Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. We deeply value your continued trust, confidence, and engagement with Himadri. Q2 FY 2027 was another important quarter in Himadri's transformation journey. Several initiatives we have spoken about over the past several quarters are now translating from research to qualification, from capacity creation to customer engagement, and from strategic intent towards commercialization. Before discussing these developments in detail, let me briefly touch upon our financial performance for the period ended September 30, 2026. For H1 FY 2027, on a consolidated basis, revenue surpassed INR 3,000 crores, EBITDA exceeded INR 600 crores, and profit after tax crossed INR 450 crores. This performance reflects the strength of our business and optimized product mix, operational efficiencies, and our continued focus on value-added products. Over the years, we have invested consistently in research and development, process engineering, manufacturing capabilities, customer relationships, and strategic partnerships.
These investments are increasingly expanding our addressable markets, strengthening our competitive position, and creating the foundation for next phase of Himadri growth. Let me begin with the area where this transformation is perhaps most visible: speciality and advanced materials. Across our new material platforms, our focus remains clear: develop differentiated technologies, validate them rigorously with customers, and scale them in a disciplined manner. Our 200 metric ton carbon nanotube facility remains targeted for commissioning in Q4 FY 2027. Carbon nanotubes represent an important next-generation material with application across lithium-ion batteries, semiconductors, electronics, conductive applications, and other high-performance uses. In super speciality carbon black, our planned 6,000 metric ton capacity remains targeted for Q4 FY 2028. This represents the next step in our journey from a speciality carbon black to super speciality grades towards highly engineered niche products designed for demanding applications.
Our LFP cathode active material roadmap is also progressing well, with the initial 2,000 metric ton capacity targeted for commissioning in Q3 FY 2027. The initial capacity is designed to support customer qualification and early commercial engagements while also establishing the foundation for a significantly large scale-up opportunity. The progress in customer engagements, together with strong visibility on future demand, gives us confidence to move into the next phase of expansion with 40,000 metric ton per annum capacity planned for commissioning in next year. On the anode side, our capabilities continue to progress across synthetic graphite and next-generation silicon carbon technologies, strengthening our objectives of building a comprehensive battery material portfolio. We have already provided materials to leading domestic and global customers for their qualification process. Customer feedback and engagements have been very encouraging.
In anthraquinone and carbazole, our in-house engineering team has enabled us to accelerate execution with full capacity 5,300 now targeted for commissioning together in Q4 FY 2027. The reason we are doing two phase together is that so in order to avoid any shutdown of three months during the commissioning of phase II. This allows us to bring the entire capacity to market in one shot, enabling faster market penetration and market share gains. As you all are aware, these expenses are focused largely on very high value-add categories and are therefore expected to have meaningful impact on company's profitability and margins. Importantly, let me inform you all these developments are increasingly being complemented by deeper and more frequent customer engagements. During the quarter, we have entered into NDAs with Indian and international customers across battery materials, carbon nanotube, and super speciality carbon black segments.
Our ENERGEX speciality carbon black grades received approval for high voltage cable and battery applications, followed by commercial orders. For us, this progression from research to qualification to customer relationship and commercial adoption thereafter is particularly important. It validates both the technology and the market opportunity. We continue to build ecosystem across lithium-ion battery value chain through our strategic investments and partnerships, with the focus extending from material innovation and technology development to cell level validation and eventual commercial deployment. During the quarter, we invested further in Sicona Battery Technologies. Sicona has also completed the acquisition of 100% of Advano in the United States, adding valuable silicon anode intellectual property, a U.S.-based pilot plant facility, and additional R&D and cell testing capabilities, further strengthening its commercialization roadmap. Sicona has secured AUD 45 million in funding from Australian Renewable Energy Agency to advance its next-generation silicon carbon anode technology.
These developments add significant technological and execution depth to the platform and reinforce our conviction in silicon carbon as an important next-generation anode technology. Our strategic investment in International Battery Company further complements this ecosystem in a unique way. Through IBC, Himadri has access to a platform that bridges material innovation, cell level validation, and commercial deployment. Providing us with a strategic advantage as we strengthen our presence across the lithium-ion value chain. Together, Sicona, IBC, and our in-house capabilities are creating a collaborative innovation system that spans material science, technology development, validation, and application. This gives us a differentiated position as the lithium-ion battery value chain continues to evolve. As our portfolio becomes increasingly sophisticated and global, our commercial architecture must evolve alongside it. During the quarter, we incorporated Ardent Impex FZCO in Dubai Airport free zone area as a wholly owned subsidiary.
This provides a dedicated platform for global sales, marketing, strategic planning, and procurement, thereby enhancing our proximity to customers and suppliers across Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Simply put, as Himadri becomes more global in what it develops and manufactures, we must also become more global in how we reach markets. Global supply chain realignment is also creating a significant opportunity for India. Building domestic capabilities in advanced materials can reduce import dependence while creating global competitive manufacturing platforms. Our investments across CNT, super speciality carbon black, LFP, synthetic anodes, and silicon carbon technologies align closely with this opportunity and with the larger vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Another significant development during the quarter was the proposed merger of Birla Tyres business with Himadri.
Following the acquisition of Birla Tyres in October 2023, we focused on restoring operations, modernizing the manufacturing infrastructure, upgrading equipments, rebuilding the distribution network, and refreshing the product portfolio. Commercial production resumed on 29th May 2025, and since then the business has steadily strengthened into operating foundation and market presence. The board has proposed the demerger of tire business from Dalmia Bharat Refractories Limited into Himadri Speciality Chemical Limited, subject to the requisite statutory regulatory, creditor, and shareholders approvals. Strategically, the proposed transaction brings together complementary capabilities across finished stock, speciality carbon black, R&D, manufacturing, and finished tire production. Direct ownership should enable closer alignment across capacity utilization, modernization, capital allocation, and product development. More importantly, it creates opportunity to bring our understanding of carbon material closer to tire engineering, particularly in a specialized application where material performance can create meaningful differentiation.
We therefore see this as a natural next phase in the journey of Birla Tyres and an important step towards building a more integrated and scalable mobility platform. As we enter the second half of FY 2027, our priorities are clear. We will continue to strengthen our core business, accelerate customer qualification, commercialization across new material platforms, expand international presence, and progress the proposed merger of Birla Tyres. We remain confident in achieving our previously guided target of INR 1,100+ crore PAT by FY 2028.
This will be supported by the sustained performance of our core business and commissioning of new capacities over the coming periods. Our philosophy remains unchanged. Invest patiently in science, execute with discipline, and scale when the technology and the market are ready. I would like to thank every member of Himadri family, our customers, business partners, shareholders, and stakeholders for their continued trust and support.
With that, I will now hand over the discussion to Mr. Somesh Satnalika for further details on financial performance and business outlook. We look forward for your questions to an engaging discussion. Thank you.
Thank you, Anurag, and good evening, everyone. Now let me take you through the key financial highlights for the quarter and half year ended 30th September 2026. On a standalone basis, our revenue from operations for Q2 FY 2027 stood at INR 1,543 crores, compared to INR 1,070 crores in Q2 FY 2026. EBITDA for the quarter came in at INR 308 crores, a growth of 27% year-on-year, compared with INR 243 crores in Q2 FY 2026. PAT stood at INR 240 crores, reflecting a 28% increase year-on-year compared to INR 187 crores in the same quarter last year. For the first half year of FY 2027, revenue stood at INR 2,817 crores, while EBITDA reached INR 610 crores, up 28% year-on-year from INR 477 crores in first half of FY 2026.
Profit after tax for the half year stood at INR 463 crores, up 25% year-on-year over INR 369 crores reported in H1 FY 2026. On a consolidated basis, revenue for Q2 FY 2027 stood at INR 1,691 crores versus INR 1,071 crores in the same period last year. EBITDA for Q2 FY 2027 stood at INR 303 crores, recording a growth of 27% year-on-year, and PAT at INR 231 crores with a growth of 31% year-on-year. Our half year revenue stood at INR 3,123 crores, EBITDA at INR 616 crores, PAT at INR 460 crores.
Reflecting strong performance across all business segments. We continue to maintain a healthy liquidity position with a comfortable leverage profile. That is all from our side. We will now open the line for questions and answers. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin with the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Sagar Jethwani from PhillipCapital PMS. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, firstly, what explains the sharp moderation in the gross margins during the quarter? Are there any one-offs, and when can we see the recovery? That is my first question. I have a few more questions.
Yeah. Thank you. If you actually see, the margins are stable, and if you compare with the corresponding quarter last year, there has been significant growth in the margins. As we told last time also, the right way to look at is per metric ton EBITDA. So per metric ton EBITDA is around INR 21,000, which in the sequential quarter was at around INR 2,700, INR 2,800], and in the corresponding quarter, that is the last year, it was at around INR 17,900. So if you see on a year-on-year basis, it has gone from INR 17,900- INR 21,000 level. But if you look on a sequential basis, it has come down, which is normal adjustments which happens in a business, and there is nothing significant.
We are confident of achieving EBITDA above INR 20,000 on a sustainable basis, and this will strengthen in the quarters to come.
Secondly, what drove this 58% revenue growth?
Two factors. One was volume growth. If you see, there has been 11% volume growth on corresponding quarter from last year. Comparatively, the value of finished product and raw material both has gone up, and consequently, there has been increase in the top line.
I mean, any specific segments would you like to point out?
No, it is general. All the segments, the value of raw material has gone up, and with more focus on value-added products, the selling price is also going up.
The third is on related to the Birla Tyres business. What was the revenue during the quarter, and are we on a track to attain breakeven during this year?
Birla Tyres basically is under Dalmia Bharat Refractories Limited. We do a trading sales from Himadri, and we achieve the top line of INR 140 crores, on which we have an EBITDA of INR 1 crore as a trading margin. Once it is consolidated with Himadri, we will see the numbers being added to Himadri's figures. We are on our track to achieve breakeven.
And sir, on these new products such as LFP, cathode, anthraquinone and carbazole, will these products be margin accretive from the start of operations? If you could confirm that. I am not asking for any margin number here, but just want to understand from the start of operations whether these products would contribute towards the incremental margins.
Yes, sir, definitely. These products will start from the start only. They will add to the incremental margin. Anthraquinone and carbazole, they are very high-value-added products. From oil, we are going to extract these products. For LFP also, once we attain a particular capacity, you will see the margins coming in significantly.
On this anode capacity that commenced in the previous quarter, how has been the initial response from the customer?
I am very happy to share with you the response has been fantastic. We have supplied the sample B to a host of customers globally and in India, and their response has been very encouraging.
Could you throw some light on the realizations?
Realization for?
Anode.
No. See, realization is not up because now we are supplying samples.
Okay.
We are in sample state now.
Okay. Any color on the spreads between Coal Tar and Coal Tar Pitch? You can share the trends maybe.
This is standard. There is no significant difference in spreads in Coal Tar and Coal Tar Pitch, which has been historically there. That is there only.
Okay, I'll fall back in the queue for any further questions. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Bhavin Chheda from Enam Holdings. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good afternoon, sir. Congrats on overall good set of numbers and overall very good presentation, which covers a lot of data. I was seeing the slide 15, where you have given investments for various project LFP, speciality chemicals, carbon nanotubes. Overall, I think CapEx is roughly around INR 1,500 crores. How much has been spent till date, and what is the plan to be spent in FY 2027 and FY 2028?
Till date, if you look at this quarter, the spend has been around INR 250 crores in terms of Birla Tyres and other CapEx investments. We expect in this year to be around INR 800-INR 900 crores of spend in pro rata total.
This year would be INR 800-INR 900 crores. Okay. All these projects will have a commercial date before FY 2028, right?
Right.
Yeah. Full impact of most of the capacities would be visible from FY 2029?
That's right.
Okay. Congrats, Anurag, and congrats, Somesh.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Yeah.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rohit Sinha from Sunidhi Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for taking my question, sir. One thing on the mining segment, as in the last quarter also, we have indicated that some licensing are pending in that side. The profitability was impacted. This quarter also, I think, there's no as such contribution from the mining side. Where we are progressing there, and what sort of fixed cost we are having in the mining business?
Yeah. Last quarter, in fact, the current quarter, we had a negative EBITDA from the mining segment because expenses were there and it was not operational because environmental clearance was pending. I'm happy to announce that we have received environmental clearance during the current month, and the mining will be operational during the current quarter. If you look at the current quarter, there was a drop in the profitability from standalone to consolidated. It was basically because the mining segment, from INR 240 PAT, it came down to INR 231. Expenses in the other entities where there was no revenue generation led to this. But in the current quarter, with mining operations start, we have got the environmental clearance for starting the mining operations. There will be upside in terms of mining revenue and profitability.
Okay. And sir, in a longer timeframe, what sort of annual revenue we can expect from this mining business?
See, this will depend on the volume we are able to generate year-on-year. But on a broader basis, we look at around INR 500 crores of top line from this.
Okay. On a follow-up question from one last participant on the gross margin side. Although on the standalone basis, as you rightly said that the EBITDA pattern or EBIT pattern has improved on year-on-year basis. But still, if we look at the gross margin side, it has contracted almost 500 basis points on year-on-year basis. Is there any product mix change or raw material pass on has been still pending? How to look at, since as you already indicated that raw material prices has increased. All these are passed through or some are still yet to be passed, maybe would be reflecting in the Q3 numbers?
See what happens, the raw material, we have a pass on model in which we transfer the increase in price, but it happens at times in a quarter when the raw material increases way in the previous month, and it has to be passed on the next month, and the next month falls in the ensuing quarter. That price is not passed on. If you look at our inventory levels, inventory levels we have moderated to a great extent. We are only having nine days, 10 days of raw material inventory in order to take care of this volatility. Overall, if you look, INR 17,910 was the EBITDA margin on corresponding quarter last year, and today it is INR 20,990. So INR 3,080 increase in EBITDA margin. It is basically because the high-value-added products we are growing. Some dip is there compared to sequential quarter, which is normal.
INR 1,500- INR 1,800 per metric ton. There are many factors which attributed to this. One is the last quarter some pricing was not able to pass on, which will be passed in the next quarter. Then export has increased as a percentage of total sales. Corresponding quarter last year, we had 26% as export. Today, we have 33%. You know with the geopolitical situation, the freight rates have gone up on the top of the roof. Because of that, there has been some hit. These are temporary phenomenons which has no impact on short-term to medium-term business of the company.
Okay. Fair enough. Sir, as you have maintained the guidance for INR 1,100 crore PAT for FY 2028, with all these, just wanted some clarification on all the new segment that, like for carbon nanotube and Super Speciality Carbon Black. Would that all be coming in a separate segment or it would be in the carbon black business only? How will we be reporting the numbers going forward?
It will be coming in the carbon segment only because all things are related to carbon. So under carbon segment only everything will be reported.
Okay. Got it. That is it from my side, sir. We will come back in queue. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Harsh Motika from SKP Securities Limited. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good evening, sir. Congratulations on a great set of numbers. My question is more on the macro side, because you covered pretty much everything on your opening remarks. From a pricing perspective, with respect to both carbon black and CTP and Coal Tar Pitch that is, how has the West Asia prices and the ongoing stalemate affected the prices? And whether it is only the supply chain constraints that are driving the realizations up, or do we also see a lot of demand pull coming in now?
See, we see the volume growth is there. This itself signifies there has been demand, upside is there. As I have been always telling, the business model which Himadri has developed is resilient to geopolitical situations. That we are proving quarter- on- quarter. With the current quarter also with so much of geopolitical tension, so many of issues happening, but you see our numbers are very strong. People are only looking at some contraction in margins. But the bigger picture is that we have grown margins after the specialty by 3,000 metric ton compared to corresponding period last year. This will strengthen further. 1,000, 1,500 is not at all an issue. There are so many geopolitical situations impact. But if you look at the overall story, compared to last year, we have a top line growth of 58%, we had a PAT growth of 31%.
Even in this kind of difficult times, Himadri is able to sustain and grow the business. That is the strength of the business model we have.
And sir, on the side of Birla Tyres, do we still maintain our guidance that we had given earlier with respect to top line, or do we expect some more upside on that?
No, definitely we maintain our guidance, what we have given.
Okay. Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask a question may press star and one. The next question is from the line of Raghav Angra from Moneystories Asset Management. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity. First of all, congratulations of the quarterly numbers. My question would be regarding the Himadri silicon carbon anode technology. What is the commissioning timeline and capacity that the company is targeting? What premium it could command over the graphite anode? Is it part of the anode capacity altogether?
Yeah. We are at the advanced stage of announcing CapEx for the project. We have not made any formal announcement as such.
The product has been well accepted in the market, and we have got very good results from our customers. We are working on the engineering side of it, and once it is completed, we will make a formal CapEx announcement with the timelines. The product is very high end of anode technology. The normal anode has 360 mAh per gram of capacity, and silicon carbon has 4,000+ mAh per gram . It is 10x of it. The price, there is no comparison between the price of synthetic anode and silicon carbon. It is far, far higher than that.
Okay.
At right point of time, once we are completed with this, good thing is that we are moving ahead in a right direction and in very high speed. I have made announcement that our partners, Sicona Batteries, they have secured AUD 45 million as a package from Australian government. This itself certifies that we are moving in the right direction.
Right. Thank you for that. And one more question, with the emerging battery technologies like sodium-ion and solid state, what is the company targeting in the future? Do you have any future plans into these?
We are working on the raw material cathode and anode for that also. At right point of time, when that matures, we will announce CapEx for that also. There is no problem. All these technologies will coexist.
Okay. Sure. Thank you for that. That is all.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Preet Nagarsh eth from Wealth Finvisor. Please go ahead.
Yes, hi. My question is regarding the carbon black business. I wanted to understand how is the capacity utilization that you are experiencing and which you are guiding for the next quarter relative to the current quarter? If you can shed some light.
Yeah. Carbon black business is doing strong. The demand is very robust, and during the current quarter, we had a capacity utilization of 88%, and we are looking forward at these levels, only 88%-90%, 95% capacity utilization.
Sir, on the realizations, are you seeing an increase in realizations over quarter two? How is the trend basically shaping up is what I am trying to understand.
Yes. With the increase in raw material prices, the realization is also improving.
The point I am trying to make is that almost the INR 21,000 EBITDA that you had in quarter two, do we anticipate an increase in this for quarter two, or is this a run rate that we should go with going ahead?
You should factor in EBITDA per metric ton from INR 20,000- INR 24,000. So in some quarter, you will have INR 20,000, in some quarter INR 21,000, INR 23,000. This will keep on varying depending on what happens during a quarter. Like in the current quarter, the freight rate just went on the top of the roof. Container freight went skyrocketing. Because of that, some additional cost element, which is not normally there, that came into play. Other than that, at the end of the quarter, you see the price increase in the raw material. So you buy at a higher price, but that you get in the next month. So that little hit is there. These are very small things, but on a macro basis, I think anything between INR 20,000- INR 24,000, this should be the level which it should play around.
Wonderful. Got it. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Amish Arda from Purnartha Investment Advisors. Please go ahead.
Hello. Hi, sir. Thank you so much for the opportunity. I just had a question regarding the mining business. Can you just explain or shed some light, what products are you mining over here? Where are the mines located? Who will be our customers in this segment? Anything will help.
We are basically into sand mining in Bengal, and the construction industry is one of our customers.
Okay. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Paras Chheda from Purple One Vertex Ventures LLP. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you so much, sir, for this opportunity and presentation.
Paras, your voice is breaking.
Yeah. Am I audible now?
Yeah. Now you are audible. Please proceed.
Yeah. Sir, I understand there has been a short-term impact on the EBITDA margins for this quarter. More broadly, on a sustainable basis, on an annual basis, for FY 2028 and beyond, when some of these new projects also come in, can we work with 20%+ sort of EBITDA margins or that will be difficult to underwrite even?
I will tell you. The right way to look at Himadri is not as a percentage. At some quarter, you will find 20%, you will find 25%, 26% also. The right way to look at it is not the percent, but as I told you, absolute margin per metric ton. Suppose that tomorrow the raw material prices comes down, then you will find 28% margin.
Right.
If the prices go up, you will find 20% margin. That will not be the right way to look at it. The right way is to look at-
Right
-per metric ton margin, which will hover from around 20,000-25,000. This is the journey in which, depending on what specific incidents happen in a quarter, it will keep on changing.
Right. Then how do we look at the margins for LFP and speciality chemicals, sir?
LFP margins, it's premature now because it will commence in FY 2029 only. There's no point discussing the margin from now onwards for LFP. Now we are setting up our 2,000 metric ton plant, will be commenced in Q3. We'll supply the samples and have commercial discussions. I think after that, we'll be able to guide you on the right way to look at it.
Right.
But one thing I will say, look at it from the perspective of ROCE. For us, ROCE is an important factor. If you look at the current quarter also for half year, we have a ROCE of 30%, and that is the baseline we want to maintain for all our projects at optimum capacity utilization.
Understood, sir. Sir, just for this 2,000 metric tons, do we have some sort of commitments now with customers, or it will be mature?
Definitely.
Of commitments.
We have already engagement with the customers. We have to supply them samples from our 2,000 metric ton plant. Definitely, we have a host of customers globally and in India, all of whom we have to supply the samples.
Okay. Sir, just one thing on this trade receivables and working capital thing, which was negative for the first half. Do you expect this to turn positive for the end of the year on an annual basis? Just on a little bit on the trade receivables, if you can comment, please.
Yeah, sure. If you look at the working capital Q1 FY 2027, our net working capital as a percentage of sale was 41%, which has come down to 37% in Q2 FY 2027. If you compare it to Q2 FY 2026, it was 31.3%, which has gone up to 37%. In fact, on quarter-on-quarter basis if you look, the working capital has come down, but compared to corresponding quarter last year, it has slightly gone up, which I think in next coming two quarters will normalize and will come down further. Regarding receivables, if you see, the sales have gone up by 58% in this quarter, and that is the reason. But in terms of days, if you see, last quarter it was 63 days, this is 65 days. There is hardly any variation in terms of days of debtors.
Right. On an annual basis, we will turn cash flow positive from operations, hopefully with these next two quarters normalizing.
Definitely.
Understood, sir. And sir, just last query of mine. What kind of peak debt shall we assume with these CapExes that are coming up in the next one or two years?
See, idea is to invest from internal accrual, not from debt.
Okay.
Our focus will be to generate and invest. That is the reason, if you see, our working capital has increased, but the investment phase has gone. We have already invested in capital in this year. In CapEx already, we have invested more than INR 400 crore in investment and CapEx. That will also actually come from internal accrual only. Working capital, that was basically working capital, and this everything had come from internal accrual, and that will also come down in the next two quarters.
Okay, understood. Fair enough. Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Meet Bhuva from Integrity Ventures and Partnerships. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Am I audible?
Yes, sir.
Yeah. My question is on the cathode and anode side. Where our pricing will be on the line of these Chinese suppliers who are currently dominating the market on this cathode and anode side?
Your question is not clear. Can you repeat? Can you speak
Yeah. I was asking that on the cathode and anode side, our pricing will be in line with the Chinese suppliers?
Definitely. It has to be in line with that only.
Okay. IBC is the one we will be consuming 100% of our capacity. We will be planning to sell to the other domestic and global manufacturers as well?
No, IBC will not be consuming any material. IBC is a technology partner for many companies who are setting up cell manufacturing capacities in India and globally. For whom IBC is providing technology and EPC contract for cell manufacturing facility. In that Himadri product automatically qualifies. That is one market. Other than that, we are engaging with many customers and OEMs globally and in India. So it will be a fully diversified market on a global basis.
Got it. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Animesh Jain from Dalal & Broacha. Please go ahead.
Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. My question is from volume side. In this volume, 146,000, we have added our anthraquinone and carbazole volume also?
No, anthraquinone carbazole has not commenced production. This is from our existing business only. Anthraquinone carbazole was supposed to start from this quarter. What we did, instead of starting on two phases, this one phase and one phase one year later, we have made in next six months two phases to commence together. With that, what is happening, the next year, we were supposed to have a shutdown for three months for connecting the lines. There was no point in stopping the plant because that has severe impact on the facility. Our technical team decided that we will commence both lines together instead of single line. It will commence by March, then you will see next year, you will see full operation of nine months of the full capacity.
And sir, we have created a brand called Durofresh, which will be added INR 100 crore EBITDA to the business. How it is performing?
I do not know from where you got this INR 100 crore number. But yes, we have added a brand in Durofresh. It is performing very well. The purity levels are best in the market, and we have got a very positive response from the consumers.
Thank you, sir. That is from my side.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nirav Gandhi from Sunidhi Securities. Please go ahead. Mr. Gandhi, you may proceed. Mr. Gandhi? Since there is no response from the participant, we will move to the next participant. The next question is from the line of Kruti Bhimani from Wealthyvia Ventures LLP. Please go ahead. Kruti, you may please proceed with your question.
Hello. Hi. So thank you for-
Yes, you are audible.
Yeah, I'm audible. I just wanted to ask how much capital has Himadri put into each subsidiary so far, and what is still committed?
Please speak a bit louder and repeat your question.
How much capital has Himadri put into each subsidiary so far? What is still committed?
All the subsidiaries are 100% WOS of Himadri, and till yet we have not put in significant capital in these companies.
Thank you. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one now. The next question is from the line of Parth Kotak from Plus91 Asset Management. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Am I audible?
Yes.
Yes, please.
Thanks for taking my question, and most of my questions have been answered. One bookkeeping question from my end is, I think, in the consolidated segment-wise reporting, we do another revenue from operations, which is to the tune of INR 288 crores for the first half, about INR 144. That is what we are referring to Birla Tyres, right?
Right.
Perfect, sir. Secondly, for LFP materials, can you provide some color on how the capacities would ramp up from 2029 onwards? I know it's probably difficult to say today, but once we put up a capacity, does the ramp-up happen immediately or probably maybe 30%, 40%, 50% in year one and then it gradually ramps up?
For the year one, we are targeting 50% + capacity utilization, and from the next year it will be 90% +.
Great, sir. That's all from my end. Thank you for answering my questions.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Krish Kothari from K. Kothari and Associates. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Mr. Kothari? You may proceed.
Am I audible?
Yes.
Hi, sir. Good evening. I just wanted to understand the technical specifications of the carbon nanotube project that we are about to start.
Thank you for your question, but very sorry, I cannot speak technical specification on a con call. It's a highly technical product with a strength of 100X of steel and with the conductivity of copper, and very light material. It's a unique material which Himadri has developed.
Okay. And sir, is there any timeline when we are going to commercialize this?
Yeah. Q4 FY 2027, we are starting production.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mohit Chugh from Shubhlabh Research. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good evening, sir. Hope I am audible.
Yes.
Sir, my question is more based on realization side, because we have been seeing that the numbers, that realization has been increasing YoY as well as sequentially. With further launch of value-added products, should we take the current realization as a base?
Should we?
Take the current realizations as base.
No.
For the coming quarters.
We cannot take the current realization as base because if tomorrow the raw material prices come down by 30%-40%, the realization has also to come down. I do not think that will be the right way of looking into it. The realization will vary depending on the raw material prices, and that is something how we have built our business.
Oh, okay.
And same thing, if the raw material prices goes up tomorrow, the realization may increase by 30%-40% also, depending on how much the raw material goes up.
Okay. We can see an upward trend from the value-added products that we will be adding in coming years.
Yes, definitely. Actually, if you look at the journey the company has embarked over the last few years, you just track year-on-year per metric ton EBITDA margin. Last three years, if you see, you will see big uptrend. Even last year, you see, we are up by 17% in terms of EBITDA margins. I am talking of only EBITDA per metric ton margin. We are up by 17, but this shows the valuation the company is doing in its existing portfolio. Sequential way of looking into margin, I don't think is the right way. The right way is corresponding quarter last year. That shows the valuation the company has done over the year. Quarter-on-quarter, it can go any side. It can increase, it can come down. That's okay.
Noted, sir. Very helpful.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sanjesh Jain from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good afternoon, sir.
Good afternoon.
Sir, couple of questions from battery chemical first. On the anode side, where are we in the process and how established is the technology now that we have 200 metric ton of capacity? How many approvals have we secured? When should we see this commercialization? Apologies if some of these are repetitive question. I joined little late in the call.
Okay. Thank you, Sanjesh. Our plant has commenced operation, and I am very happy to announce that the capacity of the material we have received is better than what we expected. The quality-wise, the material is perfectly bang on target, and even better, I can tell you. The response from the customers have been very encouraging. In fact, we have engaged with much more higher number of customers compared to what we were envisaging. Now they are testing the material, and it takes time for them to test the material. But things are moving in the right direction and the preliminary feedback, what we got from the customers are very encouraging.
Now when we say Yeah, go ahead.
Yeah. Regarding the CapEx part of it, we are working on the same. We are doing engineering of the plant. Once we are completed with the engineering, we will announce the CapEx and the timeframe when we will commence the commercial operation.
That is great. But just on the anode side, when we say we have achieved the material quality, which is far superior, what parameter are we really looking at here?
Main parameter that we look is capacity per milliampere-hours per gram.
Okay. Which is?
Suppose the benchmark is 100 mAh per gram, so we have achieved 100+ milliampere-hours per gram . That is the main criteria for anode material.
Is this compactization we are talking here when you say this?
In any case, here compactization is not there for LFP.
Okay, compact.
No, no. For LFP, compact density is an important factor. Here, the compact density is not there. Here, the main factor is capacity per milliampere-hours per gram. Milliampere per gram is the capacity metrics you calculate. That is the important factor.
Got it.
Stored in a gram.
Okay. So basically, energy density.
Right.
Got it. What is the global benchmark energy density in the synthetic? This we are talking about synthetic graphite or a natural graphite? We intend to do both, right?
Synthetic graphite. The global-
Synthetic graphite.
Benchmark, theoretically, the highest you can achieve is 360.
Correct. Where are we? Was theoretical versus where are we now?
Very near to that.
We are very near to that. That's great. We have all the kiln and everything to make it, right? When we plan for the capacity, we will be doing the entire process, right? Can you tell us, because we are hearing a lot on CPC shortage globally, which is calcined petroleum coke. How do we solve that? Because we have coal tar, which is one part of the raw material, but even CPC is a very important part right here.
No. I think CPC is not an important part because we will not use any CPC. There are two raw materials that we will be using. One is our own coke, which we will be making, that will be the raw material for making anode material, we have established this product globally. We have manufactured and supplied to who's who of anode material business in China. This is a very well-established product which Himadri has developed as a raw material. Now, coming to the other raw material. Other raw material will be different types of cokes, but not CPC. We don't see any problem and issues in sourcing those also. Depending on the economics, we will use the raw material.
That is very clear. That is very nice to hear. Second on the LFP, where are we in the process? Because we expect Q3 to start the 2,000 metric ton plant.
We are moving ahead as per the schedule. We will commence production of 2,000 metric ton trial production in Q3 FY 2027. From there, next in Q4, the samples will start generating. First, we will optimize the plant. Next two, three months after that, the plant operation, the samples will start coming in, and we will distribute samples to the global OEMs and Indian players, the next stage sample. Basically, laboratory scale sample has already been approved. Now the commercial plant scale sample will be distributed, and we will look forward to that.
This will all have that accelerated degradation process. Also it will take, what, good 12-18 months to get the sample approved and move to the commercialization stage?
Yeah. That is why we have deferred our 40,000 metric ton plant to commence in FY 2028 end, so that by the time we have that plant operational, we have all the qualifications, we have all the approvals, and we start the plant with commercial capacity. That was the only reason we deferred it. There was no point committing CapEx ahead of the curve.
Got it. Now on our core business, on the carbon black, because last quarter we saw one of the competition reporting a disproportionately high EBITDA per kg. We did not see that phenomena in our company. This quarter we saw a sequential decline. You did mention the sequential decline. We shouldn't focus, but just for theoretical understanding, because I thought we were in a much better position considering that the petroleum raw material, which is CBFS, has also gone up so sharply. Coal tar probably where we are in a sweet spot, I thought we should have benefited a lot more than the competition. Where is this reconciliation?
See, we do not benefit from the competition in terms of pricing of raw material. Because pricing, all the materials are correlated. If the petroleum raw material price goes up, coal tar prices also will go up.
Okay.
There cannot be a significant difference between the two raw material prices. What is our advantage? Our advantage is speciality carbon black. In the speciality carbon black, you need a stable, clean raw material. So we produce our own raw material, which is highly stable and clean. Speciality carbon black is nothing but a clean carbon black. That is the advantage Himadri has, not the pricing. Pricing will go as per the market pricing. I cannot comment on what happened, how it happened with some other carbon black companies. But if you look at our EBITDA, our EBITDA is growing strongly every quarter. If you look at the last quarter, it was at 22,000. There's a 1,800 per metric ton reduction. But that is not because of any product challenges. See, the demand has been good. You see the volume growth.
As I explained earlier also, there has been some issues like freight. As a percentage of our top line, the export has gone up from 26% to 33%. The freight has gone up to another level altogether. That had some impact, which was there on the margin. These are temporary things.
And we started this carbon black plant. That is fully stabilized, I hope so. When should we see that volume is actually showing it in the number? Because volume growth has been quite muted. I understand the logistic part, but the capacity which we commissioned was pretty large.
No, we commissioned 70,000 metric ton.
70,000. Correct.
And if you see, the volume growth is 14,000 a quarter. This quarter-
Okay
-the volume growth is 14,000. So already that capacity plus minus in the earlier capacity, like earlier, we were selling large volumes of oil. If you remember,-
Correct
-I explained also in one of the con calls, we were selling oils. Instead of consuming in-house, we are selling them. So that volume we have reduced. So volume there has come down and this volume is increasing. So actually, it is not 14, it is much above than that, but that volume has come down and this volume is increasing.
Got it. When are we starting the two chemicals which we intended to based on that oil?
Yeah, these two chemicals,-
Anthraquinone. Yeah.
Anthraquinone and carbazole. These we are doing in two phases. Phase I was supposed to start from Q2 FY 2027 and phase II from Q2 FY 2028. What was happening, when we were supposed to add on the capacity, that time we had to take a three-month shutdown as per our technical team. That shutdown, because it's a continuous plan, that will have an impact on the life of the equipments. We decided not to take a shutdown. Instead, start up the entire capacity altogether by Q4 FY 2027. With one quarter of trial, maybe Q1 FY 2028, then nine months of full operation of entire capacity you have. All in all, the project is ahead compared to what it was supposed to be there.
Got it, sir. Super to hear you, sir. I wish you all the best for the coming quarters, and thanks for answering all the questions.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rohit Sinha. We lost the connection for that participant. We will move to the next participant. The next question is from the line of Kruti Bhimani from Wealthyvia Ventures LLP. Please go ahead.
Hello. Yeah, I am audible.
Yeah. Please.
Yeah. I just wanted to ask that the net debt is roughly INR 500 crore against INR 1,500 crore of CapEx and ongoing investments. What is the funding plan for the rest of the CapEx? It is a pre-debt and comfortable gearing.
So INR 1,500 crores is over two years, everything will be through internal accrual.
Okay. Got it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraint, that was the last question for today. I would now hand the conference over to Mr. Anurag Choudhary for the closing comments.
Thank you once again for taking the time to join us on today's conference call. We hope we have been able to address your queries adequately. Yet, we firmly believe the best chapters of Himadri's story are still ahead of us. We remain committed to delivering long-term value and are grateful for your trust, confidence, and engagement as we scale new capacities and capabilities, expand into new frontiers, reshape the next phase of our growth. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to our investor relations partner. Thank you once again for joining the conference call today, and we look forward to your continued support. Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of Himadri Speciality Chemical Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.