Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Q3 and 9-month FY25 earnings conference call for J.K. Cement, hosted by PhillipCapital (India) Private Limited. 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 call, please press star and zero. Please note that this call is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Vaibhav Agarwal from PhillipCapital. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Rio. Good evening, everyone. On behalf of PhillipCapital (India) Private Limited, we welcome you to the Q3 and 9-month FY25 call of J.K. Cement Limited. On the call, we have with us Mr. Ajay Kumar Saraogi, Deputy Managing Director and CFO, and Mr. Prashant Seth, Head of Business Information and Investor Relations. I would like to mention, on behalf of J.K. Cement Limited and its management, that certain statements that may be made or discussed on this today's conference call may be forward-looking statements related to future developments and statements which are based on current expectations. These statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other important factors which may cause actual developments and results to differ materially from the statements made. J.K.
Cement Limited and the management of the company assumes no obligation to publicly alter or update these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events or otherwise. I will now hand over the floor to Mr. Saraogi, the manager of J.K. Cement, for the opening remarks, which will be followed by interactive Q&A. Thank you, and over to Mr. Saraogi.
Thank you, Vaibhav. Good evening and welcome to Q3 call. The Board of Directors met on 25th of January to review the working for the quarter ended 31st December 2024 and 9-month period April to December 2024. The major highlights are that in this quarter, our net sales was INR 2,606 crores, as against INR 2,322 crores of previous quarter, an increase of 12%. Though year-on-year, it was lower by 3%, and the revenue from operations was higher by 14% at INR 2,716 crores, as against INR 2,392 crores and INR 2,784 crores last year, which was as compared to year-on-year, it was lower by 2%, and previous quarter, it was higher by 14%. The EBITDA during the quarter was INR 489 crores, as against INR 273 crores, an increase of 79% with the previous quarter, though it was lower by 20% as compared to year-on-year position.
The EBITDA margins during this quarter was 18.7% as compared to 11.7% in the previous quarter and 22.6% previous year. The profit before tax for the quarter was 295 crores, as against 65 crores in the previous quarter and 415 in the previous year. The profit after tax was 205 crores, as against 45 crores, and 289 in the previous year. The EBITDA per ton for the quarter was 1,040, as against 649 per ton in the previous quarter and 1,335 in the previous year. If we see the position for the 9-month period for the standalone, the net sales was 7,493 crores for the 9-month period as compared to 7,707 crores in the previous year. The EBITDA was 1,241 crores, as against 1,458 crores, a drop of 15%. The EBITDA margin for the 9-month period was 16.5% as compared to 18.7% in the previous year, a drop of 13%.
The profit before tax was INR 650 crores, as against INR 850 crores previous year. The EBITDA per ton was INR 910 for the 9-month period, as against 1,091. These are the major highlights. The balance sheet position, the gross debt as of 31st December was INR 4,863 crores, as against INR 4,593 crores as of March. The cash position was INR 1,755 crores, as against INR 2,011 as of last year. The net debt was INR 3,108 crores, as against INR 2,582 crores. The net debt to EBITDA was 1.74, as against 1.29. These are the major highlights. Besides, the board also reviewed an opportunity in the region of J&K and decided to invest in Saifco Cements, which has a capacity of 0.42 million tons, and it is proposed to acquire 60% of the equity of the company.
And the company proposes to enter into the shareholders' agreement and the share subscription agreement, and the deal would, however, be subject to the completion of the due diligence process and some of the conditions precedent, which are likely to get completed within the next three to six months' time. So this has been the major position for this quarter. I'll be pleased to address your queries. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask questions may press star one on a touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking questions. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from Jyoti Gupta from Nirmal Bang. Please go ahead.
Good evening, sir. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Good set of numbers. Two questions, sir. One is, I understand that North has been extremely doing very well, and fourth quarter also seems to remain robust. Two things. One, thus far, since the volume growth has been there, yet the raw material costs come down on a year-over-year basis, has grown, increased on a year-over-year basis, while the power and fuel has declined substantially by 19%. So do you please explain why they're not commensurating with the raw material costs, please? The second thing is, has the plant that we acquired in Odisha stabilized completely, and has it become break-even now? So which means any losses from the East plant in Odisha has no implications on the overall EBITDA. And plus, what is the implication apart from the market share for Saifco?
How do you intend to increase the capacity, and in what phases would you actually increase the capacity for Saifco ?
Thank you. So I'll answer in the power and fuel expenses. If we see they have increased during the quarter as compared to previous quarter. Though the volumes overall, if we see they have been more or less flat, and the clinker production was lower because in the previous quarter also, and in this quarter, there had been some shutdown in the previous quarter, so the power fuel consumption was lower. And in this quarter, we also see a lower fuel pricing as compared to previous quarter.
Okay. And does the plant in the East, so the one we actually acquired?
The one we acquired, we have done some modification in the plant, and that has now been completed. It's at completion stage. I think from next fiscal onwards, we propose that whatever we will be operating the plant at full capacity and would be generating profits. Though in this year, up till now, there has been some losses at Toshali plant, and in the 9-month period, there has been an accumulative loss of about INR 9 crore.
Sir, we see it profitable despite buying clinker from the open market, or have we acquired some reserves over there and we'll be able to?
No, no. We are not buying clinker from the open market. We are getting the limestone. We don't have a long-term limestone arrangement for a higher capacity. Whatever the existing capacity, we are getting the limestone. That agreement is already there. So the clinker is already operating there. So there are certain production inefficiencies and some modernization had to be done. This work is at advanced stage. It is about at the completion stage and will be operative within this quarter. The plant would be normalized, and we are going to launch our brand also in this quarter. So with that, from next year, from post FY25, '26, we see an EBITDA, positive EBITDA from the Toshali plant.
Sir, correct me if I'm wrong, we are not really present in the East market. So there'll be some selling and running expenses which should build up in the fourth quarter and the subsequent one quarter so that we are not.
Sorry, we don't have any big plans because it is a very small region, and we have a small quantity also, so there is no big spend which is of significant nature which needs to be specified and told that we don't have any such plans.
Sir, what about Saifco ? I would like to understand apart from.
Yeah.
Apart from Saifco , sorry.
So, Saifco , this is a plant in Srinagar, and this is a capacity of 0.42 million tons. And presently, the clinker capacity is about 0.26 million tons. And the plant is operating at a lower efficiency. Though it will not be on the number, we can say it is 40%, but in the region, in the valley, we operate the plant only for practically about nine months only. So one, it is already a profitable company. There is an EBITDA margin of about INR 1,500 a ton. But we see that there are immediate opportunities in improving the performance of the plant and to get an increased profitability by another INR 400 a ton. Besides, we have a plan, but we have studied the plant. There is an opportunity to increase the clinker capacity to about 1,000 tons per day with a capital outlay of about INR 50-60 crores.
With that, we would be able to increase the present profitability in that plant, which is around INR 24 crores, which is inclusive of the SGST benefit, which is we get benefit both on central and state. So it's a full exemption. So including that, and which is available up to 2031. So we are hopeful to, one, increase the profitability, take it up to INR 2,000 a ton, and at the same time, increase the production capacity from present level to more than 100% over a period of one, one and a half years. Immediately after taking over within six months, we'll be able to step up to about additional 60%-70%, and then another 60%-70%-50% after we do the CAPEX.
This plant also has a mining reserve spread over 144 hectares and reserves of about 123 million, which gives an opportunity for further expansion. A view would be taken not immediately. Once this is a new region, we will evaluate the region. We will see how the things are politically and otherwise. This is a new region for us. We need to understand the things, and maybe after three to five years, a call may be taken depending upon the situation to further expand there or not.
I agree with you. The other thing is, sir, the INR 174 crores is 60%. So anytime.
Pardon?
I said 60% at 174. So your plans to acquire take full stake of 100% by what?
The value is INR 290 crores, and 60% is INR 174 crores.
Okay. And the refurbishment cost, apart from that, does it include?
Hello?
Hello. So refurbishment cost, sorry, am I breaking?
Refurbishment cost is about INR 60 crores in all, which will be met from the operations of Saifco itself.
Okay. And the 60% will become 100 by when? Or is it going to be 60% for the next two, three years?
No, we do not know about that because there is no such immediate agreement. We will see going forward if it is possible or not. But as of now, it is a joint venture, which is going to continue at 60/40.
Okay. And the profit sharing will also be at 60/40?
Yeah, yeah, of course. That's the equity, so it would naturally be that.
Thank you so much, sir.
Thank you. Before we take the next question, a reminder to participants that you may press star and one to join the question queue. The next question is from Amit Murarka from Axis Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. So great numbers. Congrats on that. But last quarter, you had a lot of one-off costs. Just wanted to confirm that this quarter, was there any one-off in the result, or it's just an absolutely normal quarter now?
Yeah. This has been a more or less normal quarter.
Sure. And on the CAPEX front, what is the number that you're looking at now for 2025, and this is a tentative number for 2026 as well?
CapEx, we have planned around INR 1,900 crores of CapEx in this year. Next year, CapEx would be in the range of.
Sorry, I didn't get the next year number.
Said earlier, we remain as it is, except whether you take it as a part of CapEx or a thing, this INR 175 crores on the Saifco acquisition would be additional.
Yeah. So 1,900 plus the Saifco number.
Saifco number will come actually in the next fiscal year. This is not going to come. The payout will be sometime next fiscal only, beginning next fiscal.
Oh, okay. And what is the number for next year you mentioned?
Next year, INR 1,700 crores plus the Saifco acquisition, like INR 174 crores.
Sure.
So, even if you see now, the INR 1,700 crores will include majority is for the line two, which is about INR 1,400 crores, and INR 300 crores is the normal CAPEX, broadly, the broad numbers if you look at. So that would be the numbers, 14+ 3+ Saifco . These are the numbers.
Understood. Understood. And also, in terms of the future expansion potential that Jaisalmer and Gorakhpur and others, is there any progress either in terms of approvals or anything that you've seen?
So we are just working on all the approvals for Jaisalmer, and we would have a clear picture sometime by June this year.
Okay. Okay. And can you think of when can this tentatively start in terms of CapEx? I mean, can the CapEx start in '26 itself, FY26 itself, or will it?
See, Amit, much would also depend on the scenario. So once we are, yes, as far as this calendar year is concerned, we would first concentrate on completing line two, which is present track, and the expansion work is on track, and we are well set to commission the whole thing within FY26. So there is no, so we are confident on that. There has been some delay in the approvals for the grinding unit, where also we have done the Bhoomi Pujan, and now we expect that to be within 11 to 12 months. So by December this year or January next year, the grinding at Bihar would also be operative. So yes, by that time, once we have all the approvals, then we will take a stock of the market situation and then take a call on the various opportunities which we have and plan accordingly.
Understood. Understood. And lastly, what is the expectation on the Kcal fuel cost now?
See, fuel cost is already down. It is down. It has come down. It was, I think, some of the contracts we had.
INR 100 in this quarter.
But again, there has been some, as we speak, there has been some hardening of some price increases there. We have to wait and watch. But the December quarter was quite good in terms of when we placed orders for Petcoke at very good rates, ranging from between $95-$105. So that has been the, but we do not know going forward what will be the situation as we are already seeing some hardening of the pricing.
Got it. And what was the Kcal number this quarter?
INR 1.50.
Okay. Sure. That's all from my end. Thank you.
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask questions, please press star and one. Next question is from Patanjali Srinivasan from Sundaram Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Am I audible?
Yeah.
Okay. Congrats on a good quarter.
Yeah. Sorry, you have to speak a bit louder. Come closer to the mic, please.
Yeah. Is it better now?
Yeah. Yeah. It's much better now.
Yeah. Congrats on a good set of numbers, sir. I have a couple of questions. One is, what will be the incentive that will be included in our other operating incomes in this quarter?
So, incentive going forward, and even now, you could say broadly around 20. It would be INR 25 crores a month, INR 75 crores per quarter.
Okay, so you have incentive.
It is crores even there, depending upon the volume and other things, some incentives that, so that would be the whole thing. It's around 75 per quarter.
So the additional difference here, in the current quarter, the numbers are INR 110 crores. So what would this be? What would the differential be? What would the nature of it be?
110 crores includes the other operating incomes also. It is not totally the incentive.
Yeah. Yeah. I'm just trying to understand what the difference is.
Yeah. There was some additional incentive on account of the start-up incentive for the Ujjain plant. And now, also, we have got the additional mining approval for the CapEx. So there is some incentive of INR 10-15 crores relating to the previous period, which is accounted for in this quarter.
Got it, sir. And just one more question. The white's realization in the overseas has gone up quite meaningfully. If you would tell me, what was the reason for this?
Pardon? I didn't follow.
The white cement realization in the overseas business has gone up pretty meaningfully. So could you tell me, what is the background to this?
No. It is actually there because it is regarding the Fujairah plant, so Dubai economy is picking up. There is good real estate growth, and that is why we are able to get good results in the UAE operations.
Okay. Okay, sir. Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask questions, please press star and one. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask questions, please press star and one. Next question is from Sumangal Nevatia from Kotak. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. So just want some more color on the white cement and putty market. If you could just share how are the margins and overall demand-supply situation in the domestic market? Is it deteriorating further? Is it stable? Are there any green shoots visible?
The putty market continues to be very, very competitive. Both the Asian Paints and Birla, they are very, very aggressive. As a result, I mean, the prices are under pressure. Asian Paints has already become the largest seller of putty though, and they don't have any manufacturing facility. They are mostly outsourcing, but still, they have the largest market share of putty. Having said so, though the demand is increasing, I mean, there has been a growth in putty demand about 8-9% overall. Yes, the growth of Asian Paints is more than us. We have grown by about 4%, and Asian Paints has grown in double digits. This platform still remains very competitive. There is an absolute growth in volume of the white business, but otherwise, it is very competitive, and it is having an impact on the margins.
But still, we are able to operate at a better margins of ranging between 15%-20% in the white business.
Understood. Understood. That's helpful. Sir, from your commentary on the cost side, as far as variable cost is concerned, is it fair to, I mean, kind of infer that we've kind of all the cost savings largely because of the commodity price deflation is behind us, and from here on, it will basically depend on how coal prices trend?
So yeah, but there are certainly some more opportunities there in terms of we are increasing the share of our green power, and we continue to work on increasing the AFR share. And besides that, we are working on the logistics costs. So these are the areas where still we have got certain benefits which have accrued, but we see some more, as we said, on a journey of about INR 150-INR 200 a ton. We may be closing the year by INR 40-INR 50 rupees realization of that, but some other about INR 75 a ton we will get over a period of time.
Understood. And sir, is it possible to share how are the prices now, say, in January versus the average of 3Q in our key markets, North and Central?
So except I think marginally higher in the month of January on the average of Q3, but this is just the beginning. We have to see how it goes. And though we are hopeful, yes, it could be better than Q3.
Is it similar both in North and Central, the trend?
Yeah, both. But it will depend, see, because when the year-end comes and there is a pressure on volumes by everyone, does it have any impact on the pricing? So all this has to be seen. But as of now, yes.
And sir, if I may just squeeze in one last question. Overall, in our growth, I mean, single-digit, how has been the market growth in both Central and North in the third quarter?
So see, our growth, naturally, most of our growth is coming from the Central markets because our expansion is in the Central market. Our growth in the North is we may be marginally at par or maybe marginally lower than the overall because we did when we had some maintenance, so at that point of time, we did cut down some of the non-trade volumes, but we have been able to maintain our trade share across. But the major growth factors is in Central India, where the major investment is being done. There, definitely, we are growing much more than the market.
Got it. Understood. Thank you, sir, for all the answers. All the best.
Thank you. To ask questions, please press star and one. Next question is from Prateek Kumar from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Yeah. My first question is on incentives. You said INR 75 crores per quarter. So this mandate based on future expansions and ongoing future expansions and ongoing mandate, this number could stay stable for maybe a number of years, like three to five years, or how is the incentive going to pan out?
That issue remains stable because what would happen for North going forward, the North incentive which we are getting for Nimbahera will get tapered off. But however, the Central incentives would increase. So we see in terms of the value, it may remain same, but it could have a lower impact if larger volume numbers here. North is also excluded. South gets excluded. So that may have some mixed variance. Otherwise, we see that about INR 75 crores each quarter we should get as an incentive.
Is there any difference in timing of receipt from various states, governments, for whatever reason? I mean, those states fiscally at this moment?
So timing difference, it takes about a year or so in realization. So what we see, whatever we get accrued in this year, the actual realization is more or less of the amount which accrued last year. So it's a one-year gap. So whatever amount gets accrued this year, we should get the payment in the subsequent year.
Sure. And one more question on your profitability. We have recorded industry leading EBITDA quarter in this quarter. And as you said, there's no specific one-off either in I mean, there's small one-off in incentive budget priorities, but still like INR 1,000 is the unit EBITDA for this quarter. There's some pricing fees in Q4 and operating leverage. Both of these still lead to probably growth to like INR 1,100 or so in next quarter. How do you see profitability in Q4?
So Q4, it will depend upon what is the price increase over Q3. So whatever is the price increase over Q3, I think that much we are confident of getting that incremental EBITDA.
Sure. That is my question. Thank you.
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask questions, please press star and one. Next question is from Naveen Sahadeo from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity, sir.
Am I audible?
Yeah. Yes, please. Naveen, please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you. Sir, a couple of questions. So first of all, paints, if you can just throw some light, how was the performance in this quarter in terms of revenue and EBITDA? I think in past quarters, there have been some losses in the paint business. Does that continue? If you can give some information there, please.
So if we talk about the revenues for the paint, in this quarter, we did about INR 83 crores as the net revenue, which was INR 53 crores in the previous quarter. And year-on-year, it was INR 47 crores. And in the nine-month period, we have done INR 200 crores as against INR 101 crores in the previous year. So we have been able to pepper this business quite well. Yes, even on the profits, it is nothing surprising because this was there that we would establish the brand, and there is the fixed costs also will be on the higher side. In this quarter, there is a loss of INR 17 crores, which is more than what it was in Q2 of INR 11 crores.
In the nine-month period, we have had a loss of INR 38 crores, and we should be ending the year with a loss of approximately 50 crores plus, marginally over 50 crores. This is how we see. That is as per the plan, and we expect the top line to be around INR 275 crores plus. This was the indication what we had given, INR 275-INR 300 crores, despite the fact that this year, there has been a big destruction by launch of Birla Opus. We have been able to do that.
Right. And just to understand this better, this loss of INR 17 crores, is bulk of it in the standalone entity, or it could be in the consolidated entity?
It's in the console.
Okay. So the entire loss is in the consol entity?
Yeah, yeah, because paint loss is not in the standalone entity.
Despite that, I'm saying despite that, the difference between consolidated and standalone remains positive at about INR 2.5 crore EBITDA.
Yeah, this is because of good profit from the Fujairah plant.
Okay. So Fujairah is really doing good then, right?
Yeah, the Fujairah. We had about INR 24 crores as an EBITDA during this quarter. It was the same as previous quarter, and in the nine-month period, we have got about INR 68 crores as EBITDA as compared to 55 in the previous year.
Wonderful. Wonderful. This is good. Great to know that. So from a volume perspective, sorry, I've not done the math, but what is the utilization at UAE now, and what is the scope there? Because if the profitability is good, can we expect further improvement or recovery there?
Oh, see, again, UAE, though. I mean, it is, but it's always it's a very typical market. With now, I mean, going as we foresee going forward next year would become a bit challenging because Asian Paints is planning to set up a white cement plant in the UAE, which should come sometime middle of this year. So not a big capacity, but definitely that is going to have some disruption.
In the UAE market, you're saying?
Not exactly UAE market, but again, this is primarily for self-consumption. They would bring in clinkers from there to India and maybe use for their putty production. So that's the plan. We do not know what is there, if they have some other plans. But the capacity is not big. But having said so, it will have, since we being a major supplier to Asian Paints for their putty, it will have some disruption on the volume numbers for white cement, both in the UAE and India, because we will be losing a big customer.
Is it possible to share how much is the volume quantity?
Close to combined, close to about a lakh tons.
Okay. A lakh tons, 100,000 tons is what we sell to Asian Paints on an annual basis, which can be impacted next year.
Yeah, which can be.
Understood. And.
The 80,000 to 1 lakh tons, that is, but not full year may not be impacted, but partially yes.
So fair point. The market is also growing, so that is also.
Yeah, so we have been working out on other avenues. As we said, even for Fujairah, we have a backup plant. We introduced Dry Mix mortars. We had Africa as a growth area, so all that working, which we had done now, means it is giving some positive results, so Africa is now turning into black, and even the Dry Mix mortar is giving us profits, and we are trying to look at other avenues for white cement in the region.
Understood.
Yes. So when I'm saying further, though, capacity utilization is as for overall capacity utilization, it's about 85%. But so the plant would definitely be operating around 75% plus, including clinker and cement.
Understood. Understood. And on the grey cement bit, are we likely to face any volume disruptions in the UP region because of the ongoing Kumbh Mela and maybe one of our plants right being there? So do we see any logistic issues or some hit on volumes because of this? Just wanted to get the thing. Thanks.
Not much. It's not affecting.
Not affecting as such.
Yeah. It's not significant as such.
Understood.
That way, Delhi will have some elections. It's not any major disruption.
Understood. Understood. That's helpful. And last question, was there any change in the mix in the quarter sequentially, as in trade versus non-trade for the March quarter, or it was broadly the same?
No, it is. Trade was 66% in this quarter. Last quarter, it was 65%.
Oh, it improved. Okay. That's all I wanted to.
One more thing. We have been able to improve upon our premium products. So this quarter had the highest percentage of premium products.
Understood. Understood. That's very helpful. Thank you so much.
Thank you. To ask questions, please press star and one. Next question is from Ritesh Shah from Investec. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, I just wanted some clarity on the J&K venture. Sir, I was just looking at the number of limestone leases in the state. There are several of them, including several in the names of Mr. Tramboo. I think he is a key owner from where we are looking at the asset, looking to buy the asset from. So the question is, what is the sort of competitive intensity you look in the region, and how was it that we were able to pick this asset and nobody else in the industry?
That I will not know. I mean, see, we have been looking at J&K for some time, two, three years. So we've been seeing what sort of opportunity is there. There was some time divestment of J&K Cements also was on the cards. And then we had some friends in the region, and so they connected us. Maybe then we had a dialogue because nobody is ready to divest when they have been there. I think cement, all the players are there since late 1990s, mid-1990s. Everybody came to set up the plant during that period. And they have a good incentive package. And so everybody is not they're not too heads or anything which needs the diversification. So we had some meetings, and we could convince them that it would be a win-win position.
But definitely, when we started a dialogue for a 100% acquisition, which was not at all acceptable. So then we came to that it could be a good partnership in the interest of both the parties. And this is how we got into this arrangement.
Sure. And so there are multiple limestone leases across different districts over there. Do you think after your move, the competition in the region will actually increase?
I don't think so. See, again, there are five, six, seven, eight plants over there in the region with supply. I mean, the limestone leases, I mean, in our case also, the limestone lease earlier, the land or the mining lease had to be a company could not own those mining leases. So they were allotted in the name of individuals, and they used to lease it out to the company, and now the government has relaxed that. So as a part, in our case in particular, the mining lease will get transferred in name of the company. So though, I mean, the extension is already there. That's a process. So it will be extended up to 2046, and at the same time, as a next step, we propose to get the lease transferred in the name of the company.
Sure, sir. And sir, can you detail on the sort of incentives that you are expecting? And we have indicated some incremental CAPEX over there. Is it contingent to the state's industrial policy or the fiscal incentives? And what sort of numbers we are looking at over there?
They already have this. Saifco has an incentive which is available until 2031. It's a 100% exemption of SGST and GST, which is around INR 800 a ton if you convert that into the per ton analysis. It has an impact of about INR 800-INR 900 a ton. This will continue until 2031. There are no other stipulations in the exemption which is available to Saifco . I'm not aware of any other plant. But for SAFCO, it is there. This investment, which is being done 60 crores, is only being done with a view to increase. I mean, see, because that market is a 100% OPC market. The grinding capacity is 0.4. What we lack is clinker.
There is a scope in modifying the kiln production from the present about 750-780 tons per day to 2,000 tons per day. With more of our technical experience and other things, we would be in a position to increase the productivity of the kiln.
Sure. And sir, anything on the tax rates?
Pardon?
Anything on the tax rates?
Tax rate, I mean, this is normal. There's no special, I mean, there's no incentive on the tax rate.
Accumulated losses, anything?
Yeah. There are some accumulated losses. So that we are evaluating as a part of. I don't have them because that is a part of the process of the whole due diligence. So I would not be able to until the whole due diligence is done regarding the tax, which is a part of the process. We'll not know what other tax incentives, which are accumulated losses, are there as per the assessment, what opportunities are there over there.
Sure. So this is helpful.
That is a work in progress.
Correct. And sir, my second question was on Toshali. Sir, given, I'm not sure whether we still have clarity on the limestone over there. If at all, if we get into an MOU, how much is the rupees per ton, including royalty that we'll have to pay to the government? Sir, is there any clarity on that as yet? And if not, then why are we even considering Toshali?
Oh, no. Because, again, there is definitely an opportunity available. We are still in dialogue with the government, and we have not got a rejection. They are still considering our proposition. So we are hopeful. Two, even going forward, we could see in the vicinity and some of the mining may come for auction. So if that comes into place and we take a mine and auction, so that will become, again, a business case for us.
Right. But sir, historically, the way in which we have operated, we have been very, very conscious on the opex side. If it is through auction, it will become expensive. I'm not sure if we do an MOU whether it will be below INR 300 per ton of limestone. So is it optimal from an ROC standpoint, or is it more like regional diversification? It's more of a strategic move that we are looking at?
See, going forward, auction mines or limestone mines are becoming for renewal. So post-2030, most of the cement which would be produced would be from the mines which have been already reauctioned, I mean, or from auction mines. So going forward, there would be nothing available. Very few mining areas would be available where you have limestone where there is no premium has been paid. We have to see everything in the long-term, medium and long-term, not in the short-term. In any case, even if everything goes well with the mining lease and we get the mining lease allotted at Toshali, the plant would not come into operation before 2028.
Sir, sir, if I may squeeze one industry-level question, you did indicate that post-2030, most of the leases which will be used will be under auction leases. Sir, possibly, based on your assessment, if you could highlight which region will see the maximum cost of raw material inflation, is it central, north, south? How are you looking at it, sir?
The older plants will have more, I mean, see, the older the plants, then leases will get expired. The newer plants will have some more years to come, let's say. The plants we started, all capacity, all the mining leases which were allotted in the '80s will come for renewal.
Right. So sir, from that perspective.
Yeah.
So from that perspective, we will be very well placed in Central India, but not so much in North India.
Yeah. Yeah. Some of our mines are coming for renewal in 2030, 2032, 2035. So that is there. So we have taken some that is definitely there. It is there for all established players.
Thank you. I'll find a reminder to participants for questions, and no further reminders will be announced. The next question is from Shravan Shah from Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Most of the questions have been answered. A couple of just a clarification or a data points. Sir, first, this clinker line, the second line and the six MTPA, so you mentioned out of that, just Bihar likely to be either max to max by January it will start, and rest all will start by this December end.
Yeah. Yeah. We see the clinkerization and the other two modifications in the existing grinding units at Panna, Hamirpur, and Prayagraj to get done in this year.
Okay. Okay. Got it. Second, sir, in terms of the cost reduction, you mentioned, correct me if I'm wrong, that in the fourth quarter, you are looking for the INR 40, INR 50 kind of a cost reduction and another INR 75 in the next year.
No, no. Sorry, sorry. I said, cumulatively, what we have been doing, we would see some savings have already accrued by March. So some savings are there already. So this could be INR 40, INR 50 by the close of the quarter, the cumulative savings.
Okay. And the next year?
It is not an incremental saving in this quarter.
Okay. Got it. And then for incrementally next year, how one can look at in terms of cost savings?
Yeah. Maybe over a period of time, we could definitely see another INR 50 coming in next year.
Okay. Got it. Second, sir, just to get a number for nine months, how much consolidated CapEx we have already done?
Nine months, we have already done CapEx of about INR 800 crores. Sorry, around INR 1,400 crores.
Okay. 1,400 crores. And the incentives, though you have mentioned that this quarter was 10-15 crore extra. So is it fair that for this quarter, we have booked around 85-90-odd crore incentive?
Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. Got it. And sir, fuel mix for this quarter, how much Petcoke would be?
Petcoke is normally by heat around 75%. See, petcoke is higher in case of the north and the southern plants. While in case of these central plant, it is lower where domestic fuel is a major fuel and petcoke is around 25%-30%.
Okay. Okay. And sir, in the fourth quarter, at grey cement, I'm just trying to understand how much growth one can look at for industry where we operate or maybe for us, 9%-10% kind of a growth one can assume?
Yeah. See, we are targeting, but I think we are confident that we could get about 7-8%.
Okay. Got it. And for paints, sir, whatever the FY 2026 and 2027 revenue last time, whatever you have spoken, INR 400-450 crore and INR 600 crore. So that remains intact?
Yeah. So, we should, yes. I think that 450 and 600 still remains intact, and we are working towards that.
In terms of EBITDA break-even by FY27 only, we will be able to do it.
FY 27 should be EBITDA break-even.
Okay. Got it, and lastly, sir, ready mix for this quarter would be how much? Same 91%?
Yeah. Road was 91%.
Okay. Okay. Got it, sir. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you. Next question is from Uttam Kumar Srimal from Axis Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, sir. Thanks for the opportunity and congratulations on a good set of numbers. Sir, my question pertains to premium cement. You mentioned about 16%. Sir, where do you see premium cement moving ahead in the next two years?
So we are working next two years, definitely, we should be able to have 20% plus.
Okay. And sir, this Premium Cement trade is coming more from the central region?
So, see, today maximum it is in the south plant. But as we are, central region is a new market which we are entering as we are expanding the central region. That is why it's taking some time. So yes, we would be expanding in the northern as well as central regions.
Okay. And sir, lastly, what would be our volume growth guidance for FY 26?
FY 26 should be around 10% definitely from exit of FY 25.
Okay. Okay, then that's all from my side and all the best to you.
Thank you. We take the last question from Vignesh Iyer from Sequent Investments . Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Just want to understand how is the market dynamics, sir, in the region? Any competition from the large players?
So the competition from the large players remains as it was over the previous quarter. There has been no new large player, anything which is having any significant impact.
So, is there any pricing impact because of these players' aggressive or how is the?
No, not. I mean, I will not say as of now, anything. I mean, if there is anything, we'll let you know. But as of now, it isn't.
Okay. So thank you. Perfect commentary.
Thank you very much. That was the last question. I would now like to hand the conference back to Mr. Vaibhav Agarwal for closing comments.
Yeah. Thank you. On behalf of PhillipCapital (India) Private Limited, I would like to thank the management, J.K. Cement, for the call and many thanks for joining the call. Thank you very much, sir. I will not end the call. Thank you.
Thank you, Vaibhav. Thank you, everyone, for joining.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. With that, we conclude the conference. Thank you for joining us, ladies and gentlemen. You may now disconnect your lines.