Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Krsnaa Diagnostics Limited Q3 FY26 earnings conference call. 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 * then 0 on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Surya Patra from PhillipCapital. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Yeah, thank you, Rudra. Good day, everybody. I, on behalf of Phillip Capital, welcome you all to the Q3 FY26 results conference call of Krsnaa Diagnostics Limited. Today with us we have Mr. Rajendra Mutha, Chairman and Whole-Time Director, Mr. Yash Mutha, Managing Director, Ms. Pallavi, Executive Director, Mr. Mitesh Dave, Group CEO, and Mr. Vivek Jain, Head Investor Relationships. So I would now hand over the line to Mr. Yash Mutha for the opening remarks, and subsequent to which we'll have a Q&A session. Thank you, sir.
Sure.
Over to you.
Yeah, thank you, Surya. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. At Krsnaa Diagnostics, we have always believed that building a meaningful healthcare institution is not about the quarter-to-quarter optics. It is about designing systems that endure scale and deliver impact over the decades. That philosophy continues to guide every decision we make. What we are building is not a conventional diagnostics company. Krsnaa operates a uniquely differentiated diagnostics platform that is inherently difficult to replicate. Anchored in the public-private partnership framework and a radiology-led model, our business requires upfront equipment investments that are nearly 2.5 times higher than those of the conventional, traditional pathology-led diagnostic players. Much of this capital has been deliberately deployed over the last few years to build the largest pan-India radiology network, creating a high-entry barrier platform with durable, long-term competitive advantages.
Radiology is one of the most capital-intensive and operationally complex segments of the healthcare. It demands advanced technology, specialized clinical talent, and disciplined execution. While this approach can moderate near-term return ratios during periods of expansion, it also creates a moat that very few players can cross. Importantly, despite operating in a highly regulated government ecosystem and despite offering services at 50%-70% lower prices than the prevailing market rates, Krsnaa has remained EBITDA and PAT positive since inception. This consistency reflects the resilience and discipline embedded in our model. Today, our integrated diagnostic network spans 18 states and union territories, with 190 CT and MRI centers, over 4,000 collection centers, and around 140 pathology laboratories. To date, we have served over 81 million patients across India, making Krsnaa one of the most impactful diagnostic platforms in the country.
It is also worth noting that Krsnaa has built this platform in just over 14 years, while many of our peers have taken 2-4 decades to reach comparable scale. The speed at which we have executed, particularly in a capital-intensive radiology and public health scale, speaks to the strength of our operating model, the governance, and execution discipline. Beyond scale, the impact is tangible. In Q3 alone, approximately 4.6 million patients accessed affordable diagnostics through our network. Early diagnostics remains one of the most powerful levers in improving outcomes and reducing healthcare costs, and Krsnaa plays a foundational role in enabling this at a population scale. Quality has never been a compromise. Our platform today includes 49 NABH-accredited radiology centers, 57 NABL-accredited laboratories, India's first CAP-accredited pathology lab in a government facility, and the country's first ACR-recognized tele-radiology hub.
This depth of accreditation delivered at public health scale remains unmatched. Turning briefly to the quarter, Q3 is a seasonally soft year for the diagnostic industry. This year, the impact was accentuated by lower seasonal volumes and temporary operational pauses undertaken to accelerate recovery of our long-pending government receivables. I'm pleased to share that during this quarter, we recovered over INR 130 crores, materially strengthening our cash position. Importantly, our focused efforts on strengthening the cash flows are clearly bearing fruit. During Q3, we collected over INR 100 crores more compared to Q3 of the last year, reinforcing the increasing maturity and effectiveness of our execution and working capital discipline. Margins during the quarter were also influenced by cost absorption relating to expansion initiatives, including the Rajasthan pathology rollout. I want to be clear, this is a timing issue and not a structural one.
Supported by long-term PPP contracts, wide geographic reach, predictable revenue visibility, and structurally lower customer acquisition costs, Krsnaa has built a resilient healthcare infrastructure platform. As these investments mature and operating leverages strengthen, we believe the full economic potential of this platform will increasingly come into view. Now, stepping back to the broader context, the union budget reinforces exactly the direction India is taking in healthcare. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has allocated almost INR 100,000 crore, and for the first time, it has crossed this threshold, reflecting a stronger national commitment to healthcare infrastructure, preventive care, and.
Hello, I'm Rudra. Hello. Are you on mute, sir? The line for the management has been dropped. Please be patient.
The line for the management has been reconnected. Please go ahead, sir. Hello?
Hi. Apologies, I think the line got disconnected. So I'll start the speech again. For the benefit of everyone, I'm not sure. Okay.
So thank you, Surya. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. At Krsnaa Diagnostics, we have always believed that building a meaningful healthcare institution is not about quarter-to-quarter optics. It's about designing systems that endure scale and deliver impact over decades. That philosophy continues to guide every decision we take. What we are building is not a conventional diagnostics company. Krsnaa operates a uniquely differentiated diagnostics platform that is inherently difficult to replicate. Anchored in a public-private partnership framework and a radiology-led model, our business requires upfront equipment investments that are nearly 2.5 times higher than those of the conventional, traditional pathology-led diagnostic players.
Much of this capital has been deliberately deployed over the last few years to build the largest pan-India radiology network, creating a high-entry barrier platform with durable, long-term competitive advantages. Radiology is one of the most capital-intensive and operationally complex segments of healthcare. It demands advanced technology, specialized clinical talent, and disciplined execution. While this approach can moderate near-term return ratios during periods of expansion, it also creates a moat that very few players can cross. Importantly, despite operating in a highly regulated government ecosystem and despite offering services at 50%-70% lower prices than the prevailing market rates, Krsnaa has remained EBITDA and PAT positive since inception. This consistency reflects the resilience and discipline embedded in our model. Today, our integrated diagnostics network spans 18 states and union territories with 190 CT and MRI centers, over 4,000 collection centers, and 140 pathology laboratories.
To date, we have served over 81 million patients across India, making Krsnaa one of the most impactful diagnostic platforms in the country. It is also worth noting that Krsnaa has built this platform in just over 14 years, while many of our peers have taken 2-4 decades to reach comparable scale. The speed at which we have executed, particularly in capital-intensive radiology and public healthcare, speaks to the strength of our operating model, governance, and execution discipline. Beyond scale, the impact is tangible. In Q3 alone, approximately 4.6 million patients accessed affordable diagnostics through our network. Early diagnosis remains one of the most powerful levers in improving outcomes and reducing healthcare costs, and Krsnaa plays a foundational role in enabling this at population scale. Quality has never been a compromise.
Our platform today includes 49 NABH-accredited radiology centers, 57 NABL-accredited laboratories, India's first CAP-accredited pathology lab in a government facility, and the country's first ACR-recognized tele-radiology hub. This depth of accreditation delivered at public health scale remains unmatched. Turning briefly to the quarter, Q3 is a seasonally soft year for the diagnostic industry. This year, the impact was accentuated by lower seasonal volumes and temporary operational pauses undertaken to accelerate recovery of long-pending government receivables. I'm pleased to share that during the quarter, we recovered over INR 130 crore, materially strengthening our cash position. Importantly, our focused efforts on strengthening cash flows are clearly bearing fruit. During quarter three, we collected over INR 100 crore more compared to quarter three of the last year, reinforcing the increasing maturity and effectiveness of our execution and working capital discipline.
Margins during the quarter were also influenced by cost absorption related to expansion initiatives, including the Rajasthan pathology rollout. I want to be very clear, this is a timing issue and not a structural one, supported by long-term PPP contracts, wide geographic reach, predictable revenue visibility, and structurally lower customer acquisition costs. Krsnaa has built a resilient healthcare infrastructure platform. As these investments mature and operating leverages strengthen, we believe the full economic potential of this platform will be increasingly coming to view. Now, stepping back to the broader context, the union budget reinforces exactly the direction India is taking in healthcare. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare allocation has crossed INR 100,000 crore, reflecting a stronger national commitment to healthcare infrastructure, preventive care, and capacity building.
The focus is clearly moving beyond access alone to infrastructure and quality, and diagnostics is increasingly being recognized as a foundational pillar in preventive healthcare. In this environment, the PPP model continues to remain one of the most effective mechanisms for a rapid scale-up. For Krsnaa, this is a strong validation. As India's largest PPP diagnostics platform with deep execution capability across the states, we believe we are uniquely positioned to participate meaningfully in this multi-decade expansion and not as a short-cycle contractor, but as a long-term healthcare infrastructure partner. In parallel, our B2C segment continues to gain traction, with the retail revenue increasing 8x year-over-year and touchpoints expanding materially, strengthening brand acceptance, and adding a second engine of growth alongside PPP.
We've also crossed an important strategic milestone with the launch of the first Apulki Healthcare Hospital in Pune, India's first PPP-based cancer and cardiac care hospital operating under a long-term tenure. This represents a calibrated extension of our capabilities into integrated tertiary care built on the same execution discipline and infrastructure mindset that defines Krsnaa. To conclude, Krsnaa is not a short-cycle business built for near-term metrics. It's a long-term healthcare institution built patiently, executed responsibly, and designed to compound value over decades. We remain deeply confident in our strategy, disciplined in our capital allocation, and commitment to building a healthcare platform that will matter for generations to come. With that, I would like to now hand over to our Group CEO, Mr. Mitesh Dave.
Thank you, Mr. Yash, for detailed but very crisply and clearly what really Krsnaa stands for, taking you and all of us here. A very good afternoon and a warm welcome to all of you. Let me now share with you all the key developments and the performance highlights for the quarter. During quarter three, FY 2026, the revenue from the operations stood at INR 1,812 million, representing a year-on-year growth of approximately 4%. As previously indicated, revenues from the quarter were modestly impacted by seasonality and a series of festivities. But parallel to that, there were certain conscious decisions for recovering long-pending dues, which we took a brief pause in a few of our projects, and it turned out very positively and has shown an impact in overall days of outstanding moving down.
Further, considering the margins front, a slight impact, mainly on account of commissioning the Rajasthan project and absorbing the associated costs towards employees, logistics, supply chain, etc., without realizing any revenue for quarter three. However, these factors are merely timing-related. With the revenue recognition and meaningful ramp-up from the Rajasthan project expected in the coming quarter as well as in the upcoming financial year, it gives us a very robust and clear growth visibility. Despite these near-term headwinds, profitability remained resilient. Our EBITDA for quarter three has registered at INR 474 million, translating it into an EBITDA margin percentage of 26%, post-absorbing temporary costs related to the project readiness and employee-related adjustment of the Rajasthan project. On normalized scale, EBITDA stood at INR 484 million with healthy margins of 27%, underscoring the structural strength of our business model, disciplined cost management, and operating leverages.
Normalized PAT for the quarter registered at INR 168 million, with the margin standing at 9%. For the nine-month period, profitability trends continue to remain strong and stable, supported by margin resilience and improving utilization and the inherent scalability of our platform. Over the past year, we have remained sharply focused on driving operational efficiencies across manpower deployment, asset utilization, and procurement. Higher utilization in radiology, particularly in advanced modalities, has improved assets productivity, while supply chain optimization has reduced installation timelines drastically and minimized equipment downtime, further strengthening return metrics. Technology-led automation remains a key differentiator for the company. Our investment in centralized monitoring, automated reporting, billing systems, and turnaround time optimization are delivering measurable benefits, including enhanced operating efficiency, improved cash conversion cycles, and superior patient experience. Retail diagnostics continues to emerge as a strong growth engine for us.
During quarter three, FY26, retail revenue grew by nearly 8 times year-on-year and contributed approximately 8% to the overall group's revenue contribution in first half. Our retail network has expanded to over 3,000+ touchpoints, and we expect this segment to scale steadily, supported by expansion across Maharashtra, Punjab, Assam, and Odisha, along with growing traction in home collection services and preventive healthcare offerings. I would like to take a moment to address a leadership update on Mr. Pawan Daga, our Chief Financial Officer, who has moved on from the organization. We sincerely thank him for his valuable contribution and services and wish him continued success in his future endeavors. Further, I would like to reassure our investors and stakeholders that the company has a strong experience, a long-standing, and well-benchmarked financial leadership team in place.
A structured and seamless transition has happened to ensure absolute continuity across financial operations, governance standards, and internal controls. We have already initiated the process of appointing a suitable successor and remained firmly committed to the highest standards of financial discipline, transparency, and reporting rigors. As we enter our next phase of growth, our strategy remains focused and disciplined, driving scalability expansion, strengthening unit economics, and deepening our footprints in the regions where access to quality diagnostics is most critical. We continue to pursue our profitable growth across both PPP and retail segments, reinforcing our leadership in integrated diagnostics. Guided by operational excellence and capital efficiency, we are building one of India's most trusted and admired healthcare platforms, delivering the highest quality, affordable, and diagnostic services for every citizen of India, while creating a sustained long-term value for all stakeholders.
With that, now we can move on to our session for questions and answers. Thank you on this side, Mitesh.
Thank you very much. We'll now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the 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. Also, in order to ensure that the management will be able to address questions from all the participants in the conference, kindly limit the questions to two per participant. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Our first question comes from the line of Bala Murli Krishna from Oman Investment Advisors. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning. Regarding the RPL, I think on quarter, even though we have good growth on a year-over-year basis, I think the quarter-over-quarter numbers are a little bit muted. What could be the reason for that one? We were told that by year-end, we'll be in break-even in RPL. What is the status on that?
Yeah, hi, good morning, Mr. Murli. Mitesh this side. While yes, what you have shared is correct, that year-on-year, it has been robust growth. Quarter-on-quarter, it's a little muted, and that's mainly because of the series of festivities and the seasonality. Rest, all the levers are very well in place. Despite so much seasonality in all the festivities and the scope of the operations that we're currently taking over in our retail segment, we have still grown over the quarter three marginally. Considering our break-even, yes, we are in line with quarter four, where we'll be looking for break-even for the RPL business.
Okay, good, Mitesh sir. On the front of new order wins, maybe 1.5 before 1 year till last 12 months, maybe we don't have any major order wins. What could we expect in the Q4 or next year, any tender pipelines or any significant orders we are expecting? Also, on the revenue drop front in the Q3, maybe it could be is it only attributed to seasonality, or is there any tender duration that is completed? Could you please throw some light on that?
Mr. Murli, if you can just repeat the question, please.
Yeah, there are not any major order wins in the past maybe 12 months other than this Rajasthan tender, which is that's what I'm asking. To continue the growth phase, maybe we need to have new order wins. We have a Maharashtra radiology tender in hand, which is under implementation, but in addition to that, I don't think we have any major orders further to implement. What is your plan in the coming maybe 12 months to get any new orders? Any order pipeline is there, significant orders? That's what my question is.
Yeah, Mr. Murli, in terms of the order book or PPP projects and pipeline, there are a couple of projects that we are chasing. Two things. One is we are also being selective about the PPP project that we would want to undertake, given the kind of maturity and experience Krsnaa has. Also, considering Rajasthan as the biggest to roll out, that is also ongoing. Because of these two reasons, we are focusing only on select tenders that we believe can be successfully delivered. Therefore, hopefully, in the coming quarters, we'll be able to see results of these different projects that are in pipeline.
Yeah, okay. Lastly, on the Apulki side, what is the revenue potential we are expecting from a single hospital for us, Krsnaa is concerned? Also, on the status of the projects, earlier we used to state in presentations that these many centers are pending for implementation.
Yeah, so I think you also asked about Maharashtra projects. The Maharashtra project, it's under implementation. We've now received a lot of clearances on various sites. Hopefully, by Q4, these sites will be under implementation, and the revenue should also start coming through in the subsequent quarters or in the next financial year. As regards to Apulki, considering it's a 150-bedded hospital, we expect the revenues, mature-level revenues, to be in the range of around INR 20-odd crore, which we believe it will take around between 2 to 3 years to come to a mature level. The hospital has just operationalized. That's the other revenue, a long-term revenue that Krsnaa expects to grow in the coming years. This is one of the first hospitals. The other hospitals are also under construction, so they'll also further add to our growing kitty of revenues. Hello?
As there's no response, we move to the next question. The next question is from the line of Niteen Dharmawat from Aurum Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. Am I audible?
Yes, sir, you are.
Okay. First of all, many congratulations for this Apulki hospital project. I visited that. One of the very good facilities I've seen for this kind of requirement. Fantastic work over there. I have a couple of questions. Can you please elaborate on this Rajasthan project status? What is the revenue guidance from this during Q4 and during the next financial year?
Yeah. First of all, thanks for the compliments. As regards to Rajasthan, the Rajasthan project is under implementation, and we are ferociously working to ensure that the implementation gets completed within Q4. There might be some slippages of certain centers or satellite labs in Q1, but I think in terms of revenue guidance, we'll be able to give a much clearer picture, hopefully, around Q4 once the labs and everything is installed.
Got it. My next question is about this receivable number. You mentioned that we got good cash flow, almost INR 130 crore recovered, and it's INR 100 crore more than last year, same quarter. What is the receivable status from Himachal and Karnataka? Can you elaborate on that specifically?
Yeah. Both the projects, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, money has started flowing in. In fact, Himachal also, we received a significant amount, and that continues to flow in. Equally, on the Karnataka side, we've also received certain communications in the way of confirmations from the Karnataka authorities recently. Both the things are in traction. Therefore, apart from this, the collection, which is around INR 133 crores that we've collected across various, let's say, PP projects, is also in the frame. From that perspective, there's a confidence that the receivables will hopefully also come down in the coming year.
Hello?
Hello? Hello? Yeah.
No, no. Your last sentence, I missed. Sorry.
Yeah. As I said, for example, in Himachal Pradesh, we've already received around INR 40 crores. Also, confirmations have been received from Karnataka, and the rest of the projects are also, we're receiving confirmation that the payments are getting lined up. Hopefully, in the coming quarters, we'll be able to collect more.
Got it. My next question is, what are the new wins that we have? What are the challenges?
Sorry to interrupt you, sir, but if you have a follow-up question, please rejoin the queue.
Okay, I'll come back in a bit.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Tushar Raghatate from Omega Portfolio Advisors. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. I just wanted to know, basically, in the classification of retail, in Q1, FY26, it came down from 90%-34%. I'm talking about B2B segmentation over there. Firstly, I just wanted to know exactly what is this B2B in retail, which substantially came down as we moved to the forward quarters. That was my first question. Secondly, on, sir, your marketing efforts on the retail segment, what is that currently? And, sir, in the retail, what is the share of radiology and how you're trying to improve that?
Okay. If you can just repeat the question. The first part, if I understood it, you're saying the B2B numbers have come down. If you can just elaborate on that question, please.
Basically, in the Q1, FY26, in the retail, the B2B came down to 34% from 90%, comparing to Q1, FY25.
If you compare that, from Q1, FY25 to Q1, FY26, from 90%, it came down to 34%. I just want to know exactly, in terms of classification, how you did that and exactly what it is, the B2B and the retail one.
Okay. Hi, Mitesh, this side. First of all, it's a strategic effort where B2B are the ones, in any business, are the quick wins, versus B2C is which gets built up over the time. It takes its efforts, and it has an own code to follow. Right from the beginning, our efforts are always towards the B2C, but as in business dynamics, B2B cannot be ignored. Hence, we are driving both the parallel, but our overall endeavor is toward building up the B2C segment more.
Sir, my question is more around, in terms of the reduction in B2B is very substantial, from 90% to straight 34%, which that thing I want to understand, basically, how it is? What was the reason behind that?
I think we'll take this question separately with our investor relationship because we are not able to comprehend where these values are coming from, but we'll certainly give you an answer on this. Just to give you and to add what Mitesh said, see, from a retail perspective, our endeavors and focus are on building a retail which is focusing on B2C primarily. B2B is also in the fray with the types that we do with various smaller labs. But on the specific question of the numbers, I think we'll just respond to it separately through our head investor relationship. Fair enough, sir.
Sir, in the retail, what are our marketing efforts? Because we are the lowest cost in terms of all the services we provide. In order to deepen your penetration, I just want to understand your efforts, your view on the marketing front of your services. As regards to marketing, if you see, Krsnaa's DNA has been that our marketing spends are very calculated, calibrated. We've not done significant marketing. We continue to carry that philosophy even from a retail expansion, but we also understand in the new-age businesses, considering the Instagram kind of marketing initiatives that are being done, we would be exploring that. With the financial discipline that we want to carry forward, that is currently what we are working towards to ensure that our overall customer acquisition cost remains the same as a philosophy.
As we expand into newer markets and go deeper, I think at that point in time, we'll be able to recalibrate and maybe come with a more definitive answer to this. From a philosophy perspective, we'd like to ensure that there's a financial discipline on the marketing cost. Fair enough, sir. My last question on the.
Sorry to interrupt you, sir, but if you have a follow-up question, please rejoin the queue.
Fair enough, yeah.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Mohammad Patel from Edelweiss Public Alternatives. Please go ahead.
I hope I'm audible.
Yes, sir, you are, but a little louder would be better.
Yeah. My first question is, if I classify the revenue of Krsnaa into three parts, B2C Rajasthan contract and B2C ex Rajasthan, which is the base business, I think I have a fair understanding of what Rajasthan can contribute and what B2C can contribute in terms of sales in the next few years based on what has been discussed in the past conference calls. My question is, how should I think of the trajectory of revenue of the base business, which is B2C ex Rajasthan?
Excluding Rajasthan, if you see our base business and what we've been communicating has always been that we try to achieve revenues in the higher teens is what we are aspirational, and that's what we are currently focusing. If you leave aside the seasonality factors, but on an annualized basis, that is what the number we expect to achieve.
Okay. If I were to break up the base business into pathology and radiology, that's a follow-up to this question. How should I think of pathology and radiology growth in the base business?
If you see, currently, the spread between radiology and pathology is almost 50/50, so the contribution more or less would be in the similar trend. There are also certain, for example, radiology might have a slightly better growth in the next year considering that some of our Maharashtra projects are going live. Directionally, if you combine both and some of the pathology projects have also been implemented in the last few years, both of them, like Assam, Odisha, we expect both the numbers to grow in the same fashion.
Okay. My second question is, I wanted to understand how the network will be in FY28. I want to know what should be the number of pathology labs, the number of CT/MRI, and the number of retail touchpoints by FY28. Approximate number, ballpark number is fine.
I think on this particular question, I'll defer you to reach out to our Head of Investor Relations. They'll be able to give you a more granular number in terms of the network expansion that we plan for the next year.
I have one more, if I'm allowed.
Yeah, you can, please.
Should I go ahead?
Yes, yes, you can go ahead.
I wanted to understand what is the rationale of entering the hospital business?
If you mean the Apulki Hospital?
Yes.
It's not entering the Apulki Hospital business. Basically, it's a very specialized cancer and cardiac care hospital on a similar PPP model like what Krsnaa has built, where they are setting up a dedicated cancer care hospital in high-density areas and providing these services at significantly competitive rates. Now, if you see from the cancer cardiac care diagnostic business, it has a significant share, and these contracts give us almost a 60-year of visibility in terms of revenues. Therefore, it's also a strategic alignment to associate with the Apulki Hospital in expanding, especially in the oncology and specialty kind of business.
Okay. I have further questions. I'll join back in the queue.
Sure.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Kartik Gada from Multiple Wealth Management. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity. Am I audible?
Perfectly audible, sir.
Yeah, thanks. On the radiology part, thanks for the initial remarks. You articulated it pretty well, the entire thing. I just wanted to understand. What I understand about radiology, there is a good risk of obsolescence in terms of the technology, the hardware. Because you articulated that we are looking at the long-term tool building, and this is a foundational phase, how are we looking at the risk of obsolescence for the hardware? Are there any steps to mitigate this, say, through software, maybe AI, or something like that?
Hello?
Yeah. Hello?
Yeah. First of all, if you see radiology, per se, there is no obsolescence in the technology. If you see, the X-ray technology has remained constant and stable for so many years. Likewise, the CT scan or MRI, which are the core diagnostic equipment, the core technology remains the same. The life of the magnet is around 40 years. CT scan, typically, the life of the equipment is anywhere between 10-15 years, and the core technology doesn't change or has not been obsolete. What is changing over the years is bringing more software for concepts like 3D modeling or more clearer images. These are some of the value adds that have happened over the years. Fundamentally, the technology doesn't become obsolete, and therefore, that's one of the reasons why we are focusing and have been focusing on radiology as the core segment.
Now, in terms of AI, AI is something which is expected to bring in efficiency in terms of the reporting, as well as some of the AIs that are currently explored are in terms of maybe having a better image quality, which eventually will result in better reporting for the radiologist. This is how we expect the AI to come into play. From a technology obsolescence, the risk is almost negligible, in my opinion.
Okay. Great. That's from my end. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Deepali Bansal from Ventura Securities. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, sir. My first question is regarding Maharashtra and Rajasthan. In the last call, you mentioned that we were about to begin some labs and collection centers in Rajasthan. What is the status there? In Maharashtra, we saw that 10 of the MRIs were about to be completed. Have they been inaugurated, and what's the update there?
Good afternoon, Deepali. On the first question for Rajasthan, we have around 40 labs currently, which have almost been installed, and about 300 collection centers. The rest are in progress. Hopefully, by Q4, the majority of them should be done, and by Q1, there might be some spillover for the collection centers and some satellite labs. With regards to Maharashtra, the 10 MRI sites are almost getting ready. There were certain delays in getting the sites. The inauguration is also in the cards, but there were certain recent incidents because of which the inauguration has also been delayed. Hopefully, in Q4, we expect some of the sites to get implemented.
None of the sites in Maharashtra have been inaugurated?
Not yet.
Okay. My second question is regarding, I wanted to find out the tenure of the existing contracts. Are we looking at some contracts which are expiring maybe in a few quarters or maybe next year? Because the sale date is something very concerning. That's why.
If you see, in terms of contract tenures, I'll ask Vivek to respond separately to you only in terms of any specific tenures that you look. Just to give you from an overall direction, for Krsnaa, the PPP business, typically, tenders will come and go. What we've demonstrated over the years and decades is whether tenders come and go, we deliver continuous growth, which is the core business model of Krsnaa. I would just like you to be cognizant of this, that this is how Krsnaa should be seen in the years to come as well.
All right. We don't have any particular information regarding which contracts will be expiring or?
Yes. As of now, there are no major contracts which are nearing expiry. To just confirm that to you.
All right, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Lokesh Maru from Vallum Capital. Please go ahead.
Yes. Hi. Good afternoon to the team. A couple of bookkeeping questions. One is, if you can just clarify, what is the revenue breakup for radiology and pathology at the console level? You did address it earlier, but I was not clear whether it is only for base pathology excluding retail. At the console level, radio and path breakup would be helpful. Second is on the interest expense. What I understand is that now since you have had the collections, the interest expense should go down. You also have entered into certain capital lease agreements, which would push the interest expense up by the portion of the lease, which gets classified under interest expense. Going forward, do you see the interest expense reported going down, or do you see it as it is, where it is?
Two parts of the question. The first part regarding the radiology and pathology break, I think it's almost 50/50. The specific details, I'll ask Vivek to give it to you, but more or less, it's in the same range. With regards to the interest expense, the interest expense has two components. Of course, the working capital, and as we've been focusing on collecting our dues, the interest component towards the working capital is certainly expected, and our endeavor is to bring it down. The finance lease that you spoke about is not a very significant number. These are some of the few machines that we've brought in from a finance lease, so I don't think we'll have a significant upward or it'll increase the financing cost.
Our effort is to have a capital discipline to ensure that the financing cost remains optimal and to the lowest possible, and that's what we're working towards. We should expect this to go down going forward then because working capital collection is happening? Yes. For the current business, the way you see, with the collections, we expect the financing cost to go down.
That's it from my side. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Raghav Bhutoria from Lindsay Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello. Am I audible?
Yes, sir. You are.
Yes. My first question is, after this INR 100 crore receivable that we have collected, what is the actual figure of receivables after Q3? On the receivable side, I'll ask Vivek to share the details with you. After this Rajasthan project starts, do we see some initial costs for ramping that up, or will we be profitable after Q4 on that front? What would be the debt after the whole expansion is complete? Of course, there'll be certain expenses which is typical nature of a PPP. It's a front-loading of the investments, and therefore, there will be expenses that will come in Q4, which will not be commensurate to the revenue. We are trying our best, and as I communicated in the previous quarter as well, we are trying to ensure that the revenues and expenses are in line.
In Q4, there might be a certain impact, but as I said, we are all working to ensure that the impact is minimum. In terms of the debt, for Rajasthan, we have currently, as we disclosed in the previous quarters as well, we have availed a certain facility from ADB, which is in the final stages of completion. I think once we get that debt raised, we'll certainly inform, but the debt is towards the project and not on the overall debt for the company.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Mayur from Wealth Managers (India) Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Hello. Can I answer?
Yes.
Yes, yes.
Yes, yes.
Hello, sir. Am I audible?
Yes, sir. You are.
Thank you for taking the questions, and congratulations to the entire management for the Apulki Hospital. Actually, that's a great initiative on the PPP side, and it was much needed from the patient side, from the service side, from the economy side, from the society perspective. It's a great initiative, and congratulations for such a state-of-the-art facility which has been there. Wish you all the best as you go ahead for further more expansions on that side.
Thank you very much.
My question was actually, there have been many questions on the receivables in Rajasthan and Karnataka. What I wanted to understand is, if we look at the revenue perspective, has that started to get normalized run rate for those states post these recoveries, or there are still some breaks which are there, which have not got fully released because the receivables are still there? Has it impacted the Q3 growth to some extent, had that been a bit more normalized? Is that one of the reasons, apart from seasonality, which are also taking some growth numbers lower? Is that a play there?
Yes. First of all, thank you for the compliments. Coming to the question on the radiology, particularly whether there have been any impact because of the receivables, yes. On the receivable side, it was a conscious call where we temporarily suspend the operations if the collections are not coming to us as they were promised. There has been this impact on the Q3 numbers. We do this more from a discipline perspective to ensure that whilst we continue to grow, the money is also realized. Hopefully, in the coming quarters, we don't expect to have such impact because Q4 is considered to be a good quarter in terms of collecting our receivables because there are budgetary limits that the governments have to exercise. We believe this impact, hopefully, will not be there in the coming quarters.
Overall, from a direction perspective, the growth is still there even if the projects which have matured, especially those radiology projects which are in the 5-7 years horizon, even there, we do expect growth to come. It's not like there's zero growth. It's just that this seasonal, because of Q3 being a softer quarter and the pauses wherever we have taken to ensure our recoveries are collected, you see a certain impact. It is more of, I would say, more of a one-off impact and not something which will be ongoing. That's actually great to hear, and actually, for many long-term investors, it will be great to understand that the model is working. We are in a position to have control over receivables because that's a big worry for most of the investors from a long-term perspective, and it's a great thing.
Growth can be 1 quarter or a 2 quarter can take a backseat if that is so, but it's a great reassurance of that working. Great congratulations to the management again for revalidating those things and hope that focus continues. Finally, will it be possible for you to say that given an understanding where the Rajasthan order, will it be fair to say that the actual, while we know pathology revenues are more in the region of 9 months and 10 months, it starts to get the peaks coming in? Given there can be some spillover, will it be fair to say that FY28 will be the right number to look at the full revenue potential of Rajasthan, or do you think from the second half of FY27, we'll start seeing the run rates being much stronger there or reaching those?
Again, thanks for the compliments on the way we manage, and this is something core at Krsnaa where we have been maintaining for the years in terms of the discipline of recovering our dues, and Krsnaa is the only player which is able to do so. Coming to the question on Rajasthan, the Rajasthan revenues, as we said, we've been ferociously working to ensure all the labs are up and running. We are aspiring that the full potential of the revenue should be achieved in year one itself, and that's what we're all gearing up to. This might not spill over into FY28, but most probably by end of FY27, we should be able to achieve the full annualized revenue that we are targeting from Rajasthan.
Great to hear. One word also for the entire investor relations team also. They have been great in communication and helping us understand the model, and getting thank you so much. Wish you all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Vishal Chandak from Systematix. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good afternoon. Can you kind of give a broad range as to what we should expect from the Rajasthan tender next year, FY27, in terms of the revenue numbers? A broad range. Like we've mentioned, Rajasthan revenue should be able to contribute approximately around INR 200 crore of annualized revenue. That would be at peak. How should we look at FY27? Next year. This is the number that we are expecting for the next year. In terms of the costs that would get added, any sense there like employee cost, how should that go up from current levels? Of course, the employee cost will be incrementally because it's a new project, and it's a large project with a number of collection centers. As I said earlier, we have been trying to calibrate that the incremental costs do not hit our margins, and we are trying to time it accordingly.
There are a lot of processes and people that we are getting aligned to this kind of concept, which is again new. We've had initial successes, and we believe we'll be able to continue this in the coming quarters so that the impact on the margins is not there. There might be a slight impact in Q4 because that's where we are really pushing for all the centers and labs to go live. Q4 might have a dent, but in the coming quarters, we'll expect the dent to start reducing. Again, we come back to the margin profile that we expect to deliver as a company as a whole.
You indicated that your revenue split would broadly be in the 50/50 range even next year between pathology and radiology. Since Rajasthan is largely going to be pathology, does that mean you'll add almost an equal amount on the radiology front, almost INR 200 crore?
No, no. The 50/50 that I spoke is as of today, considering the nine months numbers. Once Rajasthan triggers in and also the Maharashtra project, if it comes in, we expect overall pathology to have a higher share in the revenue, which in my opinion, could be in the range of around 65 of pathology, 70 pathology, and the rest of radiology.
The COGS, in terms of the gross margins, should we expect the gross margins to go down because pathology has a lower gross margin than radiology?
You're right. Ideally, pathology does have slightly lower margins compared to radiology, but as I said, again, we are trying certain cost levers to ensure that on a consolidated basis, we should be able to have a minimal impact on the margins, and we continue to deliver the margins for Krsnaa as a whole.
Overall, any guidance on margin whether FY27 will move positively from current levels, or you would remain at current levels? Any sense there directionally?
I think directionally, as I said, technically, it should have an impact in the first year, but we are trying to ensure that at least even if it doesn't go upward, we'll be able to maintain at least the same level of margins. Our effort is, of course, as aspiration is to increase the margins, but considering it's a large project, we'll try to ensure that the margins remain stable.
Thank you. That's all from my side.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Anish Monga from Asterisk Capital. Please go ahead.
Thank you so much for this opportunity. Yash and Rajendra sir, basically, if you remove the retail business from your year-over-year numbers, there has been a degrowth of around 5%. If I see, let's say, two years out, it's largely been flat. It's like lower single-digit growth in terms of your core business, as another gentleman put it. On top of that, thinking from a more capital allocation perspective, we have invested around INR 700 crore over the last four and a half years. Keeping all this in mind, I'm trying to understand these INR 700 crore that we have invested, the assumption was that they will start to show growth now in FY24, FY25, FY26, but that hasn't come. Broadly, what do you think is the reason? Detailed answer would be very helpful. Thank you.
Anish, if you see, whilst we have invested in these different government PPP projects, the potential has, first of all, not been exhausted. There's enough potential to grow. Now, there have been certain, as I said, temporary bottlenecks, pauses. There have been certain interferences also in some of the projects by the government where there were certain caps introduced in the interim because of certain government policy changes or ABHA integration. There were multiple reasons because of which the true revenue growth could not be achieved. As I said, from a business model perspective or from an overall fundamental growth perspective, there is no change. The growth has to come, and it will come in the subsequent quarters. In the interim, there were certain setbacks.
For example, the Maharashtra even MRI project, if I have to share, what we started off in terms of implementing, but there were delays in terms of setting up. You'll see the CapEx being incurred, but the revenue has not come in because there were delays in getting clearances from the side. Compliance clearances were not received on time. We are cognizant from a capital discipline that I've been speaking about. We look into all these implications when they come in. There have been certain, like I said, temporary suspensions that we did also from our side, more on the PPP side of the business. This has resulted into subdued growth.
If you see historically also, in the initial when the project used to go live, we had been demonstrating growth, which hopefully in the next year we'll be able to be back on track and continue to have the growth momentum.
Sir, keeping all this in mind, the way things have panned out over the last 3, 3.5 years now with, let's say, a lack of growth even after investing so much money, has it resulted in any change in capital allocation? From that perspective, has the management changed its stance, or we are still going the same route?
In terms of capital allocation, as I said, there are two things that we are also measuring. One is, of course, ensuring that the capital that we deploy, beforehand, we have all the clearances. Typically, in the PPP business, there's pressure to go and install the equipment, and then some of the clearances come in later on. We have been now careful to ensure that we have all the documentation in place. What I mentioned with Rajasthan, we are following the same practice. Secondly, also from the tenders that we are also kind of now evaluating, we have been selective over these tenders. There have been tenders, but understanding and knowing these intrinsic challenges that we know much better than anyone else, we've also been selective in those kinds of projects. Yes, we are also calibrating our approaches or the processes as we go along.
Just to let you know, fundamentally, there's no change in the business model. The business model is as strong and intact as it was before.
Thank you so much. That's a topic.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Harish Singh from Shubh Labh Research. Please go ahead.
I hope I'm audible. Hi, this is Prateek. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, I'm new to this company, so I have a modest question. In my limited understanding from reading about PPP so far, probably not all the hospitals are covered with PPP, and it happens gradually as and when state government allocates the resources. Firstly, is that a correct understanding, if you can help me understand?
Hi, Prateek. Prateek, in a typical PPP setup, the government identifies hospitals where either there is a lack of diagnostic facilities or either they are not upgraded. Then they identify these district hospitals after which a tender is published and we participate, and then we bring in these equipments and deploy them. These patients who are traveling to different cities or different towns to get their diagnostic services now get these services within their district or where they are currently staying. This is one of the reasons why government has been pushing on PPP, and it has been a key pillar for preventive healthcare as well as ensuring that people have access to affordable diagnostics.
Understood. That is helpful. Just to follow up on this, for the states where we are already operational, how much more scope do you think that there's still to cater given the number of hospitals a state has? Will this give us scale and cost advantages as we go ahead and penetrate deeper into the similar states as we go ahead with this model?
Yes. Prateek, if you see, just to give you a quick analogy here, currently, there are about 730+ districts in India, and Krsnaa is present in only about 100+. There's almost a 6X more of capacity that we can expand. We are not present in all the modalities. Somewhere, we are in CT scan or MRI, and in some districts, we are in pathology, so we can even go horizontal and deeper within the particular state. Number three, if you see, currently, we are not just restricting to districts, but even municipal corporation, there are many places where Krsnaa is present. This allows us to scale across these different geographies. Krsnaa is the only company which has been able to deploy equipments across an entire state, whether it is Himachal Pradesh or Punjab. These are the strengths with which Krsnaa continues to grow, continues to expand.
We've just scratched the surface. In my opinion, there's enough opportunity both from, if you consider around 140 crores of India population. There's enough headroom for growth as well.
Understood. Just one clarification, and then I'll be out of the queue. The places we are already present, if you have probably already clarified this, but I missed this. For the places where we are already present, are we seeing organic volume growth in those hospitals? Because in my understanding, probably the state infra, the medical and health infra, is already overloaded and choked with people arriving there in hope of treatment. Is there organic growth if we remove the new areas and hospitals which we are targeting, in your opinion, in the last 1-2 years?
Yes. As I said, the reason why PPPs exist is because there was a significant gap in the demand supply, demand for diagnostic services, and gap where there were no infrastructure. After Krsnaa comes in and establishes the centers, two things happen. One is the immediate need is being serviced. Over a period of time, when the awareness is being created among the doctors or the patients or the population in general, they get to know that these services are available, best-in-class centers, affordable rates, 24/7 services, then people start coming to these centers, and therefore, we have organic growth. Krsnaa is the only company which has been growing organically. If you see, most of other peers have grown through acquisitions, whereas our centers continue to demonstrate growth and grow year on year.
Understood. Very helpful. That's all. I'll take ahead with Vivek. Thank you. Thanks a lot.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Deepak Ajmera from IGE India. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon. On the retail side, looking at the quarter-on.
Sorry to interrupt you, sir, but can you speak a little louder?
Yes, sure. On the retail side, looking at the number of touchpoints added on quarter-on-quarter basis, it's 7% growth on the touchpoint side. This is a new vertical. Are you satisfied with the 7% growth in the touchpoint? Thank you.
Hi, Deepak. Mitesh, this side . Well, considering the market, the available potential, and underserved the population, no growth is as satisfactory in any quarter. However, we are more focusing on bringing into the system, the network, or the touchpoints, which are more of a long-term basis, should see minimal to low churns going forward and should follow the same vision that we carry at Krsnaa Diagnostics, wherein we are more towards serving the patient flow at best possible and high-quality rates. I guess these are just the quarter-on-quarter blips. You can expect maybe another 15%, 20%, 25% in the coming quarters. It's not really much significant for that matter.
Just to add, when we look at the network expansion, like what Mitesh mentioned, we've also been selective. We also have learnings, and then we try to deploy those learnings in the next expansion that we plan to do. The whole idea is to have a long-term vision that we want to do with B2C expansions, especially the kind of pricing that we are offering, the availability 24/7 that we are offering. These are the things that we are trying to focus on.
Got it. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Abhishek G from Alpha Invesco Research. Please go ahead.
Thank you, sir. Most of my questions are answered, but just wanted us to bookmark this question. Can you please give us outstanding debt in absolute numbers, Q on Q, and absolute receivables, Q on Q? Thank you.
Sure. We'll share those details offline through Vivek with you. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Nancy Yadav from Allegro Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Most of my questions are also answered, but there was some disruption in the beginning, so I'm not sure if this has been covered. Just wanted to know the net debt number for the quarter end.
Hi. The net debt numbers we'll share offline. Vivek will share that with you, please.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraints, this would be our last question, which comes from the line of Surya Patra from PhillipCapital. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Sir, my first question is on the changes that we have in the recent period seen in respect of the CGHS rates and also the potential advantage of GST rationalization also. Whether we have seen anything of that in this quarter or anything likely to flow out of those?
Yes. Thanks, Surya. The question regarding the CGHS rates, the CGHS rates are mostly for the hospitals. Since we are in PPP and our rates are contractually embedded, we have not seen an impact there. But for the newer tenders, since they will be aligned to the new rates, we might see an uptick there or better rates there. In terms of the GST, yes, there has been some impact for us, positive side on the GST where we were able to also control our consumable cost, and we hopefully see that continuing in the coming quarters as well.
Okay. Have you called out anything about the Rajasthan PPP contract? What is the kind of cost that we would have seen in this quarter?
In this quarter, there has been impact with regards to the manpower cost that we've deployed for Rajasthan. But as I said, we've tried to keep it minimum. I think the Q4, there might be a slight impact of the Rajasthan project because more people are getting added in Q4 with the full expansion going on. There is also the logistics cost and cost regarding rent and whatever. But hopefully, I'm trying to ensure that the cost impact remains minimum. Maybe in Q4, there'll be a slight dent, but not significant is what I expect.
Okay. Relating to the budget-related proposal for creating five healthcare hubs with state governments, is it in the direction of PPP contract for a comprehensive offering? Hence, whether we'll have any opportunity there?
Again, this is a very welcome move in terms of setting up dedicated medical hubs. We are also trying to understand whatever information we've received so far. This is again a focus of the government on expanding healthcare access, again focusing on there are multiple initiatives that they've taken, including, for example, medical tourism in these hubs. We believe this will be further enhancing and strengthening the public infrastructure in the country and therefore also reinforces that PPP model that we've been following, and we should also get the benefit out of it.
This is to confirm that this is a PPP project or opportunity that is likely to flow in?
As of now, yes. As of now, we understand it'll be through a PPP model only.
Okay. Just last one more piece, this GLP-1 opportunity, the competition have already positioned themselves with their own packages about GLP, although the ramp-up or the utilization or the patient footfall relating to GLP has not been seen so far. But people have positioned themselves for the upcoming opportunity. Your stance through the RPL, what are we doing there?
Surya, can you please repeat the question?
The GLP-1 related test offering. The competition have already created their own packages relating to the GLP, the weight loss drug application. Anything on that front that we have done, or are we targeting that as an opportunity?
Hi, Mitesh, the site. While, if you'll see, everybody is playing in the same area by one or other way kind of offering, we have gone two or three steps beyond wherein we are adding up especially illness and making it to the wellness related, be it is obesity, be it is cancer care, be it is any of the gastro care towards it. We are also embedding further more value-added services to it. Currently, we have close to 100+ such specialized packages to move into the wellness areas. However, we are further adding it to it by multiple more value-added services which are kind of not currently, or I should say that are the gaps in the market as of now.
Okay. Just one last point. In fact, you mentioned that there was some seasonality impact in this quarter, whether it is largely to do with the pathology or radiology?
While we talk about the seasonality, it is mainly to go with the pathology. But however, when the certain storms or the cyclone hits any of the state, it impacts both the modalities in an equal proportion.
Okay. Sure. Since this is the last question, I thank you all for your participation, and thanks to the management of Krsnaa Diagnostics for giving this opportunity to us. Thank you, sir. Thanks a lot.
Sure. Thank you so much, Surya. Thank you, everyone, for joining our Q3 FY26 earnings call. Hopefully, we were able to address all the queries. If any questions remain unanswered, please feel free to connect with our Investor Relations team headed by Mr. Vivek Jain. Looking forward to interacting with you in the coming quarters. Thank you. Have a good day ahead.
Thank you. On behalf of PhillipCapital, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.