Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Ion Exchange India Limited Q4 and FY 2026 earnings conference call. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Purvangi Jain from Valorem Advisors. Thank you. Over to you, ma'am.
Good afternoon, everyone, and a very warm welcome to you all. My name is Purvangi Jain from Valorem Advisors. We represent the investor relations of Ion Exchange India Limited. On behalf of the company and Valorem Advisors, I would like to thank you all for participating in the company's earnings conference call for the fourth quarter and financial year 2026. Before we begin, let me mention a short cautionary statement. Some of the statements made in today's earnings call may be forward-looking in nature. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated. Such statements are based on management's belief as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the management. Audiences are cautioned not to place any undue reliance on these forward-looking statements in making any investment decisions.
The purpose of today's earnings call is solely to educate and bring awareness about the company's fundamental business and financial quarter under review. Let me now introduce you to the management participating with us in today's earnings call and hand it over to them for their opening remarks. We have with us Mr. Aankur Patni, Vice Chairman; Mr. Indraneel Dutt, Managing Director and CEO; Mr. Vasant Naik, Group Chief Financial Officer; and Ms. Nikisha Solanki, Company Secretary. Without any further delay, I request Mr. Vasant Naik to start with his opening remarks. Thank you. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Purvangi. Good afternoon, everybody. It is a pleasure to welcome you all to the earnings conference call for the fourth quarter and financial year 2026. For the fourth quarter under review on a consolidated basis, the company reported an operating income of INR 8,633 million, an increase of around 3% year-on-year. The EBITDA stood at INR 199 million, EBITDA margin stood at 2.31%, net profit was INR 243 million, the PAT margin was at 2.81%. For the financial year 2026, the company reported operating income of INR 29,148 million, an increase of around 7% year-on-year. EBITDA stood at INR 2,102 million, down 29% year-on-year. The EBITDA margin stood at 7.21%, the net profit was INR 1,432 million, whilst the PAT margin was at 4.91%. Let me take you through the quarterly segmental performance on a consolidated basis.
In the engineering segment, the revenue for the quarter stood at INR 5,539 million, which is flat on a year-on-year basis. The segment EBIT was INR 215 million. The inquiry pipeline continues to remain healthy with both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth in order inflows, driven primarily by the medium-size opportunities across sectors. During the quarter, planned dispatches of certain high-value engineering contracts to the GCC geographies were impacted due to disruptions arising from the West Asia crisis. We have since received customer clearances to proceed with the execution towards the end of the quarter. The closure of the Sri Lanka project continues to progress as planned, and we expect to complete the project by the end of the second quarter of the financial year 2027.
During the quarter, we achieved an important milestone with the successful commissioning of the raw water treatment plant for the IOCL Panipat Refinery project, which is the largest water treatment package awarded in India. We have also entered into a technology transfer and manufacturing collaboration with MANN+HUMMEL, a global leader in filtration technology, for the manufacture of ultrafiltration membranes and transfer of membrane bioreactor technology to India. This partnership further strengthens our membrane portfolio and enhances our technology offerings. As at March 31st, the engineering order book stood at INR 26,433 million, providing healthy revenue visibility going forward. Coming to the chemical segment, the revenue for the quarter was INR 2,297 million, an increase by around 3% year-on-year, while the EBIT stood at INR 334 million. The business continues to record sequential and year-on-year improvement in turnover.
The turnover was impacted primarily in March 26th due to logistic disruption from the West Asia crisis. In addition, the profitability during the quarter was also affected by input cost increases as well as the lower facility costs. We have initiated appropriate pricing action to pass on the cost increases to the customers. We have also successfully completed during the quarter the commissioning of all the manufacturing lines at Roha. Further, the facility has since received towards the end of the March quarter certification from the WQA, Water Quality Association, which is a globally reputed testing agency for the resins which are manufactured at Roha. The certification is expected to enhance our access to international markets and support future growth. We have also secured strategic contracts with key customers, which augurs well for the business growth and strengthens our position in the market.
For the consumer product division, the revenue for the quarter stood at INR 1,047 million, and increased by 34% year-on-year. The loss for the quarter was INR 46 million, compared to a loss of INR 52 million in the same period of the previous year. This segment continues to witness healthy volume growth, supported by expanding market reach and increasing product acceptance. The company continues to invest in the business to build a significantly higher and more scalable revenue platform. Coming to our international operations and our group companies. Execution of the 20-year dewatering contract, valued at Omani rial 73.46 million, which was awarded by the Petroleum Development Oman to our subsidiary company, Ion Exchange LLC, Oman. This is progressing as per the schedule.
We have also entered into a project joint venture with a local partner in Malawi for the execution of a water treatment package valued at $18.1 million. This contract has been awarded by the Northern Region Water Board, Malawi. In parallel, we continue to strengthen our international footprint and are expanding our presence across overseas markets with a focused strategy to grow our product business and deepen customer engagement in key geographies. With this, I conclude the opening remarks, and we can now open the floor to Q&A. Back to you, Purvangi.
Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, 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. Our first question comes from the line of Kishore Kumar with UniFi Capital. Please go ahead. Mr. Kumar, you may please proceed with the question. You may unmute and you may proceed. Mr. Kumar, you may please unmute yourself and proceed with the question. As there is no response from Mr. Kumar, we will move forward to the next participant. Our next question comes from the line of Nirmam with Unique PMS. Please go ahead.
Nirmam, you may please proceed with your question. Our next question comes from the line of Harsh Shah with Merisis Advisors. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, can you hear me?
Yes, we can hear you. Please go ahead.
Can you highlight the importance, the strategic significance of the MANN+HUMMEL JV, and what will it do us in terms of capabilities, geographical reach, and client pre-qualifications?
This is Indraneel Dutt, and I'll take the question. The MANN+HUMMEL partnership and collaboration is a very important milestone for the future success and growth of the company. As we have talked in the past, that along with resins and water treatment specialty chemicals, which is in the chemicals segment, the membrane technology and product line is one of the biggest strategic growth levers of the company for the future. Looking at the overall outlook of the membrane growth potential in the world, which stands at almost at 10% plus, the overall membrane market is growing. It's a very important market for the company, and we are the only company which has almost comprehensive range of membrane products, starting from reverse osmosis membranes to ultrafiltration membranes and nanofiltration membranes.
This partnership with MANN+HUMMEL was made with the intention of further expanding the membrane portfolio to have the latest technologies of ultrafiltration, PVDF type flagship membranes, and to get the MBR technology for which MANN+HUMMEL is famous. That will now, with this partnership and the work that we do, it will make Ion Exchange's membrane portfolio totally complete and will give us access to the best technology in an area where we had to develop one. With that, we should be able to exploit the total potential of the global membrane market in the years to come.
Okay. Can you also highlight on the geographical reach and how you propose to reach out to clients about the new product? You're going to develop that demand in public.
Already, the membrane products are beginning to get distributed in our markets in Middle East as well as in the Asia-Pacific geographies. In the near future, we plan to take some of these products also to the Africa and the Europe markets. As and when the membrane products are co-developed with MANN+HUMMEL and with their technology, those products will also be added to the portfolio of membrane offerings in the global markets as well.
Okay. Sir, can you also elaborate on the acquisition of MAPRIL, and what does this acquisition do for us in terms of capacity building or geographical expansion?
This acquisition by the company of MAPRIL was done in 2023, middle. That gives the company a strategic foothold in the South Europe market, specifically in the Iberian Peninsula of Portugal and Spain. This company is based in Porto on the west of Portugal and allows us to be a local company and tap the potential of the market for the entire range of water treatment products and solutions in that geography. The company, since the acquisition, has been fully integrated into the Ion Exchange group, and now the company is expanding its presence and increasing its business in the Iberian region of Portugal and Spain, and we expect to see further growth and success for the company's expansion with the help of the MAPRIL acquisition.
Okay, sir. Thank you so much. I'll join back in the queue. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Kishore Kumar with UniFi Capital. Kishore? Kishore, you may please proceed ahead with the question.
Hello, can you hear me?
I can hear you. Can you hear me?
Can I ask the question?
Yes.
Sure.
Sir, my question is on the Oman project that we won in last quarter. Since it's a build operate transfer project and we are executing in a JV, what is the upfront CapEx that we need to incur? Is there any grant that will be coming from the customers which can actually ease out the CapEx requirement?
This project with Petroleum Development Oman is being executed with through our joint venture partner in Oman, which is Ion Exchange Oman. The CapEx build-out is about $40 million over the span of next two years, which will be funded with a debt and an equity structure.
What is our contribution to the debt, sir, in this actually out of the $40 million, and what would be the partners' contribution in this JV?
Sir, 50/50 joint venture between Ion Exchange. Ion Exchange holding 51% is a consolidated joint venture of the company and based on those lines, the equity distribution will happen.
My second question is on the Roha plant. Now we have commissioned it fully. Are we in line with our previous guidance to achieve the 25%, 30% of capacity utilization? How are we proceeding in that actually on the customer acquisition front as well?
Our guidance has been in the past that we will work towards 25% capacity utilization of the Roha plant in the first full-year of operation. We continue to remain in line with those expectations while there are some short-term headwinds in respect to the West Asia crisis, where some of the critical raw materials used for this product, namely styrene and oleum, have gone up. We believe that those risks would get mitigated, and we should be able to meet our earlier guidance from a plant capacity utilization standpoint for this financial year.
Just a follow-up on this, sir. Since the input cost prices have gone up materially, do you think that P&L breakeven is possible this year, or it will actually defer one or two quarters?
We are doing our best or trying our best to see that we can get there. As you can, and we all know, the West Asia crisis continues to be very dynamic. As we are just in the first couple of months of this new financial year, we are still endeavoring our best to see that we can achieve that objective.
Okay. Got it, sir. Sir, I have a question on the engineering segment as well. How has the legacy project execution been going on? We actually guided that it will spill into FY 2027 as well. How are we positioned there? Do you think there will be margin drag because of this in FY 2027 as well?
As we have given in the earlier guidance and updates, the project continues to move at the expected pace. A significant part of the project execution has already been done. However, as we had said earlier, the balance of the project will be executed in this financial year. We continue to work on the site and with the customer in line with the earlier given timelines.
Any comments on the margins for engineering segments?
On the margins for the engineering segment, we have seen some headwinds in terms of the deferral of some of our engineering export shipments, approximately about INR 60 crore because of the West Asia crisis. Some shipments were scheduled to be sent to the GCC countries, which had to get deferred. Also as a result of which our local shipments in the last quarter of the financial year had gone up versus the global exports, the global revenue percentages, which has given us some headwind to the overall margin of the engineering segment.
Okay.
Kishore, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but you have to please resume the queue for more questions. Thank you.
Thank you.
Our next question comes from the line of Nirmam with Unique PMS. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. My first question is on the EPC business. We've seen some slow growth in the business-
Nirmam, I'm sorry to interrupt you. Your voice is breaking. If you can just say it clearly.
Yes.
Thank you.
My first question is on the EPC business. You mentioned that we had some slowdown because of some GCC delivery deferrals. Apart from there, are there any challenges you're facing some issue on the growth side of things?
No, I think predominantly those were the two headwinds I talked about. Apart from that, our order intake has been quite healthy. In fact, it has been 40% more than the last full financial year, and we expect a majority of those projects to get executed in this financial year and the next. Apart from those two headwinds, which we called out, we don't anticipate any other major challenges in the engineering segment.
Okay, sir. My second question, sir, is on the chemical business. We've seen some impact on profitability, and again, you've mentioned one was the input price pressure and the second was the Roha. If you could comment on the profitability ex Roha interest and depreciation. How are we seeing the outlook there and if we can maintain our historical or it'll be better?
As I said, the two headwinds that we received was obviously on the Roha interest depreciation cost for the year, as well as some impact of the West Asia crisis due to which our revenues in the month of February and March was impacted. We expect some of those lost revenue to come back to us in this financial year. There has been, I think I would say, a fourth of the impact of the overall segment can be attributed to ex-Roha causes. Whatever delta that you see, one-fourth of that you could attribute to the non-Roha reasons, which is what I talked about.
Okay, sir. Just last question on the legacy project. That completes by second or third quarter of this year?
We should be able to close it in this financial year. As you know, project work on the sites are dynamic in nature. At this point in time, the guidance we can offer is that it will close out in this financial year. There are two legacy projects. One is the one that we talked about just now, and we also have the UP projects, which will continue to progress as the funds flow in for those projects.
Okay, sir. Got it. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management will be able to address all the questions from the participants, we request you to kindly limit your question to two question per participant. If there's a follow-up question, please rejoin the queue. Our next question comes from the line of Tejas with InCred Equities . Please go ahead.
Hello, am I audible?
Yes, you are.
Okay. I wanted to get some clarity on the margin that has been gotten in the chemical segment. Like you said that 25% of the data that has been there, that is due to Roha expansion. Apart from that, can you clarify what's the bifurcation between the Middle East logistics issue and due to the price increases?
See, I think I'll clarify. I said that out of the 4% drop in the margin in the segment, three-fourths of that is because of the Roha expenses. Only one-fourth of that was because of the Middle East crisis that happened, for which some revenue, specifically for our resins business, was deferred out because of logistics challenges. We expect that to come back in this financial year.
I mean, out of the 10% margin decrease that has happened in the chemical segment, because the margin has gone from 25 to 15, right? Out of 10%, 7.5% is due to the Roha expense?
The Roha impact will be less than the 7% for this quarter. What Mr. Indraneel was explaining was the overall impact for this full-year.
Okay. Still, 7.5% it's a very high number. Did we not capitalize that cost, which was done for you? This is not, I think, the routine expense that can impact margins so severely.
I think we have also mentioned in our earlier calls, the entire utility buildings and the associated infrastructure were capitalized in the month of September 2025, while the manufacturing lines got progressively capitalized during the year, with a major capitalization taking place in March of 2026. That is why there is a big delta in the bottom line for the Roha.
If we capitalize it, there shouldn't have been any impact on the EBITDA side, right? Is it just that there's no change in the EBITDA, it's mainly the EBIT that we have been suffering?
That is what I'm saying. I'm talking of the segment margin, which is basically the EBIT margin. For the quarter, it was just under 7%, and for the full-year it was around 3%.
Okay. Coming on to the next question, in the Engineering segment also, we suffered a lot of margin contraction. Is most of that, almost all of that is contributed due to the Middle East operation only?
No. There were a variety of factors which was explained in the earlier question also. Apart from the Middle East crisis, because of the deferral in some of our export shipments, we also had the impact of the legacy project, which is continuing and which is expected to continue for some part of the year going forward. Also the UP project which is there, that also is a factor which is impacting the margins. It's a combination of factors which has overall impacted the Engineering segment.
Okay.
Tejas, I'm sorry to interrupt you, please rejoin the queue for more questions.
Sure.
Reminder to all the participants, kindly limit the question to two question per participant. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Deepak with Sundaram Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. Am I audible?
Yes, you are. Please go ahead.
Thank you. I just want to double-click on this Roha resin plant. Have you fully commissioned the 42,600 cubic meter capacity along with full backward integration?
We have commissioned the plant, but there is one backward integration that is under way, that does not affect the production of the plant. It will help us improve our profitability. Otherwise, the plant is fully commissioned. As we have said in the past, a significant part of the plant will be used, production will be used for exports in the global market, specifically in the U.S., in the drinking water segment, for which a particular certification from the Water Quality Association of the U.S. for the National Sanitation Foundation is required. That has been obtained, and hence we expect the revenue from the Roha plant to start ticking up from this financial year onwards.
Sir, you have spoken about some strategic contracts which you have won with some key customer in chemical division. I just wanted to clarify, was it related to Roha plant or was it related to the overall chemical segment? Why I ask that question is because majority of your capacity addition is coming through that Roha plant. Hence I am asking that question.
That particular comment was linked to our other portfolio product lines and offerings in the chemical segment, which is into water treatment specialty and chemicals. In that segment, we have made that particular remark. As far as while the capacity addition of the company or the CapEx spend of the company has been predominantly in Roha, as we have said in the past, this capacity addition is essentially for the exports market, which is where our teams are working on with our global customers to get more of their volume, and we are confident in doing that as we go forward.
Okay. Sir, one last question. You have highlighted about the RM inflation and logistic disruption also. With this backdrop, what is our sales and margin outlook for 2027 in both chemicals and engineering division? How much CapEx are we planning to spend in FY 2027? By the end of FY 2027, what would be our gross debt position?
At this point in time, we will not be able to offer you any specific guidance. This is in line with our traditional outlook providing practices, which we will try and do somewhere in the second half of the financial year. This is way too early for us to be able to answer those questions. More in keeping in mind the West Asia crisis and the dynamics of the situation that we all see are changing by the day. We would like to defer answering this particular question. We can throw more light in the second half of the year.
Okay. Sir, any highlight on the CapEx, at least like what kind of CapEx are we planning to do in FY 2027? Since you highlighted that we'll be spending some more on that Oman project also. Just on CapEx number and gross debt position, let's say by the end of FY 2027, if Vasant sir could answer, that would be very helpful.
At this juncture, the CapEx what we have envisaged is more into the maintenance and routine CapEx, which is in the region of around INR 30 crore-INR 40 crore. As Mr. Indraneel mentioned, as we move forward during the year, we will share with you any new major CapEx which we have in mind, but that will be in the later during the quarters. In terms of the gross debt, presently it is in the region of INR 384 crore. At the moment, we are not envisaging any major CapEx, unless we go for any plant expansion, which we will inform in due course as and when the plans get crystallized.
Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, anyone who wishes to ask a question, now press star and one on the touch-tone telephone. Next question comes from the line of Harsh Shah with Merisis Advisors. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Just to carry forward from the previous participant. Sir, you told that the maintenance and routine CapEx for FY 2027 will be INR 30 crore-INR 40 crore and gross debt around INR 384 crore. What are our current capacities which will get completed across different products? You can give a brief idea about it. That would be helpful.
As we said that our current objective is to utilize the Roha CapEx and the Roha capacity that we have set up. We are mindful of the return on capital employed for the Roha project, and that is what the focus of the company is on. In addition to that, as Vasant has explained, we have the obligation of the necessary CapEx for the PDO, Oman concession project that we will be doing, plus the routine maintenance CapEx at this point in time. We do have some ongoing work in our membrane and in our standard plants and products area, which we continue to pursue well within the range that Vasant talked about. As right now, that is what we are focusing on. As we work on growing the revenues from the Roha segment, we continue to evaluate other CapEx opportunities for further expansion.
However, we will come back with those information at an appropriate time. For now, our focus is to see how we can improve the return on the capital deployed in Roha.
Okay, sir. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Saket Kapoor with Kapoor Investments. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Namaskar sir. Good morning sir.
Yes, you have-
Hello.
Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, firstly, on the UP Jal Jeevan Mission project, what percentage of the same has been executed? If you could just explain to us how has the receivable movement been from March ending to till date?
Can I call this screen?
Hello? Sir, shall I need to repeat? Hello?
No, I think we heard the question. I would say about 30%-40% of the scope is still pending to be executed. The pace of execution remains slow. As we said, it is dependent on the cash inflow to this project, and currently the focus is on
Closing out the projects which are almost finished, that is where the fund disbursement is happening. We continue to execute those projects to the extent of collections received so that we can manage our working capital, and we are pacing the progress based on the receipt of funds.
Yes, sir. How have been the receivable movements at the closing balance for March and the closing balance today? How much have we received out of the outstanding we had from this segment?
We do not typically share any specific such details, sir, what we can say is post the announcement from the government on the continuation of the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme, we have seen allocation of funds to the scheme from the center to the state, we have seen some start of funds flowing in the month of March and a little again in this current financial year. This pace is definitely better than what we saw in the last financial year on an average in the whole. We are hopeful that more funds will start flowing in, as we see more funds coming in, we will also increase the pace of the balance execution.
Yes, sir. Sir, secondly, on the consumer products division, I think our revenues have gone up for this financial year. If you could just share the strategy or the outlook for the segment and when can we expect this to start contributing profitability towards the company. If you could just throw some more light.
We are consistent with our earlier guidance on the consumer products division. As we had said in the earlier calls, we continue to invest for growth in this segment and our efforts are showing results because this particular segment of the company has grown 34% year-on-year. If you read our financials for this segment in comparison to the past years, you will find that our overall profitability or the losses have reduced in this particular segment. The outlook for this segment continues to be positive and we expect to grow further on a similar trajectory or slightly lower because the base has also increased for the current financial year. We are also expecting better bottom line performance so that we can at least break even or have a moderate, very small, low- single-digit profit in this business line.
All efforts are continuing to drive further top-line growth as well as improve the operational profitability and performance of the division so that we can break even and turn positive profitable in this financial year.
Only to add a point, sir. You did mention about your short money there. You are not able to give us a guidance in terms of margin definitely, but for the core segment of chemical, how is the operating environment currently and how is our utilization levels for the current ensuing quarter wherein we are I think two-thirds into it today. If you could just give us some understanding on the business operating environment on the chemical segment.
Again as in the past we have said the chemical segment continues to be extremely dynamic. This is a segment where the company has been reporting significantly higher profitability compared to the rest of the company. We have gone up to the high twenties from profitability standpoint and when asked whether we can continue to sustain or increase that we have always continued to say this is a very dynamic environment. Lot of input parameters drive profitability and we have to keep a very close watch on all these parameters to ensure sustained profitability performance. In the last quarter because of the unexpected events relating to the West Asia crisis we had a significant headwind on the raw material cost in this segment which took us a bit of time to start passing it back to customers.
As a result we have seen some temporary softening of the profitability in this segment. The teams are working with our customers to see how we can pass on some of the raw material input cost back to the customers through pricing changes and we expect through some of those measures the overall profitability will improve. At the same time we are also de-risking our supply chain by opening up manufacturing centers in other parts of the world close to our markets. We are happy to say that our manufacturing plant in Dammam, Saudi Arabia for the Middle East market has now turned commercial production and we hope to cater to more customers locally from that facility and we continue to work on that strategy in other parts of the world as well.
I'll just add a little bit to that, Indraneel, since the gentleman asked for an outlook for the segment. The long-term outlook for the segment remains extremely positive for us and that's the reason why we have invested so heavily into that segment.
Even that we've not even scratched the surface when it comes to the international markets.
While the Red Sea crisis or otherwise some temporary headwinds do exist, the long-term story remains as bright as it was. I don't think that's something which we are worried about.
To conclude, sir, the worst in the margin trajectory is behind us as the March earnings we have reported for the segment or the headwinds which we face are still negating our profitability for the ensuing quarter also. If you could just give us some thought process on the same.
I would say that we have been able to mitigate the headwinds we have received, and we expect to see the outcome coming forward. Having said that, as I've always said about this segment, the situation is very dynamic and at this point in time other than this, it will be difficult to comment any further.
Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Kishore Kumar with UniFi Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello. Sir, my question is on the Roha facility. I think we started this investment back in 2021, 2022, and we implemented over a period of two, three years now. When you are actually guiding for 25% of utilization in the coming years, what kind of customers are we actually targeting to get into? Do we already have some kind of off take arrangement with them? Because when we actually started the implementation, we would have already got in touch with those customers. Are they new customers or existing customers? How do you see this actually the trending out in the coming quarters?
This Roha facility was set up, as we have said, to cater to our exports market. The reason to set up a brand new facility over and above our existing facility in Ankleshwar was to cater to more demand that we were receiving than what the capacity of the company was. Many of our existing customers, both in India and abroad, have been asking for more demand and more volume. We expect that the Roha plant will be able to cater to that, we would like to progressively increase our share of business with the customers through now with the Roha capability and capacity that we have. However, it should be noted that these products all go into the production in the customer's processes, to be included, there is a period of introduction cycle time that one has to respect.
Our teams are working with our customers across the various geographies to see that we can cater to more of their demand from the Roha facility.
Are these customers traders or end users, sir?
It's a combination of OEMs as well as end users that we cater to.
Okay. My second question is a bookkeeping question. If I look at the other income for the last quarter, Q4, there is a significant increase in the numbers. Is there any one-off there or is it a Forex gain that we are actually accounting it in the other income?
In the fourth quarter, there is primarily two elements which have got included. One is the Forex gain on our exports which we have accounted in this quarter. Also, we have claims in terms of our EPC contract, which were recognized during the quarter. That also is forming part of the other income.
Can you quantify it, sir, actually if possible?
We'll not be able to quantify, we can say the major chunk is comprising of these two elements in the other income.
Okay. Also on the other, sorry, order value that we actually quoted in the presentation. It is not including the Oman project that we actually got in Q4, isn't it? Any reason for excluding it, sir?
The order inflow and order backlog, what we are disclosing is primarily for the standalone entity that is Ion Exchange. We do not include the subsidiary or any associate order flow or backlog in the numbers.
Got it, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Deepak with Sundaram Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for the follow-up. Am I audible?
Yes. You are. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Sir, I just want to double check on that chemical. Earlier you highlighted that due to some logistical issue, there were some delay in dispatches, hence chemical revenue has seen a minor decline QOQ. Just wanted to know, what was the revenue loss which happened in Q4 in chemical division because of these issues.
We do not give any specific numbers per se on the revenue loss, what we have incurred on account of the Red Sea crisis. That crisis continues, we are expecting that impact to continue in this quarter also till the time the logistics and the shipping lines resume. Let us wait and see. We will be able to share more details maybe at the end of the first quarter.
Okay. One question I had on engineering. This new alliance or tech transfer of MANN+HUMMEL membrane, just wanted to understand, who are we competing here? Are we trying to dislodge any existing competitors through our connection and we will be supplying this to the clients, or is it entirely new product which is currently not being used in India and you are trying to push it forward because of some better technological advancement versus what is being currently used? What can be the main primary application? Is it more towards power and steel or which kind of standard or sub-standard subsystems which these membranes will be going into?
First of all, these are not new products. These products have been present in the market. However, I said that the membrane market is growing at the rate of 10% plus globally, which is one of the fastest growing segments in the wastewater treatment space. This particular initiative was done to complete our already existing membrane portfolio to make us one of the widest portfolio offerers in the world. In the membrane space, we compete with the global technology leaders like Dow, now DuPont, Hydranautics, Toray, Veolia, as well as NanoH2O. These are all global players. We compete against them, and we will compete against them in India as well as in all other global markets. The applications for these membranes are many. It is required for recycled reuse, it is required for wastewater treatment, it is required for desalination, it is required for brackish water.
There are many applications for these membranes across the entire range of reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and has wide-ranging applications. Membranes and ion exchange technologies, both of which the company has, are the two best proven technology platforms on which water treatment and wastewater treatment solutions work. We are confident to leverage the MANN+HUMMEL partnership and the new technology absorption to be able to cater to the global market, both with existing and new customers.
Okay. Sir, since you have highlighted about some of the competitors, what is our pitch here then? Is it that since we will be manufacturing in our existing facilities, we have certain cost advantage?
Yes, as I said, all the names that you heard are either U.S. or Japanese. We are one of the only few companies except the Chinese who make those products. This is clearly a huge investment and reinforcement of the Make in India dream of the government. This is also our answer of an Indian mission with a global vision. We expect significant increase in our revenues, in our growth, in our presence, not only in the domestic but also in the international markets.
Okay, got it. Sir, on the engineering front, since you have mentioned about that large contract win, are we expecting any revenue flow through in FY 2027 from that project since it's a longer project? I understand that, are we anticipating any revenue booking in FY 2027?
Yes, we are expecting some revenue from that project. If you remember, this is actually a BOOT concession we have received, the revenues will come in terms of O&M revenue. A part of that revenue will start coming in slowly from this financial year. However, we would like to remind you that this revenue will come into our joint venture company in Oman and will be recognized as part of our consolidated revenue earnings. You will see at the end of this financial year that there will be a delta growth in our revenues in the Oman joint venture.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Dheeraj with IndiGrid. Go ahead.
Hello, sir. I want to again get back on the engineering segment. I think most of the issue with the margin compression in this segment was due to the Middle East operations. Is that correct?
No. What we said is, we had a headwind or a challenge in the last quarter because of the West Asia crisis.
Yes.
The other challenges were because of the continuing legacy projects and the slow progress of the UP project.
Okay. I think UP was around INR 300 crore of project was remaining. How much have we executed in this quarter?
As we said, quarter-specific numbers we will only be able to share at the end of this particular quarter. As I said, the inflows, the project execution pace is dependent on the inflows that we receive from the government and the customer. Those inflows have started showing a positive trend upwards, especially after the last budget where the government reaffirmed its commitment to the scheme and extended the scheme for the next 4 years.
Since then, we are seeing the fund flow slowly improving, we hope that that continues, then we will also be able to speeden up the execution of the balance part of the project. That will not get over in this financial year. It will at least take the next financial year to complete the project, and more so the government has now extended the project officially for the next four years.
Weren't we expecting this legacy project to get over before the U.P. election?
No, that was the original plan, as we have all seen, that the fund flow to the project was stopped, the fund flow has only started from the last month after the reaffirmation of funds to the project by the government in the last budget.
Okay. Can you just give me a bifurcation, how much of the engineering segment revenue was of this legacy Middle East and these projects? Was it 30%, 40%, 50%? We know the severity. Can you give that number if it's possible?
What exactly bifurcation you are asking of what?
I mean, the percentage of projects in the engineering segment that were related to your legacy projects or your Middle East projects that had an impact on the margins.
No, I'm sorry. We don't disclose those specific numbers on the call.
Any ballpark estimate you can?
I just told you that the impact of the West Asia crisis on the engineering projects, especially West Asia crisis, was INR 60 crore, that we already announced in the opening statement. The others are in continuation with the same ratio as we had in the last few quarters, both to the legacy projects as well as the UP project. That pace has remained consistent over the last couple of years.
Okay, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star one. There are no further questions from the participant, I would like to hand the conference over to the management for closing remarks. Thank you and over to you, team.
Thank you all for participating in this earnings conference call. I hope we've been able to answer your questions satisfactorily. If you have any further questions or would like to know more about the company, please reach out to our investor relation managers at Valorem Advisors. Thank you and have a good day.
Thank you, ma'am. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Ion Exchange India Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.