Ladies and gentlemen, good day, welcome to the Q1 FY 2027 earnings conference call hosted by Bharat Forge Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will remain in the listen-only mode, there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the management opening remarks. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal the operator by pressing star then zero on your touch-tone telephone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now hand the conference over to Amit Kalyani, Vice Chairman and Joint Managing Director, Bharat Forge Limited. Thank you, over to you, sir.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in our analyst call. I have with me Kedar Dixit, Rajhagopalan, Subodh Tandale, [Amitabh], and Chinmay. We're here to answer your questions, I'll first request Kedar to take you through the commentary of the quarter, then we can move to Q&A.
Good afternoon, everyone. I'll just take you through the highlights for the quarter. In quarter one, the standalone revenues were at INR 2,347 crore, which was up by 11.5%. EBITDA stood at INR 614 crore, which was up 4.5% YoY, resulting in EBITDA margin of 26.2%. This 26.2% bore the impact of escalation in energy prices and other input costs and logistics. The overall cost impact of these costs was about 160 basis points on our EBITDA margin, we continue to work on the recovery of the indirect cost increases with our customers. Normalized for this hit, our EBITDA margin would have stood at almost 28% in quarter one. Q1 standalone also included exceptional item of INR 24 crore towards consultancy charges for the BF CDP restructuring exercise, which we have initiated. The YoY performance saw an all-around improvement in exports and strong execution in defense.
Q1 FY 2027 was the second straight quarter of recovery in export revenue, this momentum continues. Q1 2027 consolidated revenues stood at INR 4,640 crore, which was up 18.7% on a YoY basis. EBITDA was at INR 752 crore, 10.3% up [Non-English content] last year, same quarter, with EBITDA margins of 16.2%. Our Indian subsidiaries posted a strong performance during this quarter. Kalyani Strategic Systems, which is our defense arm, recorded a strong operating performance driven by higher realization and better product mix. JS Autocast, which is our casting outfit also had a good quarter with revenue and EBITDA growing 20% and 30% respectively on a YoY basis. Consolidated balance sheet remains strong with net debt to equity ratio of 0.45.
During the quarter, company had secured new orders across business with forging business recording new orders of INR 522 crore, defense INR 681 crore and ferrous casting of around INR 150 crore during the quarter. The outstanding order book in defense now stands at INR 11,196 crore as of end of the quarter. Talking about overseas business, despite a difficult quarter, the European business recorded a positive EBITDA. It saw revenue of INR 1,074 crore and EBITDA of INR 30 crore, resulting in a margin of around 3%. U.S. revenues were at INR 461 crore with an EBITDA loss of INR 4 crore. This was impacted mainly because of the breakdown of a couple of presses in our steel operations. Now it has been fixed, and the recovery is expected in this quarter, this is Q2.
On the restructuring process of Bharat Forge CDP, which is a steel business in Germany, is on track, and we estimate to complete the restructuring by end of calendar 2027. We have taken impact of about EUR 30 million towards the sale to restructuring. This is not a cash outflow. The cash outflow will happen post 12 months only, and we are on track as far as our restructuring exercise is concerned. I will hand over to Amit for his comments.
Ladies and gentlemen, on the whole, I would say Q1 was a reasonable quarter given the operating environment we were in. There were a lot of challenges, especially the most unexpected and difficult challenge was the one on manpower, which once the Iran war started and the LPG crisis hit, a lot of the contract and let's say migrant labor, all traveled back to their home locations and this is not so much of a direct impact on us, but a lot of steel companies and other sub-suppliers, et c., faced a lot of issues because of this. I think despite this and the challenges even on energy, our teams managed the production schedules quite well. We've had a strong business sentiment in North America driven by higher corporate CapEx, which is boosting demand for construction, mining and data center and power systems businesses.
This morning, the U.S. Government and the President announced a massive plan to restart the mining economy in the U.S., starting right from setting up programs for training people for these kinds of businesses in community colleges and universities. This should be something that gives a sustained boom to the U.S. if it continues. On the defense side, I would say that we have been present on land systems and on aerial systems, and now we have made a big breakthrough on the marine systems. We won a large new order for Marine Gas Turbine Generators for the Kolkata-class ships with the Ministry of Defense and the naval shipyards. This is the largest order we have won to date on naval systems.
As our product range in turbines grows, especially on the complementary naval system side, we expect the Navy to become a very large customer for us, especially with the announcement of the 140 new ships that are going to be built. We expect the defense business to expand its breadth and depth across many more products with many more applications rolling out. Our new defense Jasuri facility will enter serial production this year. It will play a major role in the deliveries of ATAGS and the CQB Carbine to the Indian Armed Forces. On the aerospace side, our business saw record wins in 2026. Our team was at the Farnborough Airshow where we had a lot of positive engagement. I think once our ring mill in Baramati starts in Q4, it will lead to a further step jump in increase in production.
Similarly, when our new forging facility in Baramati comes online, it will also give a big boost to production for our customers in the high horsepower engine and power generation sector, companies that produce engines in the range of 500- 5,000 horsepower or so. This is a very important sector for us. It is a sector where we are paying a lot of attention and making large investments to grow this business. This is a business that is growing because of, A, migration of manufacturing to India from Europe and other locations, and dramatic increase in demand for infrastructure-based assets in the build-out and rollout of infrastructure in India. Talking about our castings business, our ferrous casting business continues to perform well. I think we are on track to triple the revenue of the business since the time we bought it.
The run rate should hit that by the end of this year. I think, besides the size of the revenue, it is also the quality of the revenue. We have added a lot more value addition. We have added a lot of new high volume products as well and doing a lot more machining. I think this business is also growing very nicely and is going to really add a lot to what we can offer to our customers. For example, the stake that we acquired in a company called Fortuna is also going to allow us to service more of the large engine customers because they make conrods for them. It allows us to service them with more products and meet their needs locally through a single point of cover. You may have seen an announcement about a fundraise.
I want to explain that this is a fundraise for growth CapEx in our hardcore manufacturing areas in sectors that we already are present in, plus in some new sectors. The sectors that we are targeting from this are the large engine sector, the power gen market, the semiconductor components market, and aerospace and a few others, including an investment in an energetics plant in Andhra Pradesh, where we will be able to do filling of shells and other propellants and energetics used in defense applications. This CapEx is something that we will complete over the next 18 months. It will give us a high capital output ratio as well as good margins and will allow us to accelerate our growth going forward. The fundraise of up to INR 2,500 crore is basically for growth CapEx, and the instrument, et c., will be finalized in due course.
In terms of outlook, I think the outlook remains very strong. There are some temporary blips, including cost escalations taking place in energy and logistics, which will be negotiated and redeemed from our customers where we have paid them. With the resumption of our plant in the U.S., I think the margins should also come back to better levels. Many of our businesses are now starting to hit their stride. If you look at the aerospace business, it is now beginning to make a meaningful impact to our overall business. As our new manufacturing facilities come online, this business will dramatically increase in size. The same will be said for the semiconductor business, where we have already won double digit million of business, and we need some new facilities to come online before that can then further go up, especially on the machining side.
I think barring any major new geopolitical upheavals or supply chain shocks, we expect 2027 to be a very good year, with the second half being driven more robustly with some of these interruptions behind us, both across exports and the commencement of deliveries for the domestic defense orders of ATAGS and carbines. That's really all I had to say. Now we'll be happy to take your questions and answers.
Thank you.
Sorry, hold on one second, please. One of the things is that we are going back to building capacity slightly ahead of demand. The demand is coming so fast that we need to accelerate our capacity build-up as well. That's really why we're increasing our CapEx to build up this capacity in our traditional business as well. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use their handsets while asking a question. Participants are also requested to restrict themselves to two questions per participant. Should you have more questions, you may rejoin the queue. We take the first question from the line of Kapil Singh from Nomura. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good evening, sir. My first question is on the fundraise that we have announced. If you could just let us know what kind of asset turns, margins, or return on capitals will be there for these new businesses, since these are new businesses, any color on this will help. What is the overall CapEx plan on a consolidated basis for FY 2027 or 2028, if you have any thoughts?
Yeah. Hi, Kapil. The overall CapEx will be in the INR 1,800 crore range. This is the organic CapEx that we will do in India, and this is spread across forging, machining, heat treatment, and related quality control and other related assets in the forging and machining space, ring rolling space. These are assets that are not for any one industry, but can be used in a variety of industries. They will have a significantly, let's say, accretive capital output ratio and very good margins. We have business tied up, and that will give us enough ramp-up, and then we will also tie up more business. Additionally, the energetics plant is a facility we are setting up to fill shells and to produce energetics and solid propellant, et c., in the future in a new facility coming up in Andhra Pradesh.
Yeah. Thank you, sir. The second question is just on the outlook for some of the key segments. If you could talk about CVs and PVs, both for India and overseas, and also the non-auto segment. We note that the growth in CVs and PVs this quarter for the domestic business was below the industry growth. Were there any supply challenges? If you could just give some color there also. Thank you.
Yeah. Honestly, there were supply challenges towards the middle of the quarter, when the steel sector all had issues of labor and getting supplies, also an energy issue when the Iran war had really hit a crescendo in the beginning. It took us all some time to switch over from one kind of fuel to another. These are the challenges that you face. In spite of that, I think we've done well. Going ahead, I think we will do even better.
Sure, sir. On the outlook for the different segments?
I would say that all the segments have a strong outlook. India is fairly strong. U.S. is very strong. Europe, CV is strong, PV is not as strong, I think it's not weak either. If you saw yesterday, GM has raised their guidance again. Clearly, the economy in the United States is doing well. India is doing fairly well. I think these two are the key markets for us.
Okay. Thanks, sir. I will come back in the queue.
Thanks.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Binay Singh from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Hi, team, and thanks for the opportunity. fair to assume-
Binay, I do apologize to interrupt you, but your audio is not clear. Could you please use your handset?
Hi, team. Apologies for that. Just to be clear, the entire CapEx of INR 1,800 crore is all non-auto, right? could you guide us a little bit about when does-
Binay, I do apologize once again to interrupt you. There's a lot of static coming in from your line.
Okay, I'll just come back in the queue.
Binay, I'll answer the first question you asked. It is a combination of auto and non-auto. In the auto, there is both forging and machining, non-auto, there's forging, ring rolling, and machining.
Thanks for that, Amit. What sort of asset turnover to assume on this number? Any guidance?
I think it will be above 1.5 .
Secondly, when I look at the quarterly presentation this quarter to last quarter, last quarter we talked about 25% growth in India-linked businesses. This quarter, we are saying 20%-25% growth. Is there any sort of delay in approvals for ATAGS or something that we are building in to slightly create a range, or am I reading too much?
The ATAGS approval, once it comes, in two to three months we will start. There is still testing going on of both the suppliers. I think we probably are looking at a few weeks of delay, but that's nothing that we can do. It's a procedural issue. I think, the order is there, the product is there. I think we just have to get the process completed and then the delivery started.
Great. Thanks for that. I'll come back in the queue.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Amyn Pirani from JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Yes, hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Firstly, just a clarification. This INR 1,800 crore of CapEx that you've mentioned, the INR 2,500 crore fundraising that you're talking about, future growth opportunities, will that investment be over and above this INR 1,800? Or this is all part of the similar investment plans that you have?
This INR 2,500 is for this current CapEx, then it will also give us a strong base for any additional CapEx that we may need for further growth.
Okay. My second question is that, given that your balance sheet is still quite strong and net debt to equity, net debt to EBITDA is quite strong, just trying to understand why?
Why assume raise of INR 500?
Yeah.
We are very conservative when it comes to our financials. We like to have cash on the balance sheet. At least INR 2,000- odd crore of cash on the balance sheet. It's good. It'll help us accelerate our growth going forward.
Okay, great.
Plus, there is some M&A opportunities in India, and we have found that the M&A opportunities that we have undertaken in India so far, whether it is JS Auto or K Drive, are proving to be very fruitful and such opportunities are arising, and it's a good time to look at them.
Sure. Just secondly, on your defense or the KSSL business, I know that it tends to be very volatile on a quarterly basis. The margin outcome in this quarter seems to be a very strong one. Anything that you can help us understand, how should we think about this margin and how should we think about future?
Margins are all a result of mix. As we've mentioned, the margins on a steady state annual basis, we are targeting in the 22%-23% or so range.
Amyn, does that answer your question?
Hello, sorry. There was some disturbance. Sorry, I can't hear you.
Can you hear me or not?
I can hear you, there seems to be a lot of disturbance. Maybe I don't know if it's a problem with my line or not.
No, I don't know. Is the moderator having disturbance or they can hear?
No, sir. A udio is loud and clear.
Okay.
Okay. Maybe there's some issue on my line. Maybe I'll try and come back in the queue.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of [Gunjan] from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for taking my question. Just continuing with the margin guide that you mentioned, this 22%-23% that you mentioned at the console level, is that how we should read this guidance?
No, that is for the defense business.
That was for the defense business, is 22%-23%? Okay.
That, yeah. 22%- 23%.
Okay. My first question is again, on the similar lines, the newer opportunities that you call out, aerospace, data center, semiconductor, is there some sense that you can give in the next three to four years? How do you see the build-out of these businesses? Maybe a bit more color on these three, aerospace, semiconductors, and data centers, where the scale of operations right now?
I can talk about the aerospace and semiconductors, and my colleague Subodh can talk about the data center side. On aerospace, we will double our business in the next two years or so. Hello, can you hear me?
Yes.
Okay. On the semiconductor side, I think we are aiming for something in the region of INR 30 million-INR 40 million of business in the next two years, organically. We also have to set up some machining facilities, which will then allow us to grow that business, almost double it. That's the kind of business that we're looking at doing in the semiconductor space. I will let Subodh answer the question on the semiconductor and related sectors.
Sorry, how big is aerospace at the moment? You said doubling. Where would that revenue be right now?
It's about INR 400 crore right now.
Okay.
On the data centers, we like to call it energy business. We expect to double in the next four years. We already have most of the contracts in place, long-term contracts in place. We are in the process of adding capacities and all of that. We have a very strong global position today on this.
What is the scale again of data centers right now in terms of revenues?
It's difficult.
It's difficult to say because a lot of our products are going into multiple sectors, including data. When we say data center growth, a lot of those growth in those sectors is coming because of data center.
See, one more point I'd add here is we have already been supplying these products for the last 15- 18 years. These products take a lot of time to get validated and approved because they're very critical products. It typically takes three to five years just to get approved and get going. In our case, all that cycle has already happened. Now we are already supplying, and there will be, of course, growth in what we're doing based on demand.
Got it. My second question is just a comment that I found very interesting in your annual report where you say that we are looking to grow India manufacturing operations at 15% CAGR for the next five years. I'm just trying to get a little bit more color on this. How should we think about the auto and the non-auto piece? Is that how you internally assess this? Because auto business is certainly a lot more cyclical, right? Any color that you can give us in terms of what will be the salience of auto vs non-auto and the growth we are looking between the two businesses.
Both sectors will grow. Auto depends on new products because our current products are going to allow us only to grow at the rate of the market. The castings, the K Drive, all that come in to provide more growth. In the non-auto side, of course, the sky is the limit because we're starting from a low base as a country itself.
Got it. Okay. Last, just quick if I can squeeze in on the margin, you mentioned 160 basis point impact taken in this quarter. Is it fair to assume that this reverses immediately or this would take time basis the conversations like how do we think about the more normalized margin for the full fiscal year?
It would be better than quarter one, you need to consider one specific point is as we start getting recoveries from the customer, optically it has an impact on EBITDA, because there are changes in denominator and numerator also. Optically, you might still look at little better margins, but it will not be fully reflective of back to 28%, because it will add to top line also and it will add to cost also. It will compensate the full margin per piece.
Yes.
Per product sold. Also quarter, yes.
Got it. That is useful. Thank you so much.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Pramod Amthe from InCred Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for this opportunity. Amit, I just want to get your details on this Marine Gas Turbine Generator wing. How do you see this? This is going to be auxiliary equipment, but at the same time pretty challenging in terms of technology. What is the capability you have in-house to develop it? Do you need to have a joint venture? How it's going to progress?
We've already developed this product, and it is now going into testing. We have a very strong relationship in delivering this product and a range of turbines for naval applications ranging from 1.25 to above 25 MW.
Okay. Will it be predominantly for defense itself? Or it can get into commercial?
No, it can get into commercial also. It can even go into power plant. It can go into a lot of sectors. It's multi-fuel.
Yes, sorry. Go ahead.
It is multi-fuel.
Okay. Within this, if you look at the content per se, how much group can itself supply vs what you need to source in terms of?
No, I think in the beginning, the generator will be sourced from outside, that's the electrical generator. The entire turbine will be made by us.
Okay. Does it require further investments or the existing machinery can support?
It requires some small investments, not large investments.
Okay. The second question is with regard to the AP plant, which you are opening up for the substantial investments. Is it going to be predominantly for new areas or how are you looking at?
No, AP is going to be a propellant and explosives facility for filling ammunition and for making explosives.
This naval one will continue to be at the KSSL Pune site.
Naval one will be actually at a new location where we are already working. It's close to a naval shipyard. It's actually almost like a part of the naval shipyard.
Can the naval one open up a completely new stream for you?
Absolutely. It's a huge new opportunity. See, in the naval side, we were originally only on the shafting and propellers. Now we'll be on the power gen also, and then we will also get into the fight side. We will be on the entire value stream of the naval side. The content per ship will go up dramatically. 140 new ships coming is a lot.
Right. Any rule of thumb in terms-
I wanted to tell you that we have already tied up the MRO for turbines with the Navy for their existing as well as for the future.
Oh, for the existing also. Okay.
Yeah.
That is going to be a much more sustainable-
Exactly.
other than just the orders.
Exactly.
Sure. Thanks for detailed explanation. All the best.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Arvind Sharma from Citi. Please go ahead.
Hello. Good evening, sir. Thank you for taking my question. Just your views on the CDP Bharat Forge restructuring. Post the restructuring is done, what would be the form of this entity? Will orders be shifted away? Will margins improve? How should we see CDP Bharat Forge post the restructuring?
Post the end of the restructuring, that entity will not survive. It will not exist. Part of their orders are going to be transferred to us, and that will be provided, shipped out from India at a good margin. That's really what's going to happen.
Right. All the current orders would be intact. It would be shifted to India or other entities.
Not all, because they also have certain orders that are getting phased out or products that are getting phased out. The remainder of the orders will move here. It's a sizable amount.
Got it, sir. Sir, one thing which you have kind of alluded to as well, the ATAGS order. Is there any timeline that you would want to share?
I tell you what, the day we get the FIFP approval, we can start the clock. Till then, I can't tell you anything.
Got it, sir. Thank you so much, sir. That's all from my side. Thanks so much.
There are two suppliers, and both have to be ready.
Got it. Thank you so much.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Abhishek Shah from Fortitude Fund Management. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. This is, I think, in line with the CapEx. Just wanted some clarity on sometime in 2024, say maybe around February, I think there were a few news articles and we were talking about having a mega project in Odisha. Maybe if you can give us any update on that. I think environmental clearance is still not received. It's been about 2.5 years. If you can give us some idea on the exact status, by when do we expect-
I think on that, we are looking at that as our third new mega site. That is something where I hope that by the end of the year, we'll get all our approvals. After that, we will look at building a large new complex, which will do things that are not made in India, so large aerospace components, et c. It'll be a multimodal facility doing multiple things for a variety of sectors. We are still awaiting. It's all in the process. Hopefully by the end of this year, we should have that.
If you can tell us a little more why the delay? I mean, the environmental clearance?
Just takes time. That's the way it works. You have local environmental clearance, you have central and forest clearance. In our case, there were some unique circumstances which were not there on paper, which happened to be there, which we found out later on. Some infrastructure that needed to be moved and stuff, high tension lines, et c. Those take time.
Got it. We are on track. Now I think you can see visibility?
I hope so, yeah. We are working on it.
Got it. Sir. Tentative timeline once we get these approvals, when can we expect?
I think once we get all the approvals, we can have our first plant running in about 2.5 years.
Got it. Sir. Is this the last leg of approval requirement or are we expecting, will there be additional another?
I think this is the only approval that is now needed.
Got it. Sir, some part of the fundraising also will be used for this, I presume?
Yes.
Okay. All right, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Pramod Kumar from UBS Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity. I think two questions. One was on the outlook FY 2027, given all the things what you're doing and the kind of frontloading of CapEx for the If you can just help us understand, that even 2028.
Couldn't hear you very well.
Sorry. Is it better?
No, your voice is coming and going.
Just a second. Now?
Yeah, now it's better.
Now it's better. Thank you. I was asking, given the kind of CapEx, what we're doing towards new areas and the existing business as well, and the nature of the business in terms of the order wins and the execution. Is it fair to assume that FY 2028 also could be a remarkably strong year from you? I'm not trying to get any quantitative estimate here, but generally, from your vantage point, do you see the momentum, what you've seen in the last couple of years in 2027 continuing into even 2028 when you look at all the segments, all the geographies?
I would say so, yes. I would say based on what we see now, I think 2028 should also be a strong year. Subodh?
Yes.
Yeah.
Okay. Thanks for that. I'm sorry, before that, with that kind of a strong growth, the levers on margin should also kick in reasonably, right? In terms of operating. Of course, the mix will be what it will be.
Absolutely. You're absolutely right.
Yeah. Second question is on the defense side, given how India is very quickly becoming a defense hub, even for exports, you kind of set the template with the ATAGS being the lowest cost producer globally. How do you see this as an opportunity where you can become the go-to partner for a lot of these global defense organizations who are trying to reduce their costs and also accelerate their time to market. In that scenario, how is that bit of conversation going, or how are the inbound inquiries at your end? If you could just help us and get some qualitative color and what could be the opportunity set here?
Yeah, you're absolutely right. That defense is also a very large export opportunity. In the defense exports, you need a lot of handholding support from the government. A lot of countries which have been successful at doing this have their government playing a very key role in enabling this. One classic example is South Korea. Their government provides soft loans, provides EXIM financing, et c., and that really helps many countries in doing this. The Indian government has also done in the past EXIM financing for infrastructure projects in Africa and other places. I think this is an industry which has geopolitical ramifications. I think one has to, as a country also look at it that way, and I think our country is beginning to look at it that way. It's very clear that they are serious about it.
Once those steps are put in place, I think it can be a further accelerant for our business, clearly that should only be provided to absolutely strategic products and strategic partners.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Nitin Jain from Fairv alue Equity Advisory. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. I've joined a little late, not sure if this is already answered. Just wanted to understand your commentary, in a media interview in very detail. I believe, there was some mention about Q2 being strong, in the sense that we might take price hikes and there might be some reverse swing in margins in Q2? If you could just provide some more color here.
Q2 would be better than Q1, considering the discussion with customers on the generic price increase and the volumes.
The one-time impact that we have had in Q1.
Right. How will the margin trajectory be? Like, will there be a one-time jump in Q2 and we'll be back to the 28% rang? Or will it be gradual throughout the year?
Yeah, it would be gradual because earlier we explained that even though we get recovery from an arithmetic perspective, you could see a little.
See, the numerator goes up and the denominator goes up. You understand?
It would be a gradual improvement in margin.
The margin per ton will come back to its normal levels.
Okay. That's very helpful. That's it from my side. Thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Ronak Singhvi from NAFA Asset Managers. Please go ahead.
Hello. I want to know that, have you got license for your AP plant that is for explosives? Additionally, the capacity would be same as to fill your existing empty shell manufacturing, or it will be bigger than that, so that you can buy empty shells from other place and fill that in your plant?
Initially we are setting up a facility to manufacture and fill a certain amount of shells. This is a modular facility, so you keep adding lines, you can fill more and more shells. We have not yet got the license. We have applied, and the process is on.
Okay. What is your current capacity for empty shell manufacturing?
It's very large.
Okay.
Several lines.
Any numbers?
It depends on product mix.
Okay, got it.
It's very large.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Chandramouli Muthiah from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening, and thank you for taking my questions. First question is just around the European business. Just want to understand what could be the timeframe for shift of some of the business we look to shift manufacturing from CDP to India? And also just related on the other two subsidiaries, Alum- Technik and Kilsta, under the new India Europe FTA proposals, is there opportunity to shift some of that business as well to manufacturing on Indian shores?
Let's first talk about CDP. Our timeline for the closure is between second to third week or third quarter of next year. Okay? On 27. Calendar quarters.
Got it. That's helpful.
Well, business will perforce have to move at or before that time.
Got it. That's helpful. Second question is just around the fuel and the manpower situation. You did mention that going forward, we'll see an improvement in most of your ability to supply. I just wanted to check on the manpower side, are we sort of back to normalcy now? Also on the fuel switches?
Almost. Not fully. I would say we're back to about 70%-75% of normalcy. There are some amount of migrant labor or casual labor that has not come back.
Got it. On the fuel situation?
The fuel situation is under control. Only problem is in Maharashtra, there's an energy price hike.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of [Radha] from Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Just one question. On the M&A opportunity in India, could you give us some color on the key product areas or technologies where you see-
No, sorry, I can't.
potential for collaboration?
No, sorry, I can't. We are evaluating certain opportunities. I can't give you any details at this point. We're under an NDA. Once it reaches a certain level, we will talk about it.
All right, sir. Thank you. All the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Rakesh Roy from Boring AMC. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. My one question is regarding the restructuring about business, sir. We have take the provision of INR 330 crore. This is a one-time expense or, again, you need some provision for Q3 or Q4?
This is the cost for the manpower redundancy.
Okay.
This cost has now been finalized. It was not going to be paid out today, but this will be paid out over the next nine to 12 months, or six to 12 months as the people get released.
Okay.
The cost has been finalized. Okay?
Right. Bye, sir. Thanks, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Kapil Singh from Nomura. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Thank you for taking my questions again. Just on the electric vehicle opportunity, if you could just talk about how we are thinking about tapping that opportunity.
Yeah, that's an area where honestly, we haven't been very successful. We have some ideas, and you may hear some interesting commentary about that from us. Give us another three to six months.
Okay. Sir, on K Drive?
One area where we are already working on EV is through K Drive, which is already making EV axles for LCVs and LMCVs.
Sure. I was just going to ask about that. K Drive, the margins seem to have come off. Any thought here?
K Drive will grow both in scale and margins. We are on track. K Drive is going to perform very well. We have lot of new business coming. We are also going to build a new plant for K Drive in the northern part of India for one of our most esteemed customers. That will provide us significant growth going forward.
Thanks. Sir, lastly, on the U.S. manufacturing operations, when the operations normalize, what kind of margins can we expect in this business?
The steel will be at about 12%. The aluminum EBITDA margins can be in the 15%-16%.
Sir, by when can we get there?
Hopefully next year.
Okay, great. Thank you so much.
I mean, hoping to get Let's say we'll move directionally in that direction. You want to get there sooner than later. I want to explain one problem in the U.S., and that is the tariff on aluminum. On raw aluminum is 50%, because it all comes from Canada. U.S. does not have any smelters. Components can come from certain countries at even 10%-15% margins. The problem is that today.
Unless that corrects, it will be difficult to get.
That has happened because of this big spat with Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada.
Right.
We want that publicly. Yes, sir.
Yes. That has to correct for the margins to come to the targeted levels?
Well, yeah. I mean, that would be the ideal thing, because that will also then help volumes, and that will really give us a boost. We're dealing with, let's say, unanticipatable tariff situation. You just have to ride it out without making cash losses. That's all. That is going to be our goal. Thank you.
Thank you.
We take the next question from the line of [Abhishek Jain], an Individual Investor. Please go ahead.
Sir, I had a question about your losses in U.S. operations. Can you tell me what is the reason, although the revenue is up as compared to both the previous?
Mr. Jain, we're not able to hear you clearly. You said something about North American operations, but I couldn't hear you clearly.
The reason for the EBITDA loss. Although the revenue is up-
The reason is that our steel forging business had a major maintenance breakdown, and we had no production for almost three months.
Okay, sir. Could you tell me how much was the losses? Actually, can you quantify if it's possible?
I'd suggest if you can call. It's already in the papers. You can see it. It's in our update.
Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, with that, we conclude the question and answer session. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Amit Kalyani for his closing comments.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your time and interest. It's always great interacting with you and getting your questions. It gives us a lot to think about. This quarter was a little challenging on account of certain internal and external uncertainties. I think as a company, we are strong enough to overcome these. We see a lot of potential growth coming in our traditional business of engines and crankshafts and those areas, and in new areas where high precision parts are required, including power gen, including semiconductors, aerospace, large engines, marine, defense, naval, et c. I think the future is bright, and we're very confident of being able to continue a strong growth path for your company. Thank you very much.
Thank you. On behalf of Bharat Forge Limited, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.