Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to JSW Cement earnings call for the quarter ended 30th June 2026, hosted by PhillipCapital. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the 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. Vaibhav Agarwal from PhillipCapital India Private Limited. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. Agarwal.
Yeah. Thank you, Renju. Good morning, everyone. On behalf of PhillipCapital India Private Limited, we welcome you to the Q1 FY 2027 call of JSW Cement Limited. On the call from JSW Cement, we have with us Mr. Nilesh Narwekar, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Narinder Singh Kahlon, Director of Finance and Commercial and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Hitendra Jariwala, Chief Marketing Officer, and Mr. Kunal Mukherjee, Head Investor Relations. I would like to mention on behalf of JSW Cement Limited and its management that certain statements that we made or discussed on this conference call may be forward-looking statements based on current management expectations and also something that relates to future expected business development by JSW Cement's management.
Such statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other important factors which may cause the actual developments and results to differ materially from any management projections made on this call. JSW Cement Limited and the management of the company assumes no obligation to publicly update or alter these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of any new business development information or future event or otherwise. Also, participants on the call can download a copy of JSW Cement's Q1 FY 2027 results presentation from the company website or stock exchanges. I will now hand over the floor to the management of JSW Cement for their opening remarks, which will be followed by Q&A. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Yeah, thank you, Vaibhav. Good morning to all, and we welcome you to the quarter one FY 2027 earnings call of JSW Cement. I hope all of you have had the chance to review our results and investor presentation. With this, I will hand over the call to Mr. Nilesh Narwekar for his opening remarks. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Kunal, and good morning to all. FY 2027 has started off on a strong note for the company, despite the ongoing uncertainty around the West Asia crisis and the impact of state election held early in the quarter. As per our reading, cement demand in South, West, and East regions grew approximately 6% YoY in quarter one of FY 2027. The North region, where we started sales in this quarter, saw substantially higher demand growth of approximately 11% YoY. Government CapEx did much of the heavy lifting in the quarter. Central CapEx grew by 24% YoY, and data indicates that 28% of the FY 2027 CapEx budget has already been utilized in quarter one. Similarly, state CapEx and infra construction goods output continue to grow YoY.
We are seeing very strong demand outlook on the infra and large project side for the rest of the year, which will support our non-trade cement and the GGBS business. Just to give a few examples of large projects in our regions. In MMR, we see pace picking up in the bullet train project, the Maharashtra packages, and the western coastal road project at Mumbai will also gather pace. Post monsoons, road-related works are expected to pick up speed too. In Pune, would like to highlight the Pune Ring Road project and various new elevated road packages. There are also few new metro projects planned in Pune. In South region, Amaravati new capital development project at AP is gaining speed. The NPCIL nuclear power plant expansion in North Karnataka and several large road packages in Chennai and Kerala are expected to generate substantial demand.
On the residential front, we are seeing strong residential activity in Pune, Hyderabad, and Bangalore, and most of you will be aware of the substantial residential redevelopment happening in Mumbai and the suburbs. Finally, on the macro front, we continue to monitor the external environment, which remains volatile. As fuel prices remain elevated, we are increasing our share of domestic fuel for the rest of the year. Moving to the key operational highlights for quarter one FY 2027. Firstly, on volumes. Our total sales volume in quarter one FY 2027 increased by 15% YoY to 3.81 million tons. Taking this product-wise, cement volume sold was 2.34 million tons, increased 27% YoY. For ease of comparison, if we exclude the North operations, the volume increase was 8% YoY.
As we had flagged in our quarter four call, demand in April and early parts of May was affected due to labor migration and state elections, but we saw a strong rebound in the month of June. We would also like to touch upon the contribution from the North region. The market perception has been very positive so far, with an average utilization level of 55% in quarter one. The utilization rate touched almost 68% in June 26. GGBS volume growth was relatively neutral at 2.6% YoY. However, we are optimistic on the prospects for GGBS for the rest of the year. We have received approvals for over 29 large infra projects in Q1, and moreover, the project pipeline is also robust as mentioned earlier. Moving to product ASP.
Cement realizations for quarter one FY 2027 was INR 4,951 per ton, increase of 6% QoQ, with the highest increase in East region, followed by South and West. GGBS realization in quarter one FY 2027 was INR 3,807 per ton, increase of 3.4% quarter-on-quarter. Within cement, trade mix remains stable at 51%. Our clinker to cement factor increased to 55% with the launch of North operations, but remains one of the lowest in the industry. Lead distance remains stable in the quarter two. I would also like to briefly touch on the capacity expansion program. Substantial progress has been made on installation of the on the waste heat recovery system, the OLBC, and the AFR co-processing system at the Nagaur integrated unit. These are expected to commission the next few weeks, which is going to bring down our costs significantly.
The additional 1 million ton grinding capacity in Nagaur is also on track and is expected to be commissioned by end of Q2. We added 56 MW of wind capacity in Q1 at Dolvi and Vijayanagar, and this took our RE share to 30% in Q1. Let me now hand over to Narinder to take you through the key financial highlights.
Thank you, Nilesh. Good morning to all. I will summarize the performance of Q1 2027. At company level, consolidated revenue was INR 1,896 crore. That's an increase of 22% year-on-year and flat quarter-on-quarter. Consolidated operating EBITDA was INR 299 crore. That's lower by 7.5% year-on-year. Despite improvement in realizations, EBITDA declined mainly due to cost pressures in fuel and packing, plus the substantial marketing investment of about INR 33 crore made in North region during quarter one. Consolidated operating EBITDA per ton was INR 784 a ton for the quarter. As already mentioned, we started sales in the North region and this quarter was the first full quarter for us. Excluding the North operations, revenue grew by approx 10% in quarter, while operating EBITDA increased by 4% to INR 336 crore. That's INR 979 a ton. Total EBITDA, including other income, was INR 372 crore.
PBT was INR 190 crore during the quarter, including positive contribution of about INR 13 crore from the Fujairah operations. PAT for the quarter was INR 153 crore. In terms of the trend in main cost elements in Q1, raw material and power, and fuel increased on quarter-on-quarter basis, primarily due to higher fuel cost and in part of Nagaur operations. Blended fuel cost for the quarter increased to INR 1.80 paisa per Mcal versus INR 1.49 paisa per Mcal in the previous quarter. We are working towards increasing our share of domestic fuel to optimize our costs in the coming quarters. Logistic cost per ton reduced by 2% quarter-on-quarter with a slight reduction in lead of 4 km as well as some efficiency measures.
Other expenses have also increased by 4.5% quarter-on-quarter in absolute terms, and this is largely related to the heavy marketing investment in the North region and higher packing cost during the quarter. In terms of balance sheet, net debt was INR 3,856 crore at the end of June. Net debt -to -EBITDA stood at 2.95 x. Average cost of debt for the quarter was stable quarter-on-quarter at 7.63%. During the quarter, the company incurred CapEx of INR 337 crore. We will now be happy to address your questions. Thank you.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on your touchtone 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. The first question comes from the line of Prateek Kumar with Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Hello. Yeah, good morning, sir. My first question is on your North operation. Operating loss of INR 40 crore in this quarter, including, you said INR 33 crore marketing investment. Can you discuss what kind of marketing investments are these? Also, is this INR 40 crore loss in line with what you expected, maybe last year, during IPO? And what kind of full year EBITDA you can expect from North operation in first year?
Yeah. Hi, Prateek. So this expenditure in terms of marketing, INR 33 crore was primarily around the new campaign launch which was undertaken on the back of the launch in the North, which was launched. And that was one. And of course, there were a lot of activation activities which was done on the ground level. There was a Khel Mahotsav done where we connected with all the 10,000 villages. 10,000 teams participated in a cricket tournament in Rajasthan, similarly in Dangal in Haryana. Plus all the activation work at the ground level. So it's a combined effect of all of this, which is contributing towards this towards the INR 33 crore of marketing expenditure. And as compared to the BP, it is planned in our BP, and we are tracking ourselves against that.
Yeah, what kind of performance are you looking for full year for North? Is it going to turn profitable?
Yes, we should be. As we had mentioned, in the first quarter, I think we were close to 55%-60% of capacity utilization. We are holding ourselves to that. In fact, we should be closer to 60% + by the end of the year in terms of our North operations. The real kicker for us that is going to happen now in terms of costs is once the clinker costs start to come down with the commencement of the OLBC, the alternate fuel, the waste heat recovery is kicking in, the move from imported coal to lignite.
Ladies and gentlemen, the management line has been disconnected. Please be on hold while we quickly get them reconnected. Ladies and gentlemen, the management line has been reconnected. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Sorry, guys, the line dropped. I was talking about how our costs are likely to come down, specifically the clinker costs are likely to come down in quarter two with the implementation of the overland belt conveyor, the alternate fuel handling systems, the waste heat recovery, which has already been commissioned. It is going to get fully in flow. Of course, the rotation towards more domestic coal and increase in lignite in our operations. All that is being planned for quarter two, and we expect the benefits to start to kick in thereafter.
Thanks, sir. My other question is on GGBS. The growth has been far slower in this quarter. You said you have got significant contracts in 1Q later part. What kind of growth you are looking at in this segment going forward?
Sure. First is, see, in Q1 FY 2027, the demand was affected by a number of topical reasons, and let me explain that. There were RMC closures in the West, there was aggregate availability issues in the South, and the low OPC slag mix cost was a combination of these effects. Now, guidance for quarter two FY 2027. Despite Q2 being a monsoon season, we are expecting it to be better than Q1, and signs are visible already in the month of July. As I had already mentioned in the opening remarks, we have received approvals for over 29 large infra projects in quarter one. Moreover, the project pipeline is also fairly robust. We are also applying for additional approvals across the central bodies. We expect GGBS to be, again, in the high single digits in terms of growth for the year.
Sure. Thank you, sir. These are my questions.
Thank you, Prateek.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes on the line of Raashi with Citi. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Just continuing on the question on the North. I think the marketing spend there was INR 33 crore in this quarter. I remember it was INR 23 crore in the prior quarter. What are you expecting in terms of marketing spends going forward as in through Q2? That is one. Second is on the overall cement volume, 8% was the ex-North growth for this quarter. How are you expecting to do overall going forward?
The marketing spend in last quarter was, I think, close to INR 17 crore. The investments in terms of marketing have already been done, and we expect to reap the rewards of that in the following quarters. What was the second part of the question, Raashi? Sorry, I missed that.
The overall, the ex-North volume growth like you mentioned, was about 8% for cement.
Correct.
How are you seeing that track for the rest of the year?
How does that track for rest of the year?
Yes.
The industry growth, I think you are already aware, excluding North, we are talking about the industry grew at around 6%, and excluding North, we have done it at 8%. Now, what we have seen is, in the East and the West, we have done significantly better than the industry. And in the South is where we had a bit of a headwind. Now that is behind us, and again, primarily because of topical reasons. And overall, in terms of our growth at a company level, we expect to deliver high teens growth at an overall company basis, if I was to include North also as a part of this.
Got it. And just on realization, what is your pricing strategy like? You have obviously done very well on realization. Have you needed to sort of take the market or what? How are you thinking?
This is specifically for cement or GGBS, are you asking over? Because both of them are very different, of course. Let me answer both of them separately.
Both.
Yeah, sure. On cement, there are conserved efforts which is being made. All the investments that we are doing, primarily in terms of building of our brand, the ground connect with the decision-making influencers, the ground connect with the network. All of that is fundamentally playing out for us in terms of being able to increase our price or reduce the price gap that can be A category band itself. That is one which is playing out. The second thing, of course, is there is an effort which is constantly on to try and keep reducing our, what do you call, the discount structures as well, which again impacts the realization number. These are two aspects which are working out on the cement side. On the GGBS side, the number that you see is primarily a dispersion effect. There has been no change in our pricing strategy overall.
We continue to maintain our stance. Basically, the geographic mix is what is reflecting in the numbers that you are actually seeing for quarter one for GGBS.
Thank you.
Thank you. Please press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Shravan Shah with Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. A couple of things to get an understanding. For cement, we said that we are looking at a high teens growth, including North. Hello?
Speakers, please go ahead.
Hello. Sir, can you hear me?
Ladies and gentlemen, the management line has been disconnected. Please be on hold while we quickly get them reconnected. Ladies and gentlemen, the management line has been reconnected. Please go ahead now.
Sir, can you hear me now?
Yes, we can hear you loud and clear. Apologies for the drop.
Yeah. No issue, sir. Sir, just wanted to get clarity. You said that we are looking at, on the cement front, high teens volume growth for FY 2027, including North.
Yes.
I was just doing the math. Let's say for FY 2026, we have done 7.73 million tons on the cement front. If I just take 18% growth, it comes 9.12 million tons. For North, if you take a 60% utilization, which is 1.5 million tons. If I minus that, then it comes to 7.62 million tons. That means we are looking at a degrowth on the core front, excluding the North. Just wanted to get more clarity on that.
Yeah, Shravan. What we're giving you is an overall guidance, including North and GGBS. We will deliver a high teen growth on an overall company basis. That's what we hold ourselves to. While you've done the math, we've also done ours. I think let's stick to the high teen growth in the overall company basis as the guidance from our side.
Okay. Just wanted to get it because on the GGBS, we are seeing a high single-digit growth. Then we are seeing on our overall high teens. That means on the cement front, including North, it has to be a 25%- 30% kind of a growth that we should be looking at. That's where some clarification I wanted.
Okay. Can we take this offline? You can connect with Kunal Mukherjee on this.
No issues.
Mr. Shah, please be on the queue for more questions. Please press star and one to ask more questions. Next question comes from the line of Sanjeev Kumar Singh with Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity, sir. My first question is on the profitability of North plant. Can you give some sense on the profitability difference between North and South plants for cement? Why I am asking this is because some sort of marketing spend will not be one-off in nature. It will continue over the next few quarters or few years also when you continue the operation. That is why I want to get some sense on the profitability difference between North and South plant, which you are seeing as of now.
Yeah. We all know North and South are completely different when it comes to profitability. I am sure you all have the North performance data available for the competition. For us, it is early days. By the end of September, or I could say in September is when we break even, and then we go in the positive territory. March is the month probably when we can, with more conviction, tell you what is going to be the profitability for the coming months. South is subdued. We saw the results for South companies. South is a bit subdued at the moment, but there is a big difference. The difference can be in the range of probably INR 600-INR 700 a ton.
Okay. My second question is in terms of CapEx plans over the next two to three years. Also, when do we want to start the Central region plant, and what is the ideal net debt -to- EBITDA which you would like to maintain by 2028-2029?
See, for this financial year, we are going to spend about INR 2,300 odd crore and about INR 2,000 crore in the next year. See, as we had indicated earlier, our intention is to move from 24.1 million tons currently capacity to about 43.5 million tons over the next few years. That requires about INR 7,500 crore-INR 7,600 crore CapEx. So we continue on that journey. But yes, this year, INR 2,300 odd crore, next year, INR 2,000 crore, and the following year, probably some of the balance numbers would be spent. Answering your question on the Central also is on our priority list. We hope to make some announcement in the coming quarters.
Again, net debt -to -EBITDA, sir?
Net debt -to -EBITDA, see the internal guidance for us from the board is to keep it below 3x, and always the endeavor will be to keep it below 3x.
Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Please press star one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Navin Sahadeo with ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good morning, sir. And congratulations on the much faster volume ramp-up in the North region. I had two questions. One is on the RMC business. If you could talk more about the outlook of this particular business, given it is so integral to the cement as well as the GGBS that we offer. So are we looking at how many plants do we have? What is the vision there? Are we planning to enter in the North region as well with this or in other regions? That would be my first question, sir.
Yeah. Hi. So yes, in terms of RMC plants, currently we have got 15. We plan to take it up to 35. We are adding 35 more. And our current approach towards the RMC business has largely been it needs to be symbiotic with relation to wherever we have our footprint. So wherever we can supply our cement and/or cementations in terms of GGBS, that's where we set up the RMC plants. And in the RMC setup, it's largely either commercial, dedicated or captive. Captive is largely for JSW use. That's how it gets divided. And in terms of, what is the next part of the question? Yeah, in terms of revenue, for quarter one, we were around INR 180 crore in terms of RMC revenues. And we have plans to aggressively scale this up going ahead.
Yeah. Thank you.
We have already started operations in the North as well, because as I said, it's symbiotic to wherever we have our cement operations as well.
Sure. Of the 15 RMC units, is it safe to assume that most of these are currently in the West and South region, which are close to our GGBS sourcing units?
Yes, it is safe to assume. In the 15, there are two units in the North as well.
Incrementally, when you say the target is maybe 35, would it be again in West region only, or would they be now more in the North and other regions that we are planning to?
No, it is scattered across. For example, I mentioned to you our commercial and dedicated operations are primarily mirroring wherever we have synergies or symbiotic arrangement with our cement operations. Whenever it comes to captive, which is a group company setting up expansion or undertaking expansion, there we try and evaluate whether it makes sense for us to provide GGBS as a place at least. So the North markets were currently not included as a part of it, but all the other geographies, be it the North, now having entered in the North, the West, the South or the Eastern part of India, we have significant captive operations, which is primarily mirroring the expansion that the JSW Group is undertaking as well.
Thank you. Sir, my second question was about the long-term capacity expansion plans. I thank you for including a vision there in terms of scaling the capacity to 68 million tons. My question was, if you have any milestones, benchmark to these expansions, because we are talking about a couple of lines in North, additional lines, I am saying in North and in Central, also some new sites altogether in the northeast region. My question was, if there are milestones, if you can talk about, and within the various locations that you have mentioned, are there any priorities or a priority pipeline that, let us say, for example, northeast would supersede or come up earlier than the line 2 in North or Central? That kind of a clarification will help us.
Navin, we are evaluating all the options between our Central and our northeast and North expansion. We understand all three acquire importance. All three are on the priority list for us, but we will sequence them. Maybe in a couple of months, we will be in a better position to take that decision. Here the long-term plans are we finish off with the 43 million tons first, and then go for the balance 25 million tons maybe in the next three, four years following the completion of 43 million tons.
Understood. Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. Please press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Amit Murarka with Axis Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Good morning, and thanks for the opportunity. On North operations, just wanted to check if you have booking incentive in Q1. Could you confirm that once?
No, it is not booked yet.
By when do you expect, or what is stopping you from booking it?
No. As a process, we have submitted the documents. We are awaiting the eligibility certificate, which should be there very soon. The file has already moved a couple of levels, and once we have that, we will start recognizing the incentive. We expect this to come within maybe two months max.
And it's INR 50 crore per annum, right? In the first five years. If you get the approval like-
No. The major thing is 23% capital subsidy on the eligible capital investment. That, plus something will add up to about INR 650 odd crore, which we can receive over 10 years. It's not annual.
Yeah.
It's not annual fixed.
No, not annual. I said the INR 50 crore per annum for five years and then INR 65 crore for next five years is what I had in mind from the earlier discussions.
No, it is INR 50 crore for first four years, then INR 65 crore, and then INR 80 crore.
Yeah, right. So INR 50 crore for first four years. So that is what I am asking. So will you book the INR 50 crore in, let us say, Q3 itself if you get the approval, or will it have to start from Q3 then? Will the bill start from Q3?
No. So when it is about the first INR 50 crore, this is linked to how much of the CapEx I completed. Whatever gets capitalized is what I can with conviction say is done. So wait for another this quarter, because we are finishing with the WHRS, the RMC, sorry, the OLBC, the AFR, et cetera. And once that is capitalized, probably I can answer this much better whether INR 50 crore or something less would be recognized in the current year.
Sure. On GGBS, the slower growth, just wanted to understand, you said that pricing strategy has not changed, that you are not raising pricing basically, but also you said that the Central CapEx was strong in the quarter. I am just getting a bit confused that pricing was not raised and CapEx was strong, then why was the volume peak?
See, as I mentioned, Amit, there were a lot of RMC closures in the West, because of all the challenges there. Aggregate availability issues in the South and the OPC / mix cost was also becoming, how do you say, unviable. They both kind of did it. Because of elections, there was a lot of labor migration from the geographies that we operate in. In terms of GGBS sales, there is a significant volume that we get from the South as compared to, I think it is a 60/40 split between South and West, and hence the numbers were muted. Overall, the growth that we received was primarily in the West. South was impacted, and all that has been corrected for now, and we can already start to see the numbers stack up for the guidance that I had given earlier on the call.
Sure, understood. Last question, if I may. Fuel costs rose very sharply in the quarter. What would be your expectation for the second quarter now or, let us say, the medium term?
We are switching to domestic coal. In fact, we have already started buying domestic coal. We do not see any escalation beyond the numbers that we achieved in Q1. In fact, in the coming quarters, we expect the second quarter will be almost same as the first quarter. Going into the third quarter, we expect the cost to come down for us.
Sure. Just a very last question. On the cost savings program you had earlier guided for a number, where are you in that journey, and how much is left?
Yeah.
Amit, I think every quarter that becomes a bit difficult to quantify. I think every two quarters it would make sense. We did guide the street in May itself where we are. So hold on for the next quarter numbers. Probably we can give you a better guidance on this. Yes, we are making substantial progress on the renewable power. Once the entire thing is up and running in September, probably we will have our answers to that.
Got it. Thanks a lot, and best wishes.
Thank you.
Thank you. Please press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Siddharth Mehrotra with Kotak Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, you mentioned that we expect to grow somewhere in the high single digits for the GGBS segment. Now, if I recall, we had earlier guided that we expect to grow in perhaps mid-teens in this segment. Is this a change in our overall outlook for GGBS towards slightly lower level?
Yeah. See, the Q1 was impacted because of what I explained to you earlier. With Q2, Q3, and Q4 stacking up favorably, yes, the revise would be what I shared with you, which is the high single digits for GGBS.
In, say, FY 2028-2029, do we expect similar numbers, or do we expect to go back to double-digit guidance?
Honestly, it's strongly correlated with the CapEx spend and the infra growth. If that continues, this will definitely be there. I think the investment that we've currently made in this specifically in quarter one in terms of getting approvals and getting these large infra projects non-listed and registered, I at least personally, as a company, we see a very positive outlook going forward. This will play out not only in this year, which is FY 2027, also in FY 2028 onwards.
Understood, sir. Secondly, we just highlighted that we expect to end the year with around 60% capacity utilization in our Rajasthan plant. I just wanted to understand, even 1Q exit, our capacity utilization is more than 60%- 65% as per our PPT. Why the subdued sort of expectations for full year utilizations?
No, it's not subdued. See, today we are operating 2.5 million ton capacity and another 1 million ton is going to come up in September end, early October. Then we are looking at 3.5 million ton capacity. This number, 60% +, though, you are right. We did mention that we exited June with a 68% utilization. It's just that the capacity is going to go up by another 1 million ton.
Okay, that is a perspective. Got it, sir. Sir, when do we expect this additional line to come up here, this 2.5 MTPA?
It should be there in FY 2028.
By end of FY 2028?
Yes.
Okay, sir. Understood. Just, sir, one last clarification. Sir, in one of your notes to accounts, you have mentioned that the other income has a component of INR 55 crore due to some JV deconsolidation. Could you just elaborate a bit on that?
No. We are a JV partner in JSW One, and JSW One intends to list within this financial year. That is their plan. They did do some fundraise very recently, and this INR 55 crore, earlier we had to because JSW One was incurring losses. We had to write down the entire investment over different quarters. But now their net worth is in positive zone, and this INR 55 crore is the share of that net worth as per accounting standards.
Understood, sir. Just, sir, out of curiosity, what was the funding round at this most recent one?
No, I think that question should be asked to JSW One as and when they list.
Okay, sir. That's all from my end. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. This is the final reminder for question. Please press star on one to ask a question, and no further reminders will be placed after this. Next question comes from the line of Kunal Shah with DAM Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Just one on the North operations now, excluding the North sort of revenues, how was the base cement realization moment during the quarter on a sequential basis?
It was +5.5% QoQ.
Understood. So obviously North, we have not booked any incentives, but other than that, we were booking some, right? So any other incentives that were booked during the quarter?
Yes. It was about slightly less than INR 6 crore.
Got it. Now, sir, on the Punjab expansion, sir, we have excluded it from our foreseeable CapEx plans. Are there any issues we are seeing there structurally or just a timing problem there? What was the amount that has been invested for Punjab until now?
No, we have spent only on the land. That's about probably INR 50 crore-INR 60 crore. We have the entire land with us. A very small parcel is required to be purchased, which we would be doing it very soon. But most of the land is with us. I can say the whole of the land is with us. The plant land is with us. It's just the approach road, a little bit of it. Now, we are awaiting the EC. The EC can come any time. Couple of rounds of discussion hearings have happened in the PCB. Once we have that, probably then we will initiate the work at Punjab.
Got it. But sir, the CapEx that you mentioned about, the absolute amount, this would be including Punjab, right? I mean, you would have accounted for that as well, right?
Yes. It includes Punjab.
Got it.
Punjab is very integral to our entire North plans.
Got it. Sir, just lastly, one on the green energy share. Now, the target laid out during the second quarter last year was to achieve 49% by 4Q FY 2026 and 63% by FY 2027. Can you just give, are we sort of behind schedule on this one and what are the reasons for the same?
So slight delay that was more related to land, but that is all behind us now. As I mentioned earlier, within September, we will have the entire, whatever capacities we had informed earlier, that would be available to us now in September.
Got it. So we can hit 60%+ by end of FY 2027?
Implemented, yes.
Q3 on the year.
Yes.
Okay. Got it. This is really helpful, sir. Thanks a lot.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Girija Ray with Nirmal Bang. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks for taking my questions. All of my questions are actually answered. I just wanted to check, what is the regional wise capacity utilization, particularly for the cement business?
We couldn't hear you, Girija. Could you repeat your question, please?
Am I audible?
Yes, you are.
Most of my questions are answered, but I have one small question that is, what is the region-wise capacity utilization for the cement business?
Overall for quarter one, we were at 61% for quarter one. There is no split that we offer on this.
Okay. Thank you, sir.
Yeah.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Rajesh Ravi with HDFC Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Good morning. Am I audible?
Yes, Rajesh, please go ahead.
Yeah. First question, just a clarification, the incentives when you start booking in for the JSW Cement North plant, will it flow through revenue and EBITDA or directly to cash flows balance sheet?
No, it will be rooted through P&L.
No, P&L means through revenue, right?
Exactly.
It's like a GST accrual. Because capital subsidy, we understand, initially doesn't flow through a revenue line item.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have lost-
We'll get back to you on this.
We have lost the line of Mr. Jariwala. Please be on hold while we quickly get him reconnected. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Jariwala is reconnected. Please go ahead.
Yeah. We were talking about the incentive, how it will flow through P&L, or through revenue, or through other line items.
There is a bit complex accounting treatment, I understand, on the capital subsidy. I think this has to be recognized over the life of the asset. I think we will have a discussion with the auditors, and then probably answer this-
Sure.
-rather than giving a misleading answer.
Sure. Sir, on the marketing expense, I see for the last three, four years, the run rate was around INR 80 crore -INR 85 crore, and Q4 we had a jump in FY 2026 Q4, and FY 2026 number went up because seeding for the North operations. In North, you have done around INR 30 crore-INR 33 crore in Q1. So from an annual basis, what would be the incremental marketing expenditure you are looking at INR 80 crore-INR 85 crore run rate? Second, when you said the North operations will break even and will turn positive. So break even at EBITDA level or at PAT level?
So break even at EBITDA level. About the first part of your question. Today we have done about INR 33 crore in North. But overall at company level, we will be doing about INR 130 crore-
Okay.
-for the year.
Okay. And this run rate would contribute for next few years, is what we can assume?
Yes, because we will be going into newer territory. Very soon we should be there in Punjab, we will be there in Western U.P., Central U.P., et cetera. This number is definitely to go up.
Makes sense. Correct.
Keep in mind this INR 1 30 crore what I mentioned includes technical spends also.
Okay. EBITDA break even, what is the target you are looking at, sir?
No, in the second quarter, we should be EBITDA break even.
Okay, so fair to assume at 55%-60% utilization. You have turned or you will be turning EBITDA break even, and thereafter profitability will further kick in with the commissioning of the WHR, OLBC, and more of low-cost fuel purchase, lignite and all.
Today we have to transport limestone by road, and we don't have waste heat, et cetera. That explains why our break even is at a higher number at 55%-60% utilization. Had these all been in operation. Break even would have been at much lower levels.
Correct. I agree. Sir, two small questions, follow-up. First, on the RMC, what is the full year number you are looking at? Is there any EBITDA number, EBITDA margin number for FY 2026 and 2027 in this RMC segment?
The revenue we are targeting north of INR 1,000 crore, including-
Which year?
This year.
This year.
-including the captive, that what Nilesh explained earlier, wherever the group projects are coming up. Today it's very difficult to speak on the margins, because captive always has a different number than a commercial or a dedicated. It all depends how we grow. Initially when we put up, and our plans are to move from 15 to 35. So in the first year, in first 12 months, it hardly makes any money. RMCs don't make money.
Right.
Yeah. So bit difficult to spell out the margins right now.
Understood. When you say captive, we are not talking within JSW Cement, within the group, right?
Within the group.
Within the group. Okay. Lastly, on the CapEx number, Q1 you have done INR 337 crore, and for full year you are guiding INR 2,300 crore.
Yeah.
Is it like chances of a miss because this run rate is lower, and I assume Q2 would be not very strong given a monsoon quarter. H2, the expectation from the CapEx could be much higher?
The number would be close to INR 2,300 crore. There isn't going to be any miss.
Understood. This is as per your plans.
Yeah.
Okay. Great, sir. That's all from my end. Will come back into you. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Due to time constraints, the last question comes from Raashi with Citi. Please go ahead now.
Thank you, sir. Just some bookkeeping questions. You have delayed the Vijayanagar phase I beyond CY 2028, right? That was supposed to come earlier.
Sorry, Raashi, just repeat your question. You are not clear. Not audible.
The Vijayanagar phase I, I think earlier plan was to have it before CY 2028. That has now been pushed out, right?
Yes, that is right.
Okay. What are the timelines?
It is basically utilization.
Sorry, utilization?
No, basically just keep in mind the utilization. We are prudent about how we can show the capacity utilization for the overall company is maintained. That was the intent behind it.
Understood. What are the timelines for the Fujairah and the Dolvi expansion?
Fujairah and the?
The Dolvi, the 4 million ton.
Dolvi.
The ones which are coming before CY 2028.
Fujairah, we have done the groundbreaking last week. That should be up and running within 12 months. Dolvi, we are planning to start the work very soon. That's 15 months from whenever we-
15 months. Okay. For the Nagaur project, the total CapEx for the 3.5 million ton is INR 3,500 crore, right?
Yeah.
How much has been spent so far?
We have spent close to INR 2,400 crore-INR 2,500 crore.
Okay. The next 2.5 million tons is INR 430 crore. That is correct?
Yes. Net of GST, yes.
Okay. Just last, what was the clinker utilization in the quarter?
Come again.
Clinker utilization in the quarter.
It is at 61% including Nagaur. In India, I am saying. Just between Nandyal, Shiva Cement, and Nagaur, it is at 61%. If you want to knock off Nagaur, then the number goes up to 87%.
Okay, so that is clinker all in. All right. Got it. Thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as there are no further questions, we have reached the end of question and answer session. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Vaibhav Agarwal for closing comments.
Yeah, thank you. On behalf of PhillipCapital India Private Limited, we would like to thank the management of JSW Cement for the call, and also many thanks to the participants for joining the call. Thank you very much, sir. I think we may now conclude the call. Thank you.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you so much. Thank you very much.
Thank you. On behalf of PhillipCapital, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.