Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Indraprastha Gas Limited Q2 FY 2025 Earnings Conference Call, hosted by PhillipCapital (India) Private Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Nitin Tiwari from PhillipCapital (India) Private Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thanks, Nikita. Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Best wishes in advance for Diwali to everyone. On behalf of PhillipCapital (India) Private Limited, I welcome everyone to Indraprastha Gas Limited's second quarter FY 2025 earnings call. Today, we have the pleasure of having with us from the management team of IGL, Director Commercial, Mr. Mohit Bhatia, CFO, Mr. Sanjay Kumar, and VP of Finance, Mr. Manjeet Gulati. I will now hand over the floor to the management for their opening remarks, which shall be followed by a question and answer session. Over to you, sir.
Good afternoon. So first of all, in advance, best wishes and, happy Diwali and a happy, prosperous New Year to, all of you, ladies and gentlemen. So I am Mohit Bhatia, Director, Commercial of, Indraprastha Gas, and I welcome you on behalf of IGL management for taking out time and attending the Q2 earning call for FY 2025. Our Managing Director is, not in the office, has, some preoccupation also, so, mostly he may join, later on. As you know, IGL is one of the leading CGD companies in India and is present in four states and, 11 geographical areas. We have a good mix of now matured and emerging, CGD geographical areas, which has been provided as, providing us both, the challenges and as well as the opportunities.
In the terms of infrastructure development, I am pleased to inform that, our now steel network is almost 2,200-plus kilometers, and the MDPE network is almost touching 26,000 kilometers, which provide natural gas to more than 2.28 lakh households, as well as around 5,000 industrial customers and around 6,300 commercial customers. So now IGL is operating for more than 884 CNG stations and serving to 2 million vehicles per day. In fact, this time, first time, we have crossed the landmark of 2 million vehicles per day also. Secondly, during this festive season, once again, before I proceed, I wish you all a very happy and prosperous Diwali.
Now, I'd like to apprise you about some of the major business and financial updates for the Quarter Two. We have recently, yesterday only, declared our financial results for Quarter Two, yesterday on twenty-eighth of October. First and foremost, I would like to inform that IGL has for the first time crossed the landmark of nine million sales per day, and in the last quarter, we have averaged around 9.03 million standard cubic meters of sales per day. The CNG volumes have grown year-on-year basis by 9% from 6.25 million per day to 6.78, and the total sales during Q2 was 623 million metric cubic meters of the sales.
There has been an average addition of around 15,740 new and retrofitted CNG vehicles on month-over-month basis on an average, over around 14,350, resulting in increase of almost 10% in the CNG vehicular population. As far as PNG volumes are concerned, PNG gas volumes, other than the natural gas sales to some of the entities, we have also delivered a PNG growth of 12% year-on-year basis. And, breaking this down, if we see, so 12% is on the domestic front, whereas 13% increase in the commercial front and a very healthy 11% growth, particularly in the industrial segment also, demonstrating the increase in adoption of PNG across all the segments, whether now it is PNG or CNG.
We are also focusing on volume growth in sales volume and are planning to achieve our sales target of 9.5 million per day for this year and 9.03 during the current financial year. The company is putting a lot of effort in new GAs for increasing the sales, and now the volumes have started coming up good in other GAs also. Regarding the financial highlights for the Q2 year-on-year are summarized as: There has been an increase of 7% in the turnover, and now in during this Quarter Two, we have achieved all-time highest the turnover, crossing 4,000 landmark is now INR 4,070 crores.
The EBITDA is INR 536 crores, and profit before tax was INR 564 crores. There has been a reduction in EBITDA and PAT, mainly due to increase in the input cost of the gas as compared to the same quarter of the last year. Recently, during the month of October, there has been almost a reduction of almost 20% in the allocation of the APM gas by the authorities, and this will have an impact on the profitability during the year, and has already been informed to all the investors through a filing in the stock exchange.
But we are looking at very positively through various options, particularly for gas sourcing, and have made some arrangements by tying up for some of the near gas in the near future. So company is exploring all the gas sourcing options and are in discussions with various gas suppliers to meet our short-term as well as medium-term and the long-term demand. In addition to that, company is also focusing on LNG and CBG to improve the volumes as well as the profitability. The company will keep on exploring strategic inorganic opportunities across India in CGD industry to accelerate our expansion, focusing on our core business as well as we have some other areas for investments under our diversification initiative.
So this will not only enable us in strengthening our market position while delivering sustainable returns for our shareholders. Now, I would like and request to invite our Sanjay Kumar, Mr. Sanjay Kumar, our CFO, IGL, to give his opening remarks. Yeah, thank you.
Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Sanjay Kumar, CFO, IGL. A very warm welcome to all of you. We are happy to hold this earnings call on very auspicious day of Dhanteras, so hopefully the next year always well for everybody. Director Commercial has already elaborated on the various parameters. I would like to briefly tell you about the performance during the quarter as compared to Q1, so we had a growth of 6% quarter on quarter. Our sale during the current quarter stood at 9.03 million cubic meter per day, which was 8.64 million cubic meter per day during the Q1 of the current financial year.
Gross turnover saw an increase of, a growth of, 5%, and EBITDA was down mainly because of the increased gas cost by 9%, approximately 9%. It was INR 582 crores in Q1. This quarter, we closed at INR 500 crores. In terms of PAT, INR 431 crore is the number for the current quarter. Last quarter, it was INR 401 crores. So slight increase on quarter-on-quarter basis. I would also like to highlight that the company has achieved highest ever sales per day during the quarter that's gone by, 52.94 lakh SCM per day. In the month of October, also, we are seeing this increase in trend continuing.
And, I'm happy to inform you that a single day sale of 65 lakh SCM has also been achieved during this month. So, going forward, we hope that the sales volume continue to grow. Further, I'd like to highlight that the overall sales over the last year there was an increase of 9%, mainly contributed by 7% growth in Delhi NCR, and 29% growth in the new difficult areas. As our associates are concerned, they are particularly MNGL is doing pretty well. Their volume growth is around 16%-17% year-on-year, and now they are selling 1.68 million cubic meter of gas per day.
Our other associate, CUGL, Central U.P. Gas Limited, is having a flat volume. During the quarter, we have accounted for income of approximately INR 80 crore from MNGL and around INR 8 crore from CUGL. So that is as far as the associates are concerned. So now, I would also like to advise that we have declared a dividend of INR 5.5 per share, which is based on our yearly payout of approximately 35%. With this, we close the opening remarks and open the floor for a Q&A session.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wish 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 only use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Probal Sen from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity, sir. Very happy Diwali and a prosperous New Year in advance to all of you. I had a couple of questions. One, you mentioned, in the initial briefing, that nine and a half MMSCMD is the target for this year. When we say that, do we mean that we hope to reach an exit rate of nine and a half MMSCMD, for FY 2025? And if so, what can we build in as an average volume target for FY twenty-six on this run rate? That's my first question.
Okay, so question by question we go, is it okay?
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Absolutely.
Absolutely right, we have a target of 9.5 million per day, and if we see the Q2 average, we have attained around 9.03. We are hopeful of touching in the balance period of the half year of around 9.5. There are certain reasons for that. The way our particularly CNG sales is growing, and not only in Delhi. Delhi, barring DTC, it is growing at 8%. Whereas the best part is the Noida, Ghaziabad, as well as the outside Delhi, they are growing at around 17%-18%. We are very confident that things will go in our favor.
And secondly, on the industrial front also, you'll appreciate that now we are driving almost 1.1 million of industrial and commercial sales per day, so growing at an average of 10%-11%. And PNG domestic is also because we have almost done around one lakh plus connections in last six months, and we have a goal of around two lakhs in the balance part of the year. So we are very positive to touch and maybe average of also 9.5.
Sir, if I may expand a bit on the question. What do you, I mean, given the reality of this APM allocation reduction, is it fair to assume that there will be some price correction upwards needed? And if so, will it dent our volume momentum to any extent? So how are we looking to basically balance this over the next 12 to 18 months?
Okay. So, we were anticipating this. This would have come up. See, first of all, we are into very, very serious thoughts about the price hike. We had some discussions also, and based on, during the festive season, Diwali time and all, just on the viewing of the sentiments of the customers and all. So, at this juncture, we have not increased, but sooner, I think, there will be some hike in the prices as we anticipate. But nevertheless, I think, there is a growing demand and the trend on the natural gas.
If we compare particularly with diesel or petrol, we have a good elbow room still to enhance and keep the motivation level of the existing and the prospective customers to continue with the CNG volumes.
Okay, and sir, the second question was, with respect to, CapEx plans for the next year or so, if we can get a sense broken down into what we are looking to spend on Delhi NCR, and what we are looking to spend in the other areas?
Yeah.
Whatever breakup you can give us.
Yeah, yeah. So, we have a target of around 1,700 crores of CapEx for this financial year, and almost during the first half, we have incurred around 500 crores already. First half is little bit slow because finalization of some CNG stations and all, and other, the other, things get little bit lag over during the first Q1. So now we are really geared up and taking it. So we have planned for 1,700 crores to CapEx for this year. It will happen. Primarily, it will be like maybe around 45%-55% in Delhi NCR, and around 45% in the other GS.
Understood, sir. Last question, if I may. Any changes you want to make? You had earlier, informally, I think, given a rough EBITDA guidance that you would want to stay in the seven to seven and a half rupees per SCM kind of a range. In view of the changing cost mix and everything else, are we still confident that we can maintain in this range going forward?
So, that call, but we are definitely. Our aspiration is to maintain between six to seven, and for H1 it is already in that line, almost six and seven. But there is a stretch definitely on the EBITDA because of the APM curves and the price revisions and all. But we are really looking into very, very positively on identifying some better gas sourcing measures, and look forward to maintain in this range, particularly around six to seven rupees per SCM.
Thank you so much for the extremely pointed answers, so very useful, and I'll happily evaluate them. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Yogesh Patil from Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Sir, taking my question, sir. What one can assume the total volume for the next year, FY 2026 period, any guidance from your side?
See, if we tell about this year, particularly 2024, 2025, so we have a target of 3,400 MMSCM for the entire year. We had some plans for coming year. So I think at an average of around 8%-10%, we'll be growing the year-on-year basis, in terms of absolute volumes of all the segments.
So basically, our guidance is mostly on the 9.5 MMSCMD, the exit for FY 2025. So can we build the 8-10% growth for the FY 2026 exit? Is that-
We look forward for that.
Okay. So, sir, second question is: What is the share of new well gas in the overall gas mix now? And if possible, if you could share the gas sourcing mix, mostly on the non-APM side, it would be helpful.
So first, I'll respond to your second query. The thing is, like, now the non-APM share is, like we have some long-term contracts. So almost 2.5 million we have the RLNG. For, in particular, around 1.4 to 1.5 is Henry Hub based, and the balance around one, around 0.85 to 1 is on the Brent -linked. So as such, as on date, APM and RLNG market driven is around 50/50%. So now coming to the new well thing, so as and when the ONGC and from the GAIL it is coming up, the opportunity, so we are also participating. And let's see how we get it. So, you want to respond?
So, in addition to what Director Commercial just informed, we have a total contracted quantity of 3.12 million, out of which 2.5 million is RLNG, and around 0.56 is HPHT gas. So that is the overall contracted quantity. And with the reduction in APM, which is around 1 million cubic meter per day for us, that is the additional quantity which we are trying to source from different alternatives. And best possible way we are trying to manage.
So for the month of November, we have arranged, and for a longer tenure basis, we'll have to work out the further modalities and whether we want to go for terminal three or not. That call we are in the process of evaluating and taking a decision on that. So that will also have that factor will also have to be taken into the pricing decision, which we will have to make. So that is as far as the sourcing is concerned. Given that all the CGD companies, there is a cut, so the demand of course is going to be high in the market. But we are trying our level best to achieve the best, or the least possible cost for sourcing the remaining ones.
Sir, a last question, related to recent changes in the APM allocation and related policy. So as per our understanding, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has recognized ONGC's four MMSCMD gas as a new well gas. Is there any application from the side of Oil India Limited to DGH or MOPNG, which is seeking to recognize the existing APM gas as a new well gas? Basically, we are just checking the possibility of any big-size incremental cuts in the APM allocation. The same happened with ONGC. Any replica can happen with the Oil India Limited also? Any-
New well gas is something where, for the present situation, I'll say that there is a very minuscule quantity which has come into the probably bidding or for allocation. We would also be representing that new well gas should be allocated in the same ratio as the APM, because it is the same domestically produced gas. As far as the conversion of existing wells to new well is concerned, it's difficult to say what is transpiring between the producers, but I think next two, three months, we'll have to wait and watch how much quantity towards that.
At this moment, as you are already aware, four million quantity, something which has moved from APM to new well gas. So, currently, I think it is already approved. Right?
Okay.
Just wanted to add, this HPHT gas is also likely to come, maybe in couple of months or February. We believe that from February onwards, it will be available, additionally.
Thanks. Thanks a lot, sir, and wish you a happy Diwali.
Thank you. Same to you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all participants in the conference, please limit your questions to two per participant. The next question is from the line of Sabri Hazarika from Emkay Global Financial Services. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good afternoon, and congratulations on good volume numbers. So, firstly, a clarification. You mentioned 54.92 lakh kg, so that was the highest sale recorded during this Q2, right? Or was it some sort of average?
52.94 was the highest one-day sale, which we achieved during Q2.
Okay.
Fifty-five lakh kg is what we achieved during October. So I was just giving a sense of how the sales volumes are moving.
Okay, and in terms of average sales for Q2, how much was it during, in Q2?
1.23 million cubic meters per day. CNG, we were basically highlighting that we have achieved that highest sales, so CNG average was 48.12 lakhs per day.
48.12 lakhs, right? Okay. So that was the average for Q-
Average for the Q2.
Right. Secondly, regarding your LNG business, so what is the outlook? I mean, currently, you have one station, right? So this volume is from that just one station alone. Is that right?
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So exactly, so we have one station at Ajmer, so currently we are selling around 10,000 kgs from that per day, and we are going ahead with three LNG stations. We plan to commission it by the end of this financial year, maybe one at Dadri and Noida, and one at Rewari. So the construction is also going on, and we are hopefully to commission it by end of this financial year. So at that Dadri, that one is at the CONCOR.
Right. And, this is like, the EBITDA per SM is same only, right? Versus CNG business.
Yes. So considering the cost, the transportation cost and the taxes, which are a different structure, excise duty is not there on LNG. So considering all these factors, profitability remains same.
Okay, and what is the final price for that, for the LNG in that area?
As of now, we are selling both at the same price.
Okay, but there is no excise, so definitely the margin structure.
82.94. Yeah. 82.94.
So excise is not there, you are absolutely correct, so that, we have certain enhanced margins on that.
INR 82.94 per kg, that's the rate, right?
Yeah, correct.
Okay, sir. And any-
Duty probably is offset by the transportation cost, which we have to incur for transporting it through tankers.
All right, sir. And regarding your three, four-year plan on this LNG business, what is your outlook? I mean, three, you said by the end of this fiscal, but say, in the next three years, how much you are planning to aim? Because I think on the... In some media reports, I think it was quoted that you've got a very aggressive plan for LNG.
We have aggressive plans, so we aspire for around 50 LNG stations in next three to five years. You must be aware that government has also given boost. They are planning to allocate around 0.5 million of gas on LNG from the APM listing. The government is also looking from that angle, and we also aspire to take it forward in next three to five years.
Okay, great. Thank you so much.
And-
Yeah.
Just to add, the pace of the investment in LNG will be as and when we are increasing the station. We'll see the ecosystem how it is developing, and based on that, we will pace our number of stations.
This is like 8-10 crores per station, assuming that 10,000-20,000 kg you are able to sell?
Yeah. Approximately INR 10 crores per station.
10 crores. Okay, thank you so much, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Kirtan Mehta from BOB Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Thank you, sir, for the opportunity, and congratulations on very strong growth numbers. You mentioned that we have a good differential to diesel and petrol. Would you highlight current differential to Delhi, as well as the current differential to diesel in the NG?
Yeah. Presently, diesel is at INR 86. I'm talking about Delhi, and we are selling at INR 75 per kg, so there is a difference of approximately INR 11. If we compare it with petrol, it is INR 95-INR 96 per liter. If we talk about operational efficiency put together operational efficiency and pricing, it gives economic benefit of operating a CNG vehicle at around 30%-45%.
How does this change outside Delhi?
Outside Delhi, for our GA, it still remains around 35%-40%.
35%-40% is in case of petrol, correct? What would be in case of diesel?
Diesel is something, I think, it's more or less the same. But diesel, generally, our vehicles are in Delhi. Basically, commercial vehicles are not allowed to be registered in diesel, unless it is a BS6 and the upfront cost is more.
So, from that perspective, for outside GA, if we see the penetration also vis-a-vis diesel, it is CNG which is taking the lead. If you want, I can share you the prices of UP as well as Haryana, just for your comfort. See, the petrol is UP INR 94.65 and diesel is INR 87.82, and whereas CNG is INR 79.70. So barring that, this mileage advantage is also there, so it turns out to be around 40% in terms of petrol and around 20-22% in terms of diesel.
Thank you, sir. Second question is, last time you had shared the growth numbers across different states, how they see the volume growth is doing. Would you be able to share the similar numbers this quarter as well?
Sure. See, as I mentioned in my opening remarks also, see, UP, if we bifurcate, particularly into NCR, Gautam Buddh Nagar, we are growing at around 11%. Ghaziabad, Hapur side, we are growing at around 20%, whereas other parts of the UP, it is almost around 40% also, but the volumes are also that way. So, at an average it is around 40%. Haryana, in particular, Rewari, we are growing at around 21%, and Gurugram around 12%. Kaithal and Karnal also at, in the range of around 29-30%. Ajmer, because of the less volumes and all, it's growing at around 95%.
Thank you, sir. And in terms of the INR 67, for maintaining that sort of a price range, probably we'll have to take price hike of at least INR 2-INR 3 a kg. So would that then impact the growth?
So, I think somebody asked earlier also, so we don't anticipate that there will be a much deceleration in terms of growth, because still there is a lot of elbow room as well as compared to diesel or petrol vis-a-vis CNG. So around INR 2-INR 3 rupees hike will not put any deceleration on the growth of the CNG in particular.
Just to add more, if you're talking about the reduction, how much price increase it warrants, that is around INR 5 in Delhi and around INR 5.5 to INR 6 in other states. So that's the kind of impact it warrants to maintain the same level of EBITDA, that price increase is required. So we are evaluating, and we'll take a call based on the decisions which we take on a longer-term basis for sourcing.
When we calculate this price impact, this is by assuming that it will be replaced with HPHT gas, or are we assuming the replacement with the RLNG?
Next year.
For the time being, we have basically sourced for November, that is, through RLNG, short-term RLNG tendering, which we had done. We are in the process of finalizing, and some quantity we have bought through IGX. For longer term, we are still evaluating all the options, and we'll take a call on that. HPHT, and when it comes, we'll of course be taking that. But I think at this point of time, in short term, there is nothing which is going to come. Probably next January or February, something is about to come, along with the new well gas also. So we'll evaluate at that point of time, and we'll take a suitable call.
Is there any possibility of reduction in excise duty rates to offset some of the impact? I mean, would government be open to consider it?
So, government, we had in fact given some suggestions and had some meetings also. Government has called. So they are looking into all possibilities for the reduction in the excise duty as well as putting into the GST regime also. So things are going on because government is also very keen on putting the energy market natural gas to 6%-15%. So hopefully things will be positive. It will happen. Something should happen.
Yeah, our wish is that it is removed or reduced.
Yes, yes.
And, hopefully, I think immediately, even if nothing comes immediately, I think, the budget is also only two, three months away, so probably something might come during that budget. That, that's our hope.
Thank you, sir. Thanks for the clarity.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of E. Sundaram from BugleRock Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good afternoon, gentlemen. I have two questions. First is actually a request as a long-term shareholder. You know, you definitely would have observed that there's recently been another round of apprehension around IGL stock price, and this is regarding the reduced APM gas allocation. And the real fear is that the rising gas prices would adversely affect the company's profitability prospects. Now, I know that it's difficult for you to give projections about the future, how the margins would move and all that, but my suggestion is, we can talk of the past and how such situations have been handled by IGL. You know, this is not the first time gas prices are sharply going up. It has been done many times in the past, and I'm sure it will happen in the future also.
For example, I remember in two thousand and ten, your APM gas cost went up from $1.79 per MMBtu to $4.2 per MMBtu, a sharp more than, you know, doubling of price. So at that time also, IGL was able to pass on the price increase, and the volumes did not suffer much. So my suggestion, gentlemen, is that you please put in a presentation in your own website, giving past data. You don't have to give any future projections. You just give past data of how the gas prices have moved in the past, how you supported, how you protected your spreads, and how the volumes did not fall. You know, if such a presentation is put in your website, it will ease the apprehension of the investment community. That is my first question.
I appreciate your concern, and your suggestion well taken and noted. I think it's a wonderful suggestion to give a comfort to the investor. Very rightly, you said that in the past also similar situations have occurred during two thousand and ten also, and then this geopolitical issues, the war issues and all, and current also it is like that. Good thing is that IGL has a very, very diversified and a large basket of gas sourcing portfolio. Our dependency is not there on one particular contract or so. We have a diversified this thing, and we are quite mindful of this. I agree and appreciate that these type of situations do occur.
So for that, we have certain plans, and we are aggressively looking after in some long-term sourcing, fresh ones also. Secondly, on the price hike, I have already mentioned that due to some sentiment, festivals and all, we are into strong discussions at appropriate levels for increasing the price and passing on to the customer. But that is not going to impact our expansions or the volumetric growth, because still with these alternate fuels, we have a good elbow room. And the conversions are happening very aggressively, whether it is on the CNG front, whether it is on the domestic front, or whether it is on the industrial and commercial front also. So I think we'll be able to navigate through well.
Yeah, I'm sure you will. I'm just requesting that, you know, in order to, you know, make your position clear, one additional slide in your presentation giving the history of gas cost per SCM-
Sure.
And your selling price per SCM. If you can give that, that will ease some of the apprehensions that the investment community has.
Sure. So we will look into it. Your suggestion, well taken and noted.
Okay. My second question, sir, is I would like to know what steps the company is taking to develop the geographical area of Gurugram, which has been partially allocated to IGL already. Now, I know that the other parts of Gurugram are disputed and therefore sub judice, and you may not wish to comment on that. But my question is: What development steps are you taking to develop the CNG and PNG infrastructure in the areas of Gurugram already allocated to IGL and not under dispute?
So, very well, I think you have already mentioned in your answer, in your question also, that it is sub judice and under dispute and all. So, difficult to comment at this stage. We are looking at, on some of the options, how to proceed on that.
No, no, no. So I'm not talking of the ones that are under, under dispute. I'm talking of the one-third area, which is not under dispute. So I want to know what the company is doing to develop that particular area.
So that we are already into it, and we're developing that. That is not an issue, and maybe some here and there, but it is very much in the radar and taking it forward.
I would also like to add that, if you see our volume number, the sales volumes, Gurugram has shown a growth of 20% year-on-year. So that basically tells you about our expansion plans, which are already taking place in that geographical area. So whatever best is possible, that we are already doing.
Yeah, and I hope, you know, I hope the steps are being taken from both parties' sides to solve this dispute as early as possible, because it is too important for the company.
Yeah, yeah, sure. Noted.
Thank you.
So, I just pause at this juncture. See, our managing director have also joined. So welcome, on behalf of IGL management, welcome, Mr. Chatiwal. So he has also joined just now.
Yeah, good afternoon, sir.
Good afternoon. Good afternoon to everybody.
Yeah, um-
Let's move ahead and take the next question, please.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Amit Murarka from Axis Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, good afternoon. Thanks for the opportunity. So first I wanted to understand about the Delhi mandatory EV norm for cab fleet. So I believe the registration has been made mandatory, and the policy has been rolled out. So I just wanted to get a sense about what feelers are you getting? Like, I think it's been four or five months since the registration has started. So could you just speak on that a bit?
Have you got registration of EVs?
Yeah, the mandatory registration of all cab fleet operators.
Yeah. Okay. So, this policy is already there for almost a year, and we have not seen any significant fall in our penetration, rather it has gone up. Last year, I think the penetration for CNG vehicles across four-wheelers and three-wheelers was approximately 24-25%. Now it is around 27-28%. So there is no meaningful impact of that policy which we can which is visible at this point of time. The timeline is 25, that 5% of the fleet has to be converted, and gradually it goes up to 100%. But at this point of time, we have not seen any adverse impact on CNG as such. So, we'll have to wait and watch, yes.
So this is the overall data, I believe, that you're sharing. Could you speak more specifically about the cab fleet operators segment? I mean, how are you seeing that segment behave in response to the policy? Because I believe the registration has been mandatory and even fines are being levied for those who have not registered under the policy.
Yes, yes, you are right that registration is not mandatory, but this policy is for new vehicle addition. Already the vehicles which are plying on the roads, you know, they have still some years to go before their expiry, so they will continue, and in case of new additions, so that will be like that. So that's why we are not seeing too much of conversion to electric at this moment, other than the Delhi Transport Corporation. The private vehicles, additions are definitely there, but the existing numbers continue to be with us.
Sure. And any hiccup in the implementation or any issues that you're seeing on this policy front?
We are not seeing, but there is not much enthusiasm about this policy among the cab aggregators and others.
Do they have an alternative way out? Because when you say that there's no enthusiasm, I mean, do they have an option to kind of not be part of this policy? I mean, maybe it's the first year, which is why I think it's like that, but is there any option out of the policy?
Oh, because charging infra is not there. So that is one constraint that they are seeing. And of course, the upfront cost is also there. If you see the number of petrol, diesel, CNG, EV vehicle additions in the January to August, the six, seven months of the calendar year, the CNG vehicles have shown a growth of around 46%, whereas EV is around 7%. So that's the all India picture. So we are seeing good numbers of vehicle additions on CNG also. Yes, there will definitely be additions of EV, 6%-7%, 10% vehicles, new vehicles would come in EV, but the other segments continue to grow.
In addition, if you see, there are two, three factors which will impact the growth of the EV vehicles. One is that this policy is specifically brought by the Government of NCT of Delhi. NCR region has a much wider vehicle population, which contributes to the aggregator fleet overall. So that is one which might have its own impact on the conversion numbers. Another is, if you see the model of the or the operating model of these cab aggregators, Ola and Uber mainly, it is these vehicles are owned by the driver.
And if you ask a driver to buy a vehicle which costs ten lakh or eleven lakh versus a CNG vehicle, which he buys for maybe six lakh or seven lakh, that's too much to ask for a driver to take it on, take that burden on himself. So unless they change the model, it will be from a financial perspective or from economic perspective, it will be difficult for them.
Anyway, from the company's perspective, we are not seeing a huge impact. Rather, we are not able to see any impact of that policy on our existing sales. Maybe the future growth that was there, 10%-11%, that may be slightly impacted.
Okay. Okay, sure. And also just on the Henry Hub contract, you mentioned that, you have a Henry Hub link contract. So beyond the, like, what is really the formula of that contract? Like, Henry Hub plus, what, what is the constant?
Actually, that is the commercial agreement between two mutually agreed, so we'll not be able to share that.
Got it. Got it. Sure. Thanks. Thanks a lot.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nirmal Ghorawat from Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC. Please go ahead.
Hello, thank you. Thanks for the opportunity. First of all, wishing you all very Happy Diwali. I have two questions. First is on the line of APM gas allocation, and second one is on the line of price hike. So you mentioned about, you know, interactions going on with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. So just wanted to understand what, what's the government's rationale behind the sudden decline of 20% to CGDs? That's my first question. And the second one is, so historically, after the price hikes, how has-
Sorry for interrupting you, sir. I may request that you return to the question queue for follow-up question, as there are several participants waiting for their turn. You can ask only one question.
Sure.
To clarify, we never said that we are in discussion with MoPNG.
But to clarify on the issue, you know, the domestic fields, they are depleting every year at the rate of 6%-7%. For the past couple of years, the ministry has not passed on that decrease to the CGD entities, being the priority, first priority sector. Now, there has been thinking that, you know, whatever the accumulation of the past has been there, so slight allocation can be passed on to other players also, in addition to CGD. So that's why this cut was there, that from 3-4 million cut was there.
So that is basically you can say it happened all of a sudden, because it was an accumulation of the past, you know, few percentages here and there. So those got accumulated, and the result was this. Going forward, we don't see such drastic cuts, and gradually, you know, we are preparing ourselves for maybe going forward, the allocation going down further, but at a slower pace.
But structurally, within the sector, there is no issue, in the sense that growth continues to be very, very strong, and yes, sourcing at this point is an issue, but in another two to three months, we see it easing out, and as soon as we get some favorable contracts, softening of global contracts, so all of us can tie up the long-term contracts, and then. And we are hopeful that that will be near to the whatever is the APM price at that time. So structurally, we don't see any problem in the sector.
Okay. Okay, understood. And just, so, you mentioned about, historically, such prices have only been, the volumes have been absorbed. I just wanted to, you know, get a sense of how, the industrial, customers and non-industrial customers have reacted to such price hikes in the, historically, if you can give us a sense of that.
Industrial and commercial segment, in any case, is 100% RLNG dependent. It is not. There is no APM allocation for those two sectors. So they were anyway linked to the market, and they are, the pricing there is very, very competitive as compared to the alternate fuels. As far as domestic PNG is concerned, we continue to get 105% of our allocation, so that there is no change in that. Only change has been in the CNG segment, where this reduction has been there. So going forward, we see that all the states, as well as the center, is also rationalizing. There's a discussion about excise duty rationalization. States are acting on the VAT part, so all the state governments are very active on that one.
So we see that going forward, taxation would also be favorable, and any impact of reduction of these APM allocation would be offset by rationalization of taxes.
Okay, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all participants in the conference, please limit your question to one per participant. The next question is from the line of Vishnu Kumar A.S. from Avendus Spark. Please go ahead.
So thanks for your time. Recently, we seem to have multiple concerns, either, I mean, as you've been highlighting in the call, that either gas from the gas side, we are seeing structural problems, and EV also seems to be some sort of a threat. So for the survivability or the long-term prospects of the industry, what is it that we are currently in dialogue with the government in terms of in terms of, let's say, either the gas supply or, I mean, taxation or in terms of the investments or. Just on this aspect, if you could help us understand, what can government realistically help us over the next year, year and a half, where we can it will be a support for the industry? We've heard about GST coming, but it's not really played out.
What can we realistically expect from the government?
You see, we are in discussion with government for rationalization of taxes only. The you know, GST is a difficult thing that we understand. If it is happening, that is very good for the sector. But in case that is a little distant away, then we see rationalization of excise duty, which we feel is slightly on the higher side. Then VAT of certain states are very, very high, so we see rationalization in those states. Third is GST on the LNG fleet vehicles or CNG vehicles or the equipment used for CNG and LNG, PNG. All these presently attract around 28% GST, so that rationalization of that to maybe is at 5%, so maybe in between some values, at 12, 14%, something like that.
So these are the issues on which we are in discussion with government. As far as the sourcing of gas is concerned, that is individual companies doing that, and that is where because of our portfolio, we are able to source some of the good quality gas at a reasonable price. Second is with respect to product pricing, there again, the competition is with the alternate fuel, so we have to remain competitive to encourage conversion. So that is also not dependent on the government. So with the government, only a few issues of taxation we are in discussion.
As well as, because the allocation in any case is a given thing, that if the fields are going down, if the APM fields are going down, so that is going to go down, but the consumption in the country is going up. So we have to find new ways of sourcing gas, maybe in some Henry Hub- linked or Brent- linked or other, indexes linked gases. So that is for the company to decide. As far as the threat of EV is concerned, yes, we agree that EV numbers will go up, but there is no existential threat in the sense that CNG is growing at a much faster pace as compared to all other fuels. In fact, we see degrowth in petrol and diesel segment and good amount of growth in CNG. EV is also growing, no doubt, but the growth in this sector is there.
If we see the growth of the country or the segment or the transportation segment, particularly the private vehicle segment, there is a huge growth we see going forward in four-wheeler segment, especially. And now with two-wheeler also, you know, there is a CNG variant. We, one OEM has already, Bajaj, has already come out, and others are also coming out shortly with two-wheeler segment. Rather, there is a threat of CNG in two-wheeler also now. We don't see that it as an existential threat. Yes, they will also continue to grow, and we will also continue to grow.
Sir, one connected question only in the same. Until the government cuts any taxation for us, will we settle for a lower margin per unit? Because if we raise prices, and at least in newer areas, the spread, the absolute spread has come down for us. Rather, it is only INR 10, which is not really the normal of INR 20 plus. So will we settle for a lower margin until you get something from the government, or you will aspire margin over volume?
So you see, we are on the lookout for some long-term contracts in case we are able to source gas at a cheaper price or closer to the APM, then the margins, again, will go back to those levels. In addition to that, the price hikes are also always on the cards, so depending on the sentiment, we'll take a call on that.
Hello? Vishnu Kumar, are you on the line? Okay, ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraints, that was the last question. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Nitin Tiwari for closing comments. Please go ahead, sir.
Thanks, Nikita, and thank you, everyone, for being on this call. Due to scarcity of time, that was the last question. So if you couldn't ask the questions, we are really sorry for that. Please, send across your questions to us or to the team management directly, and they'll be answering the same, and wish you all a very happy Diwali once again.
Thank you, and wish all of you a Happy Dhanteras and Happy Diwali and coming festivals. Thank you all.
Thank you so much. Thank you, Nitin. Thank you, PhillipCapital. Thank you.
On behalf of PhillipCapital (India) Private Limited, that concludes the conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.