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 your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Madhumita Basu, Chief Investor Relations. Thank you, and over to you, Ms. Basu.
Thank you, Ranju. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining our First Quarter Fiscal 2026 Conference Call. I'm excited to discuss our performance for the quarter and, even more, talk about the growth plans lying ahead. Firstly, Q1 was a major milestone, arguably the strongest first-quarter performance in the history of the company. The company achieved a volume of 5.1 million tons, registering a growth of 6% compared to the same period last year. Consolidated revenue from operations grew by 9% YoY to reach INR 2,873 crores in Q1 FY 2026. Demonstrating superior operational efficiency and profitability, the company delivered its highest-ever first-quarter consolidated EBITDA of INR 533 crores in Q1 FY 2026. This translates to a blended EBITDA per ton of INR 1,052 per ton, marking a 16-quarter high and reflecting the impact of our sustained efforts towards cost optimization and value creation.
Moreover, the price environment continues to be supportive, with the price hikes implemented towards the end of 2024 sustaining till date. Amidst pricing stability, our continuous organizational focus on premiumization and trade sales has complemented the better pricing scenario in the market. The share of premium products in trade volume has further improved to 41%, while the trade mix reached 76% in Q1 FY 2026. This notable improvement is a function of clear segment focus, a robust brand portfolio, and a strong distribution network. On the cost front, the company's commitment to operational excellence remains firm. Despite the brief surge in petcoke prices, the blended fuel cost at INR 1.43 per Mcal remained broadly in line with Q4 FY 2025.
As you probably have seen in the chart we shared in our investor presentation, the blended fuel cost has been a continuous reducing story, with significant stability in performance over the last few quarters. To touch upon operational excellence, you may recall that we previously shared key initiatives such as Project Sprint and Project Bridge, which have driven great objectivity and purpose in our cost-saving efforts. The Bridge program delivered INR 86 per ton cost savings over FY 2024 to FY 2025, broadly in areas of power and fuel cost optimization, elimination of material losses through stricter quality controls and process discipline, alongside aggressively controlling damages and hemorrhages and increasing direct dispatches. This holistic approach to operational excellence has been instrumental in delivering the high EBITDA per ton we are reporting today. We remain committed to sustaining these efficiencies and creating sustainable value for our stakeholders.
Moving on to the balance sheet, strong performance over the years has enabled us to drive the deleveraging agenda. During the quarter, the company reduced like-for-like net debt by INR 884 crore YoY to reach INR 3,474 crores. Net debt, we delivered a hallmark performance in Q1 FY 2026. Moving on now to our growth plans, I would like to highlight that 2025 marks our 11th year in the cement business. Since entering the industry in 2014, we have achieved a remarkable feat of expanding our capacity nearly 15 folds to reach 31 million tons. This quarter, we successfully completed the acquisition of Vadraj Cement Limited, bringing under our fold high-quality assets, including a 3.5 million ton clinker unit, a 6 million ton grinding unit, captive limestones, and a captive jetty.
This acquisition is fully aligned with our strategy to expand our footprint in the Western region and add complementary capabilities to our existing operations in the north. Historically, we have demonstrated strong execution capabilities in successfully integrating and scaling acquired businesses. With strong project governance in place, we are well positioned to achieve the operational roadmap outlined in our Investor presentation. To provide a brief update, manpower mobilization is progressing well, with key personnel, including those for port operations, already onboarded. We have initiated the release of key goods and service purchase orders to fast-track plant refurbishment and visits from major OEMs are currently underway. Our current plan is to make the plants at Kutch and Surat and associated equipment, including the jetty, ready for trial runs by H1 FY 2027, with full commissioning targeted for Q3 FY 2027. A few words here on the cement demand outlook.
Cement demand during the quarter grew at a moderate pace, impacted by intense heat, geopolitical situation, and the early onset of the monsoon. However, looking ahead, we remain optimistic on demand post-monsoon, driven by significant capital expenditure planned by both the central and state governments, particularly in housing and infrastructure sectors. For FY 2026, the central government has announced a Capex plan of INR 11 lakh crores, while state governments have proposed approximately INR 9 to INR 10 lakh crores. Additionally, the central government has introduced measures to expedite the completion of INR 1 lakh dwelling units through the creation of SWAMIH Fund and is providing support to states for infrastructure development via INR 1.5 lakh crores in interest-free 50-year loans. In the eastern states, INR 38,000 crores allocation have been made towards housing programs. These initiatives are expected to provide meaningful momentum to cement demand in the coming quarters.
Finally, before wrapping up, an update on sustainability. The company's commitment to sustainability is evident as it continues to lead the industry with the lowest carbon emission. Carbon emission footprint has improved further, reaching 454 kg CO2 per ton of cementitious material in FY 2025, compared to a figure of 457 in the previous financial year. With that, I conclude my opening remarks. I'm here with Mr. Jayakumar Krishnaswamy, Managing Director of Nuvoco Vistas, and Mr. Maneesh Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer. We are happy to address any questions you may have for us. Thank you.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on 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 comes from the line of Shravan Shah with Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you, and congratulations on very good set of numbers. Yeah, sir, can you hear me?
Shravan, please continue. We can hear you.
Yeah, yeah. So the first question is on the demand front. So last time we have talked that for India, we are looking at 7%-8%, and for us also similar kind of volume growth. So just wanted to understand in Q1, how much do you think that the industry would have grown? And for FY 2026, is the same 7%-8% number remains constant? And for us also similar 7%-8% kind of a volume growth that we are looking at?
Answer for the other companies, certainly for Nuvoco, we have been able to get 6% volume growth. Our May end, if you see, monsoon had set early in most parts of India. In fact, starting from Kerala all the way to Assam, it happened in just one week's time. So we did see a little bit of a challenge in demand in east and north as well as west coastal regions. But that could be a little bit of a dampener in the overall stuff in the short run. But as Madhumita said, I think post the monsoon, we are very well poised to get the 7%-8% growth for the industry because GDP is at 6.5% as the prognosis forecast given by RBI as well. And also CapEx outlays will get implemented on the ground from Q2 onwards post-monsoon.
Overall, if you see, post-monsoon, we are confident that the industry should grow anywhere between 8%-10%. That's the optimistic number. Give or take here and there, it could be 8%-10%, it could be 7%-9%. So it's all in the ballpark of 7%-10% kind of a number is what I see the industry moving in this year.
Got it. Second, sir, in terms of the pricing, that for us, obviously, it was very good for this quarter. So currently, the prices, if I have to compare with the Q1, is it at the same level or is there any further improvement?
On the pricing front, I can talk on three parts, actually. I just have to go back to my previous call, in quarter four call and the quarter three earnings call. Overall, I think the market pricing, as well as our prices, started improving sometime in December onwards, and it further went up in certain regions in our target markets in Q4. Happy to report when we came to Q1 FY 2026, the price continued to hold good in Q1 when compared to Q4 with small corrections as well happening in Q4 to Q1. But what is the positive encouraging thing is as we enter Q2 in July, we still are able to hold prices as our company, and we still command the similar kind of prices and realization in the market three weeks into Q2.
Thank you. Mr. Shah, please rejoin the queue for more questions. A reminder to all the participants, please restrict yourself to two questions. Next question comes from the line of Satyadeep Jain with Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, thank you. The first question on the transaction, just wanted to see where we are in the process. There is a bridge debt which is bigger than the long-term debt. Of course, last time you were mentioning you're very close to signing a deal. Just what is the tenure of this bridge debt? Where are you in terms of signing that? In what form is it going to be like a convertible preference share? Just more details around this transaction that you're working on.
Since you mentioned about mountains, I think mountains are different heights across the various continents in the world. So Everest seems to be the highest. You've got Kilimanjaro, then you've got Kanchenjunga, then you've got Aconcagua. You have so many other mountains in the world. So for us, I think running a business which is over INR 10,000 crores, we have the right size of debt to grow the business. So I just want to assure all of you, we are mindful of how we run our own company, and we are very clear what kind of debt levels are helping the organization.
If you really look at the last three to four years, one of the things which we have always said is for our company to grow and become larger and larger in the coming years, a debt level of INR 3,500-INR 4,000 crores is a number which we would like to concentrate on. You would have seen, certainly, I think we've met our commitment, what we have been talking in the last four years since our listing. Our debt levels in Q4 came to INR 3,474 crores. When it hit INR 3,474 crores, we got the license and the commitment which we made to all of you to grow, and hence we have kind of invested in Vadraj.
If you remember the last call, we did mention that when we are going to raise money through whichever instrument, we'll be mindful that the money which we raise doesn't impact the balance sheet in adverse manner. So I would want to assure all of you that out of the INR 1,800 crores, INR 600 crores will be the long-term debt. The balance INR 1,200 crores, as mentioned, available in the public domain, would be through an instrument which will be through the CCPS or CCD route, which will not be a debt instrument and not form into part of the debt instrument in the balance sheet. So that's how we are working. We are at a stage where we are discussing with potential partners with whom we are working to raise this capital. This bridge financing is for a short-term period of maximum two to three months.
I guess hopefully in the coming two to three months, we should convert this debt into the equity-like type of instrument.
Okay. Second question on slag in general. You mentioned in the release that there was some tightness. I mean, there's seasonal tightness in slag in this period, but it seemed like maybe there was more than typical what you see. So are you seeing some tightness in general across the board for slag? And how are you looking to secure slag for the Vadraj asset that you have? Also tying it to this is also the plan to have 2.5 million ton additional GU. What does it mean that would you have more GU capacity versus clinker? Because clinker is 3.5, and you're setting up 2.5 million ton of GU. So eventually, if you refurbish the entire Surat GU, you will have excess grinding capacity. So just what's the plan to secure slag for the upcoming capacity? What is the plan?
Are you overall seeing some tightness in slag in the market?
Okay. Thanks, Satyadeep. We'll split the market in east and west, not that we define ourselves. In east, certainly, I think overall, if you really look at the last two to three years and going forward, there is indeed some tightness of slag in the market simply because many, many players are getting into the composite segment or the slag cement. So overall, industry is also trying to get more blended cement in the form of slag cement. And all of us know very well east is a market where slag cement or a composite cement acceptability is much more than any other region in India. So that way, overall slag availability is going to be a little bit of a scramble. And hence, the current auction price for slag in east when compared to three years ago certainly has gone up from where we were in the past.
Certainly, Nuvoco is in a very good position. All of us know that Nuvoco has got close to about 2.1 million ton of 20-year slag tie-up with Tata Steel and another 0.4 million of differential allotment from Tata Steel at market price. So we are kind of covered for about 2.5 million ton, which constitutes to roughly about 55%-60% of the overall slag needed for the company. So Jojobera cement, which we make, is all funded through much lower than market price slag. However, the ones in Panagarh and Jajpur is where we have to kind of go for auction slag, and that's where there is going to be a little bit of a tightness in not availability per se, price-wise it is a little bit higher. Blended slag price for Nuvoco will be under check.
One of the programs which we run in the organization is use of alloy slag, which is different from the regular blast furnace slag. We have had the capability to use alloy slag in our factories, and our target is to use close to about 75,000 tons of alloy slag in our plants, which is a welcome sign. It is a green initiative as well as different types of slag which we have proven and used in the market. That's how the slag thing is being addressed in east. Coming to west about Vadraj, as we start the Vadraj operations, we don't have any plans to get into slag cement manufacture there. Gujarat is majority OPC and PPC kind of a market, and at this point of time, we don't have any plans to venture into slag cement.
In future, if slag cement comes, we have the experience to launch slag cement. That's when we get into entry strategy. At this point of time, we don't envisage any slag cement. So hence, slag requirement is not going to hamper our entry strategy in Gujarat. Coming to setting up the grinding unit in Kutch of 2.5 million tons, we had a choice to set up a million or 0.5 million or 2 million or 2.5 million. Once you go buy this equipment, namely the VRM, the price differential between a 0.5 million and a 2 million and 2.5 million is hardly a few crores here and there. So to really secure the long-term capacity of the company, we decided to put a 6.3 m VRM, which will make us flexible for many years to come.
Hence, the Kutch capacity grinding unit is put up at 2.5. The Surat, as it came from Vadraj to us, has three mills of 2 million ton capacity. As I mentioned in the previous call, we will start one mill. Initially, we want to start two mills. Now with Kutch 2 .5 mill, 2.5 million ton coming in, we will start a Kutch mill at 2.5 million ton, and the Surat one mill will activate at 2 million tons to optimize the CapEx cost. As we grow the market, we will restart the second mill and the third mill in the next three to five years. To start with, when we get into market commissioning the Vadraj, we'll have a 2.5 million ton mill in Kutch and a 2 million ton in Surat.
Going a little bit deeper into it, up to Ahmedabad, lots and lots of OPC sales, and hence, getting clinker all the way from Kutch into Surat and then reverse straight back OPC into Ahmedabad was turning out to be a little bit expensive. And hence, we decided that make the OPC in Kutch and directly bring OPC to bulkers into Ahmedabad, Saurashtra, and those markets. Last but not least, railway siding has come all the way to a place called Vayor, which is close to Nalia, which is there in Kutch. And the three of us and two other competitors have plants which are very close to each other. So the current view is also to go for a railway siding there. And once the railway siding comes, then we've got a lot of other options opening up by carting cement through bulkers more or less.
Hence, our whole idea of putting the GU in Kutch also is to get rake movement of cement. Plus, in Surat, we can get the OPC and PPC in the mill which we have in Surat. So hopefully that answers your query.
Thank you. Mr. Jain, please rejoin the queue for more questions. Next question comes from the line of Navin Sahadeo with ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello. Hello. Hello. Am I audible?
Yes. Navin, please go ahead.
Right. Thank you for the opportunity. So two questions. First, just a continuation of the previous question. What is the total CapEx now? Because you mentioned now we are talking about the railway siding. So 1,800 we paid for the asset, and there is a cost to refurbish or get this asset up and running. And you also mentioned plans of railway siding coming through. So if you could just break it down, the total CapEx or total amount that the company plans to spend for Vadraj Cement, all three mills and the railway siding put together. And related to the same question, what is the update on the thermal power unit we were to acquire or which is in the premises which belongs to JSW? Thanks.
Okay. Even if you're not asked the part B of the question, I would answer the part B as well. That was very clear. Our overall outlay, which we had mentioned, was close to about INR 1,600 crores. The INR 1,600 crores involves a mill in Surat, GU in Kutch, mill in Kutch, refurbishment of the Kutch assets, as well as the jetty refurbishment, and also setting up the railway line in Kutch. One thing which is not included in INR 1,600 crores was the acquisition of the Vadraj plant. We'll add another INR 200 crores to getting the Vadraj plants. We are currently under discussion, so it could be give or take a few crores here and there.
So overall, we are looking at an outlay of INR 1,600 crore plus INR 200 crores at this point of time to set up the refurbished asset and commission the GU and get into the market in the next one and a half years.
Right. So, 1,600 and 200 is what you said? So, 1,800 and 1,800, basically total 3,600, is the total CapEx for the asset?
Yeah. You can look at it that way.
Railway siding cost?
Oh, that will be a little bit of a. I can give you a ballpark number. We are currently working on that, so typically, we've still not done the what you call survey of where the Railways are putting up the platform in Vayor, and from there on, next call, I would be able to tell because there are a lot of places somebody is working on some parts of siding, so I guess by the time we meet next time, I'll be able to give a clear picture. However, suffice to say, since we have put up railway siding in Jajpur as well as Sonadi, we have a fair idea. It should cost anywhere between INR 110 crore and INR 130 crore.
Understood. Thank you so much. My second quick question was about the freight cost. So of course, congratulations. It's very heartening to see the sequential realization improvement. But there is some bit of an increase on the freight cost per ton as well. So is there any one-off or any increase in lead distance? Any thought on this cost of freight will help? Thanks.
Three specific reasons. First reason is quarter one had a little bit of rake availability in the month of May and June in two of our sites in Arasmeta as well as Jojobera. While our rake coefficient remained the same, we had to move material to Bihar from our Panagarh site. Hence, the freight cost increased due to rerouting from Jojobera and Arasmeta and move it to Panagarh. So that's reason number one. Reason number two is our Haryana cement plant is now under maximum capacity utilization and almost fully ramped up and reaching peak levels. So once the Haryana cement plant comes from Nimbol plant into Haryana, so semi-finished goods or a clinker moment rate increased because of full utilization of Haryana plant. That's the reason number two. Point number three, Q4 to Q1, Q4 we ran thin on clinker stocks in North.
We also had to take our Chittor plant on shutdown in this quarter. So we were running thin on clinker, so we had to move cement from Arasmeta, Sonadih, Risda, all the way to westwards to MP, Indore, Gwalior, Ratlam markets. So that's the reason why freight cost on this side increased. So reason number one, rake availability. Reason number two is shutdown and increased in distribution cost from east to west. And reason number three is increased semi-finished goods movement from Nimbol into Haryana.
Thank you. Mr. Sahadeo, please rejoin the queue for more questions. Next question comes from the line of Rajesh Ravi with HDFC Securities. Please go ahead.
Good evening and congrats on a good set of numbers. Continuing on these freight expenses which you mentioned, which have gone up by almost INR 145 Q&Q. So all these additional costs which have come up, would you believe that this should normalize back to 1,400 level per ton in subsequent quarters?
Yeah. Thanks, Rajesh, for your comment. Certainly, I think we are targeting to bring it down. One of the key agendas for bringing down this freight cost in the ensuing quarters, one of the key agendas we are driving this quarter one and then going forward, is to reduce the lead distance by close to about 10-13 km. And I guess the entire sales team has been instructed to sell more products in all markets and thereby reducing the lead distance as well as moving away from STO movement and final sale into SO, increasing direct dispatches to the market. This is an agenda which we are driving very hard this year. And we expect this number to come down by about 70-80 rupees in the coming quarters.
Okay. Great. And so meanwhile, can you also share those housekeeping numbers? What is the lead distance for this quarter? And fuel mix, petcoke linkage, non-linkage, and TSR?
Okay. Lead distance for this quarter came at 334, and in terms of fuel mix, we ended at a blended Mcal at 1.43, which is over a period of last 16 quarters. It's been kind of continuing at a reducing trend, but suffice to say that we have more or less bottomed out in terms of price of petcoke or domestic open market coal or linkage coal. From now on, any reduction can happen only by optimizing the fuel mix as well as to get our efficiencies going, so that's the target which we will take forward, and in terms of AFR, we are at 10% this year, a little bit less because we had certain issues where there were some issues in Chhattisgarh from the external world about the use of AFR in the cement factories. We are more or less dealing with that point.
Once we deal with it, we'll go up on the AFR usage. The shredder which we commissioned in Q4 in Chittor is fully operational now. So Nimbol, Chittor, and Riddha, our target is to get the AFR up to about 15%. It should happen post monsoon. Monsoon may be a little bit less, AFR will be used because of the moisture content in AFR. Post monsoon in H2 of this year, we are targeting 15% AFR. Petcoke should come less than 40% in H2, whereas currently it is about 44%.
Thank you. Mr. Ravi, please rejoin the queue for more questions. Next question comes from the line of Tejas Pradhan with Citi. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi . A question. You shared the cement raw material power and fuel rates in the PPT. Can you share those numbers?
Looking for raw material prices. Is it possible for us, if you can reach out to our teams, can we give you all details on a separate call, please? Otherwise, I'll have to read out the number.
No, no problem. No problem. And secondly, on the Vadraj financing, you had mentioned INR 1,200 crore will be an equity-type instrument which will not come on the balance sheet from a debt perspective. So once the asset is completely ramped up, would you hold 100% in the company, or would there be other equity investors in this?
Too early for us to comment on how we will, what do you call, ramp up this in the future. But certainly, we are looking at prevailing market conditions and continued improved market conditions as well as improved operational profitability and coming through better operational control and scaling. We are looking at much better operational results in the next two to three years and beyond. So these instruments we are looking at anywhere between four to six years. So our view is as we reach around four years a year from now, which is FY 2029, we should be having the ability to do a put option on these things and clean up the debt. In case market conditions are difficult, it's in the open public platform that then the investors will have a call option on the parent company. Put option on the parent company.
Thank you. Mr. Pradhan, please rejoin the queue for more questions. Next question comes from the line of Prateek Kumar with Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good evening, Sir, and congrats to be present. My first question is on CapEx and the decision in place. So how do you split CapEx in the next FY 2026, FY 2027, FY 2028? You said INR 3,600 crores plus some maintenance CapEx. How would you split this in the next three years? And the related question is, how do you expect run rate of depreciation interest to move from Q1 FY 2025?
Okay. Second one first, in terms of depreciation and interest cost, we are looking at anywhere between give or take INR 5 crores here and there, about INR 200 crores of depreciation and close to about INR 100-INR 110 crores of interest. That's the kind of number you can keep quarter on quarter going forward, and in terms of overall CapEx plans, as mentioned last call, certainly this year and the year next and the third year from now, we are very clear that not much of any big expansions or no big expansions happening in any of the plant. Hence, to sustain our operations, we are looking at a CapEx of close to about INR 100-INR 150 crores. That's the kind of money to spend to run our assets in the next three years.
There will be adequate cash on the operational results to the tune of about INR 600 crores in this year, another INR 600 next year, and the balance money will be spent in year three to commission Vadraj assets.
Okay. So around INR 2,500 crores this year and INR 700 crores each in the next two years. Is that how we should look at it?
How would you? I'm looking at CapEx as such. INR 800 is the investment which we have made. We're looking at a CapEx of close to INR 600 crores to refurbish the asset. Then next year, another INR 600, and the year three is the balance money which will be close to about another INR 600 crores. That's the kind of phasing we are looking at to commission Vadraj assets. On top of it, to sustain the Nuvoco operations, we're looking at close to about INR 100 crores-INR 150 crores of CapEx in the coming year and the next two years.
Thank you. Mr. Kumar, please rejoin the queue for more questions. Next question comes from the line of Jyoti Gupta with Nirmal Bang. Please go ahead.
Thank you so much for the opportunity. A great set of numbers. I have only one question on the realization side. We have seen an improvement of almost like INR 295 per ton in cement realization on a Q1, Q2 basis. Was there any realization of quarter four which is not absorbed in quarter one, and therefore is still over to quarter one? Because there was some erosion of prices in the center. So I mean, is there a possibility to get a breakup in terms of cement realization? Is it because the sale of premium cement was higher, or how was it? Because as per my understanding, we have a INR 200 increase in realization, but this is almost like INR 295, very decent increase in realization on a Q1, Q2 basis.
I won't be able to give region-wide realization. I guess you should be able to find out from various results of all companies, but certainly, I'll talk about our results. Realization improvement has happened due to very clearly two or three agendas. The first one is to get our premium products going across the country. Like we mentioned the last time, we launched Concreto Uno late last year. And happy to report, Concreto Uno continuously growing quarter on quarter. And we have when it's kind of being rolled out in all the eastern markets. Duraguard Microfiber, again, was focused on few markets, and purely at one point of time, we were selling only on the Duraguard channel. But we took a decision in Q4 and Q1 this year that we should roll out the Duraguard Microfiber also in the Erstwhile Double Bull channel.
The channel by the name of Double Bull doesn't exist, but we had a set of dealers. We enrolled them at one point of time, and we launched Double Bull in certain key markets. And there, we made a decision to kind of get into Duraguard Microfiber to get the premium penetration going in the key markets of Haryana, Rajasthan, Western UP, Gujarat, and Chhattisgarh. Happy to report that our Duraguard Microfiber sales have more or less increased by 50% from Q4 to Q1. And there's a huge thrust in the premiumization of Duraguard Microfiber. Concreto Uno certainly continues to leapfrog in the key markets of Bihar, Bengal, and Jharkhand. We will launch Concreto Uno in Odisha as well in the coming days. All these things resulted in a historical high premium product sale of the company to 41% in Q1.
So that's one of the key reasons for our realization improvement. The second one also is because of the overall focus on the company to focus on trade share. Our trade share also hit a very high number of 76% in the 13-quarter high, which again kind of improved realization. And for us, I think focusing on premium, focusing on trade channel, and last but not the least, big-time focus on home markets in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and Haryana, we've got large GUs. We'll reduce our freight costs going forward. And these three levers are going to improve realization in the coming quarters.
Just a follow-up question on this. When you mentioned Odisha, as I understand, FY 2025, Odisha declined by 12% on a YoY basis. Quarter four also, we've almost seen like an 18% decline because of this political shift in the political power in the government. Do you think FY 2026, Odisha will see some sort of stabilization because already the market is all the projects have been stalled and everything is into mitigation? And then you're saying premiumization into looking at Odisha as launching this Double Bull that you said. Do you think it will be possible, or is it like it's too early to actually venture into the market, which is in a declining phase right now?
I can't talk about specific state-level uptake or downtake because we operate in all the states in the east and also in almost all the states in the west and north put together, so I will refrain from saying what is going to be a state-level strategy, but certainly, I think all this blips up and down seasonal and every state will grow. Eventually, India as a country is slated to grow 6.5% at the GDP level, and the cement industry in India will grow at 7%-10% is what initially I meant, so we are very optimistic at this kind of growth levels in medium to long term, short-term blips will happen in every place, so personally, as our company and leading our company, I'm not greatly worried about one-quarter or two-quarter issues in any state.
Orissa eventually will also grow like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bengal, and Bihar, and we will be able to reap the benefits of growth in every state.
Thank you. Mr. Gupta, please rejoin the queue for more questions. Next question comes from the line of Girija Ray, YES Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks for taking my questions. So the numbers are really great with respect to this capacity utilization. It is 82%. That's quite good for the first quarter, FY 2026. So just wanted to check this 82% capacity utilization. Is there any clinker sale, or it's a pure cement sale we have done?
We don't do any clinker sale at all, actually. We do clinker barter with a few companies, which it helps them as well as helps us. But we don't do any clinker sale, and it's all clinker for internal use.
Okay. So we can say it's a very good sale for this quarter despite having a lot of challenges like the summer wave and all these things. Just I have a few concerns about the debt part. The debt is quite high, what I see. And on top of that, we are taking some INR 1,800 crore of debt also. So how we are going to manage our net debt to EBITDA level for next two years? How is the repayment schedule what we are looking for for next two years? And one more question that if I compare last quarter, fourth quarter, FY 2025, the tax expenses, current tax, and this quarter, this quarter is significantly higher side. So what's your comment on those two things?
That's the first one. I'll have to go back in history to explain your question. It's really jumped back to June 2021. Our debt level was INR 6,885. And then it came to INR 5,347. It came down to INR 4,506. It came to INR 4,358, and we're at INR 3,474. So I think we got a proven track record of running the operations in a smart manner to pay down the debt. And as I've been telling in the past calls, we are comfortable operating low quarter debt level of anywhere between INR 3,500 to INR 4,000 crores at a consistent level. There will be blips which will go back since we have borrowed. Now it goes up. But I think over a period of next two to three years, you will see our debt numbers coming down.
So we are comfortable operating debt at about INR 3,500-INR 4,000, and we are not kind of greatly worried. And it will certainly be less than two and a half times. Our target is to bring debt levels to twice of EBITDA. And that's the kind of two to two and a half times is the worst case. But ideally, we should target even less than two as well.
Thank you. Mr. Ray, please rejoin the queue for more questions. Next question comes from the line of Pathanjali Srinivasan with Sundaram Mutual Funds. Please go ahead.
Am I on? Hello?
Yes, you are.
Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity. Congrats on a very good set of numbers. I just wanted to understand in terms of ground scenario, what has changed for the current quarter from the last two quarters in terms of demand and any color on region-wise activity level improving? Anything of that sort, if you can give us some details.
Thank you. I won't be able to give you region-wise color. I guess that should be picked up from various results of various players who are region-focused or nation-focused. We have broad-based results all the way from west to north to east. Center, we've got a very small percent, but we still operate in these markets. However, in terms of overall demand in these markets, I think demand has been steady in these markets in the last six to nine months. As far as low-cost performance is being concerned, at one point of time in Q2 and Q1 last year, our focus areas was to because the cost pressures were pretty high in those times, and we really focused on value over volume.
Over a period of time, we also kind of made a tweak in our strategy to not only go for value because we had kind of set up such kind of cost-saving programs in the organization. We were getting to reaping the benefits of the cost-saving programs into Q2 and Q3. We also made a little bit of an aggressive play to get volumes going in a sensible manner. And hence, in Q3 last year, we did grow double-digit. And in Q4 last year, we grew high single-digit. And again, in Q1, we have been able to get a 6% volume growth. So overall, we have been able to get the growth in line with the market growth and not kind of lose market share because of the value or volume.
We are pretty comfortable blending the value strategy as well as doing a very sensible move to get volume for the organization.
Has demand improved, sir? Just related question. That was my actual question. So has demand improved at the ground level? Is activity levels improving? Do you see any either housing or infrastructure, any of these segments where you're seeing much more of a pull factor?
Yep. Clear. I guess thanks. So if that's the question, I guess H1 last year, one did feel the pinching demand with pre-election and post-election and funds not happening and budgetary allocations on PMAY and other state programs did not take off. And in our speeches, we were mentioning that those were a little bit not on the ground we could see. But as we navigated the year and come into this year, we can see things improving on the ground. Currently, because of monsoon, there will always be a little bit of downside, but we should not worry about drop in demand due to monsoon. But on a yearly average, as we go forward, industry is slated to grow anywhere between 7%-10%, 10% at a very optimistic level, 7% at a very realistic level.
Thank you. Mr. Srinivasan, please rejoin the queue for more questions. Next question comes from the line of Ashutosh Murarka with Choice Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Hello. Thank you for the opportunity. I have a question on the Bharat Distribution Funding Plan via CCP. Can you please highlight the merits of this versus conventional debt to equity financing?
I won't be able to tell you all the nitty-gritties of the financing because currently under discussion, it will not be appropriate to discuss all the details. But suffice to say, we are very mindful of the balance sheet strength of Nuvoco. And hence, as a part of fundraising, we did borrow INR 600 crores as a long-term financing, which will remain as a debt on the books of Nuvoco. But the balance, INR 1,200 crore, is going to be through the instrument of CCPS and CCD, which will not figure as a debt on the balance sheet. And the terms and conditions of it, we are currently under discussion. So I guess once it is done, we will be able to share with you the stuff. And the future strength of balance sheet is also ensured by the CCPS and CCD route.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Satyadeep Jain with Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for the follow-up. Jay, just two questions. One on the railway line that you're talking about just point. Since you are one of the reasons for putting up the GU, out of many reasons, one is obviously the optionality to sell cement through rail internally. And what is the plan? Because the railway line is coming to Mundra, or you mentioned there are other possibilities of where the railway because it's still somewhat far from your plant. What is the plan, and when is the line coming as per you? That's the first question on just understanding the railway.
If you mentioned Mundra, Satyadeep, the railway line has come to a place called Nalia. Nalia is a place which is close to 40 km from our location in Kutch, and past Nalia is a place called Vayor. Vayor is just about 15-20 km from our site, and the other two places are also in the site. And hence, broad gauge is already coming. So from reliable sources and also talking with Railways, we got to know that the railway line is also going to go further down from Vayor to other places, then it becomes not more than 7-8 km from our site. And hence, it becomes extremely prudent for us to exploit the railway opportunity. That's how we made this call.
What is the status of that? Sorry, I missed that. Any idea by when this will get commissioned?
The railway line is already commissioned up till Vayor, actually. In fact, one of our competitors is also using the open platform to dispatch clinker from there.
Okay. Second, just wanted to understand the product mix. You mentioned 41%. I don't know if Concreto would also not be Concreto, you know, but also Concreto would qualify as premium cement. And just over time, over the last two, three years, how has the product mix evolved in terms of Concreto, Duraguard, Double Bull? Just maybe some insight you can share there.
Breakup of each category I will avoid giving. But suffice, what I will try to explain to you is our main product is our Duraguard. And that's only a category in the marketplace. So we are right in the benchmark products in all the markets we operate. We operate in the A category in all the key markets with Nuvoco and Duraguard. On top of it comes in the Duraguard category. In the PPC category, we have Microfiber, which is close to about INR 25 more than the base product. And then we have Concreto in the pure slag category, which is again INR 25-INR 30 more than the base product. And Uno is another INR 20 more than the Concreto franchise in the key markets of East. And in terms of individual volumes, I would not like to say what happens there.
But overall, if you see every state in Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, if you can look at the volumes which we sell, close to about as a company, we are at 41%. At the East level, our premium percentage is much higher than the national level.
Thank you. Mr. Jain, please rejoin the queue for more questions. Next question comes from the line of Rajesh Ravi with HDFC Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Just follow-up question. This cement to clinker ratio is holding on steady at around 1.72. I believe there are expectations of taking it up to 1.83. So what is the roadmap over there? And second, when you said this INR 1,800 crore is already paid and this INR 1,800 crore additional CapEx, does this include INR 200 crore towards the CPP acquisition also?
Yeah. On the cement issue, Rajesh, Eastern cement issue is two and above. Northern cement issue is lower than East, much lower because of the PPC and OPC stuff. But at blended level, our cement issue is at 1.74. It will be we are striving to get the Eastern cement issue all the way up to 2.1, maximizing more and more blended cement and getting more and more slag cement, which should overall improve.
But as you would be aware that as we enter Vadraj and market in Gujarat and Maharashtra, we will end up selling more OPC in this market. So to sustain a 1.75 realization in the long term will not be possible. East, we will certainly sustain 2.1, that kind of number. North will be less. Our blended target still will be to hit 1.74 in a long-term realization. That's going to be the goal for the company. In terms of the CPP cost, that's why when I mentioned about there was a question regarding the power plant, I said upfront I wanted to tell INR 1,800 crore was the cost of the asset which we paid to the bankers and then Committee of Creditors. And then we are going to refurbish the asset at another INR 1,600 crore, incurring INR 200 crore to fund the CPP.
So we have to look at INR 1,800 plus INR 1,600 plus INR 200.
Right. Okay. Lastly, what is the total cost saving you're looking at for FY 2026? And could you break it up between headings, FY 2025 over FY 2026?
Yeah. We are targeting a cost saving of close to about INR 50 over and above FY 2025 and FY 2026 on a full-year average. The key programs being getting our AMNS slag from the current 45,000 to 75,000 tons per month. Then we are also de-bottlenecking the WHR waste recovery system in Nimbol from the current 4.7 MW to 6.6 MW with a very small capex of close to about INR 10 crore. And that should kind of reduce the power cost in North, increase the AFR percentage from the current 12% to excess of 15%-16%. And over a period of next one and a half years, we're also setting up a hybrid wind and solar in North region and reduction of lead distance by close to about 12-15 km. The Odisha siding is currently under commissioning.
Another two months from now, with all the permits and approvals from Railways, come Q3, we will have 100% clinker movement to Jajpur via our siding. All this put together should deliver close to INR 50 this year over last year.
Thank you. Mr. Ravi, please rejoin the queue for more questions. Next question comes from the line of Girija Ray with YES Securities. Please go ahead.
My question's already answered. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Shravan Shah with Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Sir, is it fair to say the way we are saying that the prices currently are stable? And let's assume if it remains stable for Q2, and then given the cost, particularly the freight cost, which is higher for this quarter, and we are seeing INR 78 per ton kind of a reduction, and overall for full-year reduction is there, is it fair that the INR 1,000 EBITDA per ton, INR 1,000 plus, is this maintainable?
Our target and endeavor will be to sustain this kind of property rebuilds. And some conditions are certainly favoring Nuvoco, and some of the strategies which we have put in place is working for us, namely the cost savings program, the premium acquisition program, the trade share program, and home markets program. All these cannot be taken away. These are all internal levers. The internal levers will continue to focus and will bear fruits to us. And as answered Rajesh's previous question, other cost saving agenda for the company as the year goes by, and we'll get quarter on quarter some amount of saving. Full year, we are looking at close to INR 50. If the prices don't go south, we should certainly be able to sustain this kind of profitability in the coming quarter and beyond.
Great. Great to hear that. Another thing is, last time, sir, we said that for Vadraj in the FY 2027, once we start in Q3, we are looking at, I think, 0.3 or 0.4 million ton kind of volume and then 2 odd million ton. If you can clarify that.
Currently, in the state of Gujarat, we sell one million tons. Both trade and non-trade put together, this one million tons comes from our Chittor and Nimbol facility, and then it is either coming through bulk or backhaul movement distributed largely in Surat, Banaskantha, Baroda, and some in Ahmedabad. And that's the kind of Godhra. This is the area we sell. We don't sell in much other larger part of Ahmedabad, and we don't sell in Saurashtra and Kutch. So our plan is, as we speak, we are establishing networks. We have a full-fledged regional sales organization that is being deployed. And over a period of next six to seven months, our plan is to establish channels, identify third-party agents for non-trade, key account development, all those agendas being put in place as we speak.
And our target is, when we close this year and come into Q1 next year, we should be able to improve this number from the current one million tons to maybe 1.2-1.3 million tons. And by the time the Vadraj facility is ready, our channels will be established, key accounts will be established, the branches will be established in the key markets. And when the plant is ready, our target is in year one, get incremental 0.3-0.4 million tons over and above the current one million tons. FY 2027 end, we are targeting close to about anywhere between 1.5-1.8 million tons of sales in Gujarat.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraints, we have reached the end of question and answer session. I would now like to hand the conference over to Ms. Madhumita Basu for closing comments.
Thank you, Raju. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your questions, which we trust have been well addressed. Our investor relations team will remain available for any further clarifications that you might require. To conclude, we remain firmly committed to driving sustained growth and expanding our market presence. With the successful acquisition of Vadraj Cement, the company is well prepared to operationalize the plants at Kutch and Surat by Q3 FY 2027, thereby strengthening its footprint in the Western region. In parallel, we will continue to focus on strategic priorities such as premiumization, geo-optimization, cost efficiency to enhance our competitive advantage, and create long-term value. Thank you to all of you for being here with us today. Wish you a good day.
Thank you. On behalf of Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.