Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Praj Industries Limited Q3 and 9-month FY2025 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. Nupur Jain Kunia from Valorem Advisors. Thank you, and over to you.
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and a very warm welcome to you all. My name is Nupur Jain Kunia from Valorem Advisors. I represent the investor relations of Praj Industries Limited. On behalf of the company, I would like to thank you for all participating in the company's earnings call for the third quarter, and nine months ended on 31st December 2024. Before we begin, a quick cautionary statement. Some of the statements made in today's earnings conference call may be forward-looking in nature. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risk and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated. Such statements are based on management's beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. Audiences are cautioned not to place any undue reliance on these forward-looking statements in making any investment decisions.
The purpose of today's conference call is purely to educate and bring awareness about the company's fundamental business and financial quarter under review. Now, I would like to introduce you to the management participating with us in today's earnings call and hand it over to them for opening remarks. We have with us to start with his opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Good day, everyone. I'm very happy to share with you that apart from Sachin, we also have on the call our chairman, Dr. Pramod Chaudhari, today on the call, and I welcome you to Praj Industries' earnings call for quarter three and the nine months for FY2025. Plus, all of you had the opportunity to go through our results for the quarter ended 31st December 2024. Let me start with a very exciting news. Indian Chemical Society earlier this month presented the Rasayan Udyog Ratna Award to Dr. Pramod Chaudhari on the occasion of the centenary of chemistry in India, and we are all very proud that he's the recipient of this honor from the Indian Chemical Society.
The dynamics of the business environment are changing at a rapid pace, driven by geopolitical developments, volatility and uncertainty in the global economy, and the ability of different economies to respond to these changes. Our performance this quarter reflects the resilience of our business and strategy. All our strategic initiatives are progressing as per the plan, and it is reflected in the growing order book with an increased share of international business over the last three quarters. This quarter saw a share of international order book at 40%. Our order book at this quarter also is the highest over the last three quarters. On the domestic bioenergy business front, the E20 program is progressing well, and the country is expected to achieve 18% blending during ongoing ethanol supply year 24-25.
Praj is focused on enhancing value for the customers, and as part of this effort, we have enhanced our focus on developing co-products, which has resulted in the development of bio-bitumen, distillers' corn oil, rice protein, etc., as solutions. These co-products will significantly alter the financial viability of bioenergy projects. These patented technologies will significantly differentiate Praj in the market and create a unique, sustainable competitive advantage. Last month, the Honorable Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, inaugurated India's first national highway at the Nagpur-Mansar Bypass Project, NH-44. This highway was constructed using Praj's technology-based bio-bitumen, which has the potential to replace fossil-based bitumen while enhancing the financial viability of the bioenergy projects from aggregate, where aggregate acts as a source of feedstock for production. We are witnessing starchy feedstock-based projects dominating the ethanol space.
Owing to the liquidity challenges and financial closure of these projects is taking longer time, leading to the extension of average execution cycles moving from 12 months to 16 months and beyond. In August 2024, the government had lifted restrictions on the use of cane juice, cane syrup, and B-heavy molasses for ethanol production. During this quarter, there are two more positive developments in the form of upward revision in the price of ethanol produced from B-heavy molasses and availability of FCI rice at reduced rates. On the international bioenergy front, there is a strong buildup of inquiry pipelines. Among the important developments, the U.S. has permitted year-round sale of E15 in eight Midwestern states. Brazil has already passed the Fuel of the Future law, increasing ethanol blending to 30%. Argentina and Panama have announced their plans to increase their blending mandates.
These developments will create capacity in these markets, and we are all well-positioned to participate in these opportunities. During this quarter, we won a significant contract from a customer in Tanzania to set up an ENA plant based on sugary feedstock. SAF ecospace is developing rapidly and favorably. We expect ATJ pathway to become a preferred long-term solution in major parts of the world. This augurs well for driving demand for low-carbon ethanol solutions as well. On the CBG front, respective boards of Praj and BPCL have given approval for the formation of a joint venture, which will set up CBG plants across India. The CBG ecosystem is developing positively with a healthy buildup of inquiries expected to translate into firm business as we move forward. This quarter, we received a very interesting order to set up a CBG plant to be co-located inside a Napier grass field.
Our service business is witnessing healthy growth in order book and revenue from both domestic as well as international markets. Our order book for nine months for FY2025 stands 80% higher than the entire last year. We are witnessing increasing interest from our customers for solutions such as Biogenic CO2 capture, fermentation process management, and oil and services. On the SAF front, the dialogue on accelerating SAF production and deployment is developing constructively with all stakeholders. The International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, invited Praj to contribute as an industry expert for the recommendations being drafted to enable a positive conclusion for the dialogue. Praj is further participating in the ICAO symposium in Dubai planned next month. Moving on to engineering business, the Mangalore facility is now fully ready with a total investment of over INR 200 crores in CapEx and almost INR 80 crores YTD in the form of operating expenses.
The land acquisition and readiness of the facility was delayed by nearly two quarters, which has impacted the plant business activity for the GenX business in the current year. The order book for execution from this facility is expected to start building from this quarter, while revenues will start flowing in from H2 of FY2026. Our Zero Liquid Discharge business is also gradually gaining momentum with increasing acceptance of our modular solutions. We are working on several innovative technological solutions, which will help us in offering a completely differentiated solution to customers in the near future. Brewery business, after a long pause, the segment is showing some early signs of returning to capacity creation, and we expect the movement to strengthen in the next financial year.
The PHS business, our effort of international expansion as well as expansion of product basket, is gaining momentum, and we believe a healthy order book buildup as we move forward is a reality. Overall, we see a positive development for all our business lines, and we continue to remain confident and committed to our long-term goals. I now have the honor and pleasure of inviting Dr. Chaudhari to address you.
Thank you, Shishir. Very good afternoon, everybody. Let me share some of the important developments on the leadership transition at Praj. As you all know, we are embarked on an ambitious growth program for the next five years, wherein we are aiming to grow the company three times in the top line and five times in the bottom line. Shishir has been steering for the last seven years, and now he's superannuating on 30th June 2025. The smooth transition and succession planning for key positions, the board has, in its meeting held yesterday, approved the appointment of Ashish Gaikwad as Managing Director of Praj for a period of five years, which is set from 3rd February. Ashish brings over 34 years of professional experience in the industrial utilities and automation, and in the EPC space, he is a global leader.
As explained by Shishir, all the necessary preparations are going on, and we are quite confident that the evolution of this quarter will be taken over by normal growth business from the coming period. Thank you for your patience, and God bless you. Thank you.
Thank you, sir. I now invite my colleague Sachin for his comments on the financial performance.
Good day, everyone. Let me take you through the financial highlights for the quarter and nine months ended 31st December 2024. The consolidated income from operations stood at INR 8.53 billion in Q3 of FY2025 as compared to INR 8.28 billion of quarter three of last year. EBITDA stood at INR 588 million as compared to INR 919 million in quarter three of FY24. Similarly, profit after tax stood at INR 411 million in quarter three of this current year as compared to INR 704 million in quarter three of last year. As Shishir mentioned earlier, the billing readiness of the GenX facility has resulted in lower revenue for our engineering business in this quarter. The lower margin during the quarter was mainly due to the change in the sales mix.
The change in the sales mix is on account of lower export order execution and some engineering services order, which has resulted in lower margin for the current quarter. If we compare the margin for nine months FY2025, it is almost higher by 500 basis points as compared to nine months of last year. Higher finance costs, depreciation, and amortization expenses are on account of the new facility at Praj GenX in Mangalore. For nine months FY2025, income from operations was INR 23.7 billion as against INR 24.4 billion in nine months of the last year. EBITDA stood at INR 2.1 billion as against INR 2.5 billion of the last year's nine months. Net of INR 1.8 billion in nine months of FY2025 as against INR 1.9 billion in nine months of the last year.
Export revenues accounted for 21% in this quarter, and of the total revenue, 73% is from bioenergy, 18% from engineering business, and 9% from PHS business. The order intake during the quarter was INR 10.5 billion, with 60% from the domestic market. Of the total order intake, 77% came from bioenergy, 77% from engineering, and balance 6% from PHS business. The order backlog as of December 24 is at INR 43.5 billion, comprising 75% of the domestic orders. Cash in hand as of 31st December is INR 6.4 billion. I now conclude my remarks, and I would like to thank you all for joining us on this call. We would now be happy to discuss any questions, comments, or suggestions you may have.
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 touchtone telephone. If you wish to withdraw 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. We'll take a first question from the line of Mohit Kumar from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. So good to see pickup in the order inflow. But my question is, it seems like the domestic ordering is still weak as far as bioenergy is concerned. It is international order which are driving it. How do you think about the domestic order opportunity as we enter Q4 and FY2026, given that we are very close to meeting our blending mandate of 20%?
Thank you for the question, Mohit. We have stated as part of our long-term strategy that we would like to move to a mix of 50% from domestic and 50% from international now. That is the percentage share of the pie, but each pie size is expected to grow. We are not saying that this international business growth comes at the expense of domestic business volumes. What we are saying is that as we grow, we expect the international business to grow at a much faster pace compared to where it is today. Therefore, when we reach the 2030 situation timeline, we will be in a position to have a 50%-50% split between the two. This is done with a lot of thinking. We are a globally operating company.
As I mentioned in my remarks, there are several governments in the international arena which have realized the importance of bioenergy, and they are enacting laws in their countries. They are creating an ecosystem. They are pushing for inclusion of a higher share for bioenergy in their overall energy mix. We cannot, having built a very, very strong base, as you are probably aware, in over 100 countries, there are 1,000 installations that Praj has built over the last 40 years. It's but natural for us to go and leverage that opportunity. Apart from that, we have also worked on several dimensions of technology development in this particular space, which we can now actually take to the world because the technologies that we have developed are really benchmark technologies in the respective space.
So given this disposition, I would say that there is no, we are not looking at shrinking any business. We are only growing, but obviously, that's growing at different paces with both the businesses domestic as well as international.
Understood, sir. My second question is, it has been a while that we have received the CBG orders. I think we received something last fiscal. In your opinion, do you think the CBG ordering will pick up now? And how has been your experience in executing the first set of orders, which we won last year?
So you're right that the CBG ecospace is developing at a little differentiated pace, and that is leading to a situation that we don't have a continuum flow. That's the way we saw it on the earlier opportunity in the liquid biofuel side. But we are not a gas economy, so there are elements which need to, the interconnectivity elements, the retailing, the different dimensions that come into play that have to happen for the thing to become a very mature ecosystem. I think what we have to understand is that this is a developing ecosystem, and therefore, there likely to be some time what I would call as not a uniform flow all across. That will take some time to happen.
Having said that, the four projects that you mentioned that we had announced last year are under construction now, and we expect them to go into commissioning phase towards the first quarter of next year. That's the plan as well. So that's what will happen. The contract that I mentioned about this particular quarter is unique because here, the feedstock is going, the plant is located in the middle of the feedstock. So the feedstock has no logistics of bringing from outside. It will be grown around the plant, and then refreshed. So it's going to be very interesting because it does give a unique opportunity to design the plant differently, create a very different kind of footprint on both water and energy, and we are very, very excited to work on this opportunity.
Thank you, sir. Thank you, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to answer queries from all participants, please restrict your questions to two at a time. You may join back the queue for follow-up questions. We'll take our next question from the line of Amit Anwani from PL Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thanks for taking my question. My first question is on the GenX facility you highlighted the delay. So just wanted to understand earlier we were building in revenue contribution from H1 FY2026. What led to the delay? Is it the customers who are delaying giving you the orders? And second is, what is the quantum of order book we'll be building in the next three months for which the revenue is expected in H2 of next year? Yeah.
So Amit, what Sachin mentioned, and I also mentioned in my remarks, was the fact that the land acquisition and construction of the facility took six months, roughly six months more than what we had planned. And in this business, once the facility is completely ready, then the customer teams do a very, very detailed audit of the facility. They give their comments and remarks, and there could be a follow-up audit as well in some cases before they approve the facility for utilization as a manufacturing base. And that process, unless that process is gone through, we cannot start producing anything in the facility. So just for example's sake, and I'm just giving this to illustrate the point, so Praj may receive an order, but unless Mangalore is an approved facility, we cannot produce it there unless it is approved for that particular customer.
And then we'll have to produce it at a location where it is already approved. So for example, Kandla in this case. So that is the process that we are going through now, and as we mentioned, and these are large contracts, so their decision period is slightly longer. But not only that, their execution cycle is longer. Therefore, we mentioned that we expect that over the next six months, the order book will start to build for that facility because now we have approvals from the customers who we have targeted that they should be able to move from there. Yes. And then we will be able to move forward as the order book because the pipeline for inquiry already exists. We are already in dialogue with customers that we start to move.
And the readiness of the facility is not only about leveling the land and building the sheds and putting the machines inside, but after we do all of that, we also have to go through a series of certifications which are required from international accreditation agencies like the ISO certificate, the ASME certifications, the EN certifications because these are necessary for us to start work or even present our case to our customers saying, "We have this facility which is certified, so please allow us to use this." So that's the stage that we've gone through now, and now we are very confident that as we move forward, we start to see the change there. But till that time, we actually start to have revenue from there.
As Sachin keeps reminding me, there's an expense that is required on this facility, both in terms of depreciation as well as the team that we have built there and all the expenses that are associated with the facility. So that will happen till the time we actually start. So there is no revenue recognition right now from that facility, but as I was mentioning, over the last nine months, over INR 80 crores is the spend that we have on the revenue side for this facility.
Sure, sir. But any thought on what could be the revenue contribution in FY2026 from here?
No. It's not proper for me to give you a percentage of revenue because then I'm saying what my next year's revenue has been, and that's the guideline that we do not provide.
Sure, and this expense, will this continue or will this further increase the 80 crore YTD at the rate of, for example, 25, 30 crores? So for the next three, four quarters, will this further increase or?
Amit, we will definitely be having expenses coming up in the current quarter also. Maybe whatever the proportion of the expenses are to be incurred for this quarter. Next year, rather expenses will grow, of course, but in line with the revenue which is going to flow in also. So it is not that only expenses are going to grow, but we will be seeing revenue also flowing in in the next year. So we believe that the more of these expenses which we have seen in the current year will get to a reasonable extent narrowed down in the next year.
My last question on the U.S. now. Since the regime changes happened, and we were actually looking for the inflation reduction in the opportunity for SAF, and also, I believe, I think the engineering business to some extent caters to U.S. So any change in that pipeline which we were highlighting for SAF in the U.S., and any change in your five-year vision post the regime change in the U.S. because we are largely focusing on increasing the exports drastically, and the drastic changes have happened in the U.S. with respect to spending and renewables. Yeah.
So, Amit, difficult for us to predict the future with respect to the policy dimensions in the U.S. government, but what we believe is there's a very strong focus, as you rightly put, on jobs that get created locally in the local economy in the United States. And actually, if you go to see when we will build a project for SAF, we'll actually be building jobs in the United States because any facility will call for people to be employed and deployed. But not only that, even the feedstock chains are local, supply chains are local, so that will also create.
So from whatever we understood so far, and I've been speaking to our prospective customers, they have all mentioned to me that they do not expect any difficulty because their projects are based on the fact that in the U.S. Midwest, they will be able to provide not only investments, they will bring jobs, they will bring push to a local economy, they will provide additional relief to the local farming community. So from all those perspectives, I think they believe that they are in a positive territory even with the regime change that has happened in the United States.
Sure. So thank you so much.
Thanks.
Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Deepesh Agarwal from UTI AMC. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good afternoon, team. Sir, my first question is, on the RCM for PLA and Bio-Glutamine, when should we look at the ordering opportunity opening up, and what would be usually the size of the orders which can come up from there? And apart from these, what is the progress on the other biochemicals which you were developing in the RCM?
So in the biopolymers and RCM space that we mentioned, we have progressed dialogue with a significant number of customers on what can we do to help them establish a facility for PLA. That is a dialogue that is currently underway with many, many number of customers, both in India and abroad. So our demonstration of capability and technology has actually enticed a lot of interest from the prospective customers. So that's a dialogue that is underway right now.
There is no conclusion as of yet, but this is a new technology for a very new area, and therefore, the gestation periods are longer because dialogues are obviously longer as well. In terms of Bio-Glutamine, we believe that this demonstration that we have done actually showcases the fact that we can create a high-value-added product from a waste stream in a project, especially the ones where feedstock is lignin-rich agriculture feedstock. We believe that as we move forward through the next 12 months, we will be able to see because this is a product that could financially alter the financials of the project very positively, and therefore, we expect that this has already created a lot of interest from existing people who are running CBG projects and, of course, in the new projects as well.
This also solves one of the key, what I would call as, challenge areas for these plant operators because this treats the waste very differently and creates. The government has already announced, Honorable Minister mentioned, support for BioG lutamine because we are currently importing 50% of our glutamine. From all dimensions, this is something that will develop very, very positively.
Any estimate, even if, say, 20%-25% of the glutamine requirement moves to Bio-Glutamine, what could be the ordering potential over the next few years for us?
Slightly early days for us to start pushing these numbers out because this is an application-oriented product. So it's not just that you just produce it. This has to be also developed for the application, and we have done that. We have demonstrated the application. We have showcased how it can be done. So probably in three months' time, when we meet again, we'll be in a position to answer this question much better to you. Just if I remember my numbers correctly, India will need 50% of its bitumen to be imported. Today, we do import that. And this will become a substitute. This is also not a 100% substitute for bitumen. This is when you make the road, you need different elements to go in. There are polymers that go to provide a certain characteristics and quality to the road. There's a quality of bitumen.
There's a grade. There's temperature conditions, multiple dimensions. But what's exciting for us is we have a product line that can go and meet all of these conditions at differentiated numbers. So we will be in a position to talk about it in more detail three months from now.
Sure. And any kind of a color you can give us on the capital commitment which will go in given your tie-up with the BPCL and IOCL in the JV form?
So Deepesh, we have to still work it out because right now, the board has given an approval. Both the boards have given an approval for signing the term sheet, which will get converted into definitive JV agreement in the near future. As we progress on that, because we are currently working on how many plants can come up under this JV, how many different feedstocks to be considered. So all that working is right now going on. Depending on the number of projects which will come under this JV, the capital structure for this JV and the capital commitment from both the entities will come into the picture. So it is the first step which has happened for converting the dialogue into a term sheet. And when we progress to the final signing of the JV agreement, all these elements will come through.
So it's just a matter of next three, four months as the work is already progressing on developing the projects for this JV.
Fair to understand, whatever the plants will come up there, a major portion of that opportunity will flow to Praj?
So this JV has two elements. One, naturally, for offtake of this gas by BPCL and the technology to be provided by Praj. So yes, otherwise, why there should be a JV from Praj's side? We are entering into this JV to offer our technology.
Right. And lastly, while I understand you mentioned in the beginning of the call during the quarter, there was a mixed impact on margin. But fair to understand, the margins which you were reporting over the last four quarters, those kinds of margin which works out roughly to a very short percentage, that could be a margin we should look forward as and when the mix normalize?
So Deepesh, the margin has not dipped in because there is an increase in the material cost. So the impact which I could have said that, "Oh, this impact is going to be forever," is not going to be there. It's going to be always a game of what kind of a composition of sales is going to be. And that we are repeatedly seeing every quarter that the margin is going to be dependent on what component of order we are executing. So we are not saying that there will be a reversal of margin just because this quarter we have seen dipping in the margin. On the year-end basis, on a cumulative basis, we definitely believe that our margin will show a positive trend as compared to the previous years.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Sani Vishe from Axis Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you, sir, for taking my question. So I'm just trying to understand that, as we said, this appears to be a liberation of a quarter.
Sorry to interrupt. Sani, can you use your handset mode, please? Your audio is not very clear.
Is it better? Hello?
Yeah. Sani?
Yeah. So is it better?
Yes. Please go ahead.
Yeah. So I was trying to understand that, as Chaudhari sir said, this appears to be an aberration of a quarter. So the delays that have happened this quarter, do you expect it to push other deliveries in the next quarter further? Or can we see an incremental delay within the next quarter? In other words, can we expect revenue run rate to normalize from Q4, or can we hope to have a better-than-usual quarter next one and then normalize from Q1, Q2, Q3?
So if you look at the reason which we have mentioned for the lower revenue during this quarter, we believe that there will be some impact in the next quarter too because we have seen delays in the GenX orders coming up by almost two quarters. So we will see some impact naturally happening in the next quarter also. That doesn't mean that other businesses' revenue booking is not going to happen. But are we looking at complete reversal? For that, we said that FY2026 is the one where we will see the order booking which is going to get reflected from this quarter in this engineering business, which will start flowing in the form of revenue from the next year then.
Okay. Okay. Understood. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Prateek Poddar from Bandhan AMC. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Just two questions. One is on IRA 45Z benefits, right, with IRA being almost.
Prateek, we can't hear you, Prateek.
Hello. Am I audible?
Yes.
Hello. Am I audible, sir?
Yes. Please go ahead.
Yeah. It's just on IRA 45Z, the benefits and incentives for ethanol producers, do they still stand after the IRA being repealed, or how should we think about that? And in that context, how should we think about the ATJ route and SAF production?
Yeah, so the 45Z provisions, there are two dimensions to it. In fact, I am sitting here talking about it today morning only. One is the tax credits that are available. Should they be available to ethanol producers, or should they be available to SAF producers? That's the big debate, and then, after some discussion, it looks like that they are most likely to be available with SAF producers. What it fundamentally means is that ethanol meant for SAF production, now in what proportion it gets divided between the two, between the ethanol producer and the SAF producer, is a matter of an arrangement between two of them, but the tax credits are likely to be available, most likely to be available for SAF production. That's number one. Number two, the SAF story is still intact.
It's an international agreement that is enforced that will come on 1st January 2027, and we'll start to play out from there. As I mentioned, we have been there also a particular dialogue with ICAO. So we know how these things are shaping up in terms of its positive movement forward and development and deployment of a common minimum program for the international flight. So we do see, and also the fact that from a U.S. perspective, since your question is specific to U.S., it creates a very unique opportunity for Midwest and United States to actually see growth in farming opportunity as well as in the industrial opportunity and create local jobs. So these three are fixed as far as SAF projects are concerned in United States, and therefore it's likely to drive continue to build positively as we move forward.
Okay. The second question was, sir, we have seen an increase in the engineering orders this quarter versus last. Given that GenX was delayed by three, six months, which you called out, is it fair to understand that from here on, the orders will only increase, and in the next year, the proportion of engineering orders will be higher than what we will exit at in this quarter?
That's a perfect understanding, Prateek.
Okay. Fantastic. Fantastic. And sir, just lastly, you talked about January 2027 being the year for SAF and the story being intact. That would mean that the inquiry pipeline starts building up, right? That's a fair understanding?
Yes. So we don't know what is likely to be mandated in different countries, but what is definitely mandated is that the international flights will have to move on that path of using SAF. What happens to domestic side, each country is providing its own treatment to this in terms of what they want to mandate in their respective geographies. So that's a separate thing, but the international side, definitely yes.
Perfect, sir. Thank you so much, and best wishes for the future, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Shailesh Kanani from Centrum Broking. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, Pramod sir had in the opening remarks said that we maintain our guidance of 3X in revenue front. So it's not just this quarter, but we have seen some muted revenue performance for the last two years now. So can you just highlight some key milestones or monitorables for us which we think we need to watch out for?
Shailesh, I think what PMC mentioned was the fact that when we issued the guideline of 10,000 crores, that is 3X growth in top line and 5X in bottom line by 2030, that is intact, and that's not changing. We are very confident and committed that that will happen as a company, as a team. There is absolutely no reason for us to believe that there is any other story. That's number one. Number two, in terms of markers, as I said, one of the key strategic initiatives that we undertook for this purpose is to say, "How do we grow our export order book?" And that, as you can see, is already moving in the right direction. So that's one clear indicator for you whether things are happening or not happening. That's number one. I think already somebody asked me a question.
And I'm talking now, not next quarter perspective, but a little longer-term perspective in terms of how the SAF opportunity develops for us. We are very, very confident that it will develop very positively as we move forward. Probably if not the next year, the year after, we'll definitely see SAF plants coming to life in several parts of the world. That's the second one. Then we have discussed other things about CBG, bio-bitumen. I also mentioned several initiatives that we have taken to actually start differentiating us in the domestic ethanol market as well. As we start this journey from here onwards, I think the two dimensions change that I see.
One, very clearly, as you mentioned, customers will look for enhanced value of their operations, which is where the co-product development, the new technological innovations that we are talking about will all start to come in play and will differentiate, and at a global level, as we move forward, I think the carbon intensity of ethanol will start to become an important issue, and that will also create a set of opportunities for us.
Sir, just sorry to harp on this, but because we have seen consistent delays in most of the molecules, be it SAF, be it CBG. So that is the reason I was wondering, okay, any near to medium term? I understand not one quarter or one six months, but in general, any monitorable key for us to watch out because there has been some delay, as you also mentioned in the earlier remarks, that CBG has not picked up as we were expecting. So just was wondering on that front.
So I think on SAF, we have maintained that for January 2027 is the first time it kicks in as a regulation across the world. And there's no change in that date for SAF mandate to be implemented. In terms of CBG, yes, as I mentioned, India is not a gas economy or was not a gas economy. We are more a liquid and solid fuel economy. So the whole infrastructure development, the rules and regulations, the last mile connectivity, a number of issues that have to be taken care of. And I think that's being addressed expeditiously by all concerned. But yes, we are not ready. So they have to be built ready. And that takes a bit of time. But I believe that as we go through the calendar year, we will start to see a very different kind of positive interest develop into CBG space.
That's helpful. Sir, on CBG front, just to dissect it more, what are the current offerings in terms of feedstock like pressmud or various other feedstocks which we are kind of offering to clients? And as per your understanding, which feedstock would pick up initially and which would be coming in later half of the whole CBG 5,000 or 2,500 plants? If you can throw some light on that.
Okay. So to keep the answer very simple, as of date, we are able to handle all feedstocks except that we are not offering solutions for MSW. Okay. Other than that, if there's a feedstock, we have a solution that is agri-based feedstock, industrial, organic waste, chicken, farm-based, whichever the waste sources are. So I'll keep the answer simple. Rather than give you a whole list of all the feedstocks that we could do, I'm saying the only feedstock we are currently not addressing is MSW. That's number one. Number two, you asked about the fact saying how will this whole ecosystem develop around feedstocks and which is likely to be the most preferred. From the looks of it, as of date, so initially, the pressmud continues to be a feedstock that I think will start acquiring prominence as we move forward from the sugar mills' perspective as well.
That's number one. Number two, Napier grass is increasingly becoming a very preferred feedstock, and that is where I mentioned that our solution of providing bio-bitumen as a co-product out of processing of Napier grass-based plants. It is also true that we can do this for other agri-based plants that we come up for CBG. From their waste treatment, we can create the bio-bitumen stream, but Napier grass seems to be a preferred choice for many because of its own properties that you can get four crops in a year. You don't have to store it for the whole year, etc., etc. There's some positives in its favor, so we believe Napier grass will be a feedstock of choice. There is rice straw, of course, in the country in itself. We believe that these three will become the key feedstock as we move towards pressmud, Napier grass, and rice straw.
Our offerings are in the top quadrant in terms of yields and other things for the client, right, in this?
Yes. Yes. Absolutely. No question.
Sir, just one last question. One more last question. We had this budget announcement where there was some support for CBG plants and some allocation was done. Any update on that or any expectations from the budget what we are having? That's all from my side, sir.
No. So obviously, as I mentioned, that the whole ecosystem is not mature because we are not a gas economy. So that's under development. It's moved a lot from where it was, say, five years ago. So it's moved significantly upwards. It's not like a liquid biofuel ecosystem that is very, very mature. So it has some distance to go. But I can clearly see a lot of steps being taken. Plus, this new model that I talked to you about where the plant is located inside the feedstock area in the field, that addresses many issues of which currently the industry is facing and allows a lot more flexibility. So I think that could also become a model of future. We'll have to see how that model progresses as we move forward.
Okay, sir. That's helpful. Thanks a lot and best of luck, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
We request participants to kindly restrict to two questions at a time. We'll take our next question from the line of Aditya Mongia from Kotak Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. And I'll move on to my questions. The first question that I had was more on the change at the helm that has happened at this point of time. If Mr. Joshi could kind of chip in and give us a sense as to what was the thought process or what are the parameters being thought through with the new candidate.
Can you hear me, Aditya?
Aditya, can you use your handset mode, please?
On handset. Is it a problem right now also?
No, now it is clearer.
Sure. No, so the question that I had was for Mr. Chaudhari. The question that I had was, of course, there's an important transition happening at the CEO level. What were the employers thought through while kind of thinking through the right candidate and how to kind of think through incrementally from a strategy perspective? That's the first question that I had.
Aditya, maybe that's a little detailed question because it will need us to illustrate some things for you as to where the business today is and how we want it to move, what are the likely interventions in future. So if you happen to be in Pune, PMC says, "We'll be happy to dialogue with you.
Sure. Understood. The question that I had beyond this was more on the CBG front. As we understand right now, it's at a very nascent stage when a lot of equipment are being imported today. I wanted to kind of seek your guidance on, A, what are the prospects of further cost reductions that can happen over here? And B, does it lead to Praj entering into adjacent revenue streams such as manufacturing of equipment that today may be imported from outside?
Okay. So, Aditya, just to confirm to you, you don't need to import anything today for CBG. Okay. You can import, but you don't have to import. If that was the question. So that's number one. Number two, the CBG business is interestingly developing into a very, very, very different dimension. So it's no longer a single molecule business. It never was. But we earlier thought that, okay, there's CBG, and then there is solid fertilizer that we come. And now, so that's number one. And now, as I was mentioning earlier as well, the solid fertilizer comes out of each processing of the feedstock, especially the ones that are lignin-rich, which is the agri-residuals, so Napier grass, rice straw, other grasses, other straws, these feedstocks.
There, if you create a solid fertilizer, and I'm using very ballpark numbers here, the typical operating margin that a plant will get, plant owner will get on the solid fuel fertilizer will be off the order of INR 4 to a kilo of production of fertilizer. Okay. Against that, if you convert instead of fertilizer, you convert that to bio-bitumen using our process, the margins can multiply fivefold or even more. So very different ecosystem that will emerge where it will become like, and we've talked about it in our different forums as well, saying the concept is of multi-product, multi-feed, and multi-product at the other end. So we manage multiple feeds. We manage multiple products at the end line as co-products, as main product line. And the idea is to ensure that every waste stream that comes out is valorized. So that's the second dimension.
The third is, as I mentioned, this new type of plant where the plant is located. So normally, other plants have been built so far. They are not in the middle of their own feedstock area. In a sense, the fields are distant, maybe 20 kilometers, 30 kilometers, whatever the distance is. But now we are talking about plant located inside the field. Now, that has a very different connotation because that allows you to create a very low water footprint, very nutrient-rich water going back to the land. So there are many positives around it, which we believe could actually help to further enhance the attractiveness of these plants. So this is the first project that we have just received the contract for. Of course, it takes 12 months to build one.
But that is something which is very, very exciting development in this space, and we have to see how that develops.
Sure. This is a legit question. Given the response that you have.
Could you join back the queue, please, as we have other participants waiting?
I just had one question, by the way. If I can, it is just a follow-up question to this one. Then I can fall back into the queue.
Please go ahead.
Thank you. Just on the response that you have given on CBG, when you think about Praj's capabilities in this domain, and that includes bioproducts as well, is going and becoming, let's say, an owner of the plant or a developer of the plant a better way to monetize those capabilities? Or do you think the same level of monetization can happen even as an EPC player? And your sense of how much money then you may be willing to kind of put inside this venture?
So I would just say two things. Obviously, as a technology and equipment supplier, there's a margin that we or a fee that we get for giving those services and products to a project developer. But the fact that he's putting a project means he further makes money on that. So from that perspective, otherwise, there is no project, right? What's critical to understand is there are essentially four elements to this whole thing. One is the feedstock part of feedstock supply chain. The second is the plant that converts the feedstock to these products and gas. And the third is the offtake that is required to act. And of course, fourth is the operation of the overall system. So from that perspective, I think each player in the value chain would definitely, if they add value, they will be capturing some part of it for themselves.
Some they'll pass on to their customers in the chain. So yes, if we do become producers as well, then there's an additional player, but then there's an additional CapEx. There's different dimensions that sort of flow in. And we believe that getting this whole ecosystem off its potential will require a lot more collaborative work between supply chains, between technology providers, operators, and the gas offtakers. So, model by itself, there is no one model that fits all.
No, understand. We will discuss this more later. But thank you for your response on this one. Very useful. Thank you.
Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Vikram Suryavanshi from PhillipCapital India. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good afternoon, sir. Can you update on how is the progress on other 2G projects in India? And particularly, we were expecting good action from Europe and international market, but obviously, because of geopolitical situation, that was deferred. But going ahead, how that outlook looks now?
Vikram, so two things I will say. One, that we are moving forward positively on commissioning of the IOCL project, which is important, and it's a stepwise process. So that's happening, which is the good news. We'll also see the two other projects in the country go on stream in due course during this calendar year. That's another positive development that will happen. We are also beginning to receive inquiries from different quarters because if you remember earlier, I had mentioned about SAF being one of the drivers for a need for a low-carbon ethanol, and 2G obviously fits that bill perfectly well, so we are beginning to see what I would call an interest emerge on this space as well. As you rightly said, the geopolitical situation has actually led to some delay or deferring of these projects that were earlier on the anvil.
But we have constant dialogue with them, and I'm very hopeful that as we pass through this calendar meeting towards the later half of this year, we'll start to see a revival on those as well.
Got it. And in terms of bioplastic, we have seen some states are already announcing the policies, but a lot was expected from the central government. So how do you see that space evolving? Will it be more on a state government pushing for the CapEx, or we expect even central government can come out with the policy to kickstart the whole path?
In terms of the way we look at it, I think it's a very welcome thing that the state governments are taking lead in providing the incentives for this very, very important technology for mankind. I think that's very positive development. But globally, also, there is a requirement to create a common understanding of treatment of plastics, what do we want to do? What's biodegradability? How do we move forward. There's a lot of very, very constructive dialogue that is taking place right now. The United Nations is taking lead to create a common standard for all countries. There are many dimensions to this plastic thing. It is an essential part of our life. It's not going away, but can we make sure that it does not leave a harmful footprint? That's what is driving all these actions. That's where we are today.
I think we will see, as time progresses, very constructive development on these sides, as well as you mentioned. We expect national governments across the world to actually start thinking in terms of what they want to do to address this problem. In the meanwhile, the state government initiatives are obviously very welcome.
Got it. Thank you very much.
Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Shyam Maheshwari from Aditya Birla Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity. I had a couple of questions, sir. So firstly, on the engineering side, and I know you alluded to it, but if I look at our inflows, except for the last two quarters as well, we were averaging anywhere between INR 250 crore-INR 350 crore quarterly inflow. While our Kandla facility is still operational, I wanted to understand why there has been this sudden dip in the inflow side. Is there been some hesitancy from the client side, or is it a conscious call from our side to probably not book more inflows till the Mangalore facility is operational? So that's my first question, sir.
Shyam, the way you look at it is like this. The nature of the equipment and systems that we will build at Mangalore are different. They're larger in size. The project sizes are larger compared to what we've handled so far. That's number one. Number two, Kandla has limited capacity. It cannot produce an unlimited amount of equipment. It has limited capacity. In fact, we have also taken steps to, because the Mangalore project got a little delayed, we had to actually move to enhance the Kandla facility also, which we did. However, the essence is that as the Mangalore facility starts to scale up, which it will, as I mentioned earlier, and Sachin did as well, we will start to see a constructive development on these inquiries. These are large size, and therefore they take a little longer decision period.
But we also know them very much in advance. So we already know the inquiries, the names of the projects where they are required. And the good news, while they got a little delay, some from our end, some from customers' end, the fact remains that none of them have gone away. Those all opportunities are there, and we think that it will definitely move forward.
Interesting, sir. And when you mentioned large-sized equipments, what would be a typical order value of, let's say, one such order?
It could vary, but typically, this will be three-digit crores.
Interesting. And, sir, secondly, on the international biofuel business, so we have one project in Brazil, Latin America, and now in Tanzania as well. Wanted to understand the scope of our work there. So, do we just do the product supply, or maybe do we tie up with a local company there to construct the plant, or do we do the entire construction activity also?
No, we don't do the construction activity overseas. We do not offer any construction services to customers. Each market has a different requirement of how they make the decision. So for example, in India, customers will say, "I need this capacity plant. This is my feedstock. This is my site. Come and tell me what you can do for me and give me an offer." And the discussions proceed. If you go to Brazil, the discussion is very different. They will say, "No, I want you to do the engineering of the whole project first. So this is what I want to do. This is my feedstock. This is the output I want. Tell me the full engineering of the project." Once the engineering is done, we will estimate the project to its full cost, and then we will decide to go forward, not to take the FID step.
So the third market will say, "No, I want to go in between." So there are different models that operate in different markets. In India, customers would actually call out for us to hold construction responsibility for our scope of work. It's very okay in international markets not to have construction or offering as a service as an offering. So we are good with that, and we are not planning on offering that as well.
Interesting, and sir, lastly.
I'd like to request you to join back the queue, please, as we have other participants waiting. Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Manish Goel from Thinkwise Wealth Managers. Please go ahead.
Yes. Thank you, and very good afternoon. And nice to hear you meet with Pramod Chaudhari after a very long time. Sir, just two questions. One on the international revenue, as we are targeting 50% revenue by FY30. So just the growth would be probably 8X. The revenue from international was INR 665 crores in FY24, and we are targeting roughly INR 5,000 crores by FY30. So if you can just provide perspective as to how the contribution would look like, say, from GenX products, from bioenergy, from CPES, that would be very helpful. And second question, just on a better understanding on the GenX plant, as you mentioned that in the first nine months, we have roughly incurred expenses of INR 80 crores, which is booked in the P&L. So if the plant was commercialized recently, then why is it not capitalized and it's probably booked in the P&L?
I understand that the land was probably leased out, and it's partly reflected in the depreciation. So if you can clarify on both these subjects? Thank you. So maybe I will take the second question first. Technically, the commercial production has already commenced in the month of February, okay? Because the plant and equipment were kept ready for. So it's not that we have not done anything. We have actually manufactured one equipment and dispatched in the last year. So as we know from the accounting principles point of view, the moment you start the commercial production, after that, you cannot capitalize anything. So all the equipments were not technically installed at that point of time, but the commercial production has started for one equipment which we manufactured there, and that's the reason subsequent expenses are not capitalized, and we had to take it through the profit and loss account.
Your first question was related to the growth which you are looking at in the international market. Yes, it is going to be at times. Yes, there will be a larger portion of internationalization happening. It is on two accounts. One, the GenX business, which is entirely export-oriented, and another one is the bioethanol business, which we mentioned earlier, that the internationalization has started in a big way happening in that business. These two businesses are going to contribute in a big way. So the pie definitely, as Shishir was mentioning, the entire pie is growing for domestic and international, and that's how the composition is going to emerge of 50-50%. We have also mentioned that Praj HiPurity has also started showing its international business now. So these are the components which will contribute by 2030 in the overall game of internationalization.
The question of margin is a bit tricky for a reason, because as Shishir was explaining, the international orders will have all kinds of sellers and elements. In the sense, it will have the services element, it will have the equipment element, and to some extent, it might have the EPC element also. Just to give an answer for how the EPC will come into picture, the current Tanzania order which we are going to execute, we will have some kind of a local construction work also to be taken care of. Naturally, we are not going to do it on our own. We will be having contractors to do that kind of a job. But in the future, in the bioenergy business, if there is an element of construction, then that will also start playing a very different flavor on the margin.
So it will be a little too early to tell you what will be the margin in 2030 based on the composition of the business which we are looking at, which is supposedly to emerge. We have not talked about the other two businesses which are also going to contribute in the international business. One is on the RCM side, and another one is on the FX side. So all these components put together are going to give us a top line of 5,000 crores, but the components of delivery are going to be very, very different, which will define the margin profile for us. I can only tell you that margin profile is definitely going to be better than domestic. That's for sure.
Okay, and one more last question, I'll squeeze in. On the Inflation Reduction Act, we were probably doing some engineering-related work as well as a couple of engineering projects, so will it get impacted with probably IRA on back burner, or how should we look at it?
So as I mentioned, Manish, SAF meant for, sorry, ethanol meant for SAF in the United States, because the current ethanol is at a high carbon intensity, will need the solution of going to low carbon intensity. So that remains intact. So as the SAF project starts to pick up, and I do remember that I had mentioned this, that in the U.S., the way when the IRA was defined and we said 3 billion gallons of SAF required by 2030, the first 1 billion, 1.5 odd billion, which is mostly there now in terms of capacity creation, will come from a different route, HEFA route as it is called. And then onwards, everything will most likely come on an ATJ route, which is where we are interested partly. And we see that movement. Our dialogue with customers is moving very constructively.
Those guys who either own their own ethanol plants are now asking us to interact with, speak. Some of our guys are doing an audit for one of the projects to see how that plant can be converted to a low carbon intensity ethanol, because there are other issues about carbon capture and all that which need to be factored in. All SAF-related ethanol projects will need low carbon, no question about it. That is the development that is likely to take place. On the other hand, we also decided that we will not only position it as low carbon solution, but because we realized that when we do low carbon, we are actually reducing the operating cost of the plant.
So we would also position these as operating cost reduction and operating margin improvement solutions, especially in those cases where it is very clearly visible to our customers, and then move this forward.
Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Prathamesh Sawant from Mirae Asset Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, just one question from my end. I just wanted to understand how much steam is left in the grain-based distillery projects in India, because what we can clearly see from the government's intention is that lately what they have done with the FRP of sugar has been increased by 10%, but the relative prices of ethanol have just increased by a meager 2.5%, that too, just for C-Heavy. So I wanted to understand how much, because going forward, we can only see that grain-based driving the momentum in the bioenergy business for the domestic market. So how much scope is left for the same?
So Prathamesh, the way to think is, it's like you're a little elaborated answer, but please stay with me. So the challenge is this. Can we create an ecosystem in which the feedstock costs go down because there are significant part of the cost of the ultimate molecule? And therefore, a lot of work is happening right now around alternative feedstocks, yeah, whether we do this through finding different technological solutions for existing feedstocks or create new feedstocks themselves. And how do we grow them? So agriculture has a solution for that, etc. Can we simultaneously grow two crops in the same cycle, etc.? So that's one dimension that's happening on the feedstock side, and that needs to take care of this.
As we move forward, then, I think what is critical to establish is the fact that for a given feedstock, how the overall movement will happen and what is the prioritization of that feedstock within the overall economy. So we believe there is a lot of push that has come for starch-based feedstock in India. So maize production, maize production going up, plant running on maize, plant running on broken and wasted rice. So we are seeing that progression, and I think we did mention, and if I did, then I can share it now, that even this quarter that has gone by, all our order booking is for starchy feedstock. There is no sugary feedstock in that from the domestic market. So that's the second, the third play that will come.
As we move forward, and we were discussing about SAF a little long term, is that SAF needs that definition: ultra-low carbon ethanol or low carbon ethanol. And for that to happen, then maybe lignocellulose feedstock will make a comeback. So on the feedstock side, it is, I think, a different priority, a different moment in time that will determine whether or as to which feedstock will actually be moving forward. But there is no such thing that only one feedstock will move forward. I think it's different levers for different feedstocks.
So Prathamesh, in the domestic market, I don't believe we'll have that kind of momentum for the lignocellulose benefit because we do not have that kind of a differentiated incentive structure in India. And the concerns over the food or fuel debate are much higher in India. So that's why I was thinking, okay, how much more steam? So okay, but I get your point. And sir, my second question is with respect to the existing bioplastic opportunity. So are we waiting for some JV model or probably waiting for some post-budget announcement? Any light on that?
I think what's important, as I mentioned earlier in my answer, that somebody said that states are doing a lot of policies around promoting or supporting the bioplastics, and I think that's a great step forward. But the same question was also saying, so what's happening at national level?, and I also mentioned at international level, so I think the whole regulatory framework will have to come into place for this to actually take off from where it is now. A lot of very constructive and very deep dialogue is already taking place across the globe within the country as well and within the states, so I think one is the focus of saying, okay, I'll facilitate you to produce this, and I think that's a great step forward.
But the second thing is also that the market creation has to happen for end product where the national policies are important. And then, of course, the international policies are important to drive across the globe mandates. So we'll have to see how each of these three elements develop for the whole ecosystem to come into place.
Okay. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Abhijeet Singh from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hello. Am I audible?
Yes. Please go ahead.
Yes, please.
Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, in the event of this SAF opportunity in the U.S. not paying out as anticipated, what is the recourse that we have, maybe some other market or any other product line that can substitute this kind of gap that we have planned? Any alternative strategy in case there is some risk to this SAF opportunity that seems to be huge?
So Abhijeet, there is a slight delay, and I would admit to that, that there is a slight delay from the initial plans of the SAF producers in the United States. But all of them are going ahead with their projects. Nobody is shelving. The opportunity very much exists. And I think the delay is behind us now. So as we go through the next 18 months, we will actually see this coming to fruition as concrete projects.
Right. Right. That is my question. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I now hand the conference over to management from Praj Industries Limited for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
Yes. So thank you, everyone, for your time today. In case you have any more questions, feel free to write us at info@praj.net. Once again, I thank you all for attending call today and have a good day. Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of Praj Industries Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.