Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Kaveri Seed Company's Q3 and nine months FY 2025 earnings conference call. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen- only mode. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions at the end of today's presentation. Please note that this conference call will be recorded. Joining us today on this call is Mr. Mithun Chand, Executive Director. Before we begin, I would like to mention that some of the statements made in today's call may be forward-looking in nature and may involve risks and uncertainties. For a list of such considerations, please refer to the earnings presentation. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Mithun Chand. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good afternoon and welcome everyone to our quarter three, nine months financial year 2025 earnings conference call. We hope you had a chance to review the presentation of our results, which is also available on our website. I will touch upon the operational and financial performance of the company and then open the floor for a question- and- answer session. Our standalone financial highlights for the quarter three. Revenue from operations were at INR 154.77 crore, registered growth of 30.63% from INR 118.47 crore in quarter three 2024. EBITDA was at INR 25.09 crore, registered a growth of 12.77% as compared to INR 22.25 crore in quarter three financial year 2024. Net profit was at INR 15.04 crore as compared to INR 11.66 crore in quarter three financial year 2024, grown by 29%.
For the first nine months financial highlights, revenue from operations has registered a growth of 6.3% to INR 1,044.61 crore as compared to INR 981.89 crore in financial year 2024. EBITDA was at INR 324.78 crore as compared to INR 321.13 crore, registered a growth of 1.14%. Net profit was at INR 294.46 crore as compared to INR 290.22 crore, grown by 1.46%. Cash on books stands at INR 499 crore. Operational highlights. Rice and maize continued to do well during the quarter. Increase in volumes in both selection hybrid rice and maize had resulted in good growth rates on account of good realization and passing of increased [inaudible].
In spite of continuous disruption in exports, continued to maintain growth in our profits at both EBITDA and PAT levels. Hybrid rice volumes increased by 14% and revenues by 27%. Selection rice volumes increased by 18% and revenue increased by 34%. Maize volumes increased by 8% and revenues increased by 25%. Volumes of cotton hybrid decreased by 35% and revenues decreased by 27%. The contribution of new products to volumes of bajra was up from 60% to 70%. Vegetable seed sales volumes increased by 2%, whereas revenue increased by 3%. Export sales stand at INR 18.23 crore as compared to INR 38.1 crore in financial year 2024. The decline is due to political unrest in Bangladesh. I would now open the floor for question-and-answer session. Thank you.
Thank you very much, sir. Ladies and gentlemen we will now begin with the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question, may press star and one on their touch-tone telephones. If you wish to remove yourself from the queue, you may enter star and two. Participants are requested to use only handsets while asking a question. We will wait for a moment while queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Siddhant Dand from Goodwill.
Yeah, hi. For the nine months, I've noticed that our product mix has shifted largely towards non-cotton with 26% growth there and a degrowth of 27% in cotton. So why has there not been a gross and an EBITDA level margin improvement considering non-cotton products are higher margin in general?
Usually this time the cost of production was also higher in most of the crops. As the other expenses, if you see, cost of goods remain same most of the time, slightly increased, but other expenses also have gone up in terms of the employee cost. These all have added up to it. As the revenue is flattish over a year-on-year basis, we see a slight decline in EBITDA margins, which usually should be. But it should be corrected over the years. And this time it was a very, very high production cost was also there, both in terms of the cotton and in terms of the other crops. So that has slightly impacted the margins of the company.
Okay. Do you expect this to continue going forward, the higher cost of goods sold?
No, that we are trying to pass it on to the farmer. As we increase our revenues, everything will be stabilized.
Okay. My second question was on new products within cotton. What is the status of our newer products, and will we see commercialization next year? Can we expect cotton to have bottomed out this year?
Yeah, we can think of that. We have launched a couple of hybrids in cotton. We have already launched it commercially, I mean to say, not in the pipeline. We have launched commercially and tested some hybrids. They are looking very promising. We think that we can definitely grow in cotton as well, and this should be bottom year in the cotton crop.
Okay. That's great to hear. Thirdly, I wanted to ask you about the payout policy. Last year at this time, we had done a buyback, but is that still on the cards in the new tax regime, or are we going to shift to dividends?
We need to think of that. We have not discussed in the board because it's not even one year now. I just discussed on that, but again, that's a board decision. With the new taxation, we need to see what's best. Once we decide in the board, we will come back to you on this. Okay.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have any questions at this time, you may enter star followed by one on your touch-tone telephones. The next question is from the line of Krushi Parekh from BugleRock . Please go ahead.
Hi. I want to understand now that we are in the inventory gathering phase right now, how is it looking as compared to the previous year in terms of volume and in terms of value as well? I believe you mentioned that cost of production has been going up, but how are we looking to ensure we have enough inventory in terms of volume as well for the growth purposes?
In terms of the production, compared to previous year, we are slightly comfortable this year. In fact, we have produced more compared to the previous year. We wanted to maintain some buffer stock as well going forward. As of now, at this particular point of time, we do not see any threat for our production as crops are arriving now. But still, there are other one or two months which are left out, especially for paddy. If we get any unseasonal rain, that should slightly impact. But as of now, we are very comfortable and we should not see any difficulty in terms of the production aspect. In terms of the cost of goods, yes, cost of goods have gone up, and slightly even now in the Rabi also the cost of goods have gone up. But we are trying to pass it on to the farmer.
That we have done something in Rabi, and for the next year, definitely we can pass it on to the farmer.
Okay. Any color on how much the cost of production has gone up approximately?
Based on hybrids and based on different crops it has gone up. Usually, the cost of production is up by 5%-10% in most of the crops. In some, probably more than 10%.
Okay. Except for maybe cotton, which continues to remain a bit regulated, we are looking to pass on the cost as much as possible.
Cotton, slightly difficult because the government need to increase the prices. That is it, what we pass it on to the farmer. But end of the day, these are very temporary issues. It is all in the business, here and there, but we can definitely maintain on our margins.
Okay. How long does it take for us to get some kind of a realization increase from the government?
That again, depends. Every year they are increasing. This year also they need to take a decision. Still the time is there up to March. Slowly they take in the month of February and March. So this time is there. We need to see. We need to wait and watch for that. But they also know the costs have gone up. By considering that, usually they increase the prices. But being a government policy, it's not correct for me to comment on it. But they take into consideration everything.
Okay. Can I continue with one more question or there is a queue?
You can.
I can. Okay. In terms of the new product launches, I believe the bajra you mentioned that about 60%, 70% are the new one. And similar traction we are witnessing in the rice as well.
If we just want to try and understand that how much better are we as compared to the competitive products in terms of yield or the benefits, what is the internal benchmarking that we are looking at? Are we at par? Are we significantly better as compared to the competition that we have?
Most of the times, not only for Kaveri, for the entire industry, if you give a mid to hybrid or a on par hybrid, you may not get any market share. You need to show some benefit over the existing one. Then only the farmer will shift or purchase your seed. So in that way, as we see the growth, it definitely shows that the farmer is interested to buy our products. That is what is reflecting in our sales.
Okay. So this increase in hybrid rice and selection rice by volume, is it more of a reflection of the products being better or that-
Yes. That's all we need to see.
Okay. Is it also a function of that we have made them available?
It's a combination of all. The top priority is for the performance of the hybrid, then the availability of the product, your reachability all comes in that 30%-40% bracket. More than 50%-60% lies with the performance of the hybrid.
Okay. Got it. In terms of exports, how are we shaped up now? Especially that, what we have seen thus far has been little volatile for us, and now that we have also set up an office in Bangladesh. Apart from Bangladesh. Bangladesh is one, and then even in Africa we were looking to make some inroads. How is that going?
Last year. When compared to last year, we are down in exports, but last year we had done INR 65 odd crore in terms of export. We're in close to INR 35 crore was from Bangladesh and INR 30 crore from other countries. Even in other countries, it was from Tanzania, majority of the sale, where we got a government order. Last time itself we told that that's a one-time order, we may not expect this, but the normal organic growth, we thought that will continue. But by seeing the political situation in Bangladesh, we are down by more than INR 20 crore itself in Bangladesh. That's the reason we have seen a dent. But going forward, we see a very good market for exports, so we have expanded to many other countries. That will eventually result in revenues in the next two to three years.
We are pretty confident of our exports and most of the hybrids we have taken trialing in other parts of the world are very promising and encouraging.
Okay, got it. The cotton prices have been flattish to even a bit declined. I mean, a bit muted, as compared to say last year.
Sorry?
The cotton prices.
Commercial price, if you're talking about.
Yeah. The commercial cotton prices.
Okay. Got you, sir.
Do we expect any shrinkage of acreage in cotton because of this?
I don't see. But even the central government is also taking initiatives to. If you see the budget, they want to give support to the cotton and the textile people. But we don't see any decline in cotton as of now. It should remain as it is. Maybe 5% less or minus based on the monsoon, but we don't see any decline anywhere, like something that really will force the cotton acreage to go down.
Okay. If there is no one in the queue, may I continue?
I don't know.
Can we request you to come back in the queue?
I will.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sanjeev Zarbade from DreamLadder Investments. Please go ahead.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity. My first question is, what would be the outlook for maize in the next two quarters?
Next two quarters?
Yes.
Fourth quarter is a very insignificant quarter for us. We don't have any sales in that. First quarter is the main quarter for us, that is for the next financial year. We see very good growth in maize, like it will be 10%-12% growth in terms of the volumes for the next year. The maize acreages are also going up, and the crop also, maize, looks very good going forward.
Yeah, I have two more questions. First one is, when will you see a breakout adoption in rice?
The adoption is really slow. It did not go the way what we thought. If you see, the seed replacement ratio has gone up in rice also. It was like 25%, 30% like 12, 13 years back, but now it has moved to 60%, 70% now. That's really encouraging. They are the first step to go for hybrid. Going forward, if we have hybrids in the rice segment, definitely I think the hybridization will be very fast, and most of the companies are coming with those type of hybrids, including Kaveri. As of now, I can't say that exactly how fast will it grow, but definitely eventually it will move to hybrids.
Okay. Is there any progress on HTBT cotton from government end?
It is much positive when compared to three years back. It is moving on. We can expect any time. But again, we are not able to time it. But the government response is encouraging in terms of new technologies.
Okay. Sir, that is it from my side, and thanks for answering the questions.
Okay.
Thank you. Participants with questions may enter star and one on their phones. The next question is from the line of Harsh Vora from D.R. Choksey. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, Sir. Good afternoon. I have one question regarding the, what do you expect to be the growth rates for the next two years at both sales and PAT level?
We think that we can grow at 10%-12% at the top line and 15%-20% at the bottom line. This year we couldn't grow in that way because of the cotton and the increase in the production costs. But going forward, that should continue. That's the broader guidance what we give.
Okay. Any investment on expanding capacity that you have planned?
That's a continuous activity. We're already doing it. Again, we are constructing other processing line and warehouses. But in terms of the CapEx, year on year, INR 30 crore-INR 40 crore should be at a very high for the next two to three years.
Right, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rohan Patel from Turtle Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity, sir. I wanted to ask the new seed share, like if you can give us a proportion of what are the contribution of new seeds in cotton, hybrid rice, selection rice, and maize for this year.
Sorry, I couldn't hear you properly. What was it?
Yeah, sure. I will go ahead. Contribution of new products, basically new seeds to volumes in quarter, hybrid rice, selection rice, and maize. Contribution of new products.
Contribution of new products.
[inaudible]
I don't have the exact figure as of now, but contribution in most of the crops, except for cotton. All the other crops, it remains in between 30%-40%. Cotton contribution is slightly lower because most of the hybrids are pretty old hybrids. Cotton should be 10%-15%, but other crops are in between 30%-40%. I don't have the exact figure, but usually that range, in that figure.
Okay. Going forward for next year, considering that cotton is at a lower base and we are. Last quarter you said that it can grow at 13%, 20%. So how much would be the contribution of new products in that growth for us?
In terms of the cotton, whatever we are talking about the growth, majority of that will be from the new products.
Okay. For others, like non-cotton products, how will this new product share improve?
Because most of the hybrids are very new. In our terms, we say new products are nothing but zero to four years in terms of our product in our reporting. So most of the hybrids are new hybrids. If some hybrids moves out of the zero to four years, some other hybrid may contribute, but usually it should be 30%-40% going forward as well. Because every year a new hybrid comes in and another hybrid goes out. So we say zero to four years is only what we say the contribution from the hybrids.
Okay. Can you explain us how will we are growing top line at 10%-12%? That is fair enough considering our product portfolio. But how will the margin improve from here on? It will be price increases or better quality, high margin products.
When I say the revenue of 10%-12% is a combination of price and the volume. As we grow, as we increase our sales, the other costs also get optimized. The EBITDA levels, we can definitely increase our margins.
Okay. This will be more coming from higher scale rather than high-value product or increase in price.
We are already there because as we are already passing on to the farmer, all the production costs are also up. May not be immediately in one or two years or so where we can pass it on the entire cost. Overall, with all the other things contributing to it, we can go in that fashion.
Okay. That was from my side. If I have any more question, I will get back to you, sir. Thanks.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mohammed Patel from Care Portfolio Managers. Please go ahead.
Hi. Sir, what was the regulatory price increase given by the government in last year for cotton in percentage terms?
In terms of the absolute, it was 1.5% or 2%. I don't remember. The selling price is INR 857 now. It was from INR 845 or INR 840.
What was the increase in cost of production for cotton this year?
Cost of production has gone up somewhere in between based on the hybrid, went in between INR 50- INR 100.
Okay. Do you think that this time around, the increase will be higher than 2%, 3% from the government side?
If you take the previous, not for the last year, but if you take the previous year, it was close to 5%- 7%. Certainly the prices have moved up last year. We have already represented to the government saying that the prices have moved up, but they need to take a call.
It will be-
Eventually, it may not be this year or so, but eventually they need to increase the cost because that is the way that the cotton seed industry may not survive. They keep everything in the back of the mind and then decide on the price.
If you are saying it will be lower than the cost of production increase, then there will be pressure on cotton margins for FY 2026.
Definitely, there will be pressure in the cotton margin. But the other crops will be doing well, so that way the overall basis, we are not that much stressed.
Okay. My next question is, you said seed production is good as compared to last year. If you can answer separately for non-cotton crops, what is the growth? And for cotton, what is the growth of production of seeds?
Across the board, across all crops, we have increased the production both in terms of the cotton and non-cotton segment. Our production will be definitely higher, like 25%- 30% more than the last year.
Across all crops?
Across all crops.
Okay. For which crop you said the cost of production is higher by 10%? That is cotton?
One is cotton, even the rice. Some parts of maize.
Okay. So rice we should be able to pass it on, right?
Yeah, because this is not controlled by the government. We are already doing it. For example, already we have slightly started passing on to the farmer. Next year, we will definitely pass on to the farmer.
Okay. You said cotton, the new product contribution is right now 10%-15%. So in the next few years, are you expecting this to increase to 30%, 40% like the other crops?
Definitely. In fact, the next two to three years, majority of the contribution to the revenues will be from the new products. Definitely that will also go to in between 30%- 40%, 50%. But at an average, any given point of time, what we see, what we are basically looking at trend in the previous years, most of the crop, the contribution from the new crops are in between 30%- 40% across. For example, in some crops, in some cotton, it might go up because most of the varieties are very old. For example, in bajra, it looks like 60%, 70%, because the base is very small. As you increase the base, definitely the contribution will be in between that 30%- 40%.
So you are saying next few years, cotton should do well, non-cotton should do well. Overall, I think next few years are looking much better than the last few years.
Yes, exactly.
On the exports, is it a higher margin business?
Yeah. It will be good margins. We can relate it to the normal margins here, apart from few countries have some stock, but otherwise, other crops are profitable. Very few occasions, we sell at a very low price. But otherwise, okay. For example, last time we did Tanzania, but we wanted an entry so that we have given at a lower price. But usually when we sell in a normal open markets, we maintain our margins.
Okay. So you still stick to the INR 150 crore-INR 200 crore guidance for exports in the next few years?
Three to five years, yes. Definitely between close to INR 160 crore, we can see three to five years.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have any questions, you may enter star and one. The next question is from the line of Krushi Parekh from BugleRock. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. One thing is, I just want to clarify the inventory volume growth we are expecting in March will be somewhere around 10%, is what you mentioned, right?
It will be more than that, but it depends on the arrival of the crop. May not be exactly by March end. It should be before March or after March. That depends on the crop arrival. But across the previous year, we can see at least 20% more than, 15%-20% more than previous year volumes.
In terms of volumes.
Yes.
Okay. We were talking about this rice hybridization. It's not picking up. Can you give some sense on what are the bottlenecks that the industry is facing or even we are facing that is stopping this hybridization process?
Basically, when we try to introduce a new variety or a hybrid, it should do better than the existing one. In rice, the existing varieties are doing well and across the industry, we are not having standard rice hybrids. Most of that are in bold rice. Now the pipeline hybrids are coming in standard rice. Once it comes in, it might pick up.
Okay. So basically what you're suggesting is that the product is not materially different.
Yes, exactly.
And even in terms of yield or just the product?
Everything. Yield and product both.
Okay.
Wherever we are able to show better yield than the existing variety, there the hybridization much faster. Now the most of the rice has moved to the standard rice segments. For example, in southern India, we don't see much of an hybridization except for the northern India.
Okay. So basically currently even our offering is not that materially different versus what is available in the market currently.
Yes. Most of the players are in the same segment, but the new pipeline hybrids are coming in the same segment for us.
Okay. One last question. In terms of adding our distribution, how are we placed? I believe in most of the states of India, we are now present. In terms of expanding our reach, and making our products available, how are we placed this year as compared to the previous years and how we are likely to be in next three to five years?
In terms of the network, we have got one of the largest network. As I just said, we are there in more than 23, 24 states across India. We have the largest network in terms of the distribution, in terms of the wear of network across India. We have a complete reach of most of the places where we operate. In terms of adding of new dealers may not be that significant because we are already there in most of the segments. But wherever we have left behind some segments where our products are there we might have, but that will be very negligible even when compared to the existing one.
Okay. Basically whatever growth we are likely to expect is from the new launches and including more products in the same segment.
Yes. Most of that will be from the new launches and very little from the areas where we are not present.
Okay, got it. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Siddhant Dand from Goodwill. Please go ahead.
Yeah. I had one follow-up question. Could you just comment on why BG3 cotton has not yet come into India, and has there been any progress on that, or is it still stuck?
The trials are almost complete. It's been long waiting for BG3. We are awaiting the government approvals, but compared to two, three years back, now at least the government is much positive, and they are still trialing on it, and the discussions are happening. We are pretty, I mean, like- We feel that it might come any time. But that's what I was saying for the last one and a half years. There's some progress. Unlike in the previous years, it was completely stalled. That's not the case now.
Okay. What about pricing over here? Is there a similar price cap we can expect in BG3 or there's nothing out there?
Yeah, price cap will be there, but again, the price will be negotiated by the service provider for the government and the players.
Okay, that's great to hear. Anything else on other GM crops in terms of trials?
No, once it need to. Most of the crops also, the trialing are happening. But first of all, BG3 need to be clear, then the other crops might come. First crop to come will be BG3.
Okay, that's great.
But most of the trialing and the data is already present with the government and the service providers, technology providers.
Okay, that's great. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rohan Patel from Turtle Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity again. Sir, I want some data points like how many packets of cotton we have sold this year and the revenue that we have generated.
Cotton. We have sold around, one second. We have sold around 35 lakh packets. 35, 36 lakh packets. The revenue is INR 258 crore.
INR 200 and?
58.
Okay. Can you provide us with market share regarding cotton in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and U.P. and Madhya Pradesh?
Yes, there I found that we have the highest market share in Gujarat. Because this year was a low base. We have close to 20 odd percent market share in Gujarat. In all other states, between 5%-10% market share.
We have probably lost our market share significantly from Maharashtra as well as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh if we see that 5%-10%.
Yeah. See, we have done only 36 lakh packets. Our total markets are close to 4 crores-odd . We are in between that 8%-10% market share now. Earlier we used to be with that 15%, but this year we lost. If you take the last year sales, we were like 55 lakh packets, which is close to like 13%, 14% market share.
Okay. What was the main reason? Were we lagging behind with hybrids or there was a pricing issue or new players that have come in and sold, penetrated the market?
It's a combination of all. One is that it was pretty old hybrids. There are some other competitor hybrids which are doing well. The other thing is availability was also low, and we were trying to realize more from the competition. When compared to the competition, these all contributed for our decrease.
Okay.
But we were pretty conscious what we are doing about. Now when we talk about going further, we say that our new hybrids are coming up, which we already tested and commercially sold in the market. Those are really performing well, and we see good sale in those hybrids.
Okay. Considering that now we will be having our new hybrids back, can we think about that, growing this from, say, 37 lakhs to, again to, say, 60 lakhs or above 55, 60 lakhs?
Definitely. In the next couple of years, definitely there's a margin we are looking at. In fact, if everything goes right, we can go back to our peak levels, which were like that 8 million packets in the next five to seven years.
In next five to seven years, back to 8 million packets.
Yeah.
Okay.
That's our internal target, but we'll again update in between. But for the next couple of years, we'll definitely see the growth. Two to three years.
Okay. Yeah, fair. Thank you.
Thank you. Participants, if you have any questions at this time, you may enter star followed by one. The next question is from the line of Jenish Shah, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. I just have one broader question, maybe related to the macro kind of a question. Basically, we've seen the weather patterns have been changing and even in India, for last couple of years, the monsoon has been very erratic. How are you planning to Or, how do you see this change impacting your business, whether positively, negatively, and how do you see the farmers adopting or changing their behaviors with regard to your seeds or maybe any other products or any other segments which may see a kind of a change in adoption or the practices? Thank you.
If you see the last 10, 15, 20 years, or even more than that, every year the climate is changing. As you rightly said, we have erratic monsoons. Not only monsoons, like very unseasonal rains, which are really damaging. They're definitely affecting the cropping pattern. More than the crop, because usually what happens most of the time, the farmers sow at the initial showers. For example, once we receive the rainfall occurring ranging from May to July across the country. Once the soil has got enough moisture, they try to sow the seeds and harvest it according to the duration of the crop. By changing climatic condition, by erratic monsoons, the crops are getting new pests, new diseases, new viruses. That's what impacting the yields. As there are new pests and new diseases, we are trying to develop hybrids which are resistant to those.
That's the reason every time the farmer requires new hybrids. Usually, the cycle, like three to five years is a cycle of the hybrid. Again, a new hybrid comes in. That's how it goes on, and I think that will continue for some years also.
Okay. With regard to the pricing, you said cost of production already up by 5%-10%. How is the pricing being marked for the farmers? Especially a situation where we have, like last year there was a deficient monsoon and the rural income, farmers' income generally were under stress. This year the monsoon has been better, but it is on the higher side, and I'm saying there's an excess rain in some parts. I don't know how that is going to have an effect. But in general, how do you price your product to ensure that the product is well-adopted by the farmer without impacting their cost of production? Or maybe any cost-benefit analysis that you can share with us?
There are basically two sets of farmers. We deal with production farmers. Production farmers are nothing but the farmers who produce seed. Like we have our own research, we take land on lease and produce our own seed. So for us, the cost is like the lease cost, the pesticides, and what are the labor, fertilizer, everything comes into our cost. End of the day, you need to get a better yield. So these are the costs involved for us. Usually when we do the farming, based on the other costs, if the other costs are going up, definitely the seed production cost will also go up. That will be the same for the commercial farmer also. Commercial farmer is nothing but where we sell our hybrid seeds, and he grow it on their own and the grain is sold in the market.
For him also the cost is same. Over and above that, either the yields or MSPs have gone up, the cost of cultivation is definitely high. So that's where the cost of production goes up. If you get a bumper yield, the cost of production will be down.
Okay. But your pricing is like you have a pass-through, like I am saying, whatever the increase in-
Usually.
able to pass on to the farmer.
For example, if I produce a corn hybrid. The remuneration for the normal farmer if he takes corn hybrid, like it is INR 30,000, INR 40,000 say. For our farmer definitely looks at INR 50,000, [inaudible] . Definitely 20%, 25% more than the existing farmer. So that is how the entire cost works out to be.
Oh, okay. Understood. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Krushi Parekh from BugleRock. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Just one housekeeping question. There was about 16%, 17% jump in the employee cost. Can you help me understand why this much jump? I understand revenue has jumped 22%, but from about INR 35 crore last year and about INR 30 crore on an average that we have for other quarters, around INR 41 crore jump is something that I'm looking to understand.
For the entire nine months you're talking about?
No, no, for the December quarter.
December quarter, sorry, employee cost?
Employee cost.
One, there are usual increments what we give, and the other thing is count also, we have increased the count. Both will contribute for the employee cost.
Sorry, you have increased what?
One is the count, employee count, another one is in normal increments.
Okay. And the employee count is increased in a particular category of employees? Which category?
Across.
Across. And this is in anticipation of something?
See, one, we are increasing production. That itself shows that we require more people in the production, more people to test and more people to process. Again, we require more people to sell it also. So based on the areas and all those things, it all goes up across the board.
Okay. Got it. So raise will be somewhere around 8%, 9%?
Yeah, usually it will be around 8%, 9%, right.
Okay. Thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. Thank you for joining the call. For any other information, please be in touch with Mr. Rama Naidu from Intellect PR on 9920209623. On behalf of Kaveri Seed Company Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you all for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.