Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Finolex Cables Limited Q2 FY 2025 earnings conference call hosted by Perfect Relations Private Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star and zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. And I'll hand the conference over to Ms. Mumtaz Ahmad from Perfect Relations Private Limited. Thank you, and over to you, ma'am.
Thank you, Nico. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us on Finolex Cables Limited Q2 FY 2025 earnings conference call. Today we have with us Mr. Mahesh Viswanathan, Deputy CEO and Chief Financial Officer from Finolex Cables. Before we begin, I would like to say that some of the statements that will be made in today's discussion may be forward-looking in nature. We will begin the call with the opening remarks from the management, after which we will have the forum open for the interactive Q&A session. I will now request Mr. Mahesh Viswanathan for the opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
I hope I'm audible and clear. Good evening. Welcome to this call from Finolex Cables Limited. Thanks to all the participants for attending. Let me start by a few quick remarks, and then afterwards I will take questions. We had a bit of a difficult quarter. We started the quarter with, A, high inventories, and B, inventories which were procured when copper was also very high in terms of value. The first couple of months were spent more in ensuring that the stocks got liquidated both at our end as well as at the trade end, which obviously had its impact on margins. We had to take a few price cuts during the quarter because while we were trying to do the liquidation, copper also was consistently falling.
So just to give some numbers, average copper at the LME was about $10,130 in May, which dropped to $9,641 in June, $9,394 in July, $8,963 in August. So right through the middle of August, the situation was that copper was continuously declining, and we had to keep adjusting our selling prices accordingly. There was some kind of a revival towards the end of September, and in fact, on the 29th of September, we revised our prices upwards for the first time after four months. The trend has been quite volatile as far as copper is concerned during the last seven, eight months. As we speak today, copper has dropped below $9,000 again. So that volatility plays on the pull from the market and impacts volumes. And when the volatility is fairly sharp, like it happened at the end of the first quarter, it also impacts margins.
But I believe that as far as the margin corrections are concerned, the work is behind us, and we should be more stable from now onwards. So while that was the position as far as copper is concerned, overall, as a company, revenue in the quarter improved to INR 1,312 crores, which is 7% higher than the immediately preceding quarter and 10% higher than the corresponding quarter of last year. As I mentioned earlier, margins did take a hit. We dropped approximately 4 percentage points compared to the comparable quarter of last year and about 1.5 percentage points compared to the immediately preceding quarter. Barring this aberration, I think volumes were steady given the environment in which we were working during this quarter. Electrical cables, I think, should start showing some sense of recovery from now onwards.
On the communication cables part, we had low realizations both on the metal-based cables because copper was falling and also on the fiber side. While volume was substantially high, quarter-on-quarter the volume was up almost by 50%, but values realized had dropped. Fiber prices have been coming down over the last two years. So again, to give some reference points, what used to be $4 per kilometer two years ago is now $2.6-$2.7 per kilometer landed in India. So there is a substantial reduction in the realization of fiber. I think as the consumption of fiber picks up across the globe, we should expect to see this coming back to normal levels probably over the next six to eight months. The opportunities on the fiber side still continue to be exciting.
BSNL's tender was those bids which were submitted early in August were opened last week, sorry, this week, and our partners have won one on certain bids. So once the orders are released, then we will know exactly how and in what periods our revenues will change. I expect that the ordering from BSNL to the bid winners will happen sometime towards the latter part of this quarter, and supplies will come in probably around February or March. Besides this, there are also opportunities on the 5G rollouts as well as data center requirements, but those are kind of somewhat a little long-term in nature. Other products have done reasonably well, values of clients, and I think we are on track to hit INR 300 crores this year. We were about INR 228 or INR 230 last year. We should be looking closer to INR 300 this year.
Like I've always mentioned, break-even should be around 250-260, so this year we should have that in hand. The last comment I would like to make is on the CapEx portion. We had quite a few items lined up, of which the major ones were on the E-Beam facility. That is now complete, and we are expecting BIS clearances, I mean, BIS certifications, anytime now. So revenues from this investment should start flowing in from anytime now. Preform, the installation of the equipment is to commence in the next two to three weeks. The engineers from the manufacturer are expected here in the next one week or 10 days, and then they should commence the installation. We expect commissioning latest by end of quarter four and production to be available from then onwards. The other major part was the expansion of the auto cable lines in Roorkee.
The equipment they have reached and are under commissioning, so we expect all that to happen and get completed by end of December. So these are the three major parts of the CapEx portion which were underway. All of them should be then closed by end of this fiscal. What remains is the expansion of the fiber draw capacity from 4 million to 6 million. The orders for the equipment have been placed. I think they should arrive somewhere around May or June, and then the commissioning will start from then onwards. So that's on the CapEx portion. Yeah. So again, to recapitulate: slightly difficult quarter with margins getting impacted, but I think, as I said before, I believe that the worst is behind us, and we should see return to normal season. I'm now open for questions.
Thank you very much. We'll now begin with the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. Ladies and gentlemen, you may press star and one to ask a question. First question is from the line of Sonali from Jefferies India. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. My first question is with regards to the BharatNet that you just spoke about in your opening remarks and the BSNL order. So you're saying your partners-
Sonali, you're not audible. Can you speak a little louder, please?
Yes. Is this better? Is this better?
Yeah. Yeah.
Slightly better. Yes. So my first question is regarding to the BharatNet or the BSNL order. You said that your partners have received it. Any more color you would like to give us in the sense what is the quantum of the order wherein you or your partners have been announced as the L1 bidder? Which regions? What's the normal terms of the contract? And who is the partner of yours in this BSNL?
Okay. So the bids have been opened in the last two days. So in terms of the contract values and so on and so forth, it is still too early to say any numbers. So we had an understanding with one of the bidders that they would use our cables, and they have won, I think, three of the bids that they participated in. So at this moment, I wouldn't want to name those people. Let that process get completed. I think it's a little too early to talk about numbers and values at this point in time.
Okay. Got it, sir. So my second question is with regards to the electrical wires. So the volume growth has been a bit muted at 2% this quarter. We are a good brand. Could you help us understand about the current demand scenario? Even last quarter, I think the volume growth was in single digits, if I'm not mistaken.
It has been muted over the last six, eight months. Part of the reason, I think, is if you look at the commodity price volatility, it's becoming a little bit difficult to differentiate between what demand is speculation-led and what demand is actually consumption-led. So it kind of one gets fused in the other, and especially in the first part of the year, March, April, and maybe a couple of weeks of May, copper was climbing and climbing pretty rapidly. So from $8,500 at the beginning of the year, it went up to almost $11,000. So there were multiple price increases that were announced, and immediately after the announcement, while we announced it today, the effect of that announcement happened after a week, let's say. In that interim period, a lot of pull happened. Obviously, that was substantially speculative.
I mean, you buy it today at today's price, and you expect to sell it at a higher price a little later. But then there was this very sharp correction from the middle of May. From 11,000, it went down to almost 8,200, 8,300. So that put the brakes on any further buying from the trade, and that continued all the way through August. So yes, it has been muted, but there has been some pre-buying, let us use that word, and then later on, it has got consumed over the last four to six months' period. I think that volatility is also changing the trade behavior to some extent.
Got it. So is it correct in understanding that there was destocking in the channels due to sharp correction in the copper prices from INR 11,000-INR 8,000 till mid-August? And after that, have the channels started restocking that? Do you see demand normalization right now at these peaks?
Yeah. So as I speak, in my opening remarks, I said by the end of September, the average had climbed back to $9,250. But that's the average. So spot prices could have been also $9,700, $9,600. But then again, as we speak today, spot prices have gone below $9,000. It's about $8,800-$8,900 today. So the swings have been fairly high, and the swings have not had a very large period of stability in between. So the peaks and valleys have been pretty sharp. And I do not know how that will continue to impact conventional-grade sales.
Understood. Would you like to quantify the inventory loss this quarter?
Our inventory now is back to more or less similar levels as where we were last year, September, and very close to this year, March. March we closed at INR 570 crores, I think, in terms of value. And September, we were at INR 610 or something like that, INR 604.
Understood.
So we are very far away from that number. And in terms of number of days, also, we are back to normal. At the end of March, we were, I think, 52 days, all inventory put together, and we are back to the same level.
Understood. So could you quantify the price cuts that you have taken in Q2?
There were three corrections, all totaling to about 11%, I think.
Since then, it's been steady, is it?
Since then, we had one price increase in September, on the last day of September. That was 2% or so, and now we'll have to wait and watch because the last one week, LME has been dipping.
Got it. So structurally, do you foresee housing and CapEx cycles to remain strong? Are you seeing some kind of a slowdown in these two broader cycles, or are you seeing them quite steady across?
I think they are steady. I think they are steady, but what impacts the numbers is the kind of volatility that we've been seeing. So that kind of distorts the picture to a large extent.
Understood. So largely, this impact was because of copper volatility.
Yes.
And competition-wise?
There is a little bit of a mixed change as well. There have been more project-based selling as opposed to pure retail selling. So that also has had a slight impact on the market. Not much, but definitely there.
So generally, our project-based selling was about B2B was 25%. What is it this quarter?
No. When I say project-based, the channel is the same, but we know that certain products are picked up by electricians, and certain products are picked up by contractors because they like longer lengths. So the longer lengths have sold more in quantity as opposed to the standard 90-meter boxes. So that and the longer length, because it goes to the building segment directly, the pricing is a little finer than what is sold through retail outlets.
Got it. So do you expect the margins to revert back to a steady state 11%-12% in the coming quarter, or do you foresee this kind of mixed change or volatility-based pricing to continue to impact margins?
If the volatility continues, then getting back to 12% might take a little longer. That's about it. It will eventually go there, but the journey might be a little longer.
Got it. So I just one last question on the mixed change part. Within the electrical cables, autos, construction, etc., has there been any material change in these subsegments for you as well?
No. No material change except for certain season-dictated stuff. So for example, typically in quarter two, the agricultural applications are lower in volume because rains are there, and water tables are not where you need to use large numbers of, I mean, large quantities of wires to pump the water out. But other than that, no change.
Got it. So thank you for answering all these questions, and wish you all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. Next question is from the line of Sriram R., an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. Firstly, what is the market share?
Can I request you to speak into the handset?
Yeah. Sorry, so what is the market share for us in the wire segment alone, and if you can give some update on the pending litigation, that would be very helpful. Thank you.
Market share on an annualized basis is what I can talk about because on a monthly or a quarterly basis, that number is a little misleading. On an annual basis, and again, if I take last year's number, our wire revenue was somewhere around INR 4,200 crores or INR 4,300 crores out of a total wire market size of about INR 25,000 crores. So slightly under 20% at that level. That's what it would be. Individual product lines might be different. Autos would be different. Agri would be different and so on. But overall, wires would be around 18%-20%. Your second question was on the pending litigations. Other than what you might have seen in the public domain, I have nothing additional to add there.
There was one matter before the NCLAT, which was disposed of, and directions given to the NCLT to decide on the matter that is before them within a period of time, and what is that matter in front of the NCLT is basically who holds ownership of the disputed shares in Orbit and therefore who gets control over all the entities. So that basic question is still to be answered, and NCLAT has given directions to NCLT to hear that matter and dispose it off quickly. Beyond that, there is nothing much that I can add. There is nothing much that the company or I know about.
Okay. That's helpful, sir. I mean, in terms of market share, compared to now when you said 20%, FY 2024, so maybe two, three years back, how much was it? I mean, I'm just trying to understand how we maintained our market share at least for the last couple of years.
I think in the last two, three years, we've been more or less steady. Maybe 1% here or there would have been different, but I suppose I mean, I think it's been more or less steady.
Okay. Okay. That's great. That's helpful. Thank you so much. All the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. Next question is from the line of Achal Lohade from Nuvama Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good evening, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, is it possible to get the capacity, what we have as of now, for the electrical cables, cables and wires put together? And what is the expansion or what kind of expansion are we seeing over the next two, three years?
If I use a standard product, then I mean, if I use that standard 90-meter box as the unit of measurement, then we have the capacity to make approximately 23-24 lakh coils per month. Utilization is around slightly over 60%-65% at this point in time. And this is on the standard wire. Then, of course, there are additional capacities for auto cables and for agricultural applications. Autos is more or less 80% occupied. Agriculture is slightly seasonal, so last quarter was not much of an occupancy because when we have a rain, then that particular product line, the demand is not very high. It is only maintenance requirements that are there. But overall, at a company level, our utilization of the wire assets would be somewhere around 65%-70% in between.
Right. And if you could talk the split, let's say FY 2024 split, so you mentioned about wires, about INR 4,200 crores, right? But does that also include the auto and agri cables, or it's purely wires?
No, no. It's purely wires.
Only wires, right?
Yeah.
Okay. Understood. And with respect to the industry capacity, any similar number you have for the industry as a whole for wires and also for cables?
No. It's difficult. I mean, there is some information available with IEEMA, IEEMA, that is the industry trade association. But it all depends on how transparent everybody is in terms of sharing their data. Long before, maybe before 2014 or 2013, MCA used to mandate that you declare the capacities and therefore also what level you're operating at. That requirement was removed at that point in time. And since then, you only have to rely on what is published by IEEMA.
Right. Understood. Second question I had, with respect to the while the copper prices have been volatile, if you could help us understand, because we see that the others, like the market leader and a couple of others, have actually shown a 20% plus kind of a volume growth in wires. So I'm just.
Everybody reports consolidated numbers. What you see is a number that is reported that includes wires, cables, everything. The total market, the segment reporting is only at electrical cables level. And so some of our peers have a much larger exposure to the cable market, whereas we do not.
Fair. Fair. No. In fact, in the calls, they have mentioned, sir. In the earnings calls, they have talked about. Polycab has talked about 24%-25% volume growth in wires. So it's the case with KEI, 20% plus. So it's the case with Havells. Wires growth was very strong. In fact, that is the reason the margins got impacted, etc. So I'm just curious, is there any basic difference in terms of sourcing or hedging of copper for us vis-à-vis the industry or these key players? Is there any difference?
I cannot comment on how they hedge us or what protection measures they take or don't take. I know what we do. We buy on month averages. I think I've explained this in other calls also. We buy on month averages. We don't take long calls. So for cash flow purposes, we have an understanding of the supplier as to what would be the provisional price that we will pay. And later on at the end of the month, we settle the terms. And just to correct you in your understanding, I'm looking at, for example, KEI. They have reported a 9% increase in revenue, not in quantity, in wires, and 24% increase in cables.
Now, if I go to Polycab, again, they have where is Polycab? Cable and wires, cable revenue is up 24%. EBIT margin of 12.3, down to 131 basis points. So everyone has had an issue on the wire side this year. Cable, yes, they've all improved more. And our participation in the overall cable market is very small. Out of the market size of approximately INR 25,000 crores, we do a business of less than INR 200 crores. So that skews the presentation a little bit.
Right. No, I was more talking from a volume growth perspective, which they talked about in the earnings call. But I'll take that offline, sir. So you said INR 25,000 crore is the power cables market size. Is that so?
Yeah. Power and control cables. So that includes all voltage grades above 11 all the way to, sorry, 6 all the way to 500.
Right. And our revenue in that particular segment is just INR 200 crores?
Yeah. Yeah.
Got it. Any plans to add?
I think 200 from this entity and about 200 from the JV.
Right. So about 400 crores total?
Yeah.
Understood. Any plans to add capacity in this particular power cable site? How do you see the situation? Do you see this getting slowed down, or this is very much steady or strong?
Right. It is a strong scenario. I don't see demand coming down there. But it is tender-driven, L1-based business. And a significant percentage of the customers are power utilities, most of them belonging to the distribution side. So risks that are there are towards collection, timing of collection. So you will find that many of my peers have that impact visible on their DSO. I have a DSO of, I think, 14 days or 15 days. Typically, you will find most of them having DSOs of 60, 70 days. Some of them even longer than that. So it's a different environment. And some of the practices are not something that we are very comfortable with. So on the call, this is all I can say.
Fair point, sir. That's very helpful, sir. Just last question, if I may, with respect to the communication cables, if you look at the segment margin, EBIT level is about 2%-3% for the last couple of years. One of the reasons is the price correction, what you've highlighted. For this particular BharatNet BSNL orders, is it fair to say that the margins will be similar, or they could be materially different or at the company-level average for these orders?
It should be better than what we have today. The numbers that you see today are 2%-2.5% as a result of two things. One is the price realization that has been there for the last couple of years. And the second is also the fact that volumes have not changed. This quarter was good. Otherwise, volumes have not moved substantially over the last year, year and a half. The reason for that is government, which is a very large customer in this area, did not have any procurement over the last year and a half. And normally, they account for about 60% of the buy during this segment. So utilization of assets was also low, and fixed cost absorption was therefore affected. And that impacted margins, of course.
But once the procurement from the government side starts and volumes start moving up, then these two will definitely start climbing back. It will take a little bit of time before it reaches the historical averages. We used to average around 7%-8% in the past. For that to happen, it will take a little bit of time, but it should start climbing.
What is the execution period for or supply period for these cables, sir?
The BSNL tender, I mean, this current tender that we're talking about, is three years post-ordering, and then followed by a seven-year period of maintenance subsequently.
Typically, what would that split be? Let's say if it is an INR 100 order, how much would be the cable, communication cable supply part of it?
Cables are estimated about 10%.
10%.
It might differ in some of those. There were 16 packages. So on the average, it would be around 10%. Individual packages might differ between 9% and 11%.
Oh, it is that narrow a difference. Okay. Understood.
Because it's not just cable supply. It is erection involved. There is lots of.
Hello?
Can you hear us?
Ladies and gentlemen, please stay connected while we rejoin the management back to the call. Participants, please stay connected while we join the management back to the call.
What's the deal?
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience. We have the line for the management reconnected. Actually, would you like to wait, sir, while the line dropped?
Sir, you were talking about this is just not the supply, and after that, it got disconnected, sir.
Oh, okay. I'm sorry. Let me repeat that back.
No problem. Yes.
So it's not just the supply of cables. There are also electronics and other active and passive elements that are involved. So the package values or the cable supply percentage might vary a little bit depending upon the concentration of other elements in the whole package. That's about it.
Got it. Got it. And sir, if you could just comment on the CapEx for FY 2025, 2026, and 2027?
In my remarks, I said that the major CapEx plans that we had announced about a year ago was on expanding capacity on the optic fiber cable side. Number one was we were putting up a preform plant. And a preform is the glass from which fiber is drawn. So in phase one, we were putting up a plant to generate approximately 100 metric tons of glass, which would equal to around 4 million kilometers of fiber. That plant, the equipment is here. Commissioning is expected to start in the next two weeks or so. We are expecting the engineers from the manufacturer anytime now. And we expect that phase one commissioning will be over by quarter four, and initial production will start from there. The second part of this expansion was to increase the fiber capacity, fiber draw capacity. Currently, we have 4 million kilometers capacity.
Increase that to eight million in two stages. Phase one up to six million and stage two later on to eight million. For stage one, the orders have been placed, and the equipment is expected sometime in the second quarter next year. Once that happens, the installation commissioning of that will start. The third part of the same business is to increase the cable capacity. Currently, we have a capacity to cable eight million kilometers to take it up to 10. The building is ready, so we were waiting for clarity on the BSNL tenders. And soon, we'll have to decide whether current capacity is sufficient to meet that, or do we need to extend and increase the cabling capacity. Like I said, the building is already ready. The equipment lead time is about seven to eight months.
So we can take a call on that once the ordering situation becomes clearer. So this is on the optic fiber business. Next to that, we had announced the program on setting up an E-Beam facility with two E-Beam accelerators, one at 1 MEV, and the second one at 1.5 MEV. Both the machines are installed, commissioned, and ready for commercial use. You have a choice of either selling your product with the BIS label or not. We've opted for using the BIS label. So our BIS testing has all happened. We are expecting certification anytime now. Once that is done, then we can launch it as an ISI-marked product. So that should happen anytime now. The third large spend was on adding to our auto cable capacity at our Uttarakhand plant, where the plan was to double the existing capacity at that plant. Machines have arrived.
They have been installed. Testing is going on. So we expect that to be commissioned by end of December. So these were the major items. All told, approximately INR 500 crores was to be spent on all these programs. Last fiscal, we spent about INR 160 crores, I think. Bulk of the balance would be spent in the current fiscal, with a small overflow into the next year. Beyond that, we will have to see now if we talked about wire demand, where it is, is it expected to grow, is it expected to be stable? So that is something that we are looking at. And depending on that, we will take the call. And if necessary, go ahead with this.
So is it fair to say that FY 2026, the CapEx could be, say, 100-200 crores?
Yeah, it's possible.
Understood. Great, sir. This is very helpful. I'll fall back in the case of. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. Next question is from the line of Raman KV from Sequent Investments. Please go ahead.
Hello. Can you hear me, sir?
Yes, clear.
So I just have one question. What is the revenue or volume guidance for this year?
Last year, we did 5,000, just over 5,000 crores. I mean, our numbers are always impacted by. Sorry. If quarter remains steady, then that number can be towards the 6,000 crore number. But if it keeps zigzagging, then it's a little difficult to predict. So at the moment, six months, we are at 2,600, I think. Yeah. So typically, quarter three and quarter four are about 60% plus of the year's numbers. So that could be an indicator for you.
And so can we expect the margins to be around 10%?
Yeah. Like I said, the second quarter margins were low, but I think we should track back to non-MC in the coming quarters.
Okay. Thank you, sir.
Thank you very much. Next question is from the line of Praveen Sahay from Prabhudas Lilladher, please.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Hope I'm audible. Now I am audible?
Yes. Better. Thank you.
Yeah. So my first question is just on the communication cable, and that's a clarification. As your number suggests, it's 2-2.5% of a margin business. And as you had also highlighted, it's because of the low utilization, this kind of a margin you have. So once the utilization will improve from here, do you see this margin profile to improve? And if it's improved, how much you can reach in this business?
If you go back a couple of years, we were averaging about 7-8% in margins from this business. So that is something that is definitely doable. We've done it for several years in the past. So there's no reason why we should not be able to do it again. That's number one. Number two, some of the money that we're spending on CapEx will also help us in increasing our margins because we will be backward integrating in terms of our raw materials, which means today what we are buying from somebody else, and obviously that someone else has got some margin when he sells it to us, that will be something that we will capture in our books.
And we could use it in two manners. Either it helps us to be more competitive in our end pricing towards our end customers, or we could still retain it and increase the margin. So the margin increase could come either by keeping everything with ourselves or by increasing volume, and therefore volume brings in more margins.
Second question related to that, sir. Once you bid for a certain pricing for this project, how the behavior of the raw material price passed on in such kind of a project?
So where we bid on a long-distance project, typically we try and build a price variation clause into that and see what are the major items affecting it. And then that variation clause then helps us to maintain stability. There are a few cases, of course, where, for example, roaming contracts, the prices are required to be firm for a certain period of time. There, once we get the order, we back-to-back freeze the prices with our suppliers.
Usually, lifespan of any project, especially in the BharatNet?
In BharatNet kind of a project, then we will this particular thing says the main installation has to be completed in three years. So that's the lifespan. And so when we, let's say, I'm supplying cable to one of these big winners, we will have to agree on our purchase, I mean, sales contracts that there will be a price variation included so that we are protected.
Okay. And lastly, related to this, sir, if you are a backward integrated in terms of optical fiber manufacturer as well, is there any margin difference versus just a cable supply, optical fiber cable versus you are also manufacturing optical fiber? Is there a material difference in that, or it's just the same?
In the normal course, there would be. In the normal course, there would be because fiber, depending on the design, can constitute anywhere up to 50% of the cost of the cable. In cases where the fiber count is very small, it may not be that high. But typically, the kind of designs that, let's say, BSNL sources, which is 48 or 96 fiber cables, there, of course, there would be the cost of the fiber would make a difference. However, the last two years have been slightly different because of global supply scenarios. The unused capacity in China reflecting on price trends everywhere. What used to be $4-$4.5 per kilometer is now about $2.8. But I don't think this low is going to last very long. When the requirements for 5G connectivity and other applications increase, I think fiber prices will move upward with it.
Which states you are covering in this?
I don't recall offhand which bids our partner has won. But it's one of those 16. But this is not just the one opportunity. Besides this, there are seven to eight more states whose DPRs are currently under evaluation. And they are likely to come out with tenders in the next three to six months. Not all of them together, but over the period of the next three to six months. And some of them are large states. So you have Gujarat, you've got Maharashtra, you have Karnataka, you've got AP, all these people coming in line here.
Your utilization currently in this segment right now?
Right now, at the moment, as we speak, the utilization is high because we are one of the largest suppliers to Bharati. So their requirement is keeping us full for almost 60% of the capacity.
Thank you for answering my question, sir. All the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Mukesh Patil, individual investor. Please go ahead.
Sir, about FMEG business, for H1, what is the number?
Sorry, I didn't get your question.
For FMEG business, what is your revenue?
What is your question?
H1 number.
H1 number?
Yeah.
So we are at INR 128 crores at the end of H1 against INR 100 crores last year. So volumes are I mean, we are doing very well in volumes as far as lighting is concerned, as far as switches and switch case are concerned. Where we still need to improve is on the fans and water heater, that category. Conduits are doing very well. So I think, like I mentioned at the beginning of the conference, we are on track to be very close to the INR 300 crore mark this year, which would be almost a 40% jump from last year. Also, like I said, I've said this in the past also, at 250-260, we should be breaking even. And I think that position still stands. The only other point that I would like to add there is, while volumes are improving in lighting, price erosion has been fairly strong in the lighting segment. So it's a race to be on top of that.
At the same time, volume growth, have you mentioned that? What was the volume growth for wire business during this quarter?
No, your voice is again getting distorted. Volume growth on which product?
What was the volume growth for the wiring cable business for this quarter?
Yeah. Volume growth overall is about 2%.
Okay. Thank you, sir. That's it from my side.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. That was the last question. On behalf of Finolex Cables Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.
Thank you.