Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Privi Speciality Chemicals Q3 and Nine Months FY 2026 Earnings Conference Call. This conference call may contain forward-looking statements about the company which are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the company as on the date of this call. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touch-tone phone.
Today from the management side, we have with us Mr. Mahesh Babani, Chairman and Managing Director, R.S. Rajan, President, Mr. Sanjeev Patil, Executive VP, Strategy and Biotechnology, Mr. Narayan Iyer, Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Ashwini Shah, Company Secretary, SGA Investor Relations Advisor. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Mahesh Babani, Chairman and Managing Director of Privi Speciality Chemicals. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good evening to everyone and a warm welcome to Privi's investor call. As you all know, despite the challenging global environment marked by tariff-related geopolitical uncertainties impacting global trade, we are proud to be among the few companies that have continued to demonstrate resilient and robust performance during this period. This performance is driven by our diversified product mix focused on operation excellence and disciplined execution of projects. These factors have enabled us to sustain growth momentum. To sustain and accelerate the growth momentum, we have outlined a clearly defined three-phase expansion roadmap over the next 2-3 years, aligned with our long-term growth vision. These initiatives are expected to enhance our overall capacity by nearly 55% and broaden our specialty products portfolio. As we look ahead, our strategic priorities remain steadfast. A world-class aroma chemical company that leads with purpose, executes with precision, and grows responsibility.
On behalf of the leadership team, I would like to thank all our stakeholders, employees, customers, shareholders, and partners for their continued trust and support. We look forward to sustaining this momentum and creating long-term value as we advance into the next phase of Privi's growth story. In addition, the evolving trade landscape, particularly the strengthening trade arrangements between India, United States, and Europe, present meaningful opportunities for a company like Privi Speciality Chemicals. As global customers increasingly seek reliable, diversified, and compliant supply chains, India's growing integration and developed market positions us favorably. My colleagues Sanjeev and Narayan will take you through this operational, strategic, and financial details. I now hand over to Sanjeev and Narayan to provide updates on our growth plan and operating strategy.
Thank you, sir, and good evening to all. I believe that you have had a chance to go through our financial results and investor presentation which I shared this afternoon. It has been three years, 10 quarters, that we have been delivering upward of 20% EBITDA margin, and in the past three quarters, we have delivered nearly 25% EBITDA margin. Return on equity is also around 20%. Our performance during third quarter attests to the robustness of our business model. The industry, which is largely unaffected by global headwinds, as our products are an integral part of human life. Further, the performance also underscores the benefit of a variety of operational action measures that we have taken by our company. We have maintained profit margins by improving process yields, reducing operating costs, and deriving benefits of economies of scale.
For the past 10 quarters, we have maintained EBITDA margins of over 20% and past three quarters over 25%. Our expansion projects are being implemented as per plan. Civil work for these projects is about halfway done, and detail engineering work is at an advanced stage. These projects will pave the way for meeting our 5K: 1K plan. I would now like to brief you about the joint venture. We are very happy to announce that our joint venture with Givaudan, Prigiv, is progressing well. In the third quarter, Prigiv achieved positive EBITDA, and going forward, in the next financial year, we will achieve net profit. Privi management convinced the joint venture partner, Givaudan, that the debt burden on Prigiv needs to be reduced. Accordingly, Givaudan has agreed to provide non-interest-bearing trade advance, which will significantly reduce the debt burden and, in turn, the interest cost.
While we appreciate and are thankful for this initiative, this step also re-emphasizes Givaudan's commitment to the project. Further, to augment revenues, an investment of INR 50 crore has been planned, which is being funded by the infusion of equity by Privi 51% and Givaudan 49%. These capexes will create capacities to manufacture additional products in Prigiv. The Privi team is also working on scaling up a medium-sized specialty molecule for Prigiv, and the cost for development will be funded by the JV. All in all, Prigiv is on a very good trajectory and will earn benefits in the years to come. Biotechnology: We have been working on growth plans beyond 5K, 1K. We are working on converting biomass, which is bio-waste, into value-added products. We are currently at the kilogram laboratory level in developing these products.
These proprietary technologies will generate substantial intellectual property for the company, which will reflect into intangible assets for the company. With this now, I will hand over and request Mr. Narayan Iyer to share the financial details of the company.
Good evening, and thank you, Sanjeev, and a warm welcome to all of you all. Our performance for the quarter highlights our ability to protect profitability across cycles and reinforces our confidence in the structural strength of our operations. A glimpse of the key highlights for the three-month and nine-month period: We have reported strong growth despite a subdued market, 24% revenue growth reported in both quarter three and nine months for the financial year 2025-2026 on a year-on-year basis. We have delivered 25%+ margins for the third consecutive quarter. EBITDA margins are expected to sustain 20%+, which is driven by operational efficiencies, improved product mix, and increased volume. Our JV with Prigiv is also shaping up well, and we heard Sanjeev giving the wonderful news with regard to the new infusion of equity, and we expect a very meaningful contribution from Prigiv in the coming years.
Our phase I with regard to the Capex on the production capacity expansion is progressing as planned, and it is expected to be commercialized by the end of March, latest by April 26. This shall increase our production capacity from 48,000 metric tons to 54,000 metric tons for all our existing products. Phase II of the Multi-Speciality Aroma Chemicals project is also progressing as planned. The scheme of amalgamation of Privi Fine Sciences Pvt. Ltd. and Privi Biotechnologies Ltd. with Privi Speciality Chemicals Ltd. is under process, and we have filed all the necessary data and filings with both the stock exchanges. Giving a synopsis of the financial numbers, starting with the quarter three for the year 2025-26, the total income that we have achieved during the quarter was INR 611.15 crores, with a growth of 24% on a year-on-year basis.
EBITDA achieved during the sale period was Rs. 158 crores, with a growth of 37% on a year-on-year basis. This EBITDA margin translates to 25.83% for the quarter, and we expect to maintain similar EBITDA margins in the near future. Though profit after tax reported as per financial numbers is around INR 74.85 crores, the actual PAT, if we take the one-time adjustment on account of the Labour Code which was introduced and implemented in this year, and also after adjusting the non-controlling interest, the actual PAT for this particular quarter comes to about INR 82 crores, which is against the INR 44 crores reported for the previous year. Now, coming to the nine-month performance for the ended 31st December 2026, the overall income achieved in this nine months is INR 1,857 crores, which is a growth of about 24% on a year-on-year basis. Really, a remarkable achievement as compared to the times that we are in.
The overall EBITDA achieved during this period is INR 481 crore, which is a growth of about 47% on a year-on-year basis. The EBITDA margins which have been achieved for the nine-month period are 25.9%, and profit after tax post the non-controlling interest as well as the employee cost adjustment is INR 223 crore. So if we add the other two, the overall PAT for the nine-month period comes to about INR 232 crore or so, which shows a remarkable growth of about 84% on a year-on-year basis. Friends and investors, with the planned capacity expansion of existing products and the introduction of new specialty products, we have established a clear roadmap, and we are on track to achieve our vision, which was showcased by our visionary Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Mahesh Babani.
Our vision is INR 5,000 crore in revenue and an EBITDA in excess of INR 1,000 crores, which we are on track to achieve in the next three to four years, which represents a growth of more than 2X from the numbers that we are currently being achieved. On this sound footing, I would pause here and open the floor for questions and answers. Back to the moderator.
Thank you very much. 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 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 Sudhir Bheda from Bheda Family Office. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good afternoon and hearty congratulations to the entire Privi team led by Mr. Mahesh Babani for outstanding performances quarter after quarter.
Good evening, Sudhir.
Yeah, sir, my questions are like the first question. With the EU treaty happening and the U.S. lifting the penalty of 25% tariff, what advantage will we have as a Privi as a company? We are exporting 70% of our product. So that is the first question.
I think we have a clear-cut advantage in the coming years. In fact, we will be able to sell most of the production there. Needless to say, we want to sell it throughout the world because right now we have a clear-cut advantage over China and other countries. As we enjoy 18% duty, it has been confirmed for our product range, and in some cases, it is even zero. So we have a clear-cut advantage, and there's going to be a new thrust to our growth plan.
What would be the volume growth next year with some capacity coming on the stream? What can be the volume growth?
We expect, the way we have planned the capacity and the capacities have increased and looking at our business on hand, we expect about 7% volume growth in the coming financial year. It could be better also, but we will see how things pan out because we are in a space where new projects are starting, and probably it would be between 11% and 15%. Yes.
Right. Now, Mr. Babani, in the opening remarks, you said they agreed to provide INR 150 crore as an interest-free loan. So now, can we expect that consolidated result and the standalone result, there is a gap of INR 30 crore in the nine months, will be bridged, and next year the entire losses will be wiped out?
Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely.
Great. So with the new capacity coming in for the value-added product, can we expect that the value growth could be far higher than the volume growth what you are projecting?
Sudhir Bheda, I would.
Is there any price increase also? That is another follow-up question. Is there any price increase happening for this current calendar year?
Sudhir Bheda, all I can say is we will be able to maintain a healthy margin upwards of 20%. It can be 24%, 23%, sometimes 25% because world markets are very uncertain. Sometimes there's a war, sometimes price increases. But we are quite sure that we will be able to achieve our numbers. We want to be a little cautious on telling you 25% for sure, but it will be upwards of 20% and less than 27%. It will be somewhere in between.
Great. Great. Thank you for the opportunity, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rohit Nagraj from 360 ONE Asset Management. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity, and congrats on your strong set of numbers. First question is on the new product development. So I'm referring to the slide number 13 in our presentation. In terms of individual products, if you can just give us a little more understanding as to which particular applications or any constitution and with geographies. So is it India-centric or maybe EU/US-centric? And if there are any contracts with customers once we commission these specialties so that we have a fair understanding of revenue eligibility. Thank you.
Yep. Thank you, Rohit. So in terms of geographies, we always look at the global market, the world market as our market. So we don't look at a specific geography. And the reason for these products to be formulated in India is that, as you can see, the first two products are Maltol, Ethyl Maltol, and Ethyl Brassylate. We are in China Plus One kind of a strategy where in India, there is no single manufacturer who is making these products. We will be the first company to do that. And the last product that we have is, in fact, a product that will be offered for the first time from a renewable resource. Globally, it would be the first time that a company could offer Cyclopentanone from a renewable resource, and that's the key highlight about this product.
In terms of applications, typically, as we progress towards completion of the project, we seek approvals from the customers, and that's the time when we also get some kind of indicative commitments from our customers. That's the way we have worked all along, and we will continue to work like that.
In fact, Cyclopentanone will be the first time manufactured through a bioroute, renewable raw material. The way forward is going to be very interesting for a product like this.
Yeah, that's interesting to know, sir. Thanks a lot. The second question is we have carved out INR 1,200 crore CapEx plan. We've also given which in all segments and how it will be distributed. If you can just give us the timeline in terms of how this will be split between, say, FY 2026 - FY 2028 or maybe if it is beyond FY 2028, that would be helpful. Thank you.
Rohit, broadly, as you would have seen in the investor presentation also, and we have been talking about it in the last three quarters, the company has outlined close to about INR 1,200 crores of investment in the three-year period. So we have just shared a broad line that we'll do INR 300 crores in phase I, INR 600 crores in phase II, and possibly INR 300 crores in phase III. All this will happen by March 2027, 2028 or so, so that by 2028, 2029, we should be in the position to achieve the INR 5,000 crores of revenue. So that's the ballpark planning that we are talking about.
As we speak today, we have already started and commenced the phase two of expansion, which is the major bulk of the CapEx that we are talking about and which we expect that by Q1 of next year, we should be in a position to complete so that that capacity and facilities are available so that the growth beyond the 54,000 metric tons is available. You can see the company growing at that expected 20% CAGR, which we have achieved over the last 24 years now. Thank you.
Yeah, got that. So just one last clarification of the INR 150 crore provided by Givaudan as an advance. Will it be adjusted towards the revenues that we will be generating out of the JV? Thank you.
Primarily, that's the idea that this will be adjusted over a long-term 10-year period or so so that against whatever other normal laws that are applicable for setting off such advances.
I think we could even try to stretch it to 15 years.
Yeah, yeah, good.
Sure. Thanks a lot for answering all the questions, and all the best, sir. Thank you.
Thank you, Rohit.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Jaiprakash from Korman Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello. Hi.
Yes, sir. Please.
Am I audible?
Yeah, yeah.
My question is, sir, we have this CapEx of INR 1,200 crores. Is there any cap you want to keep on the debt because the debt is already around INR 1,000 crores? Is there any cap you're looking for if you can just elaborate on that or if you want to be debt-free or anything on that side will be helpful?
See, normally, ideally, debt to EBITDA, we always feel it should not be exceeding 2.5x, and we would like to maintain at those levels. But you would have seen our investor presentation and the numbers that currently also our debt to EBITDA is just about around 1.6 or so. So we are well, well within the norms. We would like to maintain. On a healthy front, it will always be less than 2.5x, in fact. But having said that, for the last 2.5 years, we have been at the level between 1.5-2.
Okay. Okay. And that will be the guidance for the future, basically, if you want half-times in the future?
Yes, 2.5x. That's the guideline.
That will be our guidelines.
Okay, sir. Is there any foreign currency benefit which we are getting because of the INR depreciation? Yeah, because that will be helpful to understand.
Could you come again? What sort of benefit did you say?
Foreign currency, basically, INR is depreciating, right? And you have mostly exports.
Yes. Being a net exporter, we always have the benefit when the Indian rupee is depreciating. So definitely, there is a forex income on account of such depreciation.
How much it was in this quarter, sir? Just to understand.
This quarter was about INR 3.5 crores.
Okay. Okay. Got it. Thank you.
Welcome.
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. Congratulations for a good set of numbers. Just one clarification on the capacity side. As we are expecting from 48 to 54, in just slide number 13 and slide number 10, I just wanted to refer that the multi-specialty product, which will be in this 4,800- 5,400, 6,000 capacity, or that would be another capacity? In slide number 10, we have mentioned that the capacity augmentation will be completed by June 30. This is referring to the new multi-specialty product or the existing product which you just have initially mentioned would be ready for commission by April?
Rohit, hi. Good evening. To answer you, this 54,000 does not have any multi-specialty chemical products. What we are talking, 54,000 is all the existing products that we had, which we started last year. The multi-specialty and the specialty products expansion is in the phase two and phase three, where we will be adding close to about 18,000 metric tons going forward at that.
This 18,000 would not be that Privi Fine Sciences, directly from the Privi?
No, no, no. Privi Fine Sciences is different. This is only purely Privi Speciality Chemicals Limited.
Got it. Got it. Once, sir, this Privi Fine Sciences would be merged, I mean, when should we see the merged number in the second half, or would it be possible in the first half of FY 2027 as well?
We expect this entire merger process to take about a year. So maybe if we are really able to expedite it, maybe by October 26, but latest by December 26, we should be in a position to get the order from the NCLT.
Got it. On the safer side, I believe by FY 2028, we will have the merged number.
For sure.
Both suddenly. By 2027, definitely, we'll have.
Okay. Okay. Okay. Got it. Got it. And just on the margin front, I mean, we already have guided. For, I mean, nine months, we already did more than 25%, and we have been positive about 22%-24%. Going forward also, I believe, I mean, still, I feel the guidance which you used to say for 20%-22% or in excess of 20% is much conservative, sir, given all the, I mean, high-margin products or, as you can say, value-added products are the volume condition going forward. So I think still 24%-25% of margin is pretty much achievable. But yes, being on the conservative side, one can state that.
Realistic.
Yeah. I did mention that we will sustain the margins. My answer continues that we will sustain.
But this is a VUCA world. So we are just keeping everything to be on the safer side.
We will try to maintain the margins, Rohit, in short, in the future.
Yeah, we will.
Got it. Got it, sir. Thank you. Thank you. That's it from my side.
Thank you, Rohit. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pankit from Dinero. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Good afternoon, everyone. I think just during December, yearly, we get the visibility from our customers in terms of, say, volumes and pricing for the calendar year, right? If you can help us with how does this year's negotiation or contract look like, especially in terms of pricing and volume?
So obviously, we can't be discussing this in public forum, but we can only state to you that we are on a good wicket. So that's the only summary I can give, that we are on a good wicket, and that's it, so. We can just disclose that our contracts to spot market continue the way it has always been.
70% contract and.
70% contract and 30%.
30% spot.
But any pricing pressure on the 70% contract, which is sort of the contracts which are in place for the current year, any pricing pressure, or it's normal?
We would pass this question. Sorry.
Okay. Secondly, once the merger is, say, done, how should we look at the numbers which can come from, say, Privi Fine Sciences and Privi Biotechnologies?
Yeah. Once the entire consolidation happens, as has been informed and there in public domain, this unit of Privi Fine Sciences can give us optimum capacity and a revenue of about INR 400 crores.
Okay. Got it, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vinay Nagori from Fintegrity Wealth Management. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. First of all, congratulations for the superb numbers.
Thank you.
Just only to understand, with the CBAM norms, Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism in Europe coming live in January 2026, how will it benefit us because we are, as it is, EcoVadis Platinum rating company?
I think we have surely an advantage because all the other countries who produce this have minimum a 6%-9% duty, and we'll be free of duty. So that will make a lot of difference. Yet, we need some clarity on the clarity is not there whether Switzerland is participating in this or no. So once we get that, Switzerland is a major customer for us, but I yet see no challenges in getting to commercialize this at a better level. We'll have certainly advantages as India.
Our platinum rating, of course, will help us.
Our platinum rating is, of course, going to help us. You must have seen that we have also given you in the country, we have been the wealth creator among the top 500 wealth creators. You must have read that statement, right?
Absolutely, sir. Yes. Congratulations on that as well.
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.
Sir, because in the CBAM norm, cross-border adjustment mechanism, they say that the people who are making through petrochemical route or having some good amount of carbon footprint, the companies will be charged some amount. So as it is, our footprint is negligible, and we have platinum rating. So will it help us gain higher market share? That's the question.
100%. You are absolutely right. Today, of late, because of geopolitical disturbances, this has taken a backseat. But in the next two to three years, I can assure you, with carbon footprints like ours, there'll be duty advantages. And with carbon footprints, where there is additional carbon footprints, there'll be extra duty importing into U.S. and Europe. This is certainly the way forward. Right now, the challenges of the geopolitical thing, this has taken a backseat, but I'm sure in one year's time, it will bounce back. You are so right.
Superb. Superb.
Good observation.
Very good observation. Yes, sir.
Just wanted to understand the phase II and phase III CapExes. In phase III, will we see some molecules like Amber Woody Extreme where there are fewer players in the world? Can you help us understand the margin profiles in phase two and phase three?
I have no comments on that, but there'll be interesting molecules because you see, we have reached a stage where all our overheads are covered. So any addition becomes as good as Amber Extreme. Not as good as, but similar experience. Because once we have covered the critical cost, then every addition is an advantage to the company.
Sir, just out of curiosity, wanted to understand now, like the cyclopentanol we are making, is there any such technologies we are working on where we can get our patents and get the patents?
See, we have already this morning review. We know from a similar raw material like cyclopentanol,, we've already developed another molecule. But we have to take one or two years of trials at labs. Now we complete at labs, then at least one year at six months to a year at pilot, then we'll be ready on engineering, and then we launch. So in coming times, our story is not only 5,000. It will become in coming times, before we reach 5,000, we'll announce a 10,000 story also.
Superb. Superb, sir. And sir, last question from my side. So just wanted to understand now, cyclopentanol and maltol will be the initial. Then are we looking for more value-added products from there on, and what kind of products?
Absolutely. The same raw material for maltol, ethyl maltol, and cyclopentanol is a similar raw material. So we are looking at one more product from the same raw material that is furfural. And we've already developed that product. In fact, we also intend to manufacture the same raw material. As soon as we complete this expansion, our next project is going to be manufacturing furfural in-house production. So furfural itself is a value addition of 50%. Our raw material come down, margin will come down to 50%. Right now, we buy furfural at almost INR 100. Our furfural manufacturing cost will be half of that probably in coming years.
Superb. Superb, sir. And just one last question I'll ask. Is it possible for us, since this will be a patent for us, this technology? So once the plant is ready, can we license this technology to others?
Well, like Sanjeev told you, there'll be some intangible assets that will be coming in. Those technologies are more special than these. We could definitely see licensing these technologies to different because it's based all on biomass. Everything, even cyclopentanol, is based on biomass. We will surely get a chance in coming years to franchise these technologies to different parts of the world.
Wow. That's so superb. I'm feeling very proud to be an investor in your company, sir. Thanks a lot.
Thank you, sir. I'm also proud to have you as my investor who respects this. I understand so much. So yeah, of course.
Thank you. A reminder to all participants, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone telephone. The next question is from the line of Mohit Jain from Xponent Tribe. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. I have just one question. I just want to understand what is the current capacity utilization, and once the new line kicks in, how will it transfer in the next year?
Hi. Good evening. Currently, we are at around 85%-90% utilization of the overall capacities we have. Going forward, as we have indicated that we should be touching the 54,000 metric tons. Coming year also, we are looking at some growth to maintain the 20% cargo growth we are talking about. We expect our utilization to be in this range going forward, around the 90% mark also.
Is this including the new CapEx of 6,000 metric tons, 90% utilization?
For the next year, definitely, it will be the 54,000 as a mark. Current year, the capacity is, as we speak, it is around 50,000. By March, we should be completely March or April, we should go to the 54,000 metric tons. So the level we are talking about is on the 48,000 metric tons.
Can you please highlight what will be the capacity utilization for the next year as we are ramping up our new plant?
So as I just indicated, for March 27 also, we expect to maintain about 90% capacity utilization on the increased volume, which is 54,000 metric tons.
Okay, sir.
I would request you to always look at a three-year plan. We will be able to achieve in three years or less, maximum four years, an INR 5,000 crore roadmap with minimum, minimum, minimum 1,000 per hectare.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mann from Growth Fair Ventures. Please go ahead.
Hi, Babani. Good afternoon. Congrats for a very strong set of numbers.
Thank you.
So I was going through the presentation and very interesting slide, slide number 15, right, where you have laid out the roadmap as to how will you reach to this INR 5,000 crore and INR 1,000 crore milestone that you have kept. So one thing that I'm observing is that जो Privi Fine Sciences है, उसका current capacity, we are keeping it constant. Do we foresee that we'll also basically incur some sort of expenditure and expand that capacity also, or how should we think about that?
It will get merged, both the organized. Let Sanjeev answer.
Okay. So it will get merged. So we are not really looking at any separate unit. And just to give you further details, Privi Fine Sciences operates in two locations. One is the location at Lote, which is operational. Second one is in Gujarat. So these plants are essentially for Lote only. So as Babani talked about furfural, backward integration, and all of that, and the further value addition products, so that will all come up in Gujarat. So that's where you will see growth going forward. So it is not covered in any of these numbers, but going forward, there is a lot of scope for us to expand there as well, beyond 5K, 1K story, as we call it also.
See, for a classic example, I'll tell you, right now, we may be only able to produce 500 tons of cyclopentanol. But eventually, in the next two years, we'll look at 5,000. But by the time it is merged, it will come into Privi. So it will be all set of numbers will be together into the first INR 5,000 crore turnover.
Got it. Got it. Second question, Babani ji, I wanted to understand is that the cycle of GTO, right, it has been the worst that in the last 4-5 years after the Russia-Ukraine war. And the value increase has started to happen in GTO as well. So should we also see in your broader product profile, should we see some value gain on like-to-like basis of volume gain that we'll be seeing over a period of the next 3 years? How should we think about it?
So the situation is very dynamic. So what we do is it's always quarter-on-quarter call that we take as to how do we manage GTO as a feedstock. So it's a very dynamic situation. So the moment we find it's a good opportunity, we latch onto that. Otherwise, we have a steady plan where we consume. We don't want to give out all the numbers, but we consume some part of our requirements from GTO. And others, obviously, are from CST because that's our backward integration story. But the GTO prices, if you are monitoring those prices, it's a very dynamic situation. The prices keep going up and down. So we just time it well and capitalize on that.
Got it. Got it. And sir, you said that over a period of time, you want to take cyclopentanol to a scale where your PSS, if it gets merged, the numbers will look much bigger in Privi as well. Could you give some sort of idea? I understood that on a scale, as sir said, INR 400 crore-INR 500 crore [Foreign language] PSS can do. But what would be the margin profile on those additional products if there will be some sort of idea?
It will be similar. So we have guidelines when we develop a product. Our guideline says that we have to be sometimes it's a low value, sometimes it's a high value. But eventually, we have to look at a product mix which gives us anything north of 20. It may be 23, 22, 25. North of 20 only, we make sure then we develop the product. Supposing it has a product of 18% ROE, but we'll make sure that we should have a target to reach 22, 23, 24 by improving our technology, using some catalyst. There's a full-fledged 100-person technical services department which looks at this.
Got it. Got it. Sir, for this INR 1,200 crore of CapEx that we have planned over a period of the next two to three years, do we expect any sort of equity dilution through any route?
Not needed, but let the CFO take a call if needed. Or I think even otherwise, I don't think so we need enough debt. It is below two, so I don't think so we need any equity dilution at the moment. But maybe if the CFO feels he wants to dilute my position, I don't know.
Well, as I already answered, it will be primarily internal accruals and borrowing from the banks. That should suffice us for this 1,200-odd CapEx, in fact.
Got it. Got it. Sir, as Babani ji touched, what were investors probably worried about or were questioning? A good block of promoter that had been sold. So if you would like to place any comments on that particular part.
Sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Mann, but can you please rejoin the queue for follow-up questions?
Yeah. Sure. Sure. Sure.
No, [audio distortion].
I would want to answer this. See, this is for the betterment of the market conditions because there had to be liquidity in the system. So we sold some to a very reputed investor. There were some leakages which disturbed the market, which we couldn't control because it was a deal for very large investor, country's largest investor. But some leakages happened, so it did create some turmoil. But I think it's for the betterment of the investor. What more should a promoter control than 63%? Yeah.
Okay. I hope that answers your query and maybe a lot of queries in the market, in fact.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Punit Jagdish from Umayo Advisors. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good evening, sir. Congratulations on a great set of numbers. I have just two questions. One is, in the slide where we've shown the roadmap to 5K, we talk about new products and other things, but there is no mention of this Givaudan JV. So can we assume that any incremental revenue from the JV is over and above that?
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. We are not in our 5K, 1K story. We are not considered revenues from the joint venture. So that is an additional thing that you have.
That is an additional. Thank you, sir. That's useful. Second is, I mean, investors being investors, we always want Q-o-Q improvement and YoY both at the same time. So could we say that some revenue softness is because this is a typical year-end quarter, and hence, customers like to maintain inventory low, which is why we always have a little soft Q3 and a better Q4? Is that a truth?
Partially, yes. The other reason is since the majority of our products, I mean, business is from export, so often, by about 15th, 16th of December, the markets there do close down. And if you look at the last many years, we have similar patterns. So that's how it happens.
And then November, then what? Thanksgiving. I mean, in November, Thanksgiving, most of the customers go on leave and then come back almost after Christmas. So that's why if you see the last four years in that same thing, last four years always have that set of numbers in the third quarter a little lower than the normal. But as you can see on the slide 16.
Having said that, it is still much better than our Q1 numbers that we have achieved. Q3 is a slight dip as compared to Q2. The most important thing is that we have been able to maintain and improve on the margins as compared to previous year, the first quarter, second quarter. Margins have been steady. That's the plus point that we are talking about, in fact.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Narayan sir, I think as I said, investors being investors, when you set high benchmarks, expectations get higher.
Let us close this one by saying that customer is king, so we have no complaints.
No, no, no.
We always do.
Yeah. Yeah. And thank you, sir. That's all. Just two questions.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Anupam Agarwal from Lucky Investments. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for my question, and congratulations on good numbers, sir. Just one question, if you can give an update on the Corn Cob project, please.
So as we have stated in the, I think, in the presentation, that we are right now processing up to about kilogram level of this corn cob thing, and we are in the process of putting together all the data so that we can create a lot of intellectual property in terms of patents and all that. So that is under progress. And probably over the next 12-18 months' time, as Mr. Babani told you earlier, we will put up a demonstration facility and then a pilot facility, and then it goes into full scale. But right now, we are processing at kilogram levels.
Under which business segment do you classify this, sir? Is it new products or specialty products?
No, no. It is beyond that. It is not into this. So it is a story which is beyond 5K, 1K. So that is something that will happen in the next phase of growth. But technology is developed pretty well. We are confident of scaling up, but we can't bite more than can we chew. So we are biting what we can chew right now. We have enough confidence that this is not a rocket technology. We can do it, but we want to do it a little better. That's why we are trying to better the technology. Right now, we have a technology which is working very well. In this particular thing, people get 10% yield. In our pilot, we have already got 12%. And we hope to do it better.
That's why we are going to wait time, and we are going to develop a better technology and then launch it. Otherwise, some technology we have already developed where we are comfortable.
Got it. So, fair to assume that we'll be able to scale to lab or commercial by the end of 2027?
100%. We'll be able to do it before that, but we'll launch the project only in 2028.
Okay. Do we need additional facility or CapEx for that plan?
Yeah. Surely. Surely. Because that's not—we'll be handling maybe a few thousand tons of cob. And to need that automation of handling so many tons of cob, we need huge space. And it's a great thing to do from because nobody is doing it at the scale where we want to do. We want to do it at 20,000-ton level and scale that I don't think anybody is doing. If anybody is doing, it will be at a few hundred tons. So we want to do it at 20,000-ton level. We've been discussing with engineering companies how to handle this. Right now, there are two sets of chemical engineers. One who is looking at what we'll do in 2027, 2028. So we have already got it on a drawing board. We'll be ready with it before we want to launch it.
Got it. Got it, sir. I'll closely monitor that. Thank you, and I wish you all the best for your 5K and 1K future, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nikhil from Perpetual Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity. I just want to congratulate the whole management on this remarkable turnaround of business over the last three years, managing tough times post the Russia-Ukraine war. So hearty congratulations to the whole team.
Thank you.
Outstanding job. I just had one question. So one of your slides in the presentation mentions your focus is on improvement of gross margin. So can you talk a bit about the levers of the margin improvement going forward?
The improvement in gross margin comes from a variety of inputs. Starting with, first and foremost, you improve the process yields, which means you get a higher quantity of material from the same input, or you require less input for getting the same quantity of material. So that's one of the first things that we work on. And as we always have been saying, we are 100 chemists and chemical engineers who are working constantly on this round the clock, and we keep on looking at all the molecules that we have. So that's the first way in which we improve our efficiencies and improve our cost and the margins. The second and third thing that we do is we also try and reduce the utility consumption. So we try and conserve steam wherever possible every year.
So every year, we have a program where we identify a loophole here and there. And we are also now using now that we have reached a particular scale, we are able to now use certain advanced techniques by which we can also conserve residual steam, which at a smaller scale is difficult. So that also we are working on. We are working on having solar power, which has been reducing our power cost, as you can see that. So these are all the factors which are all leading to operational efficiencies. And we constantly work round the clock. We have a full-fledged department headed by a very experienced chemical engineer and assisted by several younger people. Yeah.
Got it. So does this mean there is still scope of further expansion on gross margins within existing products as you all keep on working? I mean, even on existing molecules to improvise on the process while you all are also looking to get into some more specialty or super specialty products? So can we expect over the next 3-5 years of gross margins to keep on improving from the current level?
It cannot perpetually improve. It will improve by about 100-200 basis points and more. But that's about that because.
Our business is also like yours.
Yeah. But.
Got it. Got it. Thank you. And the rest of my questions have been answered. It's a long call. Yeah. Thank you so much, and congratulations.
Thank you, Nikhil. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rohit Nagraj from 360 ONE. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the follow-up. One bookkeeping question. What was the incentive which was recognized during this quarter and for the first nine months?
Okay. This quarter, we are not recognizing any incentive because state incentive is not something that we keep getting on a monthly basis or so. This was addressed in my last call that this is on an annual basis that we talked about. Overall, the nine-month period, the amount that has been taken in the revenue is close to about INR 10 crore or so.
Right. And for the new project or new CapEx, are we again eligible for any state incentive?
For which project?
For the new CapEx that we are doing, the INR 1,200 crore.
Yeah. Yeah. So this also taking the cue from the earlier investor call. As we had stated, currently, we are only partly on the state incentive maximum benefit that we are talking about by investing this INR 400 crore-INR 500 crore, which is balanced so that we get the ultra-mega status for which we have the time to invest money up to and more than INR 1,500 crore. That is 31st of March, 2027. Once we achieve these numbers, then we are entitled for a full 9% GST benefit for a 20-year period. Currently, this benefit is available for 15 years. So we get that extra five years also. From 15, we go to 20 years. And the benefit also doubles up for all the sales that we do within the state of Maharashtra.
Of course, we have already got the Gujarat incentive for a seven-year period because our investment has been much lower in that particular state. So yes, the good times are definitely there. And as our Prime Minister normally says, [Foreign language] .
Right. Right. And just second clarification, so we have mentioned in slide number one on the CapEx plan slide that the new product facility will come on stream sometime in Q1, FY 2028. I think given that it's a completely new product on a commercial scale, we may have stabilization issues for a quarter or so. And given that there will be capacity which will be optimized for the existing set of products, will FY 2028 also be a transition year in terms of growth, and then FY 2029 will have a material scale-up in terms of revenue growth?
Yes. Absolutely. Well, well read and well understood the whole thing. Yes, correct. 2028, 2029 will be the year where there will be we will catapult into the next level of revenues and growth and everything.
Sure. That's helpful. Thanks a lot and all the best, sir.
We thank you all.
Thank you.
We also give you a newer plan for the future. That's my job.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Due to time constraints, we will take that as a last question for today. I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
Thank you. Thank you, every one of you, for joining on this Privi's call today evening. We appreciate your time and showing interest in our company and our company's financial results and monitoring us very closely. We are very happy with the set of questions and the set of investors posing around on the investor presentation and the financial results that we have declared. In case of any further queries or details, you can get in touch with us or the SGA team. We look forward to meeting all of you over and over in our next few calls. Thank you very much and good day.
Thank you. On behalf of Privi Speciality Chemicals Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.