwarded to BSE and NSE. With the permission of the shareholders, I take the notice of the 106th AGM as read. As the auditor's report neither contains any qualifications, observations, or comments on the financial transactions, nor highlights any matter which should have had any adverse effect on the functioning of the company, the same need not be read at the AGM as provided in Section 145 of the Companies Act 2013. Also, as there are no adverse comments in the report of the secretarial auditor, the same need not be read at the AGM. Shareholders are requested to note that the board of directors of Kansai Paint Company Limited, Japan, which is our present company, holds 606,203,847 equity shares of the company, has passed the necessary resolution under Section 113 of the Companies Act 2013, authorizing its representative, that is Mr. T. Tomioka, to act on its behalf at the AGM of the company, copy of which resolution is available with the company and is submitted with the scrutinizer for the meeting. The inspection documents, including the documents mentioned in the annual report and the notice of the AGM, are available with the company for inspection through electronic mode in terms of the circulars issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. I would now like to share a concise overview of the year under review, which is financial year 2025-26. The year 2025-26 presented a mixed operating environment for the paints and coatings industry. The year was shaped by geopolitical developments, seasonal variations, including an extended monsoon, rationalization of GST rates, accelerated infrastructure growth, and evolving consumer demographics. Despite near-term pressures, the Indian paints and coatings sector remains structurally well-positioned, supported by urbanization, rising disposable income, premiumization, and increasing consumer preferences for sustainable products. The decorative business faced pressure in the early part of the year due to a shorter festival season and weather disruptions. Encouragingly, demand improved in the second half, aided by stable rural consumption, the gradual recovery in urban markets. Industrial business remained robust, led by strong growth in the automotive sector, particularly after the GST relief announcement in September 2025, and sustained demand from the infrastructure-led industries. Infrastructure investments and growth in core sectors reinforce the long-term outlook for this industry. Your company, with a legacy spanning over 100 years, takes pride in its diverse and resilient portfolio across the decorative and industrial coatings. We have consistently pursued innovation, expanded our product offerings, and explored new avenues for growth while remaining committed to quality manufacturing excellence, and customer centricity. Guided by customer focus, integrity, and respect for all stakeholders, and anchored in our philosophy of beauty and protection, our solutions enhance living spaces and protect surfaces across automobiles, consumer durables, infrastructure, personal applications, and emerging new age segments. This reinforces our belief that there is indeed a little bit of Nerolac in everyone's life. At KNPL, our people, planet, and profit philosophy continues to guide long-term value creation, supported by the strategic management of six capitals: natural, human, manufactured, financial, intellectual, and social and relationship capital. During the year, we introduced our employee value proposition, which is "Where your passion takes color" and strengthened employee engagement through surveys, leadership interactions, and open dialogues. The Willis Towers Watson Employee Engagement Survey recorded an engagement score of 94%. The company demonstrated resilience and operational discipline. For the year ended 31st March 2026, revenue from operations grew by 3.2%, earnings before interest, EBITDA, increased by 1.2%, and PBT before exceptional items decreased marginally by 0.9%. The board has recommended, after due deliberation, a dividend of 250% equivalent INR 2.50 per share. During the year, the company placed strong emphasis on improving subsidiary performance. Nerofix Private Limited launched strategic initiatives and witnessed strong top-line growth. Nepal subsidiary delivered steady growth with improved turnover and profitability, despite a difficult business environment. The Bangladesh subsidiary, however, remained under pressure, though losses narrowed marginally and restructuring options are being explored. The company also divested its stake in the Sri Lanka subsidiary as a part of strategic portfolio rationalization. We maintain a distinctive position through a balanced portfolio across decorative and industrial segments. As a part of our long-term strategy, the company has decided to sharpen focus on the third pillar of industrial paints while strengthening the decorative and automotive paint sector. In decorative, our emphasis will be on profitable growth, supported by premiumization, customer engagement, technology leverage, and operational efficiency. As a part of the Kansai Paint group, the company benefits from global operations, technology, innovation, and talent capability. The groupwide One Kansai initiative is accelerating cross-border collaboration, enabling faster deployment of global technologies, stronger knowledge sharing, and improved cost competitiveness. The decorative business navigated a challenging start but recovered strongly in the latter half. Momentum was visible in projects business, construction chemicals, waterproofing solutions, and premium wood coatings, which outperformed core paint categories. The company expanded its retail and service ecosystem to next-gen painting services, NXTGEN Shoppe shop-in-shop outlets. During the year, we enhanced our market reach by introducing Paint+ Zones, a new initiative aimed at increasing visibility and driving growth for small-size retailers. Premium formats such as Sapphire and Ruby enhance the consumer experience through product display, color consultation, and need-based recommendations. Our painter loyalty program, Pragati, strengthened engagement with the painting contractors through capability building and skill development. During FY 2025-26, over 100,000 painters, 1 lakh painters were trained through classroom sessions and mobile minivans across decorative wood and designer finishes. The Pragati application was upgraded for a faster and smoother experience, and artificial intelligence was used to generate insights into painter purchase behavior, enabling personalized product recommendations and improved outcomes. The company strengthened engagement with architects and interior designers through the Illuminati program. Participation in prominent exhibitions such as FOAID in Delhi and Mumbai enabled us to showcase our product portfolio, connect with the design community, and remain aligned with emerging trends. A nationwide value-added incentive program further improved participation and brand recall among key influencers. Marketing efforts focused on effective and consistent customer communication through targeted campaigns, media outreach, and active use of Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. The iconic Nerolac jingle was reintroduced through a refreshed multi-channel campaign, and the company launched its first digital video commercial for next-gen painting services across multiple regional languages. The company's marketing initiatives received strong recognition during FY 2025-26. The Dukaan It Yourself campaign, executed during the Maha Kumbh, won 26 prestigious awards, reflecting the creativity, relevance, and impact of our brand-building efforts. Overall, our balanced approach of portfolio diversification, service-led engagement, premium offerings, and distribution expansion enabled the decorative segment to navigate the year effectively. Our industrial business once again delivered strong performance and remained a pillar of stability. It benefited from the robust automotive growth, continued infrastructure investments, and rising demand for performance-oriented coatings. Automotive coatings strengthened its leadership position with growth across passenger vehicles, two-wheelers, and commercial vehicles. Auto Refinish witnessed healthy growth driven by premiumization, while performance coatings benefited from infrastructure-led demand and delivered broad-based growth. The company pursued targeted opportunities in alloy wheels, underbody coatings, and seam sealers in the automotive industry. Innovation and sustainability remain central to the industrial portfolio. New developments include low-bake coating systems, energy-efficient processes, high-gloss and anti-corrosive coatings, and advanced application technologies. These solutions helped customers improve productivity while reducing energy use and environmental impact. Overall, the industrial business demonstrated growth momentum, operational strength, and technological leadership. Strong OEM relationships, R&D capabilities, a diversified portfolio, and focus on premiumization and sustainability reinforce its competitive position and long-term growth potential. The company enhanced product innovation through R&D capabilities, global technology partnerships, and customer-centric design. During the year, we launched 85+ new products across decorative, automotive, and industrial businesses. New products contributed about 11% of total sales. Innovation remained aligned with performance, aesthetics, and sustainability priorities such as low VOC formulations, resource efficiency, and reduced environmental impact. Key decorative product introductions included Excel Everlast 20, offering extended durability and crack-bridging properties. Beauty Gold Washable Plus, delivering antibacterial features and improved washability. Perma NoHeat, a specialized coating solution designed to reduce surface temperatures. The company introduced advanced solutions across construction chemicals, waterproofing, and wood coatings, catering to evolving customer needs in both residential and project segments. Working with Kansai Paint Company Limited, Japan, the company developed a product sustainability framework now embedded within the new product development process to increase the share of sustainable products across the entire portfolio. In line with One Kansai, the company leveraged technologies across Kansai group entities, enabling KNPL to bring more world-class technologies and globally approved products to India. We also strengthened digital enablement and innovation culture to convert ideas into measurable business outcomes. The company's manufacturing network is strategically positioned to serve diverse customer requirements and is supported by advanced technologies, automation, standard operating procedures, and strong quality and safety systems. Capacities were strengthened through expansions at Jainpur and Sayakha, along with debottlenecking and process optimization. Industry 4.0 tools such as IoT-based predictive maintenance, AI-driven quality control, and raw material traceability enhance productivity and reliability, supported by Kaizen, TPM, and Six Sigma frameworks. During the year, the company undertook a significant digital technology upgrade through the upgradation of its core ERP system to the latest platform, along with implementation of advanced digital platforms in expense management schemes, supply chain, and customer relationship management. As a responsible business organization, the company remains committed to environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and strong governance. Our ESG strategy is anchored around the five material pillars, which is decarbonization, resource use, quality of life, diversity, and governance. The company made progress in renewable energy, emissions reduction, water conservation, and waste management while continuing to focus on employee well-being, safety, diversity, and community development. The renewable electricity increased to 45.6% from 39% last year. We achieved a 24.5% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions from 2018-19 baseline, and a 9.5% reduction in Scope 3 emissions from the same baseline. We also planted 22,000-plus trees during the year. External recognition included a B rating in the CDP 2025 cycle for climatic change and water security, a ranking in the top 12 percentile in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment within the chemical industry, and the EcoVadis bronze medal for the third consecutive year, placing the company among the top 18% of companies globally. Beyond business operations, the company remains committed to contributing positively to society. Our CSR initiatives focus on inclusive development, social wellbeing, and long-term community development. CSR programs during the year focused on livelihood and skill enhancement, preventive healthcare and sanitation, education, environmental sustainability, and rural community development. Our people remain at the heart of everything we do. Their passion brings our vision to life and is reflected in our employee value proposition, which is: where your passion takes color. We are committed to fostering a meritocratic, performance-driven culture that values innovation, agility, customer focus, ownership, and accountability while supporting employee wellbeing through safe and healthy workplaces. Looking ahead, the outlook remains positive, supported by infrastructure investments, urbanization, sustained automotive demand, and increasing preference for premium and value-added product. Industrial coatings are expected to benefit from investments in railroads, railways, roads, airports, and power, while decorative demand should be supported by stable rural markets and gradual urban recovery. Challenges such as raw material price volatility, currency fluctuations, and competitive intensity may persist. However, the company remains well-positioned through innovation, premiumization, and operational efficiency and sustainability. I express my sincere gratitude to our employees for their dedication and commitment and to our shareholders for their trust and continued support. We also thank our parent company, Kansai Paint Company Limited, Japan, our technical collaborators, including Oshima Kogyo Company Limited, Japan, Kasho Company Limited, Japan, Protech Chemicals Limited, Canada, and Klüber, Germany. Our special thanks to Mr. K. Mori, the President of Kansai Paint, Japan, for the continuing consistency, quality, and cordiality of assistance that we have received from Kansai Paint and for the valuable services to our company. Let me place on record my sincere appreciation of the active interest, guidance, and support that my fellow members of the board have shown during the deliberations of the board. We would like to acknowledge the cooperation and support given by the employees in all our operating units and our subsidiaries within and outside India and also the help and support of our customers, suppliers, distributors, and communities we have worked over the years. I would now like to inform the shareholders that as the company had provided facility of remote e-voting to its shareholders to enable them to cast their votes on all the resolutions proposed to be passed at the AGM. The e-voting facility will be extended to the shareholders who have not cast their vote by remote e-voting prior to the AGM so that they can vote through e-voting system during the AGM. The procedure for e-voting is the same as the instructions for remote e-voting provided in the notice of the AGM. The company has taken all efforts feasible under the circumstances to enable the members to participate and vote on the resolutions being considered in the meeting. Mr. J.H. Ranade, partner of JHR & Associates, company secretaries in practice, will be the scrutinizer to scrutinize the remote e-voting and e-voting at the AGM. I now request the Managing Director, Mr. Pravin D. Chaudhari, to invite the speaker shareholders one by one with their questions and answer them. Other shareholders may pose questions concurrently through the facility provided on the e-voting website of National Securities Depository Limited, NSDL, through which they are viewing the live streaming of this AGM. Over to Mr. Praveen. Dear shareholders, good morning again. I now invite speaker shareholders to ask any questions, clarifications that shareholders might seek. I will call out the name of the speaker. When I call out the name of the speaker shareholder, moderator for this meeting, Mr. Manish Lalwani, will facilitate the speaker to come and ask the question by video conferencing. Each speaker will have 3 minutes allotted for speaking. I also request Chairman, he might intervene if the time exceeds 3 minutes just to be fair to all the speaker shareholders. When the shareholder comes to speak, he or she is requested to unmute the audio and start the video as well so that the speakers can be seen. After the speaker has finished his speech, he is requested to mute the audio and stop the video. Now let's begin with the speaker number 1, Mr. Bharat Shah and Mrs. Smita Shah. Hello Chairman साहब, आवाज़ आ रही है मेरी? हाँ जी। Thank you sir। Good morning Chairman साहब। माननीय Chairman साहब श्री भास्कर जी, MD श्री प्रवीण जी और सभी उपस्थित माननीय Directors, आप सभी को मेरा स्मिता शाह सादर प्रणाम। पहले तो मैं CS team का आभार व्यक्त करते हुए कहूँगी, CS team बहुत ही बढ़िया आपके साथ जो आज बात करने के लिए, जोड़ने के लिए हमें बहुत अच्छी मदद करते हैं और always शांत, sober, good work, good job करते हुए मेहनती hard worker Company Secretary श्री गोविंद राजन जी और उनकी Secretariat team से always good natured, sober और always सभी shareholders के साथ touch में रहकर हमें जो always help करती है और हमें जो physical copy भी भेजी, तो Miss शीतल के लिए मैं बहुत शुक्रिया अदा करती हूँ और गोविंद राजन जी, शीतल जी सभी की good hard work की मैं सराहना करते हुए, मैं सभी को तहें दिल से धन्यवाद करती हूँ और अभिनंदन। और Chairman साहब आपकी आज की इतनी पुरानी मशहूर company को जो आज भी अपना Kansai का नाम market में अव्वल में जो विश्वास जीत कर अपने good performance करते रही है और आपने century पार कर आज छह साल हो गए और आज हमारी 106वीं AGM की मैं बहुत बधाई देती हूँ। साथ में company का excellent performance, आपके एक से बढ़कर एक awards, लाजवाब जो आपने new products भी launch किए, तो आपने क्या value creation बढ़ा दी। Excellent customer service हर रीति से ऊंचाई की उड़ान पर हमारी company के लिए जो आपकी MD साहब को पूरी board team, सभी छोटे बड़े कर्मचारियों का भी hard work, सभी की मेहनत से हमारी company आज अच्छा work के साथ आगे बढ़ रही है। तो आप सभी को तहें दिल से धन्यवाद और अभिनंदन। और Chairman साहब मैं सिर्फ एक बात कहूँगी कि गया साल आपने जो dividend 375% दिया था, तो including हमारा special dividend के साथ आपने दिया था। इस time आपने reduce करके 250% दिया। लेकिन Chairman साहब मैं मेरी कोई शिकायत नहीं करती हूँ, ना कुछ कहना चाहूँगी क्योंकि मैं तो आप सबका जो company के प्रति मेहनत और hard work, विश्वास के साथ आज पूरे India world में नाम बनाया है। तो company हमेशा तरक्की के साथ आगे बढ़ती रही है। तो future में भी आप जरूर dividend ढेर सारा बढ़ाओगे, यह हमारा पूरा आप पर भरोसा रहा है। जहाँ भरोसा है तो हमारा कोई सवाल नहीं बनता है। सिर्फ Chairman साहब हमारा always साथ-सखा आपको भी देना है, तो हमारा साथ-सखा सदा आपके साथ बना रहेगा। और बस Chairman साहब मेरी एक shareholder bank के नाते मैं आपको शुभकामना करती हूँ। आप सदा मुस्कुराते रहे, खुश रहे, प्रसन्न रहे और जिस तरह ताजी हवा में फूलों की महक बनी रहे और पहली किरणों में चिड़ियों की चहक रहे। जब भी आप खोलो अपनी पलकों, सदा खुशियों की झलक रहे। सदा मस्त रहे, स्वस्थ रहे और good health के साथ company को उन्नति के साथ आगे बढ़ाते रहे और future में dividend भी बढ़ाते रहे यही आशा और उम्मीद के साथ ईश्वर से प्रार्थना करते हुए, आज के सभी resolution में मैं strongly support करती हुई धन्यवाद करती हूँ। Chairman साहब चालू रखिए, भरत साहब बात करते हैं। माननीय Chairman श्री, MD श्री और अन्य माननीय Director. Sir मैं ज़्यादा time नहीं लूँगा। एक से डेढ़ minute लूँगा sir. Sir आपने अपनी speech में तो सब कुछ बता दिया है। Good dividend है, company भी बहुत आगे बढ़ रही है, तो मैं बहुत धन्यवाद, अभिनंदन देता हूँ। इसके लिए Chairman sir आपको और पूरे board of director और company के सभी छोटे बड़े employees का आभार व्यक्त करता हूँ sir. और sir मेरी खाली एक request है आने वाले साल में जरूर bonus के लिए मेरी heartily request है। बाकी सारे awards के लिए धन्यवाद, CSR activity के लिए धन्यवाद। Five years के future program बताना जरूर और sir Company Secretary G.T. Govindarajan जी और उनकी team के शीतल जोशी जी और पूरी CS hard working team का मैं बहुत धन्यवाद, अभिनंदन देता हूँ। Best investor service दे रहे हैं। और sir आपकी health अच्छी रहे, company बढ़िया प्रगति करे, सारे resolution में मेरा पूरा support है। Thank you very much sir। जय हिंद, वंदे मातरम sir। Thank you sir। बहुत धन्यवाद भरत शाह जी और स्मिता शाह जी। Thank you. Now I invite speaker number two, Mr. युसूफ रंगवाला। युसूफ जी, आप mute हो। Sir, [Foreign language] Very good morning sir, dynamic Chairman. Speaking from Mumbai sir. Govind sir, [Foreign language] How are you sir? Good sir. Chairman sir, how is health sir? Sir, [Foreign language] Sir, [Foreign language] Sir, how are Japanese people sir? I am very happy with the Japanese people. My good wishes sir. [Foreign language] हाँ जी। आ रहा है। [Foreign language] sir? Sir, [Foreign language] HCL Tech and Godrej two different five meeting on same time. But [Foreign language] because [Foreign language] Sheetal Joshi [Foreign language] and [Foreign language] Sir, she is a very hard working Company Secretary. [Foreign language] and all the staff are very good sir. Sir, Japanese people [Foreign language] sir. Japanese people good morning sir. Good morning from myself Mr. Yusuf Rangwala sir. All the people of the Japanese people sir. Sir, [Foreign language] sir. Sir, page number 14, page number 15, page number 16, page number 17. [Foreign language] 580 pages very good. I am very thankful to our Govind sir and his team and I thank our company. Good luck and my best wishes for today resolution sir. [Foreign language] sir. Thank you Mr. Rangwala. Now I invite speaker number 3, Mr. Gautam Tiwari. Yes sir, you can listen me and you can see me also no sir? Sir, you can listen me. Sir, thank you very much, sir. I am very happy to see the new management. I am very sure I have been listening very carefully for half an hour, the company, what good you have done, and I am very sure this new management also will perform very best in the days to come. Sir, shareholder service of our shareholding department, assisted by Shetal Ji, is very good, and we are very happy. It is exceptionally outstanding, and we are very happy with the investor service of the company. Sir, I am very sure, Japanese, I have visited Japan in relation with my employment as a chief engineer in the marine engineering. I know Japan very well, sir, and I know how Japanese are hardworking and how they help the company to come up and prosper. I am very happy that the company is in the right hands, and I am very sure the restructuring process is going to help the company and reward the shareholders very gracefully, sir. Our company has always kept in mind the interest of minority shareholders and rewarded by unlocking and multiplying their wealth always and all the time. Sir, now impact on our business. I would like to know, sir, impact on our business because of disturbed and uncertain geopolitical conditions and strategy of the company for next 2-3 years. Sir, what is our carbon neutrality at present now and up to what time we can get it on total carbon neutrality. Sir, in the days to come, how the company is going to reward the shareholders gracefully. We are very happy right from day one, we have been the strong supporter of your company. Once again, I would like to state that we are the strong supporter right from day one and very happy with the company, proud shareholder of the company. I am very sure the company is going to rank within first five in the coming years with all the best of the management and restructuring process. Once again, I thank all the members and all those who have been helping us, all employees, workers, and our honorable chairman, sir, and always the management team for their best performance and for best working. I once again wish you all the best in the days to come. Thank you very much for those who have all helped us to join the meeting, and thank you very much for allowing me to speak. Here is a grand salute. Jai Hind. Vande Mataram. Thank you, Gautam Tiwari Ji. Now I invite speaker number four, Ms. Lekha Shah. Hello. Am I audible, sir? Yes, you are. Thank you, sir. Respected Chairman, sir, Board of Directors, and my fellow members, good morning and regards to everyone. Myself, Lekha Shah, and I am joining this meeting from Mumbai. At the outset, I would like to sincerely thank our Company Secretary, Govinda Rajen Ji, especially Shetal Ma'am, for extending very good investor services and also sending the AGM notice well in advance. I found the AGM notice, and I am delighted to say it is so beautiful, full of colors, comprehensive, and certain pick and displays. Thank you, Chairman, sir, for insightful and well-presented addresses. I congratulate the management and every employee for their dedication and compliments. The company focus on innovation, sustainability, customer satisfaction, and environmentally responsible products is highly appreciated. Chairman, sir, I would like to ask three questions. My first question is, how are the premium decorative paint continually to revenue and margins? My second question is, how does management view competition from unorganized and regional paint manufacturers? Chairman, sir, I hope the company will continue video conference meeting in future. I would like to say I strongly extend my support all the resolution placed before the meeting today. Thank you, Chairman, sir. Thank you, Ms. Lekha Shah. I invite speaker number 5, Mr. Hiranand Kotwani. Yeah. Namaste. Namaste. Namaste from Hiranand Kotwani. I am speaking from Kalyan. Special namaste those who joined from Japan. Mr. Chairman, you have directed the whole life story, live picture of your organization. You are mum on the one fire took place at Ghaziabad. How much loss was reported? You reported loss. Is there you inquire that you are getting my point. I am audible, I hope so. Mr. Bhaskar, I am audible? Sir. You give good picture. Company is doing well, but growth is mute. Growth should be increased, and the profitability should increase. So what is the step you will take in the future to increase the growth market? Your speech was well. Sustainability and good product, I have heard very much. It was great. How you improve the growth and prosperity ahead? Why this loss? What is the total loss in particular fire? How about insurance? Every company inquire. There was mischief or really some accident took place or company negligence on part of the employee. How you frame the rules and regulation in the future, that this should not be taking place. There is a safety measure in every organization. Despite all that, this happened but something is fishy. So how you move ahead with the safety and contingency plan, these types of happen. Is there company provide for the contingency for this disaster, natural calamities? Please narrate. Thank you and best wishes from Hiranand Kotwani. Good luck ahead. Thank you, Mr. Kotwani. Thank you for your questions. Now I invite Ms. Vasudha Dakwe. Please unmute me. Yeah, we can hear you. Very good morning respective Chairman, sir, Board of Director and my fellow shareholder. Myself, Ms. Vasudha from Thane. The opening speech given by the Chairperson is also very informative and excellent. I will also thank our Company Secretary and his team for helping me a lot to attend this VC platform smoothly. I would like to ask, what is our expected return on the capacity utilization and expansion on CapEx? What is the next 2 to 3 years CapEx plan? With this, I support all the resolution. Thank you very much and wish the company all the best for coming financial year. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you, Ms. Vasudha. Now I invite speaker number 7, Ms. Homai Udorji. Sir, can you hear me? Yes. Hello. Good morning, sir. Yeah. As you know, we are very old shareholders, and my late husband Behrouz used to attend every physical AGM of your company, six decades. Our Company Secretary is Mr. Govind Rajan. We have long association with him. Sir, very, very professional and good Company Secretary. Now, sir, I want to ask you mentioned in your speech we have a little bit of Nerolac in everybody's life. No, we have lots of Nerolac in many people's lives. Sir, I just want to ask you regarding your research department. Do we have in Bombay or does Japan send us all the items? We have introduced vast majority of products, sir. Congratulations for that. I just want to know, and do you have patents for those? Like how in pharmacy industry, we have patents for the drugs which they manufacture, they innovate. I just want to know, do you have patents so that nobody else copies your products? Of course, sir, in front of us, in front of our eyes, how you have expanded, grown, introduced better and better products. We are so happy. It's amazing. Of course, lots of hard work. Also thanks to our partners in Japan. Sir, just wanted to know, sir, you mentioned Bangladesh, your subsidiary is not doing well. I just want to know the reason. Is it the turmoil in Bangladesh? Sir, because usually you also manufacture to export, right, from Bangladesh. Was it because of the turmoil in Bangladesh that we had losses or, sir, because we could not export because of the war? Also there has been war between U.S.A., Israel, and Iran. The Strait of Hormuz was closed. Sir, was there some breakdown in supply chain to us and also to other parts of the world? Sir, regarding our company, I'm talking about, I would like to know. Sir, how well you mentioned about the painters. Sir, I may buy your best products, but, sir, if I don't have good painters, it will surely work, and there will be again leakage. This is our own, my own experience in a building, and we may pay any amount. Very good in that field you are doing. Very practical, and sir, this is so good. You are so caring. Our company is so caring and so practical. Congratulations. Sir, and our quality is good. That's why there is demand of our products. As you mentioned, there is demand because quality is good. Anyone will flocked who will want good quality. Sir, I always wanted to know about these decorative products. I just want to be more clear. Is it only for luxurious apartments, or they can also be necessity items? Sir, capacity utilization my previous speaker has mentioned, so there is no need to go. Sir, thank you for this Zoom application. Thank you so much. Please continue. It is very easy to operate. Please continue. Last but not the least, of course, I have to thank very much your secretary department. Sir, your secretary, Sheetal Joshi, had come during the rains. Imagine the sincerity, and that is why we are present as a speaker. We wish you all the best. We have long association with Nerolac, and we continue to bless our company to do better and better, get more and more wisdoms, and we will benefit. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you. Now I invite speaker number 8, Mrs. Celestine Mascarenhas and Mr. Aloysius Mascarenhas. Hello. Hello, am I audible? Yes, ma'am. Respected Chairman, MD Praveen D. Chaudhary, other honorable members on the board, my dear fellow shareholders. I am Mrs. C. E. Mascarenhas speaking from Mumbai. First of all, I thank the Company Secretary, Govind Raj and his team for sending me annual report, also giving me this platform to speak. Thank you very much. Annual report is full of information about the paints and good dividend of INR 2.50, though last year it was more because of that. Congratulations for award and accolades received, and also I thank you all. I end up because there is simultaneously another meeting. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to speak. Thank you once again. Thank you. Hello. Kalashis is there. She refused to speak. Now I invite speaker number nine, Mr. Rajesh Jainani. Hello, am I audible, sir? Yes. Respected Chairman Bhaskar Bhatji, MD CEO Pravin D. Chaudhari and a very highly eminent board of directors, fellow shareholders. I am Rajesh Jainani and I am speaking from my residence in Vile Parle West Mumbai. First of all, I thank our Company Secretary, Mr. Govind Rajanji, Sheetal Joshi for sending me the physical copy of the annual report very well on time. A beautiful 392 pages annual report which is full of facts and figures in place, sir. Every minute detail has been covered. I have gone through the message of MD also from page number four to seven. Sir, in your opening presentation, you have covered a lot of things. Sir, I must tell you, I am a very old shareholder of this company, sir, and these shares are inherited to me by my parents. I must say that. Previously, Pradeep Shah used to be there when we had a physical AGM. During that time, I remember Shah Rukh Khan was our brand ambassador. Today when you are there, sir, we have a Dhurandar, Mr. Ranveer Singh as a brand ambassador. I hope, sir, in the coming year, we will give a Dhurandar performance, sir, with a good sales and the profit, sir. The promoter holding is 74.96%. It shows the confidence of the company, the promoter in their own company, sir. They are holding on a very good promoter holding. Sir, the results are very good. I thank you for the dividend of INR 2.50. I know in the coming year, definitely you will consider for the better, sir. There is nothing much to say. इतना कहूंगा, Bhaskar Bhatji आपके लिए यही कहूंगा और सारे board के लिए, sir अभी now we are not meeting physically. All the meetings are on VC. तो our relation is going to be as usual. You know, it's like a family. तो आपके लिए ये शब्द हैं मेरे, ना दूर रहने से रिश्ते टूट जाते हैं और ना पास रहने से जुड़ जाते हैं। ये तो एहसास के वो पक्के धागे हैं जो याद करने से और मजबूत हो जाते हैं। With this, sir, I have supported all the resolutions. Thank you very much, sir, for giving me the opportunity to speak, sir. Thank you. बहुत धन्यवाद, राजेश जी। Now I invite speaker number 10, Mr. K Bharatraj. Sir, please unmute speaker, sir. Mr. K Bharatraj, are you there? Mr. Bharatraj? Sir, it seems there is some technical issue. We will connect to him later. We can move to next speaker, sir. Now I invite speaker number 11, Mr. Santosh Saraf. माननीय सभापति जी, उपस्थित निदेशक मंडल के सदस्यगण, अधिकारीगण और कर्मचारीगण। मैं Mr. Santosh Saraf, Kalol से आप सभी को राम-राम कहता हूँ। आशा करता हूँ, आप सब अच्छे स्वास्थ्य में होंगे, sir. मैं sir सभी director भाई बहनों का भी आभार प्रकट करता हूँ जिनकी कड़ी मेहनत का फल है कि आज हमारी company इतना अच्छा result दे रही है। Sir, मैं secretary उनकी team का भी आभार प्रकट करता हूँ जो सदा हमारे touch में रहते हैं। अभी भी आपकी secretary team का phone आया। Sir, आपने join किया ही नहीं किया। Sir, मैं आपके G.T. Govindarajan जी को भी बधाई देता हूँ। उन्होंने मेरे प्रश्न के उत्तर advance में दे दिए। नहीं तो sir पूछना पड़ता। अच्छा कोई प्रश्न नहीं। लेकिन मैं ये कहूंगा अपने CFO को कहिएगा sir, सब चीज आप balance sheet में दे देंगे, तो हम प्रश्न कहां से खोजेंगे sir और कहां से पढ़ाएंगे? इतने पढ़े लिखे नहीं हैं। अच्छा अगली बार CFO साहब को कहिएगा थोड़ा सा छोड़ें हम लोगों के लिए कि इतने पढ़े लिखे तो नहीं, जितना वो पढ़े लिखे हैं, कि हम उसमें से प्रश्न निकालें। फिर भी मैंने दिए थे, सोचा प्रश्न बना के किसी तरह जवाब मिल गया sir. और ज्यादा कुछ नहीं। यह कि भविष्य की रणनीति के बारे में और भविष्य के विस्तार के बारे में जरूर बताइएगा sir. और एक बार financial 26-27 की आप सभी को शुभकामनाएं देता हूँ और भगवान से प्रार्थना करता हूँ financial 26-27 हमारी company के साथ-साथ जितने भी director भाई बहन, जितने भी कर्मचारी भाई बहन उनकी, उनकी family के लिए healthy, wealthy, personal safety के साथ बीते। इसी तरह sir meeting continue रखिएगा, जिससे आपके और हमारे कर्मचारी के अच्छे काम के प्रति मैं अपना आभार प्रकट कर सकूं। और नए CFO साहब से request है थोड़ा speaker का ध्यान रखिए, chairman साहब से साल में एक बार उनकी मुलाकात होती है। तो एक-दो बार हम जब तक नहीं पूछेंगे तो खाना हाजम नहीं होगा। जैसे खाने के बाद में जो होता है। तो इसलिए next time ध्यान रखिएगा। नमस्कार, समय देने के लिए। [Foreign language] Now I invite speaker number 12, Gagan Kumar. Hello! Am I audible? I am Bharat Raj. Yes, you are audible sir. Bharat Raj, we can hear you and Gagan Kumar also. Who shall we take? Gagan Kumar and- Bharat Raj, you can be the next speaker. Mr. Gagan Kumar, can we hear you? Mr. Gagan Kumar. Yes. Meeting started this morning and now it's afternoon, so it will not go till evening. Let me make myself very brief. I am Gagan Kumar from Delhi. I had requested for a hard copy of annual report which I received well in time and I am very happy to share that I do not have any question pertaining to accounts as each and every aspect of balance sheet is very much clear. My one or two general queries to the management is what steps are being taken to improve returns for shareholder and make the company more profitable. How is our order book for next quarter? What is our vision of our company over the next five years? Where do we see our company in 2030? It would be unfair on my part without mentioning higher corporate governance under the leadership of our CFO, CS and entire secretarial team. My special thanks to Shikha ma'am for the good investor services. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Thank you, Mr. Gagan Kumar. Now we can go to Mr. Bharat Raj. Bharat Raj sir, you can speak. Yeah, very good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, entire board of directors. I am Bharat Raj attending from Hyderabad. First of all, I congratulate for the wonderful performance and thank for the dividend and the wonderful CSR program. Chairman sir, due to this geopolitical war situation, what will the impact of this financial year, sir? The fuel sir, fuel price has increased, in impact with the price will be increasing of my product. Please let me know. For the expansion of the company any plans for the right issues or QIPs or preferential issues. Please let me know, Chairman sir. My best wishes to you, Chairman sir. I must thank Mr. Secretary Department, they sent me the link and the annual report also. They were always accessible to me, sir. Once again, take care, sir. God bless you all. I am Bharat Raj signing off from Hyderabad. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Bharat Raj. Now I invite Mr. Praful Chawda and Mrs. Jayshri Chawda. Sir, board of directors. मेरी आवाज़ आ रही है sir? Sir, मेरी आवाज़ आ रही है? आ रही है। Thank you, sir. Chairman sir, board of directors, मेरे साथी shareholders. पहले तो मैं ईरान और America के war के लिए पूछना चाहता हूँ कि क्या आपको raw materials का कुछ problem आएंगे या आ रहा है, इसके बारे में बताएंगे। इसके अलावा हम जब company का product लेने को जाते हैं तो 1 kg, 2 kg, 5 kg, 10 kg, 20 kg का company का सिर्फ एक box मिलता है जो भी regular color में। बाकी alternate कोई color चाहिए तो जो भी shop वाला mix करके देता है। तो mix करके दे दे तो हमको कैसा trust बैठेगा कि वो अपना color बेच रहा है या कुछ भी, कोई भी item का कोई भी color मिला के इसमें हमको दे रहा है। इसका हमको कोई proof नहीं मिलता है। तो इसके बारे में कुछ करें कि जो भी दुकान है वहां से हम purchase करें तो original अपने ही company का color मिलना चाहिए। इसके अलावा अभी बात चली brand ambassador की। Brand ambassador में sir, आप survey करें कि brand ambassador के business चलता है क्या नहीं चलता है। Company का product अच्छा है, service अच्छी है तो ही business चलेगा। तो मैं यही suggestion देना चाहता हूँ कि कभी भी कोई brand ambassador बड़े बड़े hero, heroine को मत रखें। इसके बदले आप Vaibhav जैसे star player हैं जो छोटी उम्र में बड़े कारनामे करें, वैसे लोगों को लें ताकि छोटे player को भी अच्छे पैसे भी मिले और publicity भी मिले और साथ में CSR बहुत अच्छा काम हो रहा है। तो साथ में मैं यह कहना चाहता हूँ कि CSR में जो पानी का problem है आज India में, आगे future में ज्यादा होने जा रहा है। तो CSR से ज्यादा पैसे city के बाहर तालाब लगाने में, पानी का store करने में लगाएं और झाड़ लगाने के लिए आप करें। क्योंकि अभी India में पूरे 48 degree, 49 degree हो गया है। Europe में 40 degree पे बड़े लोग मर जा रहे हैं। तो ऐसी position में आपने India में ज्यादा से ज्यादा झाड़ लगे ऐसा कुछ प्रबंध करके इसमें ज्यादा पैसा लगाएं। मेरे साथ Jayshri Chawda भी कुछ कहना चाहते हैं। सुनिए sir. Hello Chairman sir, board of director. मैं Hyderabad से Jayshri Chawda बोल रही हूँ, shareholder. आपकी chairmanship से पूरी जानकारी मिली है और मैं पूरा support करती हूं resolution को. मेरी एक request है कि आप company की unit visit कराइए. मैं Japan की partnership को भी welcome करती हूं. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Praful and Mrs. Jayshri Chawda. Now I invite speaker Mr. सरबजीत सिंह. Hello Chairman, sir. Can you hear my voice? Yes, I can hear you. Chairman sir, first of all good morning to you, all the board of directors और all the staff of Kansai Nerolac Limited and my co-fellow shareholder. Chairman sir, जिस तरीके से आपने अपनी opening remarks में company के बारे में बताया और sir पूरे विस्तार से बताया और sir हमारा एक जो नाम है वो sir अपने आप में एक नाम है जो हर एक बंदा हमारे नाम को जानता है Kansai Nerolac. तो sir, जिस तरीके की आप लोग performance भी देते आए हैं और sir हमें पूरी उम्मीद है कि आने वाले time में अच्छी से अच्छी performance भी हमें मिलती रहेगी। और sir investor को क्या चाहिए होता है sir उसकी investment पर return. तो sir, आप इस मामले में dividend हमेशा देते आए हैं। इस चीज की भी sir एक बहुत अच्छी चीज है। 2024 में भी मिला, sir 2025 में मिला और 2026 में sir दिन पर दिन sir आप लोग बढ़ा के ही दे रहे हैं। ये sir एक बहुत अच्छी चीज है। और sir एक investor को sir company में विश्वास करने के लिए क्या चाहिए होता है sir, एक promoter holding. तो sir जैसे कि सरकार द्वारा निर्धारित 75% की holding है promoters की, तो sir हमारी भी sir पूरी की पूरी around 75% ही है। तो sir ये एक बहुत अच्छी चीज है। बाकी chairman sir यही कहना चाहूंगा कि हमारे next 24 months के roadmap क्या है sir थोड़ा सा इस बारे में बताएं। और sir आगे हमारा जिस तरीके से sir नए-नए vision आ रहे हैं, तो sir आगे हमारा आने वाले time में नई opportunity और नई launches के बारे में क्या ख्याल है sir, थोड़ा सा इस बारे में बताएं। बाकी sir हमारे CS और उनकी पूरी की पूरी team का मैं धन्यवाद करना चाहूंगा sir जिन्होंने हमें आपके सामने बोलने का मौका दिया। Thank you sir. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. सरबजीत सिंह। Now I invite speaker Mr. अमीर अली रोशनाली लकड़ावाला। Am I audible sir? Yes. Mr. अमीर अली। Thank you, sir. Good afternoon respected chairman, board of members, Company Secretary and my fellow shareholders. Myself अमीर अली रोशनाली लकड़ावाला attending this AGM from Mumbai. I sincerely thank our Company Secretary Govind sir and Sheetal Joshi ma'am for giving me this opportunity to speak, for sharing the AGM report well on time and for arranging this meeting via video conferencing for smooth and easy connect. I congratulate the entire management on sharing the company through a challenging business environment during FY 2025-26. The company reported revenue from operations of around INR 8,720 crore and has recommended a dividend of INR 2.5 per equity share. I appreciate the management's continuous focus on strengthening both the decorative and industrial coatings businesses, expanding the distribution network and improving operational efficiencies. These strategic efforts give shareholders confidence in the company's long term growth and value creation. Looking at the company's promising future roadmap, I have no questions to ask from my side. I wholeheartedly support all the resolution proposed in the today's AGM and wish the entire management continued success. That's all from my side. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. अमीर अली रोशनाली लकड़ावाला। Now I invite speaker Mr. अमरेंद्र नाथ राय। Sir, please unmute yourself. Respected Chairman, Mr. भास्कर भट. Respected MD, Mr. प्रवीण चौधरी and esteemed members of the board. I am अमरेंद्र नाथ राय, an equity shareholder of Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited, joining 106th Annual General Meeting through video conferencing from Kolkata. Special thanks to our well experienced Company Secretary, Mr. GT गोविंद राजन, for giving me an opportunity to express my views and his secretarial department including Sheetal ma'am and others rendering good investor service, sending physical copy of annual reports, joining link with speaker sequence number well in advance and conducting video conferencing in smooth manner. Sir, 392 pages annual report is colorful, exhaustive, self-explanatory, transparent with facts and figures are all in place and adhere to the norms of corporate governance. Congratulations to the company on its awards and accolades as well as CSR activities. Sir, I have some query. How does the company plan to capitalize on its increasing demand for eco friendly and low VOC paint products? Please share your views. Next sir, what steps are being taken to maintain competitiveness in an increasingly crowded paints and coated markets? My third question, how does the company plan to benefit from the growing demand for premium and differentiated paint product in India? Please share your views. Fourth question, what is the company's strategy for expanding its Auto Refinish business and improving brand visibility in its segments? My last question, what opportunities does the company see in the powder coating segment, particularly in industrial application? Sir, it may not be possible to respond immediately. I would appreciate it if the answers could be shared with me later via email. I have casted my voting in favor of all resolutions. I have full trust in our strong and efficient management. I wish your company continued success and prosperity. I believe under the leadership of our honorable MD sir, and with the support of other directors, officials, and staff, our company will reach new heights near future. Thank you for patient hearing. Over to you for further proceeding. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Amarendra Nath Roy. I invite speaker Mr. Manjit Singh. Am I audible? Yes, Mr. Manjit Singh. Nerolac Paints की management team, secretarial team और my co-shareholder, मैं सभी का स्वागत करता हूँ। Sir, good afternoon. पहले तो मैं आपको fourth quarter में जो आपने result पेश किए हैं, उनकी मुबारकबाद देना चाहूँगा। EBITDA भी इजाफा हुआ है और सबसे बड़ी बात है कि हमारा profit बढ़ा है, करीब 20-21%। आगे ये जो quarter चल रहे हैं और आगे Diwali का जो season आ रहा है, उसमें हमारे margin और किस तरह बढ़ने की उम्मीद है, थोड़ा आप इस बारे में बताइएगा। 1920 से हमारी company निरंतर चलती आ रही है और 1999 में जो Japanese collaboration हुआ, उसके बाद company में और मजबूती आई है। Sir, crude basket जो है Indian, उसमें बड़ा उतार-चढ़ाव हो रहा है। February में क्या rate था, फिर April में क्या rate हुए, मई-जून तक थमे नहीं वह और अब नीचे का दौर उन्होंने पकड़ा है। तो इसमें हम जो है अपने किस तरह से आगे ग्राहक को implement करते हैं, ये जो हम खरीद करते हैं कच्चे तेल की, उसमें क्या role रहता है आगे supply में, थोड़ा आप इस बारे में बताइएगा। मेरे साथ जो है, मेरा एक और सवाल Mr. संदीप सिंह का भी है। Mr. संदीप सिंह भी already इसी में speaker हैं। यह जो Indian market है, INR 80,000 करोड़ से लेकर करीब INR 90,000 करोड़ तक की paint की market है। इसमें हमारा कितनी % है, थोड़ा आप इस बारे में बताइए और इतनी बड़ी market में हमारी आगे क्या policy है, marketing की क्या policy है और जितनी हमारी demand है उसके हिसाब से हमारे जो plant हैं, पूरी capacity में चल रहे हैं या आगे कोई demand बढ़ेगी तो plant में capacity बढ़ाने का ऐसा कुछ आप करेंगे? थोड़ा आप इस बारे में बताइए। यह सवाल संदीप सिंह की तरफ से था। बाकी यह जो आज का समय हमने आपके साथ साझा करा है, यह आने वाले time में हमारी investment को मजबूत करेगा, इसकी हम आपसे आशा करते हैं और भगवान से प्रार्थना करते हैं। Secretarial department का बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद जिन्होंने इस meeting को हमारे साथ आपके जोड़ने के लिए औपचारिकता नहीं रखी, बकायदा pen लिया और link वगैरह समय पर उपलब्ध कराया और हम आपसे जुड़ पाए। Thank you for the secretarial team. Thank you for the management team. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Manjit Singh and Mr. Sandeep Singh. Now I invite speaker Mr. Santosh Chopra and Mr. Hrishikesh Chopra. Hello. Hello. Am I audible? Yes. Chairman साहब नमस्कार। Board of Directors, CFO साहब, Company Secretary जी, सबको मेरा प्रणाम, नमस्कार। मेरे साथ Santosh Chopra भी join कर रहे हैं। Due to paucity of time, we will club our questions with you. Sir, आपने पिछले कई सालों से अच्छी performance दी है। आप Kansai जो है, fourth largest paint company in India है। इसके लिए आपको बधाई देता हूँ। पर मेरे दो-तीन प्रश्न हैं sir कि how is the parent Kansai Paint helping Nerolac with new technology and premium products to fight competitions with Dulux and Asian Paints and other paint industries in India? यह sir बताएं। With new players like Birla Opus entering, what is Nerolac's plan to protect decorative market share in India? What is the rural penetration versus Asian and Berger? आपका rural में क्या है? क्योंकि Asian और Berger काफी उसमें penetrate कर रहे हैं, तो आपकी क्या संभावनाएँ हैं? Sir, Mr. Santosh Chopra जी की भी दो-तीन queries हैं, कि उन्होंने कहा है कि आपका CSR activities में जो आप 75 साल या उससे senior citizens के लिए कोई आपका free health camp लगाते हैं, old age home को कुछ grant देते हैं, इसके लिए बताएं। आप old age home को paint भी करवा सकते हैं। इस तरह की कई, जिसमें आपका product भी use होगा और आपकी CSR activity में भी count होगा। Sir, मैं moderator का फिर धन्यवाद करता हूँ। Management और सभी कर्मचारियों और Company Secretary का धन्यवाद करता हूँ। CFO साहब ने इतनी बढ़िया bulletin भेजी है, इसके लिए भी धन्यवाद और आपको शुभकामनाएं सहित नमस्कार। राम-राम प्रणाम। गाजियाबाद से Mr. Santosh Chopra, Mr. Hrishikesh Chopra। नमस्कार जी। नमस्कार ऋषिकेश जी और संतोष जी। Our next speaker, Mr. जहांगीर बटलीवाला। Sir, speaker shareholder is not connected. We can move to next speaker. Our invite speaker Mr. अतानु साह। नमस्कार। Although the time is afternoon, but it's really good morning to everybody. Good morning, I अतानु साह, calling from city of joy कोलकाता, sir. It's Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited. My respective Chairman sir Bhaskar Bhatji, Sonia Singh present, Mr. Takashi Tomioka, Mr. Pravin D. Chaudhari, Uday Bhansali, उदय बंसल जी, Mr. Jin Otoka, Mr. Hirokazu Kotera और also thanks to our Hitoshi Nishibayashi who is retired after his 30 years journey with us. Also thanks to our President Mr. K. Mori. Also thanks to our Company Secretary Govind Rajanji, our secretary department. Also thanks to our Sheetal Joshi who are coordinating, CFO and all our shareholder present in this 106 AGM 9th July 2026. My previous shareholder raised their queries and so on. Sir, how many depot inside बंगाल? As per this annual report, there are 112 depot all over India. My question related with that, how many Bengal? Inside Bengal, have you thought about to do something? It might be in Bengal depot or any R&D division. In our decorative business, what would be our CapEx plan till 2030? Sir, as per business concerned, three points are most important: employee welfare, customer demand, and also shareholder's wealth. It's first time, thanks to our dialogue from employees. It's really very good for us as a shareholder and also the part of our business. Present a beautiful world standard annual report with a proper printing and text. Sir, our concern, it's on paints category, it's Honda motorcycle and also from other Kirloskar Toyota. I already casted my vote the matter of agendas concerned 1, 2, 3, 4. Whereas number 3, sir. I अतानु साह wish a good year ahead, good result and good dividend and good health to everybody and good relation with Japan, with India. Sir, Kansai Nerolac. I love Kansai Nerolac. Thanks to everybody. I अतानु साह forwarding to our moderator. It's beautifully day for. Thanks to everybody. Thank you, Mr. अतानु साह। Invite speaker Mr. लोकेश गुप्ता. Hello, नमस्कार sir, आप मुझे सुन पा रहे हैं sir? हाँ जी। Chairman sir, मैं दिल्ली से लोकेश गुप्ता आपका और सभी board members का स्वागत करता हूँ। Sir, excellent chairman speech हो रही थी जिसमें company के वर्तमान और भविष्य के बारे में आपने बताया। उसके बाद सवाल बचते नहीं हैं sir. Sir भरोसा है, विश्वास है आपकी leadership पर। आपकी leadership में company जो भी कार्य करेगी वह पहले भी उसका result positive रहा, आगे भी result अच्छा मिलेगा sir। Shareholders को healthy dividends भी मिलता रहेगा। Sir, मुझे जानना है raw material cost बहुत बढ़ रही है। हमारे margin intact रहें, और margin बढ़ाने के लिए हम क्या कर रहे हैं? क्या हम इस competition में उसे pass on करने की स्थिति में हैं sir? थोड़ा इस बारे में बताइए sir। और sir हमें एक बार आपसे साल में मिलने का अवसर मिलता है लेकिन भविष्य की जानकारी के लिए company secretary और उनकी team के पास जाते हैं, well time में reply मिलता है। इसके लिए भी हम उनको धन्यवाद देंगे। अंत में मैं company के सुखद भविष्य के लिए शुभकामनाएं देता हूँ। धन्यवाद sir. बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद लोकेश गुप्ता जी। Invite speaker Mr. ओमप्रकाश केजरीवाल। Hello sir, am I audible? Yes, Mr. ओमप्रकाश केजरीवाल। Thank you, sir. Good afternoon, सर जी and good afternoon everybody attending this AGM. Myself ओमप्रकाश केजरीवाल, your equity shareholder from कोलकाता. Thank you सर जी for providing me the platform to speak something before you. Thanks to our secretary department, especially Sheetal ma'am for calling me and taking my help. सर जी, this is my fourth AGM only due to virtual. If possible please follow this virtual AGM next year also so that more and more investors from different parts of the world could join our AGM and express their views and company could take benefit from their views sir. Sir, firstly I want to thank you people for giving a dividend of INR 2.50 on face value of INR 1 despite the difficult business environment all over the world. Though there is no special dividend as you distributed in previous years. सर जी, we are maintaining our EPS as INR 8.25 in a standalone account without exceptional item and in consolidated account our EPS has increased slight to INR 7.93 compared to INR 7.70 without exceptional item. सर जी, what is your expectation for current financial year? Will our profit improve? Because auto sector is booming in India and crude prices has fallen from $120 per barrel in April-May to $78 in international market. Two days back it was rolling around $70 per barrel. Please express your view, sir. सर जी, one question sir. We are planning to amalgamate our wholly owned subsidiary Nerofix Private Limited with our company. My question is do we get any additional benefit from this amalgamation? Sir, I have two suggestion for CSR committee. First suggestion sir, please use some of CSR fund to provide drinking water nearby our factories, nearby our business points and nearby the villages because sir, "जल ही जीवन है." Second request sir, please use some of CSR fund in skill development to make our country a developed country, sir. Sir, I have one request sir for plant visit. I am your old shareholder so please organize a factory visit program so that we can see how it is running. At last sir ji, please maintain your smile and be cheerful. We are always with you as a long term investor. Thank you, सर जी. Thank you, Mr. ओमप्रकाश केजरीवाल। Now invite speaker Mr. Kamal Jawahar. Hello. Hello, मेरा आवाज़ आ रहा है sir? जी। हमारे Chairman sir, भास्कर भट्ट साहब, Managing Director प्रवीण चंद्र जी और another director को सबको नमस्कार। कमल किशोर from हैदराबाद से बोल रहा हूँ साहब। आपका Chairman speech बहुत wonderful था। तो मेरे साथी भाई इसके पहले बहुत कुछ question करें। मैं वो question को दोहराना नहीं चाहता हूँ। बस इतना पूछना चाह रहा हूँ, अपना crude daily ऊपर-नीचे हो रहा है तो अपने को क्या effect पड़ेगा raw material के बारे में? Yesterday और today ₹5 बढ़ गया crude का। तो इसका paints में अपने को कितना problem और कितना profit margin आ सकता है, उसके बारे में बताते हैं sir। साहब मैं एक-दो-तीन चीज बोलना चाह रहा हूँ। आप गौर से सुनिए। CFO, Company Secretary, Director जो क्या हो रहा है, क्या नहीं मैं आपको बताऊंगा। यह चीज आपको हमेशा के लिए मालूम होना चाहिए। आप CSR में जो आप donation देते हैं, किसी college को देते हैं, वो आपके हाथ से करिए। किसी के भी भरोसा मत करिए। मैं हैदराबाद में एक big company secretary department से हमारे को information मिला, मेरे को और सुरेश चंद को, कि हमारे पास से donation के आवासे पैसे मांगने आए तो हमारे Managing Director हमारे को वो press पे देख के वो बोलें, वहां जाके देखेंगे तो trust का बहुत बड़ा board है। अंदर क्या जी शेयरों का धंधा चल रहा है और जो भी पैसा आता है, बंटवारा हो रहा है। तो आप इसके बारे में open रहेंगे sir। क्योंकि अभी बहुत जगह क्या करते हैं साहब आप CSR में उतना पैसा दिए, लाख रुपए दिए, दो-दो लाख रुपए दिए। वो hospital का bill लेकर आएंगे। वो bill क्या करते हैं, पूरे companies में घुमाते हैं। All companies में, जो जहां कंकड़ लगा है पैसे वसूल कर लो। तो आप है ना यह 100 शेयर में बहुत drama हो रहा है साहब। मैं चाहता हूँ भगवान से कम से कम, आप पूरे companies मिलकर कम से कम 50 का lot बनाइए। 50 या 25। कल के दिन शेयर भी बढ़ गया तो हम बेच भी सकते हैं। एक शेयर वाला इतना बात करता है जो हजार, दो हजार शेयर वाला इतनी बड़ी बात नहीं करता है। एक शेयर वाला इतना बात करेगा कि मैं company को खरीद लूं। तो इसके बारे में गौर करिए साहब। यह हमको खबर नहीं है। मेरा भी यह 65 है। मैं 40 years से एक field में हूँ 1978 से। अभी हमारी आँखें खुल गई। हमको company वाले ने बताया। तो आपके वहां से बहुत बड़ा अलग रही है। Company visit कराओ। हमारे हैदराबाद में Company Secretary को phone करके visit कराओ। Hotel का room दो मेरे को, दो दिन का car का बंदोबस्त करो। हम दो दिन घूमेंगे, करेंगे और अच्छा खाने का बंदोबस्त कराओ। तो company वाले साफ बोल दिए हमारे पास कोई भी visit नहीं है। यह company का फालतू खर्चा है। आप कभी वो side गए तो हमको बता दें। हम आपको letter देंगे। हमारी company भी देख लो और हमारी company की factory के अंदर canteen है। भाई canteen में आप खाना खा लो। यह हमारे हैदराबाद के पांच-छह company के Managing Director जवाब दे चुके हैं कि अगर यह धंधा ऐसा होगा ना साहब all over India में कोई भी आदमी को काम करने की जरूरत नहीं है। बहुत जगह जाते हैं साहब मेरे को flat का किराया दो, room का किराया दो, convention दो। यह बहुत कुछ drama हो रहा है साहब। यह पूरा companies को, secretary department को पूरा मालूम होना चाहिए। मैं 40 साल से यह देखते आ रहा हूँ। अभी हमारे company से information आने से मैं आपको इतना दे रहा हूँ। यह चीज आपको कुछ भी नहीं मालूम है तो इसके बारे में आप ध्यान दीजिए साहब। यह business हो गया है और हमारे secretary department गोविंद राज जी को नमस्कार करता हूँ और हमारे शीतल जोशी madam को भी नमस्कार। उनका service बहुत अच्छा है साहब। मेरे को time पे balance sheet मिला। इसी तरह video conference देखिए और आते तो पूरे festival की आपको बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद देता हूँ। Thank you, sir. बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद Mr. कमल जवाहर जी। Now I invite speaker Mr. Jaydeep Bakshi. Good afternoon Chairman, MD, Board of Directors and people from Japan also on the board. Myself Jaydeep Bakshi, communicating from the city of Kolkata. First of all, I convey my thanks to our Company Secretary Govind Rajan Ji for giving me an opportunity and also to the secretary team Sheetal ma'am for maintaining cordial relations with the investor friendly, relations with the shareholders. Sir, your initial speech was very much informative, shared about our company's affairs. Sir, on these lines, many questions have been asked by my predecessor shareholders. Just want to know regarding the counter, how are we planning to counter this input cost and sustain our growth? In view of this global turmoil, what is our outlook? Also reduce our dependence on the imported raw material. What is our thought process? Implementation of latest technology for improving our supply chain, what is our thought process? This paints market is now having a very tough competition. What is our view of gaining this market share without compromising on the margin factor? What our revenue growth possibilities in the automotive and the industrial coatings segment, kindly share that. The annual report is very much informative. Page 103, initiatives for driving excellence is well explained, and 104, workplace safety is also well explained. Also the awards, congrats once again for all. Also for the CSR activities where we have done skill enhancement and education, healthcare promotion. It's also very good initiative. What are the steps are we taking for improving our brand visibility? Can we think of the incoming this festive season around the corner? That would be a good opportunity and nothing but more, I support all the resolution and wish our company all the best in the coming years, and we come out with much better results and improved profitability. Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. Thank you, Mr. Joydeep Bakshi. I now invite speaker Mr. Manoj Gupta. Hello. Good afternoon, respected Chairman, Board of Directors, fellow shareholders. My name is Manoj Kumar Gupta. I have joined this meeting from Delhi. I reside in Kolkata, but today I am in Delhi, so I am attending this meeting from Delhi. I am your great admirer, sir. I have seen your leadership in Titan and Tata. We cannot forget your leadership, and we believe that under your able and dynamic leadership, Nerolac will turn around and Nerolac will give return to the employees and investors like Reliance, Tatas and Titan under your leadership in future. Sir, I thank the MD and his team for the excellent result of the company for the year 2025, 2026. Thanks to the Company Secretary and his team, especially Sheetal ma'am, to help us to join this meeting. Such type of people should be in the corporate sector to help the shareholder in any circumstances. Sir, kindly ask the marketing team to explore the product in the market to meet the competition, because there is a tough competition in the paint market. Nowadays, from last 3 years, two big giants industrial houses have also entered in the paint market like Aditya Birla Group and JSW. Recently in the last November, JSW has acquired Akzo Nobel in the tune of INR 13,000 crore. So they will also give a big challenge to the existing market. Our partner country, Japan, very faithful and loyal country for India. They always support India in every circumstances, in every project, like metro, infrastructure, industry, in every circumstances. So we have full faith and confidence on Japanese because their prime minister and our beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very good friendship. They also support to grow the economy of our country. So, we strongly support them. How you will face the competition in near future in the paint industry? Our paint industry is approximately organized and unorganized sector is approximately INR 90,000 crore. So how we face this competition, and what's your plan for eastern part of the country? Eastern part of the country and Bengal. Now the Bengal is growing after change the regime in the Bengal. Our beloved Chief Minister, Shubendu Adhikari is asking investor, capitalist houses and industrial houses to come in Bengal and invest their money to grow the GDP and revenue and employment of the Bengal. What's your plan in that regard? Kindly throw some highlight. Have you any plan to bring some investment in Bengal or eastern part of the country, like Assam, Manipur and others? So kindly think about. Sir, you can take the help to explore your product in the regional festivals like Ganpati Festival in Maharashtra, Onam in Kerala, Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Durga Puja in Bengal. So kindly explore something in the regional festivals. You take stalls in the Puja pandals, Ganpati pandals, so that people will come. Jo devotees jayenge na sir, woh jab apka pandal dekhenge, apke product ka voucher dekhenge. So definitely they will go to house and think to use the Nerolac paint. Kindly think that. VC meeting should continue because, so that you are in Mumbai, we are in Delhi, we can talk to you. Sir, how you will explore, grow your home decorative business, powder coating business, how you will grow more in that regard, kindly throw. Raw material prices has gone up in last one year. So how, compared to raw material and production cost, how you will get return from the market? Kindly throw some highlight. Is there any direct or indirect impact of Middle East? Kindly throw some highlight. With this, I strongly support all the resolution, and it's my pleasure to meet you, sir, physically once whenever I will be in Kolkata. I'm your great admirer because I have seen your leadership in Titan. Tata's. So I believe that you will give me an opportunity to meet you, sir. With this, thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Manoj Gupta. Now I invite speaker Mr. Vinay Bhide. Hello, are you able to hear me? Yes. Good afternoon. Chairman, Mr. Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director, Mr. Pravin D. Chaudhari, other directors present on call today, company executives, fellow shareholders, as already announced. My name is Vinay Bhide. I am a long-term supporter shareholder, and I am speaking from Mumbai. At the outset, let me thank you for having performed very well in a very competitive and a cutthroat market. As we see, the market is now much competitive than it was in some of the earlier years. What is our plan to counter some of these new competitors, as well as the heavyweights who have already entered or have plans to enter into Indian paints market, particularly, the decorative paints market. Question number 2 is that what is the market share that we have been maintaining all these years, and has there been a change in the market share in our decorative paints business? The report is well compiled. I compliment the team that has gone into the preparation of the report. One question that I would like to ask from page 163, I have noted in the area of information technology, we have gone in for a transition to SAP S/4HANA. This is extremely good, but could you give us some flavor as to what have been the spends on both the CapEx and the OpEx, on information technology and digital in the concluded financial year, and what are our budgets on both these heads in the running financial year? Otherwise, I think, we are doing well to compete in the industry. I will request you to arrange for a factory visit for our shareholders. We have got a lot of shareholders who will be wanting to speak. I will not take much of time. But I must mention, without failing in conclusion, that Mr. Govindrajan, our Company Secretary, and his team member, Sheetal, as well as other colleagues, Bhumi, and all others who have made our meeting participation extremely smooth. I will close with best wishes to the board and the company management. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak, sir. All the best. Thank you, Mr. Vinay Bhide. All right. Ramesh Shankar Gulla. Sir, speaker, shareholder. Hello. Chairman Bhaskar Bhatji and MD, all the KMPs. I am Ramesh Shankar Gulla from Hyderabad. [Foreign language] that to secretarial, first of all, I am saying the secretarial department, company CS and our Sheetal Ji, both support [Foreign language] support [Foreign language] Thank you very much to Sheetal and company CS. That to, sir. Sir, [Foreign language] company [Foreign language] rating [Foreign language] that is the first question. Sir, second question, sir, any expansion is there? Please tell me, sir. Third question, sir, how many plant is there in India? Please, that also I am asking you, sir. Sir, fourth one, sir, I want to very much interested to see the my company plant visit, sir. Please note it down and send me the mail, sir. [Foreign language] CS [Foreign language] team [Foreign language] sir. Please, sir, that to shareholders hospitality, sir. [Foreign language] sir. Sir, that to please send me the guidelines, sir. That to very happy, sir. [Foreign language] company [Foreign language] shareholders [Foreign language] year [Foreign language] once [Foreign language] That's why I am asking this question, sir. Sir, that to, get together [Foreign language] sir. [Foreign language] shareholders attend [Foreign language] get together [Foreign language] I'll be [Foreign language] you, sir. This is my request. Please note it down, sir. Sir, so very happy with the results, sir. Thank you very much. And CS sir, [Foreign language] I am Jayashankar Gulla from Hyderabad. This is a festival for me, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ramesh. Just a request, your first question, can you repeat? We couldn't hear your first question. Mr. Ramesh? Tell me, Sir. First question we couldn't hear because you are in the vehicle. I think there was noise at the back. Tell me, Sir. Your first question, we couldn't hear. Can you repeat it, please? Sir, ESG rating, Sir. ESG. ESG. Okay. Thank you. Sir. Rating. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ramesh. Now I invite speaker Mr. V Ravichandran. Hello? Hello? Hello. We can hear you. Can you hear me, sir? Yes, Mr. V Ravichandran. Yeah. Very good afternoon to the chairman, as well as to the other directors and all those who are attending from inside and outside. I am V Ravichandran joining from Chennai. This is my first meeting because I became a shareholder last year only. First of all, my congratulations to you on being associated with this Chenab Bridge and Anji Khad Bridge. I would like to know at what level the company was associated with this project. I know you would have supplied paint. Any other area where you are involved? Just for my information. My second point is, I am sure some of the shareholders would have already asked, with Jindals and Birlas entering, how do you plan to retain your third position in paint? This is my second question. Third question is, if you are doing at least on the retail side, may not be on the wholesale side. On the retail side, if you are using subcontractors, how do you use them? Because I have seen in many places, people complain about painting not being done properly, and it all goes back to your local supervisor. I am not being specific. It is a general report from many of my acquaintances. So how do you manage this work done through subcontractors? Next one is on the feedback mechanism. Do you have any strong feedback mechanism? Because for retail business, I strongly believe feedback should not be left to some call center. It should be monitored at the corporate level because many customers may be giving genuine feedback, which may help the companies in reorienting themselves. It is a free advice for the companies. Next one is on the profitability. I am sure this also many people would have asked. On an increase in revenue of 3.2%, the profitability has gone down by almost 39%. So provide some details whether it is a one time because of the competition, or it is going to be continuing, or why at all this has happened. That also you may clarify. Next one is dividend. You have recently given bonus, so you would have been trying to maintain the same level. But in my view, dividend should be at least 50% of your PAT. There is no point in retaining more for some purpose or the other. So when times are good, companies should reward the shareholders. And the next one is on the market survey. Do you have any market survey being done or having done in the past or planning to do? Because consumer preferences are changing quite fast. So I just wanted to know whether you have any plans. The last one is on the AI. What is the level of adoption of AI? Whether it is going to benefit the company in a big way, that also you can clarify. Thank you, Sir. All the best for better performance in the future. Thank you, Mr. Ravichandran. Now I invite speaker Mr. J Abhishek and Mr. P Jayachand. Can you hear me, Sir? Am I audible? Yes, Mr. Abhishek. First of all, I congratulate the management on the eve of 106th annual general body meeting. Sir, trust all is well with you and your family in this challenging situation. Our company deserves much more respect than the current market cap after completing more than a decade of successful operations profitability and becoming one of the strongest brand in the respective sector. First of all, I would like to know how our new competitors who have entered into market, in paint industry, is going to affect the company in the years to come. I would like to know from you, sir. Regarding the plant visit, already other shareholders have touched upon it, so I will not repeat the same questions again in the interest of time. We have given ample speaker shareholders an opportunity to speak. That is a really good corporate governance part over the company, and we are really thankful to the entire board of directors for their sincere efforts in bringing the company to this particular extent and rewarding the minority shareholders in large numbers by means of bonus and dividend as well. Sir, can you connect me to the advertisement team, sir? Because I can offer you some paint for properties in Chennai for painting and doing our own publicity. You can connect me to the right team, sir, so that I can pass on the information to them. Nothing much to ask, sir. Hope that the company takes all our questions in the right spirit. Most of my questions sent via email also. I shall not repeat the same questions again in the interest of time, and other shareholders have already covered the questions. Thank you for giving this opportunity, sir. Hope to see you in the upcoming AGM next year. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. J Abhishek. Now I invite speaker Ms. Aarti J and Ms. P. Shyam Sundari. I congratulate the management for the AGM. I appreciate the management for good dividend. When can shareholders expect a plant visit for the company? How new peer groups enter into the paint industry in this effective market? Thank you. I'll just give the to Shyam Sundari. Namaste, Ji. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Aarti Ji and Shyam Sundari Ji. Now I invite speaker Mr. Sutarsan Rajagopal. Yes. Can you hear me, sir? Sir. Hello? Sir. Hello? We can hear you, sir. I hear, yes. Yeah. Good afternoon. Afternoon. Hello? Hello? Sir, we can hear you. I wish to hear, sir. Chairman. Hello. Bhaskar Bhat and Hello. We can hear you, sir. The board of directors. They have to improve as compared to Hello. Please speak, sir. We can hear you. Now you are muted. Now you are muted, sir. Moderator, did you mute him or? Sir, it seems to be some technical problem. We can move to next. We can come back to you, sir, after the next speaker. Yes. Now I invite speaker Mr. Gundurlu Redappa. Gundurlu. From Gundurlu. Yes. Sir, am I hearing? Yes. Am I audible? Audible? Yeah. Just a minute, sir. Yeah. Thank you so much. Respected Chairman, sir, and Board of Directors. Myself Redappa Gundurlu, attending this AGM from Hyderabad. Sir. Respected Chairman, Mr. Bhaskar Bhat, sir, and also Mr. Pravin D. Chaudhari sir ji, and our CFO, Yash Ahuja ji, Company Secretary, Mr. G.T. Govindarajan, all other members and scrutinizers, auditors, and my fellow shareholders. Good morning. Namaste. Myself Redappa Gundurlu, I am attending this 106th annual general meeting from Hyderabad as a shareholder of Kansai Nerolac Paints. I am very happy, proud about the company performance. First, I congratulate the management on the company's performance, and thank you for conducting this AGM smoothly. Thank you, Company Secretary, sincerely, Mr. G.T. Govindarajan, and the entire CS team, especially Sheetal ma'am and Sheetal Joshi ji, for promptly sending me the physical annual report as I requested. I truly appreciate the excellent shareholder service. Chairman and MD, sir, your speech was informative and inspiring. I also congratulate the company on winning several, many prestigious awards and your continuous efforts in strengthening the, my company, Kansai Nerolac Paints, the brand building. The annual report is very beautifully presented. The cover page theme was very wonderfully printed. Where your passion takes color. I repeat, where your passion takes colors. It is excellent. The report combines impressive financial numbers with vibrant photographs and tells the company's story. It's a very true testament of your transparency and quality reporting, Mr. MD and Chairman. I would also like to place on record my special appreciation to the retired directors for their valuable contribution and dedicated service to the company over the years. A couple of directors have been retired, executive director and independent director. Thank you, sir. I wish them the rest of their life peacefully, with health and wealth. I feel proud to see Kansai Nerolac, my company, contributing to the iconic national landmark projects such as the Chenab Bridge, Anji Khad Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir, the Jharkhand High Court, and the Vidhan Sabha in Raipur. These achievements reflect the strength, the trust associated with our brand. I felt very happy when I am seeing the annual report with these pictures. I appreciate the company's strong corporate governance standards. Transparency, integrity is there. Special thanks, kudos to all the management KMPs for wonderful corporate governance and also preparing the annual report. Sir, the CSR initiatives is wonderfully disciplined. Wonderful displayed, special kudos to you. Also, I should appreciate the cost management is very wonderful, sir. In your leadership, a very good cost control has been kept, sir. Our humble suggestion is to kindly review the control to the miscellaneous expenses as they appear to have increased significantly this during year. I have a few questions, Mr. Chairman and MD. How many new decorative paint colors and products variants were launched during this last financial year? What has been customer response and market feedback? I would like to know. Second question. What are the biggest growth opportunities my management has seized for the next 3 to 5 years with this competitive situation? Third one. What are the major threats? What are the major challenges facing the company and you? My management, what strategies are in the place to mitigate this situation and distribution? Fourth and final question. What is the outlook for the decorative paints segment and industrial coatings business in this current financial year? Already e-voted has been done. No questions on the resolutions. Thank you, Company Secretary, once again, Govind Rajandhi and her team, always reachable. They are working really well. God bless you, secretary CS team. Finally, I congratulate the entire board management team and employees for their dedication to my company. I wish all the best to the continued success and sustained growth in the coming years ahead. Thank you, Chairman, sir. Finally, we have 100% faith in you, trust in you. Sir, please conclude your speaking, sir. Moderator. Sir, please conclude. Your 3 minutes are over. You are disturbing me. In a year, we get one chance to talk to our MD, Chairman. My time is already over. You are disturbing me. What is this? Physical meeting is not there. Nothing is there. This is not good. Chairman Choudhary sir, please intervene, sir. Sir, I pray God to give more wisdom, strength, power, entire board of directors, our CS, CFO, sir, may God give them good health and peace. With these compliments, I end. May God also give good health and wealth to our moderator, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Yeddappa Gundaluru. I think the previous person is ready. Mr. Sudarshan Rajgopal. Let's check if he's there. Yeah. Mr. Sutarsan Rajagopal, are you there? He waved his hand. Mr. Sudarshan? He is not. Okay, maybe we come back to him if he is on. Now I invite speaker Mrs. Davinder Kaur. Am I audible, sir? Yes. Chairman, sir. Good afternoon to all the members sitting on the desk. Sir, first tell me about the roadmap for 24 months, and what scheme you are bringing to increase the margin of our company. Festival season is coming up, so our margin should increase and we should get good profit. We pray to God that our company progresses by leaps and bounds. Thank you, sir. We thank the secretary and moderator who gave us the opportunity to speak in your presence. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mrs. Davinder Kaur. Now I invite speaker Mr. Mani Sundaram. Hello. Are you able to hear my voice, sir? Mr. Mani Sundaram. Yes, sir. Myself. Very happy to attend the meeting by means of video conference. 106th AGM, Kansai Nerolac. It is very cheerful and also very happy, sir. Chairman Choudhary sir, Govind Rajan sir, Company Secretary, Director Sheetal madam, have taken care and personally given instruction to join the meeting and send the link. All of them are our company has been taken very good care and allow. Good administration, sir. Good dividend, sir. How many subsidiary company having Kansai Nerolac Paints? What is the return to the parent company? Paint coated in surface have more life comparing with other company of paints. Any expansion plan, new plan, any new business? Kindly, we supported all the resolution favor to the board, sir. Plant visit, kindly make arrangements, sir. Thank you. Thanks a lot. Have a healthy and wealthy. Thank you, Mr. Mani Sundaram. Namaskar, Sudarshan. Yeah. Mr. Sudarshan. Hello. Yes, Mr. Sudarshan. Good afternoon, sir. I wish Bhaskar Bhat and the board of directors a long life and serve the company. Regarding sales, we have to improve. Compared to last year, we have only INR 246 crores. We have to increase it at least 5%-10%. Regarding EPS, this year only INR 7.28. Last year, around 12. However, I appreciate the board to the company to have it in a good manner. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Sudarshan. Awesome. Mr. Gopal. Mr. Gopal. Mr. Gopal P. Sir, can you hear me? Yes, we can hear. Board of directors, secretary and his team, and my fellow shareholder. I congratulate the management on eve of this AGM. Sir, the corporate governance is very good. The CSR activity is very good. The only grievance, the shareholders expecting bonus issue, which is long pending due, sir. Please kindly consider the same, sir. The secretary is accessible at any point of time. The management has done wonderful job. Thank you very much. On behalf of our issue, sir. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you. And now we are done with all the speakers. Now I'll address the questions. I may not go in a particular sequence because there are some repetitions. I'll club them and I'll try to answer all of them. The first question is on outlook. As far as the paint industry is concerned, our per capita consumption is fairly low compared to the developed economies. It's at about 3.5 kg per capita. Whereas if you look at the global average is close to 9-10 kg per capita. That itself offers a tremendous opportunity for paint industry as a whole. And in that also, looking at the Nerolac, if you look at Nerolac business, we are present in all the business lines of coating as a whole. Right from decorative, industrial, automotive, powder, high performance coating, refinish. I think we are in a unique position where we have all the levers available for growth. In paint industry, there are years where some lever doesn't work, but then as a Nerolac, I think we have very balanced portfolio, and that helps us continue to grow. With that, I think, and if you have seen the Nerolac performance for last 10 years, there has been consistent growth, and we have been growing at about 6.5%-7% consistently. Our profitability has also been always maintained. It's about 13%-14% EBITDA is what we keep saying all the time. And there have been enough effort despite a lot of headwinds right from COVID or before that also, there are many headwinds which company witnessed. But despite that, there has been the growth which was seen by the company. Other way to look at it is also shareholder returns. I think shareholder returns in the form of dividend has been very consistent. In fact, there were years where we have paid extra 125% because of exceptional income, especially last year, you would have seen there was a higher dividend because of land monetization that we did. So every time whenever there is extra income available, it's always disbursed and shareholder is taken care of. In 2023 also, there was a bonus issue which was given. So, this is the reward which company always tries to give to shareholder, keeping their interest in mind. As far as outlook is concerned, I think there'll be always short-term headwinds, which currently with the competition being very heavy, especially from JSW, Opus, they are new entrants. So competition intensity is very high. In that also, you would have seen that the company has maintained their position. In fact, as an overall company has improved their market share in the paint space. Decorative, definitely there was some pressure and there was a marginal dip as far as market share is concerned. But there are initiatives in place where we'll obviously try to recover our position in the decorative. Another very important point as far as decorative is concerned, where we will be focusing on our strong markets where we would like to protect, and there are growth markets which have been identified. So we are not in a race where we want to really get business at any cost. But we are absolutely clear that meaningful growth, profitable growth is utmost important, and sustaining this position is very important rather than giving in and creating problems for long term as far as company and shareholders are concerned. So with that, I am saying outlook of the company is great. With continuous investment that is happening in the industrial as a third pillar, our investments for coming years is fairly secured. As far as capital expenditure also is concerned, there are many questions on CapEx. Last year we have spent about INR 230 crore in total CapEx, out of which there was about regular expansion that took place in a plant. There were two sizable projects that we commissioned. One was Jainpur water based, which is for decorative business. Another one was in Sayakha, which we expanded our CED industrial capacity. These are the two significant projects. On the future capacity expansions, company reviews this every 6 months in terms of the demand position and our supply capability. If there is any need that we find that our capacity need to be incorporated, board always considers those CapEx proposals and then approve it. As of now, as far as decorative is concerned, we don't foresee any capacity requirement for next 2 to 3 years. We have sufficient capacities available. For auto, since the growth is good, definitely as time is right, board will consider further capacity expansions. There was a question, there are a lot of queries on Middle East and geopolitical uncertainty, and what are we doing to really address it. This has been going on for last 3 to 4 months. There were two prong impact. One was crude increase and second is our dollar appreciation. Both, as you know, paint is heavily dependent on crude oil and its derivatives, and that definitely has an impact. Now, how did company address it? Company already taken price increase as far as decorative is concerned, and as and when required, as late as June 21 also, company took price increase in decorative. Industrial also, price increases are underway, and definitely they will be taken care in terms of our margins are concerned. As far as other aspect, obviously margins are protected not only by price increase, but also a lot of value engineering that we do inside. Company is very active in reviewing formula optimizations, procurement efficiency, and overall manpower productivity. All these elements will always support our margin enhancement program. There was a question on also carbon neutrality and ESG as a whole. As far as carbon neutrality is concerned, we work under overall Paris 70 framework, and we are committed to it, and by 2030, we should be close to achieving that. The second thing is Kansai Japan also has a framework where there's a KPI 2030, which has been published, and entire group is trying to work towards this, which entails sustainable operations, sustainable products, and obviously sustainable living. All these elements are part of that KPI 2030, and as a responsible multinational and part of the respectable group, we will be definitely working towards it. Related to this, there was a question of awards also. As chairman has already spoken about it in terms of B rating in CDP protocol, as far as EcoVadis bronze medal is concerned, we are in top 12 percentile as far as S&P Global Index is concerned, and we are also rated by CRISIL. I think all this is very rare to find in any company which is so publicly admitting in terms of effort that they're doing and they're getting recognized. I think it's a fairly good work done by the team in terms of projecting ourself as a very sustainable company. There was a question on Ghaziabad fire. This Ghaziabad fire took place last quarter, and the total loss was about INR 10 crore. Rest assured, this entire amount is insured and insurance claim is underway. There was also, I would say, apprehension about the reason. There was nothing fishy, nor our employees were involved. This particular fire was on account of a godown which was next to us. That caught fire, and then that fire spread to our depot. That is what, in fact, it's quite unfortunate, but this is what has happened, and we had no time to respond as far as this fire was concerned. But insurance claim is underway. Our team responded in terms of addressing customer requirements, and we immediately switched to other location, and we supplied the customers. There's no loss as far as business is also concerned. There was a question on rights issue. We have no plan of any rights issue. Fuel impact I already covered in Middle East. There was a question on patents. We file patents every year. Last year, we filed about 21 patents, and these patents are, they come in the form of a product which offers higher performance in the market, both in industrial as well as in decorative space. Bangladesh performance is not good. Is it because of war or Bangladesh has been on and off, I think because of local uncertainty there in terms of economy also, there was a problem. We are definitely addressing Bangladesh and trying to restructure so that we'll be on a stable path as far as Bangladesh is concerned. As far as decorative products are concerned, we have entire range available right from luxury to everyday use, or even at a lower end products are available. They offer various benefits in terms of the price points. But all in all, customer requirement in terms of protecting, beautifying the wall is always taken care of through the entire range. There's nothing like luxury offers something extra in terms of protection. I think everyday product also does same work. There was a question on brand ambassador, and there was also suggestion that we should go for a cricketer. This evaluation always happens based on the personality of a product that we are trying to offer and what brand we are trying to promote. This evaluation is always done by an agency and a marketing team, and we note your suggestion, and if that fits into our particular brand proposition, definitely we'll consider that. There was a question on CSR. Water availability is very scarce, we understand that, and as a responsible company, we are water neutral. That means we don't discharge any water. Entire water from all our plants are recycled. In terms of our CSR activity, the work is done in the villages near our plant where there's a water scarcity and sufficient investments are done so that that particular village nearby is having more water available through various recharge schemes and sustainable schemes. Even rainwater harvesting is practiced very actively. There were some specific questions which were asked, which were about ARF business and powder coating business. This comes under our auto and industrial verticals. Both business are promising and both are done fairly well in last 2 to 3 years. In terms of powder coating, we are number 1. In terms of investment that are happening in powder coating plants are also always both on technology front, automation front, and always trying to lead the market as a leader and also evolving our customer base and trying to go at a higher end. For example, architectural coating, which is something now catching up, so that's the investment which is being done. In auto also, there is increase of powder coating now. You see the wheels that are there, which are conventional wheels, earlier were painted, now the wheels which are alloy wheels are coated with powder coating. So all those new segment which comes up, when it comes to Nerolac is always there to supply the product and we maintain the leadership position. On ARF business also, the whole effort is to premiumize from a conventional paint to higher polyurethane paint, and also get into all these body shops which comes up from Suzuki, Toyota, Honda, Tata, Mahindra, and that's the journey which company is doing. Another advantage which company has is because of us number 1 position in auto and dealing with all the major OEMs, our approvals are already in place, and that makes us easy for us to really get entry into these body shops and try to grow the business. All in all, I think ARF and powder are growth drivers, and I think you should see good results from these two segments going forward. There was one question on rural and urban. I think, this possibly, I think is more for FMCG term, both rural and urban. As far as we are concerned, we classify our towns as T1, T2, T3, T4. Metro is something which Kansai Nerolac has to work where our presence is slightly muted. But T2, T3, T4, all towns, I think Nerolac presence is very, very good, and there are towns where we actually lead the market and obviously try to consolidate. The efforts now on will be also to look at few selected metros and try to expand our base in that particular area. There was a question on how parent is supporting us. I think parent, Kansai Japan, has been extremely helpful and absolutely open and transparent in terms of sharing technologies and fighting the competition. Some of the technologies which are offered are like super high solid, low bake technologies, low VOC products, all are coming from the global technology stable. I think that is available for us to really deploy that at the customer end. The third pillar that I talked about, industrial, there also under One Kansai initiative, which has been launched by the group. There's extremely high collaboration happening between various group companies in the industrial segment also, and which will make us really grow faster because of previous experience and approvals which are in place in some other country. All in all, I can say the Kansai Paint parent company, of course, because they're invested in us, they help us, but under One Kansai also, there's a greater collaboration across all the group companies. Our capacity utilization is about 60% last year. I already mentioned about the spend that we have done, so also a good one. There was a question on this, how many depots are there in West Bengal. So we have five depots in West Bengal. I think as someone was talking about West Bengal investment and growth opportunity, yes, we are looking forward to it. I can assure you that with our strong presence both in industrial and decorative paint West Bengal, we will be ready to capture the opportunities which are offered to us there. There was a question on EPS, which was 7.2 versus 12 last year. I think both figures are not comparable because last year it was with exceptional income that was there. That is why you'll see the 12. Otherwise, if you take that off, our EPS is slightly better than the last year. What benefit will come because of amalgamation of Nerofix? Yeah, Nerofix is into adhesive and construction chemical business, and in Nerolac we have a wood finish business. So adhesive and wood finish actually go nicely together via architect as well as through furniture makers and other appliance makers. So with this integration, I think we're trying to leverage our channel strength and access to all the OEMs, and there'll be benefit of obviously with synergies happening, there's a benefit on fixed cost as well as operational efficiencies will also get leverage as we move forward. There's a repeated request on plant visit. Unfortunately, our plants, there are areas which are extremely hazardous and the visits there have to be very controlled one. But as and when we think it is appropriate in some section of the plant, we'll try to see if that visit is made possible. There was a question on CSR, areas in which we spend money. So we spend money on health, skills and skill development and education. In order to be very fair and transparent, we also get this assessment done by a third party for all the projects, all the investment, which are more than INR 1 crore. This assessment is reviewed by our CSR board committee, and if there is any course correction required, it is always undertaken. There was a question on dividend should be higher at 50%. I appreciate. I think, yeah, as a shareholder, definitely your expectation is right. But looking at our long-term prospects and the possible capacity expansion that might be required, we need to also keep money to reinvest without having to borrow anything. You'll notice that for last 10 to 15 years, our company has been debt-free, and I think that extra income comes in the form of other income, which obviously flows through in dividend back to you. But if there is anything required in future, I think we always are watchful, and with that in mind, this dividend policy and dividend payout is decided. There was a question on market survey, whether we do market survey because consumer preferences are changing. Yes, we have a brand track. It's done every quarter, and consumer preferences are tracked, and our position vis-a-vis competition is also tracked. You'll be happy to note that our top of the mind awareness is second after Asian Paints. Despite this competition, we have been able to hold to that TOMA. I think that speaks about our brand-building effort that we did over the years, where Nerolac still resonates with our customers, and that particular thing is in our favor in terms of encashing further market demand and opportunity which comes across. There was a question on AI adoption. Our company has started a few pilots on AI. I think, in Chairman's speech also, he talked about how we use insights from painter buying behavior and trying to send nudge and trying to take extra share of wallet from his account. That is being done even internally in terms of plants and in some of the functions like supply chain, these AI pilots are on. Once these pilots are done and we start seeing the real benefit, then scale-up will be undertaken as far as AI is concerned. There was a question on SAP S/4HANA. So total investment in IT as a whole is about INR 100 crore, out of which INR 58 crore is CapEx and INR 42 crore is revenue expenditure that we did, as far as IT is concerned. I think that's all. I think I hope I've covered all the questions. There are a few questions which he'll answer, but meanwhile I just want to tell all shareholders that this board and the promoters, Kansai Japan, and the management are actively engaged in creating differentiation for this company. Therefore, shareholders can be confident that it'll take a few years. We have the resources, we have the talent, we have the commitment, we have our promoter which is moving in a certain direction, both for growth as well as for profitability improvement, and we are in a very strong position. So there are some questions which I think I missed. I'll address them. Use of subcontractor. So if you look at, subcontractor, if you're referring to painter, I think. As far as painters are concerned, there are dealers which are our authorized dealers. They have a painter which are attached to them. So if services are taken from them, obviously, we have a loop where we can really address the concern on subcontractor quality. The other service which Kansai has started actively is paint as a service, where entire contract is taken by the company itself, and we supply the material, we nominate the painter, and there's a complete supervision done by our person. There we also collect our Net Promoter Score, which is the satisfaction index of the customer. So it's a complete service which is offered by Nerolac. We are already close to 30 odd thousand homes are getting painted every year, and we have pretty satisfied customers. I am sure this is another initiative which will, obviously, we are investing to scale, which will also address this concern, going forward. But obviously, it will take time to reach that scale. But these are effort where we can give confidence to our customer by owning the service delivery ourselves. There was also concern about misuse of CSR funds. I appreciate your concern, and we are also always watchful in terms of the CSR spend that is happening in the three areas that I mentioned about, livelihood, which is skill development, education, and health. In all three initiatives, all the fund investment that are done are where our persons are present, especially in terms of health and in education. Whenever these donations happen or whenever this initiative is undertaken, our people are involved in terms of ensuring that these funds are being deployed properly. When it comes to skill development, which is for our new painters, which come in this business, it is spread across the country. But there also, our sales offices and managers do attend those periodically to see that the delivery of the skill is happening properly, and that also gets audited and report is monitored. And the third part which I mentioned was about the external assessment, which actually assesses the effective deployment of our funds for all the funds which are more than INR 1 crore being spent, and that report is reviewed by the board of directors. I think all in all, you will be rest assured that all the proposals which comes are always looked at very carefully before accepting the proposal. And on miscellaneous expenses, there was an increase in the miscellaneous expenses. It is there on the page 306. This expense mainly has increased in the freight last year. There are some corrections which were done in the stocks, and that is why this freight increase has happened. But this year, you will find that freight should be better compared to last year. And then there was a question on the feedback mechanism not to depend on the call center. Yes, we do not depend on the call center. There are many channels which are open for people to really raise the complaint. There is also mails, and there is also customer complaint number, and there is a third is a call center. All these channels are open, and there is active dashboard which is available where the TAT time, which is the response time, is monitored. And if there is not, then there is an escalation that happens. This feedback mechanism is not only on the call center, but it is also connecting directly with the complainant and trying to close it. Many times there is a visit which is paid by our officers to ensure that a complaint is well understood and well resolved, and the satisfaction is noted. I think now all the shareholders have spoken, and I have also replied to all their questions. Now, I will just take questions which were raised before and one concurrent question. So there also the questions I think I have addressed, outlook, margin, strategy for our competition, capital expenditure, I already explained, and shareholder value creation, I already explained. The concurrent question was on plant visit. That also I've addressed. I think I've answered all. Now I request our Chairman to continue the proceedings of the meeting. Thank you, Praveen. I will now proceed to move towards resolutions proposed to be passed at the AGM. As you know, there are four ordinary resolutions in total that form part of the notice of the AGM. The resolutions to be passed at the AGM are available on NSDL's e-voting portal. The remote e-voting portal has been kept open for voting by shareholders from 9:00 A.M. on 6th July 2026 until 5:00 P.M. on 8th July 2026. Those shareholders who have not yet cast their vote can vote through the e-voting portal, which shall be kept open for a further 15 minutes from now. After 15 minutes allowed for e-voting, the meeting shall be considered as concluded. The combined results of the entire e-voting process will be announced along with the report of the scrutinizer in terms of the provisions of applicable laws at the registered office and the corporate office of the company by the end of today. The same shall be placed on the website of the company and would also be informed to the BSE, NSE, and NSDL. A Company Secretary will take necessary actions with respect to declaration of results of the e-voting process. The timer for the e-voting will start now, and the e-voting portal will be closed after 15 minutes. I thank all the Directors and all the shareholders and all our associates for having attended this meeting. Thank you all.

Data Source: Quartr Last updated: Oct 5, 2026

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