We welcome you all to this fiscal year 2025 and results, and also talk about the future and scenarios and answer all your questions in person. Welcome all of you. Actually, the range is so high and so big, so we opted for a bigger hall that everybody can see the complete range of product lines. We are also having a dealer meet thereafter from 8:00 P.M. in the same hall for Mumbai. This year has been a very challenging year, and these are the questions which I have been answering from morning. The polymer industry, especially everyone, had a big challenging year, and PVC was the most challenging polymer where price challenge was there. Following the price challenge, there was a growth challenge. In this scenario, as you can see, all the four quarters, we have been giving very good results.
The growth has been minuscule, but the margins have been well maintained, improved. From this, you can see many questions were asked about our CPVC growth. We do not want to quantify; people have quantified their numbers in 10%, 20%, above 20%. We do not want to quantify the numbers. If you can see the numbers and see the margins, obviously the market share and the growth of the value-added products have gone up. CPVC range is one of the value-added products, as well as the new products. Now, if people have quantified the numbers at a huge growth, we do not see any value or quantified numbers which reflect in a value addition. In short, I am saying that we have made growth in our core product lines and the new product lines. We have done this growth with healthy margins.
As usual, I don't want to go into a presentation or what is the CapEx cycles because this will be in value terms. Mr. Savlani will take you through these numbers. Every plant, there is a balance of expansion going on. New plants, especially the Hyderabad plant, is fully operational. In this year, we'll have the full range of products in pipes made from Hyderabad plant. The Kanpur plant is on the verge of completion in the construction segment, and machines will start coming from next quarter. In the third quarter, the Kanpur plant will be operational, and by the year end, it will be fully operational. We have started fitting operation in south, also in Rajasthan, and we will be shortly starting fitting operation also in east in Odisha. These are also the expansion plants which are going on.
We can easily cater to those market pipes as well as fittings. Our new range of valves, especially the ball valves, is complete. We are adding butterfly valves and other types of industrial and the valves which are used in plumbing segment. This range of valves, which are specialized products, will be completed by this fiscal year end. We are also adding machines in our silent pipe. We have added the capacity; almost it has been doubled, even more than doubled. Our Drain Pro, which is doing excellently well, also the capacity has been increased. We are the first company in India and made in India who has got complete approval of its pipe and the fittings for UL approval for pipes and fittings for the fire application. That is a big achievement for us.
We are also getting our PEX aluminum PEX machine around Diwali, and we will be the first company to start advanced range of PEX aluminum PEX from India. This is a state-of-the-art machine, a very fast machine, and it will be giving the best quality of the composite pipe. Coming to the growth of the value-added products as well as the channel drains, surface drains, which is doing excellently well for Astral. We have been continuing to sell our value-added products and range to many prestigious projects in India. If I go to the bathware segment, the bathware segment has given a growth of 50% in this year, and it is close to INR 130 crore. Still, we are not at break even, but the growth is encouraging.
The market is giving a good response to our products, and all our distributors, most of our distributors have started selling bathware and ceramicware products from their end, which is also an addition for them for one more range of sales from Astral. Coming to adhesive, adhesive has done excellently well in India, both growth and margin-wise. More discussion on adhesive, especially the growth and the margin, will happen as we have our question answer. The plant which we have put in the hedge is fully operational for two chemistries, epoxy and white glue. We are adding two more plants at the hedge in this fiscal and next fiscal to complete many of our chemistries which will be made from the plant at the hedge. Solvent cement, the plant work has commissioned.
We are coming up with the fully automatic solvent cement, that is the pipe joining chemical plant at Dahej. We will add some capacities for some other chemistries in coming year at Dahej. Dahej will be fully operational, as well as Dahej will be almost packed up with all these adhesive capacities. We have also added machines to make our own certain products at Kanpur. We are making our own tapes, the electric tape and the Teflon tape at Kanpur. We have got a good response of export of Teflon tape in the us because it is approved by many buyers in the us and will be shortly starting exports of Teflon tape from our plant as well as sell in the Indian market.
There has been a challenging time in adhesives in the U.K., and I know that there will be many questions on that. If you see today also, many questions were asked that, "What would you do with the U.K.? Why don't you—what is your thought on the U.K.? Why don't you think of exiting the U.K.?" Now that baby has been with us for 10 years. This is the 11th or 12th year. We bought it at a level of INR 60 crore- INR 70 crore turnover, which has reached almost INR 400 crore , INR 380 crore . In one year, there is nothing wrong which has happened. Let me be very frank. There are various corrections which have to be taken place right from operations to many of these corrections. There are some alterations coming in next two to three quarters, especially from one quarter onwards.
You will see the results as well as correction, as well as the positive results of growth and value and bottom line improvement. There is nothing of worry in any of these segments. There are cycles. In the past, when we bought adhesive, we had a cycle for two years where things dipped down and again went up. It is very much under our radar and lens, and we have taken multiple measures in the U.S., U.K., which will be reflected in next two quarters in the way of results. I do not want to deep dive and tell you what measures we have taken, but as we see the correction, we will always discuss with you. Secondly, the biggest benefit which we get from the U.K. and us plant is a lot of chemistries have come from there.
Our chemistry for silicones, our chemistry for certain adhesives, and many of these chemistries have come from there. Hybrids. We have taken a chemistry in the U.K. where we have gone four steps backward in hybrids, which will improve the margin of the U.K. as well as India. We are coming up with a high-tech machine with the help of U.S., U.K. technologists and the R&D people that will be the first one making 100 colors of different cartridges, colored silicone first time in India. There will be 100 different colors of silicones offered in the market by Astral. There are a lot of positive things. There is nothing great about negative. Yeah, there is great about the growth and margin which will be addressed very diligently in this year.
Now, coming to the segment of paint, because again, paint is a segment where a lot of these worries are there, and I can understand. If you see the other way, we are very minuscule in paint. Again, I want to tell everyone that paint was specifically taken to increase the adhesive business also, to be in the paint business also, and the industrial paint business. Especially the construction chemical business can also be increased by the paint business. We have not put any CapEx behind the paint business. When we acquired last year also, we said that the capacity is enough, and we will not be doing any CapEx, and which is there. Second, last year, the worry was about graining the money. Paint has a positive EBITDA. EBITDA is low, but nothing minus negative. The growth is low. The reasons of two things.
After last March, we took over. When we took over 80%, we took over the control of the paint business. Till then, two quarters went in multiple corrections, and the same continued. Last quarter, we did a good growth in paint, and we continued to do good growth in paint. As the volumes increase, obviously the margins will improve. We had launched paint in last first and second quarter in Gujarat. In many cities now, Astral Paint has started selling, moving good, and growing. Similarly, we have now launched the paint in Rajasthan. We have also started doing good in Rajasthan. Phase-wise, we'll be opening one by one state for Astral Paints, and south will continue to sell Gem Paints. If you have any questions, when you have questions, we'll be surely answering these questions on things. OPVC. We are there in OPVC.
Many, many questions came that OPVC, what is your technology? Nobody questioned us about us when we went from our own silent pipe from Bavin to our technology. It is proven. We have so many products where Astral has made products, the best products and the proven technology. We have brought this technology from India, working closely with a machine manufacturer in India. It is a proven technology, and we have made our product, and ISI has approved the product. The basic thing is approval by ISI. There are companies from Spain, there are companies from abroad, there are companies who are advocating that the technology is issues, but there are no issues of technology, no issues of machine, and everything is ISI approved. We have actually got a first order of INR 18 crore of OPVC, which we have started supplying.
We are getting approval state by state for this product. We just acquired Al-Aziz. The rationale behind acquiring Al-Aziz was, one, it is a right value. Second is PEPP, which was not there in our product line, and we needed to go in this product line. They had a complete range of fitting. If we go with our own plant to make this fitting, it will take us five to six years with making it and approving it. They also have gas fittings which are approved by German authority for the use of gas application lines. They have also fittings which can be used for the water lines, Del Senal project, and various projects, and also for the industrial piping systems. We are getting four machines, three are coming, and one more will come later on for making PE and PP pipes in our plants.
The rationale behind Al-Aziz was to get into this product line with a complete range of products with pipe as well as fittings. PTMT also, we have started a good response, and you can see the range here. I think we are covering all the products. We are covering all the range. I would be more happy to answer a lot of queries I think you have in mind because of the challenging year which passed through, the businesses which we have extended, especially the paint, the bathware business, and the new polymer businesses which we have entered into. Thank you everyone for coming here. Thank you for attending this one more analyst meet after the fiscal year end. If you have more questions, we will be available.
Kairav is here, my elder son, Hiranand Bhai, our Director and CFO, and Saumya is here, who is the younger son. Thank you very much, all of you. Our team is here also to answer your questions. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Thank you.
As a leading building materials company,
we are running a slow today so that we are making the speeches short and more focused on the Q&A session.
As a leading building materials company, Astral's journey this year was defined by resilience, rising stronger with every challenge. Since 1996, Astral has grown into one of India's fastest-growing building materials companies. We operate across nine high-growth categories. Innovation and quality have always been part of who we are.
From introducing CPVC pipes to India for the first time to becoming one of the country's leading building materials companies, Astral has always led the way with breakthrough innovations, earning us industry-wide awards and recognitions. Our journey towards superior performance is driven by our focus on manufacturing excellence and widespread reach, with offices, depots, and plants spread across India. Our plumbing business continues to grow with scale and competence, with manufacturing units across the country serving diverse markets. We are also setting up a new facility in Kanpur, strengthening our presence further. Our adhesives and paints businesses also have a strong manufacturing footprint in India. Astral's nationwide network, which has 17 offices, 52 depots, and 24 manufacturing units, ensures seamless operations and reach across the country, across our business verticals. From residential to commercial spaces, Astral Pipes delivers trusted piping solutions for various applications.
The latest products from our range are specialized fittings like electrofusion fittings, PPR pipe fittings, compression fittings, and sewage treatment plant. The portfolio further extends to a wide range of water tanks. This year, Astral Bathware surged ahead, crossing the INR 100 crore mark, featuring made-in-India faucets and sanitaryware collections like Celestia, Imperial, Premiere, and Gloria, with a strong focus on quality and after-sales services. Our other products include PTMT bath series. For Astral Adhesives, our new product strategy focuses on deeper rural market penetration across the country. This approach is already translating into stronger business visibility, growth, and improved business prospects across regions. Our adhesives business is a growing force, trusted by professionals and households alike. Our portfolio features a diverse range of products engineered for strength and durability, tailored to meet the needs of various applications.
Coming to the paints business, Gem Paints operates in the southern Indian markets just like it used to. Astral Paints is steadily building its presence in Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. Through focused brand building and impactful communication across the categories, Astral has grown into a trusted name in households across India. Beyond business, we stay rooted in responsibility, driving change through meaningful CSR and sustainability efforts. Looking back, resilience helped us navigate a demanding year. Looking ahead, we move forward with optimism and focus, exploring new possibilities, staying rooted in our core values.
Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the Astral English Meet. Results are in front of you, so I will not going to discuss much into individual numbers. There are a few slides which we are going to present you, and then we will be giving maximum time to the question-answer session.
This is the consolidated full year's performance. You can see the last five year revenue growth CAGR is 16.5%. Similarly, EBITDA growth is 10.48%. PBT is 7.15%. PBT is mainly low because we have taken a lot of hit on the amortization of the new businesses which we acquired. To take the tax advantage, we have amortized a lot of things. Because of that, these PBT numbers are low. Otherwise, cash profit, you will see it is more or less similar to the EBITDA level. This is the working capital cycle. Particularly in the month of March, the rupee appreciated. Because of that, we paid off a lot of creditors early to take the advantage of currency. Because of that, the creditor levels have gone down.
Otherwise, you see that the debtor days and inventory days are more or less in the similar line, two-three days here and there in there. Again, that has come down in the month of April. This is the cash position. Right now, we are sitting on the net cash of INR 464 crore. This is the revenue breakup of our pipe. Plumbing is still pipe business is contributing 72%, and paint and adhesive is contributing 28%. In the coming time, you will see that this ratio will be little toward this paint and adhesive side because the base is very low. This is the capacity chart. You can see that the capacity we have continuously growing. Though we might not be required that much of capacity, still we are continuously pumping money for the CapEx.
The reason is very simple that we wanted to decentralize our units, and we wanted to be a pan-India present, considering our vision for the next 10 to 15 years. Because if we will not be decentralizing our unit, then day by day, if you are seeing the way polymer prices are coming down, the element of freight cost is increasing in terms of percentage. In that case, if more and more you are decentralized, you will be getting the advantage of the logistic cost. Considering that in mind, we are continuously adding the capacity. Though you might be seeing our average utilization will be maybe 55% to 65% kind of range. I think once this our decentralization portion will be over, you will see there will be a sizable improvement into that.
Last two years alone, we have pumped in close to about INR 1,000 crore into this expansion activity, particularly CapEx. That benefit you are going to get in the next coming five years' time. Capacity building has taken place at 10.3%, while sales is happening at 13.55% CAGR. Continuously, capacity utilization is improving, but still it is not up to the mark because we are decentralizing that thing. This is the plumbing business working capital cycle. Similar graph because here mainly the creditor payoff was taken place in plumbing business only. Because of that, you are seeing that the net working capital days have increased. That has again come down in the month of May. Nothing to worry on that side. That was because of taking the advantage of the currency.
This is the graph which is very important to understand, that PVC price graph. You can see that the PVC is continuously falling one-way journey. Nowhere you will see, except last year in April, May, there was a spike in PVC. That is why you see in the last year, first quarter, the volume growth across the industries were very good. We were also close to about 16% volume growth. Then again, it started the southward journey. This is the continuous falling graph. Last year alone, the polymer price went down by 18%. Now, in spite of fall in 18%, you can see that in this environment also, Astral is the only company in the country which has improved the gross profit margin. We have improved the GP by 1%, and we have maintained our EBITDA.
This is what the power of the brand, I can say, Astral in the market, that people are respecting the brand and people are ready to pay us for the quality. Many players have tried a lot of things by undercutting the value and throwing the material in the market. After that also, they were not able to grow their volumes. Customer understand that thing, that quality player always going to get the premium. That is what we are always communicating, that we believe in consistency. We do not want jigjag kind of growth also. We want to maintain the consistency in terms of growth also, in terms of margins also. That is what we are doing right now. A lot of pressures were there on us also that your competitors are selling at this price, and now they all are suffering.
Many projects they are getting blacklisted also. We don't want to give anybody's name, but everybody has started facing this problem in the market. This is a graph of paint and adhesive. Last five year growth, you can see it is 21.23%. That's not the correct graph because paint was the addition at a later stage. May not be the right graph. EBITDA growth is 8.55%. PBT, again, we have taken a lot of amortization. That's why it is showing very low. Last three years, if you see that a lot of corrections we have done, new addition is taking place for dealers and that thing. Because of that, EBITDA is under pressure, particularly in the paint business.
Now I think once our volume will start picking up from this year itself, you will see that there will be a lot of improvement into this also. As far as the adhesive is concerned, I think adhesive consistently we are growing at a 17%-18% for the last 11 years from where we have started our journey in 2014. When we started that time, our EBITDA percentage was just 6%. Now from 6% journey to this year full year number, we are close to 17%. I am not talking about the last quarter where we had close to about 19% EBITDA, but that was the peak quarter. Because of that, it was high. Otherwise, on a full year basis also, we were close to about 17%. Adhesive business of India is continuously doing well.
Even U.K. was also doing great for us because we are having access to the new technology from the U.K., and we are getting a lot of inputs from our U.K. unit. It is unfortunate that last year was the abnormal year for the U.K. company. Otherwise, last 10 years, we have seen a good number. We started journey from almost INR 70 crore, INR 80 crore top line in U.K. And from INR 80 crore top line to this year, we closed with INR 346 crore. So almost you can say 3x, more than 3x in the span of just 10 years. U.K. has also delivered a good number. This was the only exceptional year. We are confident that we will be delivering the good number from the U.K. also from the current year itself. This is a very small letter.
We are going to share this presentation to you. You can go through that also. What is the industry outlook, what we are seeing? We are of the view that the pricing is going to remain volatile. Just now, we were coming to a year in between. We got the message that the Supreme Court has given the verdict that whatever the High Court has given the verdict in favor of Epigrel to stop the few grades in PVC against the anti-dumping duty, that also they have scrapped. They have said that you can put the anti-dumping duty on the entire PVC basket. So sooner or later, see, we are very difficult to predict that date. I think judiciary is seriously looking into that because a lot of injury has taken place to our local manufacturer of PVC. They are bleeding right now.
Sooner or later, anti-dumping duty will be there. How much will be there? Everything is already there in the system. You can see all this number. We are of the view that once that will take place, then there is a high probability that whatever the destocking has taken place in the system, that will be again the normalized thing. If the price rise will be steep, then in that case, dealer and distributor will be overbought. I can give you an example that normally distributor is sitting between three to four week inventory. Similarly, dealer is also somewhere between three to four week inventory. Now, in this scenario, current situation, many of them are even less than one week inventory. That kind of the scenario on the ground.
Now, if the price rise takes place steep, 15%, 10%, something like that, heavily price rise will be there. They will not be coming to the normal inventory of three, four week. They may extra bought, and they will be on six, seven week inventory also. Because ultimately, it is nothing but it's an arbitrage. Because they know that we are going to spend 9% for rate of interest. And here we are getting 10% or 8% kind of price rise. There will be going to be a big gain. Because of that, they normally keep the higher inventory. One spike can come by way of, you can say, the pent-up demand kind of things because of the restocking in the near future. Secondly, serious talk is going on in the country for the BIS implementation also.
We all know that the BIS is good for the industry because with that, a lot of standardized norms will be there. Today, what we are facing, the biggest problem is the anti-dumping duty on PVC, on the, sorry, dumping of the PVC in our country. Mainly because of the carbide-based PVC, which is not a good polymer. But because it is cheap, most of the manufacturers are moving that direction because of the competition. Particularly agri kind of pipe and all this thing, quality does not play that important. What quality has an importance into the plumbing side of the category. Plumbing, you need genuinely a good quality. There you cannot use the carbide-based PVC also. Many manufacturers are moving to that direction, and that is creating a problem.
Once this BIS will be there on the card, this all carbide-based PVC will go away from the system. Then the polymer prices will go up also. A lot of unorganized player, which they are using this cheaper PVC, that will also stop. That is going to shift the business from unorganized to organized side. The time is the only answer to all this thing. There are high probability that is going to happen once this BIS standard will be implemented. It will take some time, not necessary that near term it is going to come. Sooner or later, that will come because talk is going on very seriously at the government level. Government spending, we all know that post-election it came down substantially. That has also created a lot of problem in the industry.
That is the reason you see that a lot of infrastructure-related demand came down substantially and created a lot of issue into the liquidity side also. Many contractors were having stuck because their dues were there with the government, maybe state government or maybe central government. Because of that, a lot of liquidity-related challenge came into the building material industry. Still that industry is passing through that phase. Sooner or later, we are expecting now payment has already started. Hopefully in a near term, that will be sorted out. Then the new demand will come from the government side that will drive the growth into the infrastructure side also. Anti-dumping, we already discussed that on CPVC, it has already been announced and it is extended up to fiscal year 2029. Till fiscal year 2029, anti-dumping duty will be there on the CPVC. Restocking, we already discussed.
Okay, I think we covered all this point. What will be the revenue driver for Astral per se? This we discussed about the industry thing. The biggest, I think, growth driver which we are seeing is that recently we have opened up the three new plants. One was Guwahati, secondly was in Bhubaneswar, and third in Hyderabad. All these three plants are operational now. They are going to give us the sizably good revenue in the coming time. We are of the view that initial stage, always the low capacity utilization will be there. We have to create a dealer and distributor network. Now that is happening. Once that will be there, then these plants' utilization will improve substantially. That is going to drive the business to the next level because a lot of saving is there into the logistic cost.
That is going to help us in a big way in the coming time. Secondly, our focus is continuously increasing the value-added product. Value-added product means whatever the normal our EBITDA margins are there, the product which are having higher than the normal EBITDA margin, we consider that as a value-added product. Our focus is increasing continuously to add these kind of products. I think few of the products Sandeep Bhai has already discussed. I do not want to discuss much into that side. Our focus is continuously going toward that direction. That is because we know some product may not be giving you the high volume, but they will be giving you the high value addition. That will help you to maintain your margin. In this difficult time when the polymer price was down by 18%, still we were able to maintain our EBITDA margin.
That is mainly because of this value addition. Value addition side, we are looking for this Fire Pro pipe because now recently we have got the fitting approval pipe. We were already having the approval of UL. Now we got the fitting. That will open up the door for the export market also and the local market also because we were dependent too much on the import of fittings and all this. That will stop. Now indigenously, we will start manufacturing everything. That is going to help us the margin also and the growth also. Similarly, OPVC, another product which is again also having the high margin. We are expecting that that volume is also going to improve. Thirdly, we have recently opened up our first overseas office in Dubai.
We are targeting that all these value-added products' contribution should increase from those geographies also, maybe Middle East also, Saudi also, or maybe you can say the African market, few selected markets, and some products we are exporting to Europe also. We are expecting that in the coming time now, focus team is there. They will be focusing all to this value-added product. Even Dubai alone itself is very high-tech projects are coming. They may also like Astral product because all are the world-class product. It is already placed here. You can also live see that our products are not only approved in India because we all know ISI approval is not that stringent what the UL approval is. UL approval, a single pipe they are keeping in the temperature at a certain level for 18 months.
If up to 18 months, nothing is going to happen to your pipe, then only they give you the approval. It is a very stringent approval. That is why you see none of the Indian companies ever trying to go for the UL approval. Our products are world-class. We are having high expectation that now we have just entered into the export market. That is also going to drive the next level of growth. Shift from unorganized to organized. We already discussed that now this BIS and all is going to help us. That is also going to be there. The recent addition of Al-Aziz product, because Al-Aziz, Sandeep Bhai already discussed that it is an electrofusion fitting. That was the range which was not in our basket. We have already placed the order for the machine for pipe. Now they will be supporting us in fitting.
We will be able to complete the range. That is also going to help us to grow that product into the Indian territory. A lot of scope is there for the export market for this electrofusion fittings also. High demand is there in the international market also. We are just exploring. We are shortly going to meet a few of the export clients and we will get the sense of what their expectation is because they were trying to export, but some and other were because of liquidity concern. They were not able to complete that orders. Now we are going to sit with them and we will see how best we can quickly revive that relationship and target the export market for this Al-Aziz product also.
Then another new thing is that we are continuously spending money into the R&D side also. That will help us to develop a lot of new things in the coming time. You can see that from the day Astral has started journey until today, almost every year we are bringing something new to the card. That is what continued today also. We are targeting that in the coming time we will be bringing few new products. You will see that Astral is the company which is bringing first time many product into the country. So far we have brought seven, eight products are such which we have brought first time in the country. That is what journey is continue.
We are expecting that once few product will be finalized and developed, we are working into the adhesive side also into that for development of the new product. A lot of, I think, Saumya will answer this in question answer session that we are working into that side also. We are working for the some new chemistries also. Silicone, Sandeep Bhai already discussed that we will be the first company to bring that kind of silicone with having 100 color option. No company in India has ever tried to do that thing. These all are a lot of developments are happening in consultation with the U.K. company as well as our R&D department in Ahmedabad also. This will keep continuing in the coming time. These will continuously going to drive our the growth.
Rest other things are there in the presentation which we are anyway going to share with you. I am not going to discuss much because we have already taken a lot of time. Similarly, in adhesive also, you will see that continuously India operations is growing. I already told that our growth rate is close to about 16%-17% KEGAR for last 11 year because we acquired in 2014. Now we are in 2025. That will continue to drive that thing. There now our focus is going into the rural areas also. That is why we have entered into this New Bharat concept also where we are going to target the smaller villages also where we are going to sell them the basket of the product here in metros. Selected products distributor will be there.
In rural India, they need everything at one place. You see in any small village, it's only one or two shops will be there. They need the basket of the. New concept is moving very fast. We are expecting that that is going to drive our business to the rural market. Last year, U.K. was having the challenge which we already discussed. This year, we are expecting that few new things we have developed. That is going to drive our margins also. At the same time, we have introduced few products in us market. That is also going to drive our top line. This year, we are not expecting any kind of negative numbers from the U.K. When the progress will happen, we'll keep sharing you every quarterly.
Definitely, we are having a lot of hope this year that revival will be there. You can see that a lot of consolidations are happening in the market. Small players day by day are facing problems. That is going to help us in the adhesive business also. You'll be surprised to know Astral is the second largest company today in the adhesive industrial end market. We are the first company who have crossed the INR 1,000 crore mark in India. These are the achievements of the last 10 years. When we were entering that time, everyone was laughing that how are you going to do when the so big giants are there in the country, what are you going to do? Today, we are the second largest company in the country. Product innovation is continuously going on and will keep introducing the new products.
Export, again, same the way office is going to not only push the pipe business, but we have appointed a few people for the adhesive business also. We have already started exporting our products into the Gulf. We have already appointed our distributor in Dubai. They are already selling our product. That business is also started selling in a reasonably good number, I can say. I am not going to share the exact number, but I can say that a lot of potential is there for adhesive business also into the Gulf market. Adhesive also, more or less, the drivers will be same because we are continuously going to expand our geographical reach. We are going to expand our new product categories also. The HEDGE is going to be another growth driver. We have still utilized the HEDGE capacity hardly 25% to 30%.
A lot of scope is there for the HEDGE to bring the new products into that plan. It is not only a new product, but a cost-efficient product, which I think we have discussed in the last two years that with this HEDGE, a lot of backward integration related things are going to help us to improve our costing. That is what you can see in the numbers also, that our adhesive numbers are, margin-wise, it is improving. U.K. and all we discussed. Similarly, in India also, adhesive side, we are still not present across the pan India. Few pockets are there. We are present, but at the same time, our reach is not that strong. This year and in the coming time, we are going to target that also, particularly southern market, and there our reach is still low.
We are going to focus into that side also so that we can grow that market also. Efforts are going on into that direction. You will see in the coming time, a lot of revenues are going to come from the new geographies also. What is the option value in the coming time for Astral? One thing is that Al-Aziz, which we discussed, because this is completely we are starting from zero in Astral, I can say. We are expecting a sizable business into that. Gas is going to be a big opportunity in the coming time. Today may not be that high, but in the coming time, gas is the future for India. Gas business is going to contribute because we are preparing ourselves.
It may happen three years down the line, four years down the line, but ultimately it is going to be a very big opportunity because still India is connected very, very thinly with the gas application. That is going to be the driver for the growth in the coming time. Secondly, Bathware, our base is very low. Sandeep Bhai rightly said that last year we have grown 51%. That clearly shows that that side of the business is getting attraction because any product journey takes time to understand by the market because people want to taste that. Pipe is very simple because you are putting behind the bar. You are not seeing the product also. Bathware is the aesthetic look product. Everyone wants to see live that product and everyone wants to use that product for sake every day. The trust building always takes time.
That is the reason we are not giving you unnecessary high expectation from the Bathware because everyone is asking, "Why not you quickly go to the INR 500 crore bank?" That is never going to happen. Secondly, I think many times I have explained everyone that in a project, when you are taking the entry, it is a three-year journey. First project, I will take you conceal product only. Then the finishing portion, plaster and everything will be taking place. Then the outer portion will be used. When the final painting and color and everything will be completed, you need the front portion. This entire journey of any project is going to take three years' time. Now I cannot force any developer that you buy everything one go. It is never going to happen because he will buy our product at the stage level only.
He is not going to put money into that. Because of that, this journey is always taking time and it is going to take time. Yes, we are definitely growing. People are appreciating our product. We are very happy with that. The way office, we already discussed that we are exporting, export to contribute reasonably good in the coming time. Plus, while we have already introduced and few more while we are recently we have completed. That is also going to be a very, very high value-added product for Astral. Channel drain is picking up very well. We are the first company to introduce in-house developed Indian manufacturer making India product in the country. So far, everybody was importing. Now this is very well, you can say, put in comparison with the imported product and much cheaper than the imported product.
That is why it is getting good attraction in the market. The silence, your Drain Pro and all these products are continuously contributing. Now the new products will also start contributing in a big way like OPVC we discussed, Payer, we discussed PTMT, we discussed PEX. We are targeting to launch somewhere in November, December. That is also going to help in the high-end plumbing, particularly villas, bungalows, hotels, and maybe the high-end apartments also. I can only say that last two, three years, we have spent a lot of money into the CapEx side. The benefit of that CapEx has still not come to the company. That is why you may feel that we have spent a lot of money. CapEx always takes place first and the benefit always comes two, three years down the line only.
You will see in the coming time, a lot of new things will come and growth will come in the coming time. All this spending which we have done in the last two years is going to give a lot of fruits in the coming time. Thank you so much. Now we can run a very small clip for this, our CSR. Thank you. Thank you, everyone.
[Foreign language]
[Foreign language]
We supported this project through our Astral Foundation and we have got this result. This film was liked by how many million? Okay, how many million people watched this? 10 million. 10 million. 10 million. We can go for that Q&A session.
Sandeep Bhai, thanks for that compliment. You, at the start, mentioned about the anti-dumping duty event that is now likely to unfold sooner than later. Whatever are your projections, have you factored that in or that could be a pleasant surprise completely?
Basically, the projections after the anti-dumping duty have not been factored, but we are seeing in this year because PVC has bottomed down and the complete channel is dry and slowly the PVC will go up a little bit. Anti-dumping will be an addition to that. It has not been still implemented by government. The positive thing is the order has been stayed by the Supreme Court. With all the priorities, global priorities government has, we cannot say when this anti-dumping duty will be in place. Overall, if you see the PVC and the polymer will have a positive impact of growth in this fiscal.
Thanks for that. Second and final question. When we started our adhesives business, I remember you had said that we have entered two out of eight or two out of nine segments, if I remember correctly, five, six, seven years ago. What is your view now? Are we ready to enter something more of the remaining areas in the adhesive industry or what?
I think let Saumya answer and he takes care of adhesive and paint, so let him answer.
I think for the retail space in terms of adhesives and the chemistries, we have finished the complete range, whether it is woodworking adhesives or maintenance and repair adhesives or sealants or tapes. I think we have completed range, but of course we are looking at newer applications or category expansion wherever we feel is required. We'll look into it.
If we talk of the entire adhesive market, would it be fair to say that we are present in every sphere or we still have some untapped spheres?
I think in construction chemical space, we would still be untapped in terms of completing the product range, but we would be able to do it in next year max, I would say. Apart from that, adhesives and sealants, as of now, the range we hold can compete with the top players in the Indian market, no doubt.
Last question, it's always nice to hear from you what next. Anything you would like to say to that?
I think we have a lot in our hands to do and perform and give more growth results, expectations to build and to fulfill. At present, nothing there. In future, no one predicts. Thank you.
Thank you, Sandeep.
Hi, I have five questions. Yep. First, would you like to give any guidance on volume and value for next fiscal? That is the first question. Subpart to it is if we just roll back FY 2022, we had given a number of INR 1,500 crore for new growth engines. We have some idea on bathware and paints. If we had to put this number, INR 1,500 crore, which was cited for FY 2027, where are we on that roadmap?
We are not giving the individual number. Earlier, we used to give, but because of the competitiveness in the market and a lot of players are playing wrong practices, because of that, we have stopped giving the number. I can say what we have predicted, INR 1,500 crore, almost we are closer to INR 1,000 crore today. We have completed, I think, three years when we given the guidance.
Another two years, we are going to target the 1,500 what we have said. It covers, it's not only restricted to these products which you discussed, but it covers silence also, Drain Pro also, fire also, wall also, and then another couple of products are there. I think I have given the list three years before. All put together, I think we are more or less moving into that direction.
With regards to, I think, volume, you asked volume guidance. Volume guidance largely depends on two things. When the ADD comes and how much the ADD comes and when the BIS norms are finalized. That will play a very vital role in the channel restocking. Right now, the channel is working on very slim inventory levels.
If these both announcements, if they come in the end of first quarter or beginning of second quarter, then the subsequent quarters, the volume numbers might be in the high double digit also, mid double digit also. Okay, but then we are optimally aiming for a lower double digit type of a volume this year. If we get aided by this market buoyancy and market sentiment, we can over-deliver on what our projections are. Again, largely depends on PVC price movement because it will enable the channel to restock. Once the channel restocking starts at the dealer and distributor level, automatically the volume numbers will move in a much faster manner. That's it.
Secondly, I can add what Kairav said, that if you see the number of Q2, Q3, and Q4 last year, it was more or less flat. Maybe 2%, 3% kind of growth was there.
Base is also getting very low. On a lower base, growing higher percentage, very high probability. Again, these two decisions are very critical. If these two decisions are coming in favor of industry, then definitely double digit is not a problem.
Sure. This is a related question. I appreciate we do not disclose each of the growth levers separately. When we look at valves, tanks, Drain Pro, is it fair to conclude all these three segments will be upwards of INR 150 crores ?
Drain Pro is a very fast-growing product category for us, both Drain Pro and silence. There are many inherent benefits of the PP piping system in drainage, and it is fast getting acceptance from the dealer and from the project side also. Because it has a higher impact strength, it has a technology attached to it. Very few players are in it.
PP is a product which is very stable as far as pricing goes. Contractors and developers really like this product, not only because of the physical attributes of the product, but also because they are able to get a one-year annual rate contract or even a longer rate contract for the duration of the project that they have taken. That side they are secure. PVC being so volatile, a lot of people are opting for PP products, not only because of performance, but also because of stability. Drain Pro is a fast-growing product for us. Valves is also a fast-growing category for us. We are continuing to add the range. This year, we will be adding butterfly valves also. Every year, we are adding SKus in the valve side. With the starting of operations in the Middle East, we have a Dubai office.
We are also looking to increase our walls export to the GCC countries and to the African nations also. Ritesh, for all these three put together, we will be close to INR 500 crore, INR 450 crore-INR 500 crore.
Sure. That helps. Come to the second question. I want Sandeep G to specifically answer this. Sir, if we just look at the annual report, the attrition, what it says it's 25%. It says turnover rate. I don't understand how to infer it, but I would assume it's 25% is attrition for permanent employees. We keep on tracking LinkedIn on who's going, who's coming. Definitely, trend is on upwards. What is it that we are doing to retain the employees or if you can reflect on the ESOP policy? I think we had one long back. As we grow bigger, what's the thought process on retaining employees?
Basically, the attrition people have nothing to do with ESOP. These are on the lower end. There are so many seniors that we will be revising our policies on seniors. Basically, we have now nine of Vice Presidents, Presidents, and many of these have joined. Also, we have four divisions to address. We do not have one division to address. There is no question and discussion on that side. The lower end people, we did two attritions. There was a hue and cry. We said, chicken and egg. We need people. You need sale. We increased the value of the manpower. Everyone shouted, your manpower cost went high. Now you say manpower has been lower, the attrition has gone high. What we have to do, I do not understand what your questions come up. To run my business.
We did do some corrections on the manpower at the lower end. Certain businesses, I'm telling you, again, understand. If somebody wants to launch a cell phone process or somebody wants to launch the building we are sitting, the same as I launched a network, when you launch something, you need manpower. We needed more manpower in our FOSEX ceramicware business. We needed more manpower for our paint business. I cannot open Gujarat without manpower. I cannot open Rajasthan without enough manpower. These costs for initial stages of scaling of the business will take a hit on the manpower. That is the cost which has gone up. We did some corrections so they reflect in the attrition. Especially the lower end, lower end if you go, there is a big pull on attritions in various segments.
This is happening for most of these building industry companies at present because people are coming in all these segments of business. If you see the senior management, which we have, especially in the sales also, people are there, people are constant, and people are with us. The main attrition is on the lower end.
Sure. I'll just take two more questions. Third one is also for you, Sandeep Bhai. If we compare us versus, say, the larger peers or the peers that I think there's one comparable peer, if you look at employee costs and other expenses as % of sales, we are like way off the charts.
When we decide, probably Kairav can also answer this on A&P spends or when we are deploying, giving money to on the employee side or distribution, what are the levers that we have to ensure that we are getting more efficient every year? If you can give specific numbers for FY 2026, say something like A&P or other expenses that will reduce by a percent or 150 basis points, I think that would be great.
Two things. First of all, A&P spends. A&P spends, we have not increased. Other expenses include a lot of line items. It is not only A&P. Since the last two years, the A&P spends have been what they have been, they have been stagnant. Even this year, the A&P spend budgeting is not increased. The problem is that your polymer prices have collapsed 18% in a financial year.
Last two years, the polymer prices have been weak. It has eroded the top line. If the top line erodes, then your other expenses and employee cost as a percentage is going to balloon. Now, if you are comparing to a larger peer, what peer you want to compare to? Because I operate in four segments. Okay. You cannot compare only a piping peer's employee cost versus my employee cost because I am working in adhesive also. Adhesive requires more manpower. You can look at Pidilite's manpower cost. You have to look at a segment where we operate in. If you are talking about adhesive, I think what, 12%, 13%? How much manpower cost there?
Peers?
No, Pidilite.
Pidilite. Q4 was 14.5%.
See, adhesive requires a certain type of a manpower cost. Pipe requires a certain type of manpower cost. You cannot compare Apple to Banana.
You have to compare Apple to Apple. If you are looking at the piping side of the business, I do not think my employee cost is more than 0.5% higher than the other player in the market. Okay. If you want that, Hiranand Bhai can give that to you for the piping side. So you can get an idea that I am not hiring anyone in the piping side right now. I am very happy with the type of manpower I have. Any new plant that you open, any new office that you open, any new depot you open, you have to add the manpower. How can I function without manpower? There are multiple attributes to your question. I think I would want Hiranand Bhai to add to it.
I will make a simple thing here. You see how a company is and how he is building his company.
There are companies whom you are comparing. The owner sits in a room and 50 [Foreign language], okay, this price. [Foreign language]. 100 [Foreign language] discount. We are not turning this company as a discount and this way. Our pipe business, we have today active 60,000 plus dealers who work with us on monthly basis. We have 200,000 plus plumber associated in our program. Which company has 200,000 plumbers who are ready data how much they purchase. So we are building a company with a solid foundation which will last for years to come. Now, I went into FOSEX ceramicware. Some of the tile companies went. I will overtake them in no time. Have you ever seen why I am doing it? Because I have a strong footage with the plumbers. My connect with the plumber today is growing at a tremendous pace.
This is where we are getting and building our now to do all these programs, the ALP program, the dealer program, going to that. I do not tell my distributor to buy one truck more than he needs. I never phone my distributor [Foreign language] sale [Foreign language] March end [Foreign language] December end [Foreign language] Because that will bounce back at some point. The real sale is real sale. The real business is real business. Reaching to the customer and selling the product in the hands of the customer is what we have believed in all our segments now. That is how our functional work works. What you see is a real number of the tertiary sale. No company in pipe monitors tertiary sale. We have data of tertiary sale. How much is the sale going to the customer?
The depth of the data and the work which we have done in the last five, six years in the piping segment, none of the piping segments have done this work, which now is a work which is parallel to the big paint company of India or parallel to the big adhesive company of India. That is what we have done in pipe business. That is how we are working in this geography of FOSEX ceramicware with plumbers, the construction chemicals involving even plumbers and other segments, carpenters, painters. All these data are helping us to grow.
I think Kairav Bhai and Sandeep Bhai say, if I can just add, first we have to decide whether we want to work like a brand or we want to work like a commodity. That is the first question to be answered.
If you want to sell an Oppo phone, I do not think you need a beautiful girl or beautiful boy to stand in the showroom like what Apple is doing. Because Apple is charging the premium. Then he has to explain the features of the phone. He has to tell about the product's quality and everything. Cost-wise, if you consider Oppo and Apple, will not be a big difference. The kind of difference between the selling price between two phones, the margins of two companies cannot be the same. Here we have to decide that if we want to sell our product as a brand, we have to have appointed quality people with us. We have to pay for that. No quality is going to work for the organization without a right salary. We have to spend. Now look at another way.
After spending so much of salary, still we are having the highest margin in the industry. We have to see that point of view also. It's not only cost aspect. We have to work both sides, we have to see. Spending so much of amount, still we are having the highest margin. Because customers are ready to pay us the premium, which other brands are not getting the premium. Somebody can say pipe is pipe. [Foreign] pipe [Foreign language] pipe [Foreign language] INR 100 [Foreign language] pipe [Foreign language] company [Foreign language] INR 110 [Foreign language] . What is the difference? That is where these things are needed. That is where branding is needed. That is where ALP is needed. That is where the good quality employee is needed.
Otherwise, Sandeep Bhai [Foreign language] sales [Foreign language] phone [Foreign language] , 2% discount. 25 [Foreign language] , 3% discount. [Foreign language] brand [Foreign language] premium [Foreign language] . We have to decide [Foreign language] whether [Foreign language] promoter-driven company [Foreign language] professional way [Foreign language] Sandeep Bhai [Foreign language] office [Foreign language] Hostel [Foreign language] sale [Foreign language] . Because that team is there. We have to also look at that way also, that how you are bringing the company, how you are portraying your products in the market.
Let's take questions from others. You have got enough questions. No, no, no. You can ask me individually.
Hi. Good evening. This is Rahul from Ikigai.
Sir, most of the questions got answered in the presentation. Thanks for that. One question was on CPVC industry. We hear that PVC industry now is almost like 4.5 million tons for fiscal 2025. Just wanted to get some views on CPVC industry size in terms of volume, value, whatever you can share. Because I think we have some dated numbers here.
It is around 2.5 million. Yeah, yeah. It is about 250,000 tons.
It's about 5% of PVC industry. It is a small industry.
See, it is a very niche product. Now, if you look at CPVC, the application of CPVC currently is for the hot and cold water internal plumbing and the external some loop lines and some plumbing if you want to do. CPVC real value unlocking will happen when the fire products pick up.
Fire has shown a steady pick up over the last couple of years. Every year we are doing slightly more, slightly more than the previous year. The type of approvals that we have, especially UL approval and the local body approvals across India, I think if the fire pipes market expands, you know the overall CPVC market may expand much faster because fire application, the number of pipes that are used in a building are more than the plumbing pipes.
Getting that fire order, that's going to be more project business, is going to be more retail demand.
There are certain changes which are needed in these standards which are taking time.
Till then, fire is more project business. Fire will be done through the fire contractors. Fire contractors do the fire sprinkler works in the buildings.
Got it.
Secondly, just to remind me of the project and retail billing for the company overall on the plumbing side, how are sales mix essentially?
Generally, it is 50/50.
We are billing 50% directly to developers?
No, no. We do not bill directly anything to developers. We do everything through distribution. 100% through distribution. 100%. Government [Foreign language] distribution [Foreign language] .
Okay. Consumption-wise, how much would that split be for projects and retail separately?
50/50.
Okay. Perfect. Two questions for Hiranand ji. If you could help me with adhesive sales for India and international separately. Absolute numbers for sales in EBITDA and the CapEx budget for fiscal 2026. That is all from my side. Thank you.
We can give it to you after the event.
I will give it to you.
Good evening, sir. Can I just go in with my question?
Yes, please.
Sir, I just wanted to understand, like you said, that 2.5 lakh tons is the CPVC industry size. You would have seen years of journey. You have been the pioneer there. What has been the historical growth rate and what's the forecasted growth rate in CPVC industry?
10%-15% value [Foreign language] 30%, 40%, 50%. Except fire [Foreign language] system [Foreign language] jump [Foreign language] fire [Foreign language] , if it is being approved by fire with lot of these hurdles, we are getting through with things. People ask UL and UL is again a big process. It will take its time to still keep on evolving.
Same way, what would be the growth in the PVC pipe industry sector, leaving apart the restocking and destocking and how actually?
10%-15% CPVC. No, no. PVC can't go like that.
Even UL is growing 6%-7% max.
6%. The volume growth.
Secondly, on the CPVC raising front, we are going to see huge supply additions coming up in India now, which has not been the case so far. With that kind of a supply coming in, how do you see the prices of CPVC panning out?
[Foreign language] .
So I can add to this. CPVC has an active anti-dumping duty in place till 2029. So most of these players who will incur the CPVC, putting up a CPVC plant is a very expensive process. CPVC [Foreign language] process [Foreign language] , the chlorination process, it requires a special type of reactors. And because chlorine is a corrosive material, these reactors are worn out very quickly. They have to incur frequent CapEx to install new reactors every time, every few years.
CPVC is a business where they will, all the players whoever comes in CPVC, it will not be like a PVC market. They will need some margin to sustain the business. It will sell at whatever this current CPVC pricing is there prevalent in the market. It will be around that level only. Because anti-dumping is also there. They will ensure that they are making enough margin. It will not become that overnight the prices are going to fall.
Capacity [Foreign language] time [Foreign language]. Announce [Foreign language] time [Foreign language]. It is not so easy to and not going to come so fast.
[Foreign language] largest player [Foreign language] zero capacity [Foreign language] easy [Foreign language] easy [Foreign language]. Capacity genuinely CPVC [Foreign language] time [Foreign language].
Lubrizol [Foreign language] time [Foreign language] capacity. Time [Foreign language] .
Understood, sir. Sir, lastly, just last one question. On the other growth drivers, like you said, you have mentioned about Drain Pro pipes, silent CO, Fire Pro pipes. You, of course, mentioned on your numbers being INR 450 crore-INR 500 crore. What is the industry number here and what's the growth rate in these kind of categories like? Also, in case you can give the number for OPVC.
In the Drain Pro silent CO, there is no other player in the industry for these pipes at the moment.
Understood.
We are currently the only local player manufacturing and selling. There are a few players who are importing and selling, but that volumes are very minuscule. So it's not comparable.
I think if the market matures in going ahead and if there are more entrants in the particular segment, then we can see how the market is shaping up.
Understood. Anything on the OPVC side? Any number here? What's the
OPVC [Foreign language] , OPVC time [Foreign language] government usage [Foreign language] . Chinese machine [Foreign language] over capacity [Foreign language] . OPVC [Foreign language] please [Foreign language] OPVC [Foreign language] segment of the product [Foreign language] magical wand [Foreign language] OPVC. [Foreign language] magical wand [Foreign language] normal product है, normal machine [Foreign language] .
If you say OPVC, if you are thinking that OPVC can become the new CPVC, that is not the case.
[Foreign language] limited application [Foreign language], water distribution, replacing ductile iron.
It is the usage is by government only. [Foreign language] builder [Foreign language] water distribution [Foreign language] drainage [Foreign language] usage [Foreign language] .
Understood, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
You can write down the number. This adhesive sales number you wanted. You wanted adhesive sales number. This India operation full year number is INR 1,098 crore. Last year was INR 960 crore. So net growth of 14.5%. This quarter adhesive number is INR 315 crore. Last year it was INR 262 crore. So growth of 20% this quarter. Anything else you want? CapEx projection for the company. For adhesive? I think will be somewhere around INR 250 crore-INR 300 crore max. Because Kanpur is still yet to be completed. Because machines are yet to be installed. That's why you can consider INR 300 crore max.
Hello. Hi. Good evening. This is Keshav from HDFC Securities.
Sir, we are anticipating 10-15% volume growth for next year. At the same time, we feel U.K. operation will improve. Paint operation margin can improve. While we have seen Hiranand by interview, he mentioned the margin will remain stable in FY 2026. Why are we not expecting some kind of improvement?
I have never ever said margin is going to stable. I said the margin of India operation is going to remain stable. This world, whatever the new businesses are there, that will be top up to that. Paint, we have said that it will be small improvement will be there this year also. U.K. has not given a single painting this year, zero EBITDA. How can we say next year? Historically, you see they were delivering 8%-9% minimum EBITDA. Margin on a console basis, it is going to improve.
Secondly, never ever see the last quarter number only. We have to consider the full year number and we have to also account the inventory losses also. Now next year, suppose now more or less PVC is getting bottom out. Okay. That is what our view. We may be wrong also. Do not go with my view only. We are of the view that the PVC is slowly and gradually going to bottom out. Upward journey may take some time also or may take quickly also. It depends on these two outcomes of anti-dumping and BIS. In that case, next year you may see the inventory gain also. We have delivered in the past 24% EBITDA also in particular quarter. Very, very difficult to say.
That's why we are giving you a long-term range that we will be working between 16-18% in the pipe category and adhesive 14%-16% we have communicated. Last three-year number, forget about current year, last three-year number, if you see, adhesive India business have given close to about 15.5% EBITDA margin. We can give you only range which may not be holding good, depend on the circumstances. Now volatility is very high, which was not the case earlier. Earlier, the PVC price range was between 5%-7% ±. Now it is 20% ± also. Any company can't give the exact guidance also. Very difficult to predict the number.
Understood. Got it. One last question. What is the inventory loss for this quarter and for the full year?
I think we don't have an exact number, but definitely it should be a good number this year because continuously from 92 to as low as 68 or something. So it should be a sizable number.
Any ballpark percentage of sales or some broader range?
Maybe it should be close to about minimum INR 60 crore-INR 70 crore minimum should be there.
Okay. Got it. That is helpful. Thank you.
This is Hrit Choksi from Devin Choksi. Thank you for the presentation and best wishes for the coming year. Just two questions. The first question is on the adhesive business. We have seen a lot of regional companies like MYK, Laticret from Hyderabad, and Serakem from Tamil Nadu having significantly large presence in your core markets, which is Gujarat. Their product profile is also very unique in the grouting business as far as the color applications are concerned.
What is your sense on this regional competition? Because as you rightly said that in sealants, you may have maybe 100 different color applications. Maybe something in the grouting also might be something you might want to look at. How do you want to tackle it? Because we have seen that maybe pipes are so strong in all your core markets that adhesives will probably take time. A lot of your distributors, a lot of the plumbing community is still very, very focused on the piping business from Astral and very, very keen to have MYK or something like that in the grouting space. I just want to get a feel on these kind of regional companies which are so dominant and strong in terms of brands.
Yeah. I understood the question. MYK firstly is not a regional company.
It's a big company and very good products. One thing I'll say is we have not even entered MYK's domain and this year is when we enter the MYK domain with the construction chemical range. For us, it will be expansion in portfolio and expansion in product range. They are all doing their business and I think we'll definitely go into the grouting space. As I was talking to Nitinbhai also, we are planning for grouting space this year. Definitely we are working on that product range. We have it ready with the colors and everything and we are going into the cementitious range this year. We were kind of in two minds whether to go or not to go because supply chain is something we needed to understand that it's a little bit different than how you would sell the MNT range or white glue.
You have to understand. We understood and it's not an issue. We always have that in mind when we are benchmarking products and understanding competition. We go into each range or each product category and then understand who all are operating within that category and then kind of make our strategies accordingly. I hope that clears your question.
I'll probably come and just have a word with you later. The second question is, in the last analyst meet, actually you mentioned something on the Mumbai center having, you were planning to set up a new marketing and a digital team in Mumbai. Can you throw some light on that initiative and how you plan to scale that up, if at all, if that's in the work?
We already have a full-fledged office in Mumbai.
All seniors for adhesive business, now in paint business, work out of Mumbai. That office and the setup is well in place, growing. We are going to have another big setup, shifting this setup to a new setup with more seniors coming and working out of Mumbai.
Also, one question on this front. Something about Asian Paints being in the paints that they can actually exactly predict what a dealer wants at that particular time, at that particular hour, that particular paint. Do you have a system in that place as far as the digital is concerned, as far as how your distributors will probably have that particular product or SKU of that particular line of activity in future?
I think what you are referring to is automatic refillment of the distribution channel where it kind of flows out and then there is an automatic supply chain which triggers the order and supplies the material to the dealer.
Does your distribution channel have that capability to predict that kind of what the dealer requires?
Prediction is basically forecasting. Understanding what will happen. Not to the maturity of Asian. Asian definitely is master in that and it will take us time to actually get to that level and understand how the supply chain works in terms of the paint business. We definitely have good systems in place when it comes to supply chain. We have a good warehouse management software with we are working on auto refilling of our distributors and dealers where auto orders will be generated.
Less man force will be required in terms of taking primary orders. A lot of things we are working on in terms of our digital initiatives, and it will definitely improve our efficiencies and how we operate.
Thank you. All the best.
I think we can take any other questions or thank you everyone for joining us for this end of this fiscal understanding from us and discussing how the future is going to shape up for years for this next fiscal. Everything is great, right? We are keeping on the hard work and looking forward again to meet you at the end of the next fiscal. Thank you very much, everyone. Thank you. Thank you.