Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Neogen Chemicals Q2 FY 2026 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 the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on the touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Nishid Solanki from CDR India. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Neogen Chemicals Q2 FY 2026 earnings conference call for analysts and investors. Today, we are joined by senior members of the management team, including Mr. Anurag Surana, Non-Executive Chairman, Dr. Harin Kanani, Managing Director, and Mr. Gopik rishnan Sarathy, Chief Financial Officer. We will begin the call with opening thoughts from the management team, after which we'll open the floor for your questions. Before we begin, a standard disclaimer: certain statements made or discussed today may be forward-looking, actual results could vary, and a detailed disclaimer is available in the Q2 FY 2026 earnings presentation, which has been shared and uploaded on stock exchange websites. With that, I would like to invite Dr. Harin Kanani to share his perspectives. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our Q2 FY 2026 earnings call. We will walk you through performance and provide updates on strategic growth and expansion initiatives. Operational resilience defined our Q2 FY 2026 performance. The temporary impact of the Dahej plant outage was effectively neutralized through a rapid PO; production was swiftly relocated to our alternate plant and supplemented by capacity from key outsourced partners. While this strategic maneuver ensured we maintained our volume trajectory, it did incur additional temporary costs related to contingency production arrangements and plant rebuild expenses until the insurance claim is fully recovered. Some of these costs associated with loss of profit will be claimed in FY 2027, aligning with the planned resumption of operations at the Dahej SEZ Organic plant. Having said that, our core business sustained its market position and achieved stability, navigating persistent geopolitical uncertainty and volatile pricing.
Before the detailed financial overview by our CFO, here's a quick summary. We delivered 8% revenue growth in Q2 FY 2026, gross profit improved by 16%, driven by 350 basis points margin expansion. However, EBITDA and PAT were affected due to elevated operating costs, as indicated. Let me now share a key update during the quarter-end review. We have taken significant steps to enhance our corporate governance framework in line with best corporate governance practices. The board has approved the separation of the roles of Chairman and Managing Director, effective October 1, 2025. We are pleased to announce the designation of Mr. Anurag Surana as Non-Executive Chairman of Neogen Chemicals Limited and Mr. Sanjay Mehta as Non-Executive Chairman of our subsidiary, Neogen Ionics Limited. Furthermore, we welcome Mr. TCN Sai Krishnan as Executive Director of Neogen Chemicals Limited on the board.
These appointments, including the designation of a non-promoter family member as Chairperson, reinforce our commitment to robust independent oversight. Moving to strategic expansion initiative in Battery Chemicals: greenfield facility for Electrolyte using MUIS technology at our Pakhajan, Dahej PCPIR plant. We are rapidly moving towards commercializing our greenfield plant. We anticipate to complete mechanical completion before the end of this year and then commence trial production, followed by commercial production in the first half of FY 2027, which is April to September 2026, and Electrolyte Salt in H2 of FY 2027, aligning with the expected rollout of ACC battery capacities in India and growing non-FEOC global demand for the salt. Specifically, the additional time taken for the salt is to completely homologate the technology from our JV partner from Japan, which is what costs slightly more time for the same. This momentum is underpinned by recent critical approvals.
A leading Indian gigascale customer has successfully completed the stringent production part approval process, also called as PPAP, and approved our Dahej plant for long-term commercial Electrolyte supply. This is a significant milestone and may be the only plant in India to have achieved so till now in the history. Furthermore, our quality systems have received provisional approval for Lithium Electrolyte Salt from key international customers, with final approval anticipated in Q4 FY 2026. We are also actively working with several other international clients who have already approved our electrolyte salt samples, and final approvals are underway, expected in Q4 FY 2026 or Q1 FY 2027. These milestones validate our quality and position us as a reliable partner in the lithium-ion supply chain.
In a recently participated international event, we received a very positive response from the international community with the joint venture because we offer the only Indian combination of low cost from India with reliability from reliable technology for Electrolyte Salt, specifically LiPF6 from India, which has been seen very positively by the customers. Execution of joint venture agreements between Neogen Ionics and Morita Investments. So we are thrilled to announce this major strategic milestone: the formation of the first Indo-Japan joint venture in the crucial battery material space. This JV formed by Neogen Morita New Materials Limited, or NML, as we describe in future communication, a wholly owned subsidiary of Neogen Ionics Limited till now, is designed to leverage synergies and capitalize on the rapidly expanding lithium-ion battery market.
NML will be dedicated to producing, developing, and selling solid LiPF6 salt, a key ingredient for lithium-ion battery electrolyte, along with other related products. Typically, this facility will be the only non-FEOC compliant plant for Electrolyte Salt in India, utilizing proven established Japanese technology, offering a significant advantage in terms of cost, speed, and reliability. Under this agreement, NIL will hold a minimum of 80% ownership in NML, with our JV partner MIL holding a maximum of 20%. As you know, U.S. lithium-ion battery cell producers must comply with foreign entities' concern guidelines to secure the lucrative U.S. government tax credit, also known as 45x credits. This requires a complete transition to non-FEOC suppliers by 2027 for Electrolyte Salt. Consequently, most international customers are proactively accelerating their supplier transition to non-FEOC sources throughout 2026.
This phase shift is essential for them to mitigate compliance risks and ensure uninterrupted eligibility for the tax credit. Our ability to offer a non-FEOC compliant established LiPF6 technology solution positions Neogen at the forefront of this mandated global supply chain pivot. We are executing a long-term strategy to evolve into a stronger technology-led and agile specialty chemical leader. This strategic alliance with MUIS and Morita is key to accelerating our entry and cementing our position in the high-growth battery materials value chain. Despite global economic headwinds, our commitment to volume growth, enhancing operational efficiency, and driving transformative projects reinforces our confidence in achieving a robust long-term trajectory and delivering sustainable value creation. This concludes my opening remark. I now request our CFO, Mr. Gopik rishnan Sarathy, to share financial highlights for the period under review.
Thank you, Dr. Harin Kanani. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to Neogen Chemicals Q2 FY 2026 earnings call. I will share the key financial highlights. Please kindly note our numbers are on consolidated data. Q2 FY 2026 revenue reached INR 209 crore, up 8% year-on-year. This growth was achieved through sustained demand and increased volume across base and also Lithium business. This was mitigating the effect of the Dahej plant's unavailability. Neogen Ionics contributed INR 5.42 crore to the quarter's revenue. Organic revenue for the period stood at INR 184 crore, reflecting a 12% increase, while Inorganic revenue stood at INR 24 crore. EBITDA for the quarter was at INR 30 crore. Although the gross profit held steady, EBITDA margin percentage was constrained by various factors. Some of them were higher employee costs stemming from performance-linked incentives and long-term benefits and strategic new hires.
Two were sharp rises in the insurance premium following the recent fire incident and increased job work and conversion costs. As indicated by Dr. Kanani, we expect to recover some of these expenses under the business interruption loss of profit insurance plan in FY 2027 once their operations are resumed at Dahej SEZ Organic plant. Neogen reported a PAT of INR 3 crore for Q2 FY 2026. This reflects the cumulative impact of several factors that constrained profitability, namely higher operational costs, as shared earlier, increased finance costs related to the capital deployed for inventory and plant rebuild following the Dahej fire incident, continued investment in the Organic Dahej SEZ zone while we await the final insurance payout for the fire loss, and initial cost of Neogen Ionics, and also lower utilization at Dahej plant pending both final approval for Electrolyte Salt and delayed market demand for electrolytes.
Moving to the key development during the quarter under review, to ensure that we maintain our growth trajectory and operational stability, we have successfully executed a private placement of INR 200 crore NCD. The immediate availability of these funds provides us with the crucial financial flexibility to execute our ongoing growth projects. Crucially, these funds will also provide necessary liquidity to expedite the rebuilding of Dahej Organic plant and enhancing the timely progress. Finally, just a snapshot of our balance sheet highlights. Despite operational challenges, Neogen's financial foundation remains solid. Balance sheet is strong, ensuring uninterrupted business continuity and providing financial flexibility to pursue strategic growth initiatives. Standalone debt in this quarter stood at INR 722 crore, and net debt was INR 595 crore.
This increase of around INR 200 crores is due to the NCD issuance, which was basically raised for rebuilding the Dahej plant till the time the final insurance claim is received. Debt coverage remains healthy and demonstrated by the trailing 12-month DSCR of 2.1 x. On a consolidated basis, total debt was INR 1,078 crores. Net debt was INR 900 crores. The company maintains a strong liquidity with a liquid investment of around INR 167 crores as on the quarter end. This concludes my remark. I will now request the moderators to open the forum for Q&A. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touchstone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Arun Prasath from Avendus Spark. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the question, and good evening, everyone. Dr. Harin, my first question is on the guidance of the.
I'm sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Arun, but there is a disturbance from your background. Can you please check?
No, sorry, I don't think. Is it still like that?
You may please go ahead.
Arun, it's okay. I can hear you. Go ahead.
Okay. All right. Dr. Harin, the first question is about the guidance on Battery Chemicals starting, especially the salt. Earlier also, we had kind of indicated that from 2025, 2026 onwards, we should see a lot of maybe some of U.S. customers who will be starting the battery plant will start giving orders. Now, we have seen a bit of delay on that. Now, what is driving the delay in the order from at least the overseas customers for salt? And how confident are we this time that the current guidance will stand true and we will restart the plant, bigger facility also in time? That's my first question.
Sure. Thanks, Arun. Further question. I think in our current year's guidance, there were two major assumptions. One was the electrolyte requirement for India. When basically our Indian gigafactories such as Ola and Exide start their production and ramp up, as you have seen, Ola just recently got their [ARAIC] approval. We expect that their ramp-up should happen in the second half and especially in the next calendar year, 2026. We feel from Q4 onwards, we should see more stronger demand for the electrolyte. Similarly, what we understand for Exide also, that end of this year or early next year, they will start. As compared to our earlier estimation on when these were going to start, the electrolyte in India was a bit delayed, and that caused lower volumes.
Although we are still watching how the Q4 will come, and we basically Q4 performance of Exide and Ola demand is what we are currently looking at. That will also determine what the final numbers look like. As compared to what we had earlier estimated, the demand should start from almost Q2, Q3 itself. Electrolyte demand in India has been delayed. In reference to the salt question, as we had discussed earlier, and as I mentioned also in my opening remarks, you first have a quality validation, quality confirmation, and then you have a very detailed what is called as a prepack procedure in the auto world where they would finally give you the approval. We are very pleased to inform that for electrolyte, we already successfully cleared our prepack.
For Electrolyte Salt, before prepack, when we had our final audit, mostly we have received a provisional approval. Some further suggestions or improvement in our facility were asked by the customer. Some are just software, some additional instrumentation which they want us, some software systems they want us to update, and some facilities also which they want us to improve. We expect most of this to be completed by January or February 2026 because these were some additional asks during the final audit. They have already given a provisional approval to Neogen. Based on our compliance and completion of this, either they will have just an online procedure to approve us or maybe one more visit in January, February. Once that happens, our commercial production of the salt can be sold on a regular basis.
Today is the trial or something like that. I think this was something which we had hoped that we would reach by September. Basically in the first half, and based on that in the second half, we would have fully available for sale. However, based on the current developments and the additional ask given by the customer, we expect that sometime in 2026, Q1 or Q2, sorry, calendar year 2026, Q1 or Q2. Basically either Q4 FY 2026 or Q1 FY 2027 is when we feel the majority of the salt demand will increase. Further, when we had so the requirement by the U.S. government is that in 2027, to comply for 45x credits, they need to switch to non-FEOC compliance, so non-foreign entities of concern supply chain.
For that, most of the customers, depending on their stringencies, have indicated that some of them who are more cautious, they will start switching from Q1, Q2, calendar year 2026. Some who are a little bit more price conscious, they would like to switch from Q3, Q4 of calendar year 2026. Basically, 2027, everybody has to switch. Before that, one quarter or four quarters before. That depends on the nature of the company and how much risk cover versus cost conscious they are. Most of the customers also are intending to switch during calendar year 2026. Some starting from Q1, some starting from Q3, Q4, depending on the internal policies of those companies. That is why calendar year Q4, which becomes H2 of FY 2027. We are very confident that H2 of FY 2027, there will be a very, very strong demand.
We should see a demand improvement in H1, FY 2027. FY 2026 did not pan out the way we had envisioned earlier. Both delay in Electrolyte and delay in the final approval by the customers is the main causes. Maybe a little bit customer desire to make the final switch in 2026 versus second half of 2025 is the contributing factor.
Understood. One follow-up on this. We spoke about the various steps in getting the approvals. Finally, we hope to get it by, say, probably January 2026. The same set of approvals, again, the procedures will be followed for the greenfield facility as well, or that will be on a fast track mode? How should we look at it?
It will be on a fast track mode because, one, what we feel is that this will be a facility where we are transferring technology because it will be the main equipment, the raw material, the specification, all of those kind of remain the same. A lot of work will get reduced. Also, some of the customer suggestions will also be incorporated there in the greenfield facility. The third point is customer also will be running on a more tighter timeline because most of them want to switch in 2027. They would have only one or two quarters to complete the procedure. Procedure-wise, we feel it will be much faster. While we have said that the whole facility would be ready at full capacity in H2 of FY 2027, some trial production will start even earlier.
For example, even Electrolyte, we are saying our first target was to complete everything by Q4 FY 2026. Mostly, Electrolyte, we should be even ready for trial productions and stabilization by Q1 FY 2027. The salt, we are targeting to be ready by Q2 FY 2027. There will be some trial productions which will start, and we will try to do some of the validations also in line, at least customer visits and things like that.
Understood. On the FEOC norms, the customer has to shift to our or Indian or other non-Chinese sources. What kind of a U.S. volume are you expecting? Not to us, but overall at the industry level, what is the volume available for the players to target this FEOC volume?
Sorry, I couldn't hear your question properly. You are mentioning non-U.S., sorry, U.S. and U.S.?
I will repeat the question. So you're talking about the non-FEOC Electrolyte Salt demand, which is our target market. What is the kind of volume in terms of tonnage that you're talking about, at least which has already started and which is not binded by the long-term contracts with the, say, the current suppliers?
Okay. Most of the current supply today is actually from China, except for one Japanese and one Korean supplier, right? Most of the switch would happen, and we would be the number three company which they would be approving. There is still no supply available in Europe. There is still no supply available in the U.S. There is one Korean company who is talking about starting. Again, we do not know exactly how, but we are way ahead in terms of contracted volume and contracted volume interest and approval processes. I think we should be mostly number three or number four company which we have. In terms of if you think on terms of capacity, our understanding is that Japan has a capacity between 3 KTA-5 KTA. The Korean supplier has a capacity around 2 KTA.
Neogen would be adding around, okay, both the salts together on the LiPF6, the greenfield, we are adding around 3 KTA at the greenfield, and including our Dahej, we would have around 4 KTA. I think we have similar orders of magnitude or slightly better as compared to the existing players. We believe as compared to Japan and Korea, the customers also have cost advantage. At least with some of these customers, we already have a long-term agreement where the pricing has already been agreed upon. I think with few, we are discussing pricing. With the major customer, we already have pricing which has been agreed upon. That pricing will already take care, which basically shows that there is acceptance to the cost structure of Neogen.
Can you just mention what is the U.S. demand for salt in terms of KT? You mentioned supply non-Chinese capacity. What is the demand from the U.S.?
Okay. So I think if we take like 300-500 kind of gigawatt hour, right, so there will be around there should be a total demand of around 40 KTA-60 KTA if everything has to switch for a 300 GW production.
This will be by which year, sir?
By 2027.
Okay. Of this 300 GW, how much is currently live and how much is under construction?
I think currently we are already at 140 GWh or 150 GWh , which is already online.
Okay. Okay.
More are also coming online, but the actual consumption of the cells or actual cell production is to the extent of around 140 GWh-150 GWh . This is just my estimate. There is no official number which says how much. This is just the summary of the major producers, right? If you think of major producers like Panasonic, Tesla, LG, and Samsung. If you take their capacity and [SK On], if you take their capacities, what they are today producing, our estimate is somewhere in this region.
Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Arun, may we request you to please rejoin the queue? We have participants waiting for it. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all participants, please limit your questions to two per participant. If you have a follow-up question, you may rejoin the queue. The next question is from the line of Archit Joshi from Nuvama Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good evening, Dr. Harin and team. My first question, or rather if you could help us understand the prepack, or rather the agreement that we have signed, if you could throw some more light on how do we understand this phenomena. Is it like a contractual obligation that the customer has gotten us into? Does that give us visibility of, let's say, X amount of volumes? Would we be facilitating, let's say, some level of gigawatt capacity? Anything around those lines, if you could help us understand, we can maybe substantiate it a bit better.
Prepack is basically actually your quality system approval, and it also measures the productivity and the capacity and also the quality of the product being suitable. It is also the sign of systems. It is equivalent to a U.S. FDA pharma customer coming and giving you the final approval, or U.S. FDA coming and giving you the final approval, post which your product can be put into commercial usage. It is basically kind of equivalent of that. What repack basically means is, let's say if we are thinking of an API world, U.S. FDA has come and given you approval, so now your product can be sold in the U.S. market at a commercial level and can be consumed. You might do some trial production, etc. Mostly before you start commercial supply, you need to complete the prepack. This is usually done by individual customer.
One of the giga factories in India have already completed the prepack with Neogen. Now they can continue to buy electrolyte and put it in commercial products which can go in auto or other kind of applications. This is what basically prepack means. Separately, in terms of volume commitments, what we have mentioned earlier, that Electrolyte Salt, we already have volume commitment agreements, which is separate agreements which is about pricing and payment terms, etc. For the salt, we have already agreements in place which basically will completely take care of the 5,500 metric tons or 5.5 KTA capacity which we are putting. We have full agreements for the salt already. For the Electrolyte, in parallel to prepack, we are also discussing with the customers long-term supply volume. Similarly, Electrolyte also we are planning to conclude long-term supply agreements.
However, mostly, as you can see, Indian giga factories are just starting one by one. Some of them, most of them will start in the second half of 2026. There is a little bit of time before that. The ones who have started, we are in active discussion with them for concluding contracts for long-term supply. This is ongoing, but we are the only facility in India with a prepack approval for electrolyte salts today. Based on that, if anybody wants to buy locally, right now they have to buy only from Neogen. We are in a very strong position, and it also gives confidence on the quality systems and supply which Neogen can do.
Sir, [Gopi] have mentioned that this is for Electrolyte demand, and I think I heard you say that it is for the 5,500 tons salt commitment. So just a little confused whether this is for Salt, Electrolyte, or both.
Prepack is for Electrolyte approval. Separately, I mentioned that for the salt, we already have the pricing commitment. In Electrolyte, we have completed prepack, but the pricing agreement is under progress. For the salt, the pricing agreement has been done. We have gotten provisional approval, but the final prepack approval is subject to us implementing some of the suggestions which I mentioned earlier. We expect by January, February 2026. Yeah.
Got it. Got it. Second one, I heard on one of the battery manufacturers' call that they are starting with NMC battery production in the beginning before starting LFP. Does that have any repercussion on our visibility of demand, whether it is respective of whether it is NMC or LFP?
The only difference between NMC and LFP from an electrolyte point of view is that, I mean, from a business point of view, that 1 GWh of NMC requires around 400-500 metric tons of electrolyte. In case of LFP, it requires around 1,200 metric tons of electrolyte. Let's say if there is a 10 GWh of NMC facility, the demand would be 5 KTA. If there is a 10 GWh of LFP capacity, then the demand would be around 12 KTA. It's the demand. Broadly, when we look at the overall demand and the production which is coming, which is our so what we expect is that when India reaches, let's say, maybe 50 GW or 100 GW, it would be 70%-80% LFP, around 10%-20% will be NMC, and 10% would be others.
Based on which we have come at an average number of 950-1,000 metric tons per gigawatt hour kind of consumption. With whatever we have feedback from our customers, we are still confident that NMC, LFP mix can change a bit, 10%, 20%, even if it becomes 30% NMC, 70% LFP. Although more and more, when we think of a 30 GW, 50 GW, 100 GW level, more is going to be LFP driven. The demand is going to be more than what we had originally expected. Our full utilization target by FY 2029 does not change. We would still be able to easily achieve full utilization of our electrolyte facility and, of course, salt even earlier by FY 2029.
Understood. One bookkeeping question, if I may squeeze in. What would be our peak gross debt? At what scale would we reach our peak gross debt? The timelines of that. Also, the inventory in the current balance sheet seems to be quite high. If you can just explain as to why there is almost an INR 130 crore inventory jump that we saw.
Our peak debt is expected to be INR 1,800 crore. We would basically reach this, let's say, one year closer to our full utilization level, so around FY 2028 or so we would reach when our peak demand would be there for the peak debt. In reference to your second question, also in line with our revised change in the commissioning date, our bankers also have extended for our greenfield site, our start date by around one year. That also will push our repayment schedule by one year. That gives us further additional comfort in maneuvering the cash flows. Therefore, the delay will not have much significant impact on the cash flow requirements, and we would remain comfortable because of the approval given to us by the bank.
Finally, about your question on the inventory, as you are aware, we had indicated we lost around INR 180 crores of inventory in Dahej during fire, INR 170 crore- INR 180 crore of inventory during fire. The increase that you are seeing in the last six months is basically making up for the inventory which we have lost because you can see we have regained our revenue performance. In fact, it is slightly higher as compared to what we had around that time. To be able to maintain that, the inventory that we lost is being made up now.
Understood. Thanks, and all the best.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Abhijit Akella from Kotak Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good evening, and thank you so much for taking my questions. Just on the Battery Chemicals business, we were guiding to about INR 300 crore of revenue previously. Obviously, things seem to be moving a little bit slower. Just wondering if you would like to maybe update your guidance for this year and maybe next year in terms of that business.
Sure. Based on today's situation, as I explained earlier, since our electrolyte demand has been lower, although we are ready and we took longer time for getting approval, we are expecting it longer. This year, we would not be able to achieve INR 300 crore. As we had indicated earlier, also, it was going to be difficult, but the number we were trying to get more clarity. Depending on how electrolyte basically demand comes up in Q4, we expect it to be in the range of around INR 30 crore-INR 40 crore for the current year. For the next year, we expect that again, next year, many facilities are going to come online, especially in H2. Again, it depends a little bit on how that happens. We are more, and again, salt also, most of the customers would be transitioning in 2026.
Basically, in FY 2027, they are doing the transition. FY 2028, we have much stronger clarity both on Electrolyte or Salt. We feel at the least we should be able to do around INR 400 crore-INR 500 crore of revenue in the next financial year, which is basically FY 2027. We remain on track to achieve full utilization level by FY 2029. That is the guidance we have given of INR 2,400 crore-INR 2,900 crore on the full utilization of the facility. FY 2028 will be somewhere in between. We expect Salt demand to be very strong and Electrolyte depending on how ramp-up in India happens and basically share between India ramp-up and some customers in the beginning for a short while because of contractual limitations will have to import electrolyte from China. How soon they decide to switch to us.
That will determine the FY 2028 revenue, which will guide you as we get more clarity. We expect it to be more than INR 1,000 crore, at least significantly more than INR 1,000 crore, but between the INR 500 crore and, let's say, INR 2,900 crore number.
Thank you. That's really helpful. On the base business itself, we had this INR 850 crore plan for this year. That seems on track, right? How do you see it shaping up next year?
Yeah, that remains on track. For the next year also, we will target a full utilization level, which is, let's say, somewhere between INR 950 crore-INR 1,000 crore. As we had shared earlier, we expect in the year beyond, without any CapEx, just optimizing the plant fully, we would like to target at least a double-digit growth over that at least from what we can see today.
Thank you so much. Just last couple of questions from me before I get back in the queue. One is, what is the amount of maybe debt servicing that we have lined up over the next 12 months? Just maybe the principal plus the interest obligation lined up for the next 12 months, if you could just help us with that number. The other thing was just on the Battery Chemical side, it seems like in recent weeks and months, prices have started to move up in China quite significantly across all manner of Battery Chemicals. What exactly might be happening there, and what's your expectation for how that market might evolve?
Sure. Thank you for your question. I think the total repayment that we have to do over the next one year is hardly around INR 40 crore-INR 50 crore on the term loans. In terms of interest, whatever is our mainly working capital interest, because most of the project finance-related interest will be part of the project cost. That will not hit except maybe Dahej-related CapEx in Ionics . The majority of the Pakhajan greenfield site is part of the project cost. That is already accounted for in the project investment. In terms of the regular interest, which we are paying on working capital, we are yet to receive the majority portion. We received INR 80 crore, but we are yet to receive the remaining around INR 250 crore plus the loss on profit plus additional cost on rebuilding from the insurance.
These around INR 300 crore is what we will be receiving in, let's say, next one year. As we keep receiving that, our interest cost, basically working capital interest that is currently higher, will kind of taper down and will improve. That is kind of the estimate on the repayments which we need to make. On your second point about the pricing in China, we also heard that there is a very strong move in the Electrolyte Salt as well as to some extent electrolyte cost also in China. Most of the Chinese were selling only at raw material cost and what I call manpower. Some of them are not even accounting for power and fuel kind of cost. I think some of these companies were not able to sustain, started closing down. Also, the demand situation is looking better.
The overcapacity in China, which was at least for the good cell producers, is now no longer there. With the strong best energy storage demand across the world, including in India, the good quality cell producers, their capacities are now almost getting full. That reduces their pressure to sell at a lower cost. Therefore, we have seen forming up of battery material prices as well as Electrolyte, Electrolyte Salt, and to some extent, even cell costs are also likely to go up over coming years.
Got it. Thank you so much, and wish you all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Participants are requested to please limit your questions to two per participant. If you have a follow-up question, you may please rejoin the queue. The next question is from the line of Jason Soans from IDBI Capital. Please go ahead.
Yes, thank you so much for taking my question. Just one question. What I had was just relating to the insurance payout. Just wanted to know, I mean, those things were going on fine, but probably there is some delay in getting the insurance payout for which we had to raise some funds as well. Just if you could just give us some color on why is the delay in this insurance payout.
Till June, basically, the insurance company was just wanting to confirm through several vigorous testing the cause of the fire, all the permissions were in place. Once that process was completed, they basically released the first interim payment, which was basically a sign of acceptance of the claim. Now, as you know, there are two stock claims as well as the MPP, I mean, the rebuilding of the capacity, the CapEx-related claim. The CapEx-related claim against that, they've already given us INR 80 crore. As we complete this INR 80 crore, which is we expect in current quarter, we would fully end up utilizing that because we are also on track to complete this by Q4 so that the plant becomes available for the next financial year.
As we complete that INR 80 crore, they will give us the next interim payment against that. On the stock side, post-fire and post-taking care of the CapEx-related claim, they started processing. Just because the claim amount is large, sometimes there are one or two rounds of reviews from their side, back and forth, additional queries which we are answering. Sometimes they also organize external experts. We are again pushing insurance, and we hope that in the current quarter, so in Q3, we should complete receiving the stock-related claim, at least the majority portion of that. The final payment against the CapEx rebuilding, because we have replacement basis insurance, is not the cost of the loss, but to replace that. That will be finally determined only once the plant is ready. Some amount we will get by Q1 of next year.
As we have seen that some of the costs have increased because of doing some outsourcing, some employees, some standard cost at Dahej continuing. All these will become part on loss on profit claim. That is normally expected sometime in Q2 or Q3 of FY 2027 because the calculation and the working on that starts only once the plant is rebuilt. That exercise itself will start. For us, also, it's the first time. When you have a large claim, it just takes a little bit longer for them to do each and every stage.
Sure. More or less, notwithstanding some delays, it's on track. I mean, it's as per estimation, right?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes. We have to be, it's as per estimation. That's the reason we are paying a little bit over cost, but we are able to maintain our operations at full stage. We are continuing our growth. We are doing what is needed to, whatever we had planned for employee retention, for employee motivation. Those programs also have been continued. The CapEx has continued at the same pace. There's no, because of want of funds, delayed CapEx or something like that. I think those are the positives because of the INR 200 crore bond that we issued.
Sure, sir. Sure. Just to get this right, I mean, in terms of, of course, the battery cell commissioning in India, which has been delayed, as you mentioned, it would be fair to probably estimate that it's a one-year delay, right? With the likes of Ola, the Exide, the Amara Raja, probably it's a one-year delay with all the EV domestic supply chain being set up in India. Would that be a fair take?
Yeah, I would agree. In a sense that we expected Ola to start in the first half. The time it took for them to get their cell approvals and go full commercial scale took a little bit longer, right? In some sense, I would say six months to a year kind of a delay. Mostly what we are seeing by 2027, majority of the players who had planned would start manufacturing. 2026 is a bit of a challenge. Calendar year 2027, which is FY 2028, we see very strong demand. The other thing which has happened while the delay has happened, the consumption of the cells is only increasing. I think EVs, there is a good positive response. More and more people are coming.
We see a very strong demand for energy storage, best what is called battery energy storage demand. That demand has become more stronger. Therefore, everybody is trying to work very hard to get cell capacity as fast as possible.
Sure. Just one final question. 2026, of course, you had revised the standalone guidance. I understand the Battery Chemical gets downward revised in terms of whatever has happened in the delays. You spoke about INR 30 crore-INR 40 crore in 2026 and INR 400-500 crore in 2027. Now, in terms of standalone, you're maintaining that guidance. Probably you said 2027 probably will be just in terms of base business. I'm saying you said double digit at best. Probably you'll strive for double digit going in 2027.
Sorry. No, we said 2027 was INR 950 crore-INR 1,000 crore. In FY 2028, basically full utilization of the existing capacity. In FY 2028, what we said, because we do not want to do significant CapEx. Without the CapEx, we are confident to give double digit. In case, for example, we see very good demand in organolithium because we have seen Organolithium as well as CSM business. Actually, in spite of the fire, our CSM business contribution reached almost 16%. We are seeing very strong demand of that. If we see a very strong demand, we do some additional CapEx for FY 2028. Currently, our aim is with the same we can deliver at least a double-digit growth. Somewhere around INR 1,150 or so kind of a revenue is what we are targeting without CapEx.
If we see very good demand and if we see good reason to do it, we'll take a call in FY 2027 on that. FY 2028 is what I was referring to for the double digit.
Okay.
INR 950 crore-INR 1,000 crore.
Okay. Sure.
There is no change.
Thank you so much. Sure. Thank you so much, sir, for answering my question. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we would request you to please limit your questions to two per participant. If you have a follow-up question, you may rejoin the queue. The next question is from the line of Nikhil Ag arwal from Money Stories Asset Management. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good evening, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. I just had a question regarding your debt and cash flow management. I just wanted to know what is the current CapEx in INR, which we have already done, and what is the amount which is remaining. Also, what will be the debt and interest level after the CapEx cycle which we have, and how do we aim to manage the interest cost? Thank you.
Yeah. We have so far done completed CapEx of around INR 620 crore. By end of this year, we expect another INR 500 crore more. As we complete next year our existing capacity increase, we will complete the INR 1,500 crore CapEx across our Dahej and Pakhajan site. In terms of Neogen Chemicals side, mostly we are rebuilding the plant. Maybe when we do rebuilding, I mean, if there is some additional capacity or some improvement which is not covered by the insurance, we will have to pay. That is something which you would know only after the final insurance evaluation. Maybe some incremental CapEx for our R&D and pilot facility and maintenance CapEx at our other sites. We're not considering any large CapEx on Neogen Chemicals in this and next financial year.
It should all be double digit, no kind of triple digit kind of CapEx in Neogen Chemicals. In terms of funding, we already have 70%, so 70% being debt funded, which is already secured for our Neogen Ionics purpose. Also further, as part of the JV, we would also receive some additional funds which will be coming in as equity contribution from our JV partner. That will fund basically Neogen Ionics. Our contribution has already been kind of significantly funded completely, actually, for Dahej. A significant portion of the greenfield has already been funded by us. We do not expect to invest too much more into Neogen Ionics from Neogen standalone basis because majority of the funding has been received, and partly some of the funding will be received from our joint venture partners.
In case of Neogen, most of the insurance proceeds would come and most of that would be funding. In fact, we have already funded inventory-related expenses. When that funding comes, that will help us reduce debt or maintain some liquidity to basically plan for any unexpected requirements. I think this is basically the idea. Also, further, as I explained, that once Dahej facility comes online in, let's say, Q1 of next financial year, we'll have a one-year moratorium. As our Pakhajan facility comes online in FY 2027, we would have further one more moratorium from the start date. The repayment, again, that too at a ballooning level. The majority repayment burden would be in FY 2028, FY 2029 in Neogen Ionics, by which time we would already be hitting full utilization level.
The cash flow from the company itself would be sufficient to repay the debt there.
Okay. Okay. Thank you, sir. Thank you for the question.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Reena Shah from Shubkam Ventures.
Yes, sir. Already here.
Ms. Reena Shah, please go ahead with your question. Your line is unmuted.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. I just wanted to understand the cost that you have incurred because of the fire incident. Are these one-time costs or recurring costs?
Reena ma'am, normally, as you know, that whenever there is an insurance, especially a large insurance claim, the couple of years after that, the insurance company tends to increase the premium. We had our insurance renewal in the month of July, August. After that, our insurance cost, the premium, has increased significantly because of the same. Of course, some contribution is coming from there. It will stay for, let's say, a year, two years. Afterwards, basically, it comes back to normal kind of insurance level. Similarly, some of the costs which we are incurring where some of the activities, when we don't have capacity, we have to, some stages of manufacturing, we have to outsource. Also, some of our capacity or expenses, fixed expenses at the Dahej site, are remaining. Some of these expenses are claimable under our loss on profit.
It is very difficult to do a provision of that. Currently, in this year, you will see them as a higher expenditure in other expenses. We feel majority of those would be recovered from the insurance in the next financial year. Of course, once the Dahej plant starts, this additional expenditure would not be there. We would go back to our normal EBITDA levels related to that.
Okay. So any change in your margin guidance?
It's very difficult to predict this. I think, let's say, this year, it's a little bit difficult to predict. Next year, when we hit full utilization, INR 950 crore-INR 1,000 crore on a standalone basis, we expect the same 18%, ± 1%-1.5% kind of margin. As we get further utilization, as we go into FY 2028, maybe improvement over that as our CSM, our Organolithium business, starts contributing more. In terms of Neogen Ionics, we continue to target 20% ROC as our margin. EBITDA margin, it's very difficult to predict because of lithium price volatility. It can be in the range of 16%-20% depending on the price of lithium and other raw materials. For Neogen Ionics, we basically target a 20% ROC as our target.
Thank you. Next year, you have given INR 400 crore-INR 500 crore guidance for Neogen Ionics. How much will be of that from source and how much is from electrolyte solutions according to your assumption?
We feel it will be roughly half and half. Almost 50% coming from Electrolyte and 50% coming from salt. Anyways, if demand comes a little bit higher, we will be ready for more for both Electrolyte as well as Salt.
Okay. Okay. I think that's it from my side. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ankur Periwal from Axis. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, Dr. Harin. Thanks for the opportunity. Sorry if my question is a repetition. I joined the call a bit late. First, just a clarification on the one-year extension in moratorium for the debt repayment. This will be only for the principal paying dues or even the interest outgo will get extended?
Ankur, the interest till the time the project is not completed is already considered as part of the project cost. It's only after we have the start of production, then the interest on that portion will start becoming payable for one year. Then the repayment will start the year after. In the second year, we would start the repayment. That was earlier also.
Yeah. Correct.
That was the same thing earlier. Now we have one-year extension that we can start paying interest after one year and the repayment the year after depending on when we actually start.
Correct. Interest capitalization is well understood. The interest payment will be after a lag of one year. The repayment is further one year out.
That's right. Yes.
Right?
From the start of production.
From the start of production.
Probably they will make it commercial production. Yeah. Yeah.
Fair enough. Second question on the salt bit. I appreciate the delays in the plants coming in India. Globally, how has been the demand scenario on the salt side? Secondly, any planned capacity for further overhead?
Sorry, I lost your last sentence. Can you say again?
Sorry. On the salt side, first, how has been the discussion with the clients in terms of demand outlook, etc.? Secondly, if there are any plans to increase the salt capacity further?
Sure. The customers have taken our joint venture with Morita very strongly. Most of the customers really appreciated that because it gives them a lot of peace of mind. While we were actively discussing with only one or two major customers in the beginning, now there are three to four large consumers who are actively discussing with us. As we mentioned in our call, some of them even fast-tracked our sample approvals. Now they have completed sample approval. On top of three or four major ones, we also had two or three smaller ones who also started working with us. We are now able to access more customers. The customers are more confident in terms of the new capacity which is going to come online. I think all these have been very positive.
Most of the customers on their side also with more clarity around 45x related credits are very keen to have a non-FEOC supplier in 2026. As I said, someone wants to start by Q1, Q2, the homologation. Someone would like to wait till Q4 and enjoy a lower China price as much as possible. Only in end of Q, I mean, Q4 shipment. Basically, for their consumption in 2027 is when they will make the shift. Everybody is very clear that in 2027, they want a non-FEOC supplier. Neogen is now considered a very strong contender, especially after the JV because it just increases the reliability in the minds of the customer.
Sure, sir. The product pricing here, will Chinese salt be a benchmark on which the product will be priced or how are we working or negotiating on that side?
Yeah. Sorry. Before that, you also asked me about salt capacity. Basically, as I have said earlier, with our existing customers itself, our salt capacity would run out by FY 2028, FY 2029. It depends also whether we will use the salt internally for electrolytes. We are also giving options to our customers to choose that because, as you also mentioned, it also depends on the pricing with China. When China was very, very low price throughout last year, the customers still wanted this because of FEOC and because of the constraints. One of the biggest help China did to market our product is the restrictions they announced from 8 November because that really shook up the customers.
Because at any point of time, if China comes and says, "Hey, I will not supply this and I will not supply that," if tomorrow they add Electrolyte Salt in that list, they will be very badly impacted for something which costs very little. Because of that, all the customers are very keen to buy. They become even more keen to buy from Neogen. Yeah, I think mostly the benchmark is outside China, are you the cheapest? That is the question everybody keeps asking in the international. Neogen, at least the contracts which we have signed, in there, the answer is yes. That is the reason why they continue to discuss. More customers are discussing with us for their demand. We will keep watching. Yeah, we see a strong need that by FY 2028 or FY 2029, we may need extra salt capacity.
We feel 2 KTA, we can add relatively easily because it will not cost so much. We will not do that till the greenfield site starts fully and we get clarity on approvals and supplies will start. After that, we will take maybe nine months or 12 months and add 2 KTA if the demand remains strong and if the customers are contracting us with more committed volumes for 2028 and 2029.
Sure. That is helpful. Just one follow-up here. Two thousand-odd tons can be added, let's say, within a year. This is largely debottlenecking. If you want to add, let's say, greenfield expansion, how much can we do and what is the typical time required to do that?
2 KTA is just expansion of my existing manufacturing block. I can add one more 5 KTA also for which we have done some of the infrastructure work. 2 KTA between 9-12 months. Another 5 KTA, I would say maybe 15-18 months. If we have to go beyond, again, we still have space in Pakhajan. We can, another, let's say, 18 months or so if we have to g o beyond 10KTA.
Sorry to interrupt. May we request Mr. Periwal to please rejoin the queue? We have participants waiting for it.
Sure. Sure.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rohit Nagraj from 361 Capital. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. First question is, once all the projects are done by FY 2027, what is the gross block likely to look like? On the INR 1,500 crore of debt at peak levels, what is the average cost of debt that we are looking at? Thank you.
Gopi, would you like to answer that?
Sorry. If you could just repeat the question, please.
Yeah. At FY 2027, when all the CapEx are in place for the legacy business as well as for the new Battery Chemicals business, what will be the gross block that we are looking at? On the INR 1,500 crore of peak debt, what will be the average cost of debt?
Average cost of debt will depend because all our interest rates are variable. Some of them are linked to repo rate while some are linked to the [MCLR] rate. As the interest rate moves, the things would also be moving in. As far as the gross block is concerned, we should be having a gross block of close to INR 2,000 crore on a consolidated basis. Yeah, it should be close to INR 2,000 crore.
Okay. Just clarification. So based on current interest rate, the cost of debt would be somewhere closer to 7%-8%?
Slightly higher because it's a project loan. Generally, project loans are placed slightly higher than the normal term loan. Generally, post-COD, the interest rates actually get reduced.
Sure. Sure. That's helpful. Second question, in terms of the Battery Chemicals scale-up, so INR 500 crore to, say, INR 2,500 crore, Dr. Harin, you told that the ROC that we are looking at is 20%. Given that the scale-up will happen between, say, INR 500 crore- INR 2,500 crore, initially, will the ROC be lower? Because of that, the margins that we are looking at from a constant lithium prices perspective of, say, 20% could be lower at INR 500 crore. As we hit the peak, the margins at, say, current lithium prices would be about 20%. Is that assumption right?
Yeah. Just one correction. You said INR 2,500 crore, I heard. It is INR 1,500 crore for the battery business, for the Salt and the Electrolyte together. Everything is together. Just one clarification on that. Yes, you are correct that the 20% ROC is on a stable basis when we have full utilization level. When we are in an intermediate phase like FY 2027 or FY 2028, maybe it can be a bit lower.
Cool. And just one last clarification in terms of Electrolyte and Electrolyte Salt. You mentioned that we currently have 5,000 tons of salt capacity, and there is additional electrolyte capacity. How much of this 5,000 would be consumed internally based on our current contracts with the customers? You also clarified that we have the option of either selling Electrolyte Salt or the electrolyte solution. Based on current understanding, how much would be captively consumed? Thank you.
That is a choice which each customer is making right now. Basically, the Indian electrolyte customers, they also are competing against China. While electrolyte has to be made locally, some of them basically are considering that, "Hey, if the Chinese electrolyte salt is lower, why not directly get from China?" Of course, some of them have restrictions because of their PLI where they want a local production. There are some who want from a business stability point of view. It is a little bit difficult question for me to answer because the customers will make this choice over the next 12-15 months. That is one of the clarity which we are seeking from the customer.
One good thing that we have is that in case the customer says, "Hey, get from China," we also have our JV partner who already has a plant in China. Even from China, we can get them a stable, relatively good quality, reliable electrolyte salt. We will work with our customer, our partner to basically optimize. For us, if we are selling both electrolyte and the salt, we are not consuming internally, then the revenue potential can be even higher with the same investment. Of course, in that case, the overall margin, the ROC on the electrolyte side can be a little bit different. Overall, I think we should still, it's a positive. That is something which the customer will choose. It is difficult to answer.
When we answer that question, we will also answer her next capacity increase because if that happens, we definitely need capacity by FY 2028, FY 2029 when we hit full utilization on the electrolyte side.
Perfect, sir. Thanks for all the clarifications and all the best.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Tej from Nevesher. Please go ahead.
Hello. Am I audible?
Yes, you are. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you so much for the opportunity. I have only one question. I mean, you said that from next year, there will be incremental demand coming on from suppliers looking at the non-FEOC supply chain. My question is, let's say even if a supplier is buying electrolyte from a non-Chinese supplier and then, let's say, he has still to be reliant on a Chinese line or a Chinese, let's say, lithium carbonate, would it be considered a FEOC, I mean, non-compliant? I just wanted to understand that.
Yes. For you to be fully compliant, you need to have the entire critical mineral supply chain to be non-foreign entities of concern.
In that case, how would the—I mean, how would the OEMs? I mean, how would the manufacturers in India be able to comply? As far as we know, the guys putting up plant, all of them have Chinese line, right? And sourcing comes from China. In that case, how would the FEOC compliance be beneficial to us?
This is a requirement in the U.S. Companies which are making sales in the U.S. to get the benefit, they need to comply with the non-FEOC requirement.
Still.
it's more relevant for our Electrolyte Salt business. For our Electrolyte Salt business, this is a relevant policy where we are trying to sell it to the supply chain in the U.S. For our Indian customers, some of them who have ACC PLI localization targets, for them, electrolyte and how much salt we are making becomes again relevant because if I'm making it from scratch, then the localization percentage is much higher. If I'm getting, let's say, salt from outside and mixing in India, then I'm making the electrolyte here, then the localization percentage is lesser. It will depend on the customer's localization. This is true only for localized customers who are looking for localization, who have ACC PLI benefits. For the non-ACC PLI, at present, there is no difference.
The government has promised that the import duties on cell and cell components, they would be reviewing in 2026. We feel now the supply chain and production coming in, there will be some kind of a protection or support for the Indian cell manufacturing and cell supply. We are actively answering customers, the government policymakers' replies, and through our association, making presentations. We hope some kind of additional support will also be received by us and cell producers for ensuring India can have a completely backward integrated supply chain for the cell production.
Okay. Got it. Got it. Great. The last question is, correct me if I'm wrong. I read somewhere, I mean, the players would, let's say, select a local supplier because, let's say, for electrolyte to come from China, it would take about one, one and a half months. But then the properties of electrolyte change, right? So that's why the local suppliers would prefer a local supplier. Is the understanding correct?
Yes. Normally, electrolytes have a shelf life around three months. Even during these three months, also, there is some degradation. Technically, if you look at the majority of the big cell producers, they consume electrolyte within 15 days. Ideally, Indian companies also would like to do that.
Okay. Perfect. Perfect. Thank you so much, sir, and all the best.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Jason Soans from IDBI Capital. Please go ahead.
Thanks for taking my question again. Just wanted to understand one thing from a fundamental perspective. Now, you did speak about lithium salts being imported at a cheap, I mean, at a very low rate from China. Just wanted to understand if you are importing lithium salt from China, and if you add the other ingredients, if you make this electrolyte solution, can that be made in a cost-effective, simpler manner for, let's say, a player with a large pocket? If it's relatively simpler, then I mean, what benefit do we have from the MUIS technological type? Because what I understood is if we have the MUIS type up, it should have posed a strong entry barrier for us for making the electrolytes. Just wanted to weigh both these things.
If you import the salt from China, is it very cost-effective for a player with large pockets to make electrolytes?
Making electrolyte is where we have Mitsubishi technology. The quality of the electrolyte depends on, of course, the quality of the raw material and quality of how the electrolyte is made, correct? The manufacturing process is what gives us an edge. If anybody else also makes, again, there would be errors or sometimes the process would not be efficient. The cost of manufacturing also can go high. This is where Mitsubishi kind of technology comes in. Those two are independent questions.
Okay. Sure, sir. So you're saying the quality, of course, the MUIS technology will offer you a better quality and a better chance for an approval. That's what you're saying, right? That's the edge. Basically, that's where the edge comes from. Okay. Sure. Sure. Thanks. Thanks.
It will also give us more productivity. Their process is very efficient with 30 years. Therefore, actually, the operating cost also can be lower as compared to some years.
Sure. Sure. Thanks.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Thank you for joining us today. We trust your queries have been addressed. For any additional questions, our investor relation team is available. We appreciate your time and look forward to connecting again next quarter. Thank you. Good evening for everyone, and have a great day.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Neogen Chemicals, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.