Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Q3 and 9M FY2026 Earnings Conference Call of Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will remain in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal the operator by pressing star, then zero on your touchtone telephone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now hand the conference over to Miss Purvangi Jain from Valorem Advisors for opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you.
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and a warm welcome to you all. My name is Purvangi Jain from Valorem Advisors. We represent the investor relations of Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited. On behalf of the company, I would like to thank you all for participating in the company's earnings call for the third quarter and nine months ending of the financial year 2026. Before we begin, let me mention a short cautionary statement. Some of the statements made in today's earnings call may be forward-looking in nature. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated. Such statements are based on management's belief as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to the management. Audiences are cautioned not to place any undue reliance on these forward-looking statements in making any investment decisions.
The purpose of today's earnings call is purely to apprise about the company's fundamental business and financial quarter under review. Let me now introduce you to the management of Chambal Fertilizers, participating with us in today's earnings call, and hand it over to them for their opening remarks. We have with us Mr. Abhay Baijal, Managing Director, Mr. Narendra Goyal, Business Head, Manufacturing Operations, Mr. Anuj Jain, Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Ashish Srivastava, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, and Mr. Tridib Barat, Vice President, Legal and Company Secretary. Without any delay, I request Mr. Abhay Baijal to start with his opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Purvangi. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us in this conference call to discuss our financial performance during the third quarter and nine months ended fiscal 2026. Chambal Fertilizers continue to play a critical role in supporting India's agricultural ecosystem. As India's largest private sector urea producer, contributing close to 10% of domestic supply, but not only that, we are almost 3% of the crop protection chemicals and specialty nutrients business in the country. In NPK, our share is almost 5%, DAP is also 5%, MOP is about 6%. Therefore, we are an important contributor to country's agricultural outputs. The union budget has allocated about INR 171,000 crore to the Department of Fertilizers this year, providing long-term visibility and stability to the sector.
From an economic standpoint, conditions during the last quarter of the Rabi season were broadly favorable. India received 11% higher than normal rainfall during October to December 2025, with strong October rains offsetting deficits later in the season. Key northern states such as Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, witnessed favorable conditions supporting early sowing. As a result, Rabi sowing increased by 2.8% year on year to 652.3 lakh hectares as of January 26. Wheat acreage reached a record level alongside healthy growth in pulses and oilseeds. Northern states such as Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab saw higher sowing of wheat and mustard, supported by favorable rainfall conditions during October.
For Chambal, this translated into a stable outlook, with urea continuing to anchor volumes and cash flows and DAP and NPK providing diversification and growth, positioning us well to benefit from both steady base demand and gradual shift towards balanced fertilization. With this backdrop, let me now move to our operational performance for the quarter under review. During the quarter and nine months period, our crop protection chemicals and specialty nutrients business, alongside biologicals, continued to demonstrate strong momentum, with sustained growth in both revenue and margins. On a nine-month basis, the contribution from the segment grew by 30% year-over-year, reflecting improving scale, product mix, and execution. In the third quarter, we introduced five new products across biopesticides, biofungicides, and insecticides, further strengthening our differentiated portfolio.
Looking ahead, our pipeline remains healthy, with 12 new CPC products and one new specialty nutrient product lined up for launch in FY 2027, supporting our growth ambitions. On biologicals portfolio, I am happy to report that we continue to perform strongly, with volumes increasing by 31% and revenues growing by almost 58% year-on-year over the nine-month period. Encouragingly, Uttam Pranam, our bio-nano phosphorus product launched last year, is witnessing strong market acceptance and better product outcomes, with volumes and revenue up almost 250% year-on-year. We are doing well in this area and actively working on expanding our biological offerings... particularly in the fungicides and nematicides, which are planned for launch over the course of the next financial year.
I am also happy to report that in terms of biologicals, we are almost 6% of the market as of today. Chambal Fertilizers and TERI, the Energy and Resources Institute, entered into an agreement for research for advanced and sustainable agricultural solutions. This is significant in the backdrop of food security challenges due to an increasing population. TERI, as you may know, is a pioneer institution in the area, and will be doing research under the Center of Excellence to develop products where IP rights are jointly owned by CFCL and TERI. Chambal will have exclusive commercial rights globally on the product. A dedicated lab is operational now, and the products are expected to launch from FY 2027, 2028 onwards. Based on product efficacy, we will also explore the export market for these products.
In the seed segment, we have launched research variety of seeds, and early results have been encouraging, giving us confidence as we continue to build capabilities in this segment. In the bulk fertilizers category, P&K fertilizers delivered good performance, supported by timely and proven procurement strategy and effective placement during this season. Further, we have sourced adequate volumes of P&K fertilizer, ensuring preparedness for the Kharif season. The demand for phosphatic fertilizers continues to grow, and we continue exploring and evaluating capacity in India or abroad. On the marketing and farmer engagement front, we continue to strengthen our digital outreach. Our Chambal Uttam Krishak Mitra app crossed about 100,000 downloads, and we have launched a quarterly digital marketing newsletter.
Our social media campaigns around National Farmer Day and World Soil Day further enhanced Farmer Connect, and our YouTube channel received YouTube Creator Award and the Silver Play Button, reflecting growing engagement. Lastly, with respect to our Technical Ammonium Nitrate project, the progress is ongoing, with EPC work largely completed at 92% as of third quarter, and construction activities are in full swing. The date of completion is scheduled for April 30, 2026. As at the end of third quarter, we have incurred a project expenditure of INR 1,184 crores out of the total estimated cost of INR 1,645 crores. TAN is a very important focus area for CFCL, and vertical and horizontal expansions are being actively explored. Our joint venture in Morocco is performing well.
The increase in P2O5 production capacity from 5 lakh metric tons to 7 lakh metric tons is expected to be implemented by December 2026. Further, the sulfuric acid capacity is also being increased, which is expected to be implemented a year ahead of, in a year ahead in financial year 2027. This will optimize its operations and increase the profitability further. Overall, our operational performance during the quarter reflects steady progress across core and value-added segments, continued portfolio expansion and disciplined execution, positioning us well for the coming periods. Finally, let me walk you through some of the detailed financial performance for the period under review. On standalone basis, for the third quarter of financial year 2026, revenue from operations grew 20%, to touch INR 5,898 crores.
EBITDA for the quarter came at INR 821 crore, up 6%, despite taking a hit of INR 31 crore on account of labor cost, with EBITDA margins at 13.92%. Profit after tax was INR 565 crore, up 12% year-on-year, with PAT margins of 9.57%. For the nine months ended financial year 2026, standalone revenue from operations increased 27% year-on-year to INR 18,009 crore. EBITDA rose 4% year-on-year to INR 2,424 crore, with EBITDA margins at 13.46%. Profit after tax for the period grew 16% year-on-year to INR 1,804 crore, with PAT margins at 10.02%.
I will again remind you that this is after taking a hit on labor costs of the extent of INR 30 crores this quarter. On receivables and subsidy flows, during the quarter, we received subsidy of INR 3,880 crores, compared to INR 3,349 crores in the corresponding quarter last year. For the nine-month period, subsidy receipts stood at approximately INR 10,228 crores, broadly in line with INR 10,353 crores received in the same period last year. As of December 31st 2025, total receivables stood at around INR 2,346 crores, comprising market debtors of INR 367 crores and subsidy receivables of INR 1,979 crores. In terms of segmental performance for the quarter, our urea segment delivered stable performance.
Urea revenues in the quarter stood at INR 3,708 crores, which remained broadly stable year-on-year. EBIT margins remained broadly stable at around 17.28%. Urea sales volumes were largely flat at 9.83 lakh metric tons in the quarter, compared to 9.88 lakh metric tons in the same quarter last year. In the complex fertilizer segment, revenues increased significantly to approximately INR 1,850 crores in the quarter, reflecting year-on-year increase of 81%. Sales volume also rose to 2.94 lakh metric tons, compared to 2.13 lakh metric tons last year, reflecting strong seasonal demand, and EBIT margins improved modestly to around 1.4%, supported by better operating leverage. The CPC special nutrients and seed segment continued to deliver robust year-on-year growth.
Revenues increased 33% year-on-year to about INR 340 crores in the quarter, representing strong growth driven by portfolio expansion and improved penetration. EBIT margins remained healthy at around 22.8%. On a year-to-date basis, the Urea segment delivered stable performance with revenues around INR 10,134 crores on nine months FY 2026, while EBIT margins remained steady at around 16.3%. Urea sales volumes were largely flat at 27.3 lakh metric tons, respectively. The complex fertilizer segment recorded strong growth, with revenues increasing sharply to approximately INR 6,702 crores in nine months FY 2026, a year-on-year increase of 180%. Sales volume increased to 11.7 lakh metric tons, led by strong growth in DAP, TSP and NPK. EBIT margins moderated to around 4.4% from 6.87%.
The CPC specialty nutrients and seed segment continued its healthy momentum, with revenues growing to about INR 1,172 crores from INR 887 crores, and EBIT margins improved slightly to 23.69%. Overall, the year-to-year performance reflects stable execution in Urea, strong growth in complex fertilizers, and continued momentum in value-added businesses, reinforcing the strength and diversification of our operating portfolio. With this, I would like to hand it back to the moderator and open for question and answer session. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use their handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Ladies and gentlemen, a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please press star and one. We take the first question from the line of Prashant Biyani from Elara Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. Sir, when are we going to start the trial run for the TAN plant?
We are just at the cusp. In fact, we had started the steam blowing and other pre-commissioning activities. So that part is, for the WNA plant and for the ANS and Melt, we should be doing that shortly thereafter.
But the end product should be out by, say, March?
April. April, April, April.
Okay. Sir, what would be your expectation from the upcoming NBS policy?
NBS policy, we believe, will be more or less a continuation from the past, wherein I do not expect the government to go opening up the DAP segment, but as you know, the other parts of the NPKs are open in terms of pricings. I would believe that that will be more or less the what they will continue to go forward. Already have a mechanism, and that mechanism, DAP, has worked so far, although there are now increasing difficulties in terms of working capital management on account of blockage of, you know, GST and all that. But I think the government is seized of the problem, and they'll come to the resolution. That more or less a continuation.
Right. Sir, for our Urea plant, there was some unscheduled stoppage in Q2 as well, if I recollect it.
Q2, yes. Q2, yes. Q3, we had a minor stripper leak for three days. That's all. But in Gadepan, one plant, but otherwise, it has been a steady quarter in terms of production.
There will be further maintenance shutdown in Q4?
Yes, there will be a maintenance shutdown for Gadepan, two plants, effective 20th February, which will take about 30 days. 35 days. 30, 35 days.
Okay. Sir, traded business, EBITDA per ton was around INR 900, I believe, this time, while, you know, it has improved year-on-year, but on an absolute basis, it seems to be low. Is it that on per bag basis, it is higher and the overhead cost has taken it down to INR 900 or it is at that level only on a per bag basis as well?
Ladies and gentlemen, we have lost the line of the management. Please stay connected while I reconnect the management. Thank you. ... Ladies and gentlemen, we have the management line reconnected. Prashant, if you could please repeat your question for the management. Thank you.
Yeah, sure. Sir, traded business, EBITDA per ton seems to be at around INR 900 per ton, which is higher year-on-year, but on absolute basis, it seems to be lower. So my question was, on a per bag basis, it is higher and the overhead cost is dragging it down, or it is at INR 900 on a per bag basis as well?
The way it is to be seen is that we had significantly higher capacity of so sale of DAP. And DAP, you know, is a fixed margin business, despite the higher cost that we see. Procurement was done at much higher prices in this quarter. Although the government gives you a fixed percentage or fixed number, 1,026 or some such number, because it's 4% of the MRP. So that drags the margin down.
But sir, we had decent mix of NPK and MOP as well.
No, that's okay. That's okay, but the very large quantity or large price increase in DAP, it went as high as $850 or something like that. So if you do the math, INR 1,000 on something like INR 60,000 is a very small amount.
Sure. Any communication from the management regarding profit calculation or cost calculation for G3 post expiry of benefits?
No, as far as we understand, we have raked up this issue with the government. We have met the requisite personnel, but they said that we have to start the exercise. They are busy with other things, on other matters so far. One of them, of course, is the futuristic expansion of capacity in the country, and they are caught up with some other things, so we have not been able to start on this so far. We have touched base with them at least twice in the last quarter.
Okay. And lastly, sir, any update on investment plans after 10? You have briefly touched upon, but,
I said that, and 10 remains a focus area for CFCL, and vertical and horizontal expansion are being actively pursued. I think that's a very sufficient indication of what we want to.
Okay, sir. Thank you. That's it from my side.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press star and one. We take the next question from the line of Viraj Kacharia from SiMPL. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thanks for the opportunity. A couple of questions. First, any update you can give for G3? I think it kind of, the policy benefits, expire by the end of this year, so.
I think I just explained that we do not really have a handle on this. Although there are precedents, but we do not know what the government is actually going to do or what thought process they are going to follow. I have touched base generally with the people who matter in this, and they have said that they have not yet started the exercise. Once we have a start on the exercise, maybe I can give you some explanation on this.
But in terms of precedents, can you give some perspective? What are those and, you know, how does it positively or negatively affect us?
Precedence is what they have been doing for the past for other, in the past, what have they done for our other plants. So briefly, it considers the net fixed assets and the return on net worth and so on, so forth. So it's a calculation based on that. Given that Chambal Three, that is Gadepan III, has finished its tenure, in what way they will treat these numbers is something open to question. We are not making a guess as to what they will do. The numbers could vary from our estimate, both positively and negatively. So we have to see, because normally they take a 15-year span for depreciation and so on, so forth, but currently this plant is only eight years into its life.
So what exactly will be the parameters they will choose for NIP 2012 units going forward? Because this will be a template not only for us, but for all other plants that will follow through. That is, Matix is there, HURL three plants are there, and so on. So it will be - have to be very well thought out, because what they will do with us will go forth for others also.
And, so in terms of TAN project, you know, any perspective which you see, how should we see the scale-up happening in FY 2027? Should we see a 70%-80% or even a higher kind of a utilization?
We do hope that we have the capacity in terms of running the plant. We have trained up our people. I don't think production is going to be an issue. We have to see how well the market absorbs the product is something in the future. And that is the key, because at the end point, we have to see, and we are fairly confident we have our people in place, a marketing team in place. And I think we have, I think, today, the most modern technology available for this kind of product. So at the moment, I don't see any showstoppers as far as reaching a very healthy capacity utilization, 75%-80% plus. I don't see any problem.
Okay. And, sir, I think last, just two questions. First, in the opening remarks, you talked about us, you know, signing an MOU or a licensing deal with the IMACID. Can you just explain what does it pertain to, in the sense, is it purely for domestic market or it's more an opportunity? And, you know, how can this-
I think you are talking about, we were talking about TERI. TERI is, you know, a very, well-known institute in terms of, sustainable agricultural solutions and biologicals. We had, as you know, entered into a, an understanding from them to do research on specified product lines and with specific personality traits or whatever of the products. Now, we have also commissioned a laboratory to do the specific job there. That is one. Secondly, as we have, as I indicated, there is a pipeline of products which are going to come from now up to 2028. They are, in fact, if I'm not wrong, and Ashish will correct me there, there are about eight or nine products, in various varieties, which are including bionematicides and fungicides and so on, on which we have complete IP control, too.
And as they form and we feel confident, we can go, I mean, beyond our borders to sell that kind of a thing. And we are having interesting inquiries from some one or two companies who are looking at our performance of our product, and they might, you know, after their set of field trials of getting convinced on the product capability, could take it abroad as well.
Okay. But any other tie-up? So I think we were exploring, you know, in-licensing opportunities with other MNCs for the CPC portfolio, and same for manufacturing, we were evaluating.
That is continuing. We are introducing products that we said are new products, are coming from those, so-called formal and informal arrangements with the, multinationals that we are talking to. And, we have progressed some way. First of all, we have a company called Nutrien Worldwide, which is going to give us some carbon-related products, which will come in next year. And then, there are products coming from Nichino, which, we already have. We are also talking to Syngenta, Corteva, all those people. So as they get confident about our reach capability to market the GenX or 1.5X products, we definitely get into that. And there are both arrangements in terms of the volumes of sales that we have to achieve, the geography in which we have to do that, etc., etc.
So those are arrangements that we have with many of our corresponding companies who are now taking the company seriously in terms of reach, in terms of our marketing capability, in terms of the trust we enjoy with our brands.
Okay, last question, any-
Milaja, I would request you to please join back the queue for follow-up questions.
Sure.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press Star and One. We take the next question from the line of Sandeep Mukherjee from SKP Securities Limited. Please go ahead.
Sir, thanks for taking my question. I have certain bookkeeping questions, like, what was the gas cost for the quarter?
I'll ask Mr. Anuj Jain to give the answer to that.
Yes. Thank you.
Quarter was $14.6 on NCV basis, per MMBtu.
Okay, sir. And sir, if you can please give the plant-wise production volume for G1, G2, G3.
Okay. So Gadepan-I, for the quarter, we had about 2.84 lakh tons produced. Gadepan-II, it was 2.69 lakh tons, and Gadepan-III, it was 3.51 lakh tons, so total 9.04 lakh tons.
Okay. Okay, sir. Sir, actual Gcal for G1, G2, for Q3 and nine months, what would be the numbers?
Mr. Baijal? Yeah, I couldn't get your question. Could you repeat, please?
Sir, the actual Gcal energy efficiency for G1 and G2 for Q3 and nine months, what would be the numbers?
I can only give you a range. They were, quite a bit, I would say 5%-6%, 4%-5% lower than the norms for G1 and G2. And, about, let's say, about 4%-5% lower, about 2%, 2%-3% lower for Gadepan-III.
Okay. Okay. Okay, okay, sir. Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Dhruv Muchhal from HDFC AMC. Please go ahead.
Yeah, sir. So just a question on the NPK and the DAP business. So we are seeing that the input prices have increased both for acid, sulfuric acid significantly, which will probably lead to an increase in the NPK pricing, if you have to probably pass it on.
... and the DAP pricing remains steady because of whatever government policy.
Yeah.
So does it start to have an impact in terms of the offtake of NPK? Because, for the last nine months, 12 months, we are seeing a good offtake in NPKs, probably also because of the shortage in DAP. But does the economics don't work very favorably for the farmers if you have to take that price hike? I mean, just trying to understand how does this dynamic work.
Naturally, there is a substitution effect if prices are beyond a certain range. Farmers will tolerate a certain price gap, beyond which they will not. Now, that is also incumbent upon the availability of the substitute. Last year, the substitute was not available. To some extent, that is why the NPKs worked well for the industry. The second part is we are not prognosticating what is going to happen to the DAP availability this year, but you rightly said there are pointers which are worrying. One is that the sulfur price is very high and not seen to be coming down very soon. The second part is that it has a knock-on effect on the price of phosphoric acid, and that also is not conducive to the production of a high P percentage fertilizer like DAP.
So naturally, the cost of production of DAP is going high. From rock, yes, if people have got the rock route, definitely they have still some margin left, although it's getting squeezed. But it will all depend on what the price fixation for DAP or phosphoric acid happens in this quarter, but from my understanding, it has not yet happened, although discussions are going on. That is one part. The other part is that ammonia itself also has a little elevated levels at this point of time. What I'm trying to say ultimately is that it will depend on the price dynamics and what the government, of course, has got the policy for advantage, disadvantage as far as DAP is concerned. For the importers, where, as I told you, that the increasing involvement of working capital is an issue.
And secondly, as far as the producers are concerned, they have a slightly different formula. I think, if I'm not wrong, this past six months prices, and then, their subsidy is derived from the actual import of the material for the last six months. How it will work for them is something that you should ask either Paradeep or Coromandel, or somebody who is actually producing that. So that would decide the availability in terms of the DAP in the country going forward. The situation looked to be okay sometime back in January, when prices were at $650 levels, $670 levels, but of late, they have climbed up rather sharply. My understanding is that they are reaching levels of $720, $730 already.
where it will end up and what it will do to the availability once again is something, although the starting point this time is more favorable in terms of better stock position. It's a little complex interplay I will not be able to predict, but I think, still, there will be a demand for NPK in a certain percentage, and Chambal is well poised to take advantage.
Sure, sir. Thank you. So just to extend on this, so basically there are two things. First is the pricing of DAP. Sorry, the availability of DAP and the relative price gap between DAP and NPK. So keeping the availability aside, because that will, I'm not sure how it will play out, but just on the pricing gap, I mean, is there space to take price hikes in NPKs for the cost increase, or the tipping point is reached where the affordability, affordability versus the DAP becomes increasingly more challenging for farmers?
I think that it has been a question of positioning and who has taken what position in terms of pricing in the market. So that is an important issue, because as you rightly said, there's a tipping point whereby after which the consumption will drop to some extent. So that will be pressure all around. But on the same, you know, let's look at it this way, that the availability itself of these will be domestically quite constrained because the economics don't work out at all for NPKs.
Mm-hmm.
DAP, still there is some protection, in NPK, there is no option except for a grade like possibly 20-20-30, where also, because of sulfur prices, margins are under pressure.
Sure. Got it. And sir, the second question was on the TAN you mentioned about horizontal and vertical possibilities. So any, if you can, you know, provide some more comments here, what can-
I am not-
What are these possibilities could be?
I, I think I've thrown a very broad and, encompassing hint on this.
It's a very broad and encompassing hint. If you can give more? It's a very broad-
Horizontally means that you produce more of the same stuff, and vertically means that you go forward in the value chain.
All right. Sure. And, sir, how, when do you... I mean, is there a point where you decide that you go ahead with this? Or, I mean, how does that happen?
I mean, there are two points to it. One is that we have to we decide with it when we go to the board and say, "Okay, here is a specific proposal," okay? That this plant will be put at this place with this cost and with this return, and this product, kind of mix. And that is when we will announce. In the meantime, there are all kinds of things going on in the background.
Sure, sir. Great. Thank you and all the best. Thank you.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Prashant Biyani from Elara Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Sir, ideally, for DAP, how much availability would the government want to ensure every year, be it from domestic production or imports?
As much as possible. DAP has now become as important a product as Urea, in terms of the requirement from the farmers.
Um-
Ideally, in my opinion, what I have seen in the past, and Ashish can hear me out on that, is that we have seen levels of about 2-4, 2.3, 2.4 million tons in April. Which is, was considered safe, but if you see what I mentioned in the first paragraph, that there has been extensive sowing of wheat and so on. Of course, some part of it has already been used as basal dose, which is where most of the DAP goes.
But there are sometimes top-up dressing, and so on, what they call. I will let, like, Ashish to explain that further. So my feeling is that the consumption in the balance period from January to March is also not going to be a small number. What it will do to the availability on first of April is something to guess at, at the moment, but I'll ask Ashish to give some color on this.
Okay. So, Prashant, you know, if you look at the DAP availability as of now, vis-a-vis, vis-a-vis end of January last year. So the inventories end of January last year was around one point three million tons, and the end of January, it is around 2.5 million tons. And if you look at the import contracts and the production for February, March, we should open up with an inventory of 2.8 million tons on first April, which is a very safe inventory to start the season with. So I think no panic as of now, as far as DAP is concerned. I hope I have answered your question.
No, sir, my question was, you know, irrespective of any month, in any calendar years, what is the-
Okay.
bare minimum amount of DAP would any government, would India want, be it from domestic source or imports?
If you look at the capacities, you know, India produces a minimum of 300,000 tons and a maximum of 360,000 tons in a month. So that's the range.
So I think, Ashish, what he's asking is: What is the minimum comfortable inventory which the government would want? Now, I think you should come from there, Prashant, that there is a Kharif, Rabi split in this. Total amount is about 105-106 lakh metric tons. Although, if you see the numbers last year and sometime, that is more due to availability. There was no availability, that's why the amount fell, although the latent demand, in my opinion, is close to 106-107 lakh metric tons. Now, given that, most of that, I do not know the exact split between Kharif and Rabi. You divide by the number of months and take a center point, and that would be the kind of inventory that the government would like to have.
So assuming, let's say, I'm just doing a very, very crude math on this, most of the consumption takes place in Rabi, somewhere around 55%-60%, I think, goes into Rabi. So we are talking about 6 million tons in the 2.5 months or 3 months of Rabi, which is active. So we are talking about 2 million tons a month will get flushed out of the system. If that is the case, the government should have by Rabi at least 3-3.5 million tons in its pocket. That's the way to look at it.
Sure. Thank you for that. Sir, how much is the net cash and liquid investment right now?
I will ask Anuj to answer this question.
About INR 800 crore. About INR 800 crore as of today.
Okay. And, Mr. Baijal, it has been a while since you are talking about overseas investment. Nothing concrete you have shared as of now.
I can only report that we are in active discussions, and we continue to have active discussions. But, as I said last time, sometimes you break off and then engage. So this is a time when I'm talking to you, we have had a significant re-engagement, and, where it will lead to, we'll have to wait for some time, but, I think there has been a re-engagement and a positive re-engagement.
Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press star and one. We take the next question from the line of Viraj Kacharia from SiMPL. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, thanks for the opportunity. Can you tell us how we are looking at ramping up in your side?
I think your voice is breaking. I could not really hear.
Yeah. Is it audible now?
Yeah, you are audible, but there was a break in the sound.
Yeah. So I was just trying to understand, you know, how we're looking at scaling in the seed business and tie up with the ministries?
Yeah. No, we are doing a two-pronged approach. First of all, this year, we just introduced and tested the market. And we went into mustard, we went into pearl millet, we went into some wheat, and so on. Small quantities to just test out what really happens in this market, what are the operating realities of this market. So we have got a good fix. We are going to scale this up while we look for opportunities. And there are, because of our entry into this, we have started receiving inquiries of a significant nature on people who want to tie up or offer a stake. So we will look at those, and once we have something to tell you, we shall.
But in those stakes also, we will be looking at a majority ownership kind of a structure?
We don't know, but we don't know what will work, depending on the valuations and so on. We don't know what will work, but we have started receiving inquiries. That much I can say.
Okay. And second question was on the CPC. You know, we were also evaluating into their own manufacturing setup. So any decision we have come to in terms of, you know...?
No, we really have not thought in terms of proactive going out and snagging some asset or something like that. But what we are talking to one or two people is that they develop some generic combinations for us. And although this is very embryonic, very embryonic, we have had just a discussion on this. There are people who are willing to develop our white label generic combinations, which we will then see if it is once it is, and then also manufacture it for us, if it is possible. So at the moment, asset acquisition on this side is not really on the table, but this way, where we get, again, a TERI kind of model, where we get stuff done for us and then also get manufactured, is what we are actually exploring.
Okay, done then. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press star and one. We take the next question from the line of Karan Gupta from Kavi Capital. Please go ahead.
Yes, thank you for the opportunity. One question on the demand-supply dynamics in the TAN market. There were some recent reports about CIL also wanting to set up its own manufacturing facilities. So could you just talk a little bit more about your thinking about the market?
No, this is a good... It's an expanding market. Let me tell you, we are anyways growing in the market, I think around 5%-6% CAGR, and that you can recheck from Deepak as well. But, and the market will shortly become, I mean, long, in the sense that there will be some capacities added by us, by even Gopalpur at Deepak and so on, in the next one or two years. But overall, if you see the trajectory of what's going to happen in India, infrastructure, data centers, copper, cement, requirement of power through coal, and so on, I'm pretty confident that the trajectory is going to go higher. Secondly, the other trigger that we think is going to happen is the private sector involvement in mining, especially metals and so on.
This is going to open up big way in the next 3, 4 years. That is a real opportunity because there will be requirement for specific stuff there, which is why we talked about some kind of vertical integration into this. Then, that, in any case, doing vertical integration insulates us to some extent. The second part is that we have heard about CIL and BHEL. Coal technology is definitely gives a lot of advantages in terms of ammonia manufacture, but it's a difficult technology to master, and it's very emission intensive. We have a lot of respect for Coal India and BHEL, but by their own admission, they are talking about 4 years from now.
We are looking at a space where the market is already going to go long, and that point of time, I think we will have enough space for everybody around, I think, to tackle this issue. We are quite confident.
Okay. Thank you, sir. Another question is regarding capital allocation. So apart from the expected TAN expansion and any inorganic opportunities, is there any consideration of increasing cash returns to shareholders?
I think if our plans work out, we don't have anything to offer in the next one or two years. Beyond that, we'll see.
Okay. And, lastly, on the pending dues, subsidy dues, when do you expect to receive those from the government?
My understanding, it is a cycle, goes back and forth. We have a total of-
Ladies and gentlemen, we have lost the line of the management. Please stay connected while I reconnect the management. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience. We have the management line reconnected. Karan, if you could please repeat the question for the management. Thank you.
Yeah, I think they were in the process of telling us about any-
I will ask, if I'm not wrong, as of end of December, we had something like INR 1,600-1,700 crores or a little bit tad more, INR 50-100 crores here or there. That's my memory. Anuj can feed me on that. That was outstanding as receivable from the books, of which about INR 700 crores is what has been built, and the balance is unbuilt because there is a certain process of flushing it out through POS and all that. So that is a, then keep on coming and going. So we know that the government has taken some extra for the sector by way of some supplementary grants and all that. So I think we are comfortable there. I don't think there's much of an issue, but you can either. I, I can ask Anuj to give you the exact numbers.
About INR 1,980 crore, and, as Mr. Basil rightly said, that about INR 600 crore is the build value. Balance is because of some POS clearance or some advantage, disadvantage and freight, et cetera. And in January and February, till date, we have received about INR 1,000 crore.
Okay, so that was very helpful. Thank you.
Thanks.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Akash Maji from IIFL Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Can you please share the urea sales volume for Gadepan I, Two, and Three facility?
I'll ask Anuj to answer that.
Yeah. So, we have sold in the quarter, Gadepan I, 2.87 lakh ton, Gadepan II, 2.79 lakh ton, and Gadepan III, 4.18 lakh ton. So total, 9.83 lakh ton.
Okay. What would be the estimated volume loss from this unplanned shutdown in 3Q? Would that be minimal, or is there any figure for that?
No, that's not much. We are talking hardly three to four thousand. We have enough stock to make up for that loss of 10,000.
Okay. The last question would be, given the unplanned shutdown in 2Q, now in 3Q, and now the planned shutdown in 4Q as well, what would be the urea volume growth that you are expecting for FY 2026? Is there any figure for that?
I think urea volumes normally, Mr. Akash, remain static because we run as it is beyond 100% capacity for all three plants. We are fully and more exploiting the capacity, and these plants have a certain, number which beyond which you cannot, sort of, exploit capacities unless you run for a larger number of days in a year. So as you know, we are already in a two-year cycle before we do turnaround for all the three plants. Our effort, technically, is to go to three-year cycle in this. As and when we do that, some unexploited capacity will come out in all three plants.
Okay, thank you. Thank you for answering my questions.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please press star and one. As there are no further questions from the participant, I now hand the conference over to the management for their closing comments.
Thank you. I would like to thank all of you for the call today, and I hope that you were able to address all your queries. If you have any further questions, you can reach out to IR partners at Valorem Advisors. Thank you once again for participating in the call.
Thank you. On behalf of Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.