Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and a very warm welcome to the Praj Industries Limited Q1 FY23 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 touchtone phone. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Anuj Sonpal from Valorum Advisors. Thank you and over to you, Anuj.
Thank you, Ali. Good afternoon, everyone, and a very warm welcome to you all. My name is Anuj Sonpal from Valorem Advisors. We represent the investor relations for Praj Industries Limited. On behalf of the company, I'd like to thank you all for participating in the company's earnings conference call for the first quarter of financial year 2023. Before we begin, let me mention a short cautionary statement. Some of the statements made in today's earnings call may be forward-looking in nature. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks 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 earnings call is purely to educate and bring awareness about the company's fundamental business and financial quarter under review. Now let me introduce you to the management participating with us in today's earnings call and hand it over to them for opening remarks. We first have with us Mr. Shishir Joshipura, CEO and Managing Director, and we also have Mr. Sachin Raole, Chief Financial Officer and Director of Resources. Now, without any further delay, I request Mr. Joshipura to start with his opening remarks. Thank you and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Anuj. Good afternoon, everyone. I welcome you to the Praj Industries earnings call for Q1 FY 2023. All of you had the opportunity to go through our results presentation for the quarter ended 30 June 2022. It is once again a pleasure to connect with all of you. Let me now briefly take you all through the quarterly business highlights and industry developments, following which, Sachin will take you through the financials.
We closed the first quarter of FY 2023 on a strong note with a healthy growth in order book and delivery volumes, despite challenges around volatile commodity prices, impact of war in Europe and rising global inflation. This quarter was a confirmation of our ability to scale up delivery capabilities, managing the uncertainties in supply chain while striking a fine balance between building in-house capabilities and outsourcing.
With stabilizing commodity prices and supply chains and increasing focus on sustainable energy transition, business environment is expected to be less volatile and more predictive going forward. Uncertainties in global energy market attributable to the war has brought to fore higher need for energy security. Record high temperatures and heatwaves across Europe and North America have come in as a stark reminder of climate change, as if we needed one, redrawing focus on sustainable climate action in the form of energy transition. In response, nations and corporates around the world are taking definitive steps in harnessing renewable energy sources in their pursuit of carbon intensity reduction. Their increasing demand for low carbon energy sources and biofuels are gaining increasing acceptance as one of the most promising solutions. Globally accepted mechanism of carbon trading is poised for introduction in India, which bodes very well for the biofuels industry.
Capacity addition for production of ethanol in India at the back of advancement of E20 target to 2025, 2026 continued its momentum. The ethanol blending in petrol in India has crossed 10% mark in this quarter, five months ahead of the plan. Indian automotive manufacturers are gearing up to adapt their products to E20 and subsequently to flex fuel option. As for the existing vehicles, tests and trials are underway to analyze comparability of materials to adopt to E20. Our bioenergy business continued its strong performance with a healthy order book of INR 845 crore in this quarter. Around 70% of these orders are for ethanol based on starchy feedstock. Unlike in the past, execution activities are in the top gear in the very first quarter of this fiscal at multiple project sites in different geographies.
On international front, our efforts in providing solutions for low carbon and low energy intensity ethanol are opening newer options and inquiries have started to build up. We have enhanced our reach in Europe, South and North American markets to address this emerging need. Our first project in Brazil is scheduled for commissioning at the end of this year. We have successfully demonstrated the effective impact of our process enhancer solution in Brazil. Both these events will definitely help improve our position as we move forward. On the 2G front, commissioning of IFCL project is in the final stage and start up for commissioning, and we expect it to start operations by end of this year.
Although we continue to be in dialogue with potential developers of 2G projects in Europe, uncertainties owing to the prolonged war have added nearly 2-3 quarters to the decision cycle time. In the mid- to long-term, with several nations pursuing energy security based on captive resources, advanced biofuels are expected to find good traction. In Europe, passing of RED III proposal will provide further boost to the demand for 2G ethanol. Sustainable Aviation Fuel or SAF space is building up for exciting times in near future on the back of rising environmental awareness and climate actions by aviation players. Recently, Praj joined Mission Possible Partnership, MPP, international alliance to pursue net zero aviation.
Praj is working closely with MPP in helping formulate an energy transition strategy aimed at cleaner sky. Praj is actively contributing to the formation of a landmark report making net zero aviation possible, an industry-backed 1.5 degrees Celsius aligned transition strategy. On the CBG front, revised CBG prices and better rates for organic manure will help improve the attractiveness of the projects. Although a little slower than expected, build-up of ecosystem across the value chain is now taking shape. Major corporates have announced plans for significant investment in the CBG space. This quarter, we commissioned a CBG plant based on industrial effluent as a feedstock. With this, we now have CBG products operating on different feedstocks, namely pressmud and industrial effluent in North, South, and West India, with a rice straw-based system expected in commission in the next quarter.
With our unique capabilities and learning from these initial projects, we are in a good position to cater to these emerging opportunities. As for engineering and featured business, we continue to see momentum via a healthy order book and improving inquiry baskets. On the CPS front, energy transition needs of global customers are creating significant opportunity for this business. Energy giants are investing heavily in blue and green hydrogen projects to address the growing demand for the zero-carbon fuel. This is creating a significant opportunity for CPS business. Our capabilities to conceptualize, design, and manufacture complex modules required for these production facilities is finding increasing acceptance from leading customers across the globe. Modularization is emerging as a growth engine for business with significant growth in inquiry base. We have made operational additional capacity in Kandla to cater to this growing demand and further capacity enhancement is being planned.
On the brewery front, the beer consumption levels across the country are back to pre-pandemic levels and are even crossing it. The new capacity formation is expected to follow from next season. On the PHS business front, as Indian pharma industry transits to global size capacity build in biopharma space, fermentation technologies are set to acquire center stage. Leveraging the parent's capabilities in fermentation space, we have made a few initial breakthroughs in this application space for high capacity fermenters, and this will further grow. RCM program at Praj Matrix is accelerated due to ban on identified single-use plastic items from July 1, 2022 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. India's per capita waste generated from single-use plastic is 4 kg per annum per capita.
This ban will now lead to a significant change in demand for compostable plastics as it mitigates pollution caused by littered single-use plastics. Continuous focus on developing innovative technology and enhancing membrane protection has resulted in international and domestic presence currently now crossing a formidable 400 mark for Praj. Before I end, I would like to share with you a couple of awards that we won. Last month, Praj was bestowed with the prestigious Golden Peacock Award in the innovative product and service category for our groundbreaking product, BioCera. Praj was also rated as top company and conferred with Fortune India Next 500 in the engineering sector. This award is a recognition of the remarkable growth and sales performance among the most promising listed companies in India. With this, I will now hand over to Sachin for his comments on the financial performance.
Thank you, Shishir, and good morning, all. The consolidated income from operations grew by 89% and stood at INR 729 crore in quarter 1 of FY 2023 as compared to INR 386 crore in quarter 1 of FY 2022. PBT for the quarter stood at INR 54.23 crore as compared to 29.8 crore in the corresponding period of the last year, growth of 82%. Profit after tax stood at INR 41.26 crore in Q1 of FY 2023 as compared to INR 22.20 crore in Q1 of FY 2022. Export revenues accounted for 16% for Q1 of FY 2023. Of the total revenue, 77% is from bioenergy, 17.3% from engineering, and 5.7% is from PHS business.
The order intake during the quarter was INR 1,094 crore with 81% from domestic market. Of the total order intake, 77.2% came from bioenergy, 17.3% from engineering, and balance 5.5% from PHS business. The order backlog as of 30th June 2022 is at INR 3,242 crore, comprising 84.5% of domestic orders and balance export orders. Cash in hand as on June 30th, 2022 is INR 652 crore. I now conclude my remarks, and I would like to thank you all for joining us on this call. We are happy to discuss any questions or comments or suggestions you may have. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on your touchtone phone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Dhananjai Bagrodia from Alchemy Capital Management . Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for giving me the time out. Wanted to ask you, what is the IRRs someone would expect?
Dhananjai Bagrodia from Alchemy Capital Management , please go ahead with your questions.
Hi, can you hear me? Hello?
Hello, can you hear me?
As there is no response, we will.
Hello?
Move to the next question from the line of Saurabh from East Lane Capital. Please go ahead.
Yes. Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. I have three questions. The first one is on the 1G opportunity. The total capacity needed for 20% blending was 1,500 crore liters when we started off like, say, in FY 2020. That time the existing capacity was about 700 crore liters, and the incremental capacity needed was 800 crore liters. Based on last two-year annual reports, about 700 crore liters already happened. The remaining capacity to be ordered is 100 crore liters. Is this math correct, sir? Could you just clarify on the 1G opportunity which you see in India right now? That's my first question.
Thank you for that question. As you correctly said, we had committed that roughly one thousand crore liters of additional capacity needed to be created in the country when the program was announced and then further extended to 25 for the EBP 20 goals to be met, right? We expect another order of 400-500 crore liter capacity to be further built to be able to meet the EBP 20 targets by 2025.
Okay. Got it. 1,500 crore liters was the total required and, 700 was the existing capacity. The incremental is only 800 crore liters, right, sir? Your annual reports of last two years is mentioning 700 crore liters already happened, and, last year itself, 580 crore happened. Where is the incremental 400, 500 crore liters, if you could elaborate, sir, please?
What happens is that the capacity of the plant, because some of them, they have a seasonal factor. They don't run 365 days a year. The operating the installed capacity may be little different than the operating capacity. Typically we have seen that something in the range of 70%-75% of the installed capacity that comes into play. There could be some other because this is based on agrarian feedstocks, plant operating issues. Typically at about 70% of the installed capacity is what you get the output for. Then if you do that math, we are looking at something like another 500 odd crore capacity to be created in the country as we move forward.
Okay. Over the next couple of years probably, right? Couple of years or three years.
25. That is for meeting the EBP 20 goals, right?
Right.
Now, let us say, as we move forward and, another set of measures, let's say for example, a flexible policy comes into play, right? If that comes into play, then that is an additional demand that will get created, because then, from again 20% of blending, we will go to, some position of 85%, ethanol, as the fuel, right? So
Got it.
The numbers that we have talked about are only as they relate to meeting the goals of the EBP 20 program.
Got it, sir. Sir, also could you highlight the opportunity for 1G in Brazil and Latin America?
Yes. Brazil, as you know, is predominantly a sugarcane-based ethanol producing country. They have also taken a decision to, because of the vast geography and what I would call a large-scale movement that got involved in transferring the sugar-based ethanol from one end of the country to the other. In especially the northwest of the country, the central parts of the country, where corn is available in abundant quantity, the government policy is now shifted to also create corn-based ethanol, and that is what is creating a 1G corn-based ethanol opportunity in that market as of now.
Coupled with that, Brazil also launched the RenovaBio program, which is aimed at lowering the carbon intensity and making the country independent over a period of time from any imports of fossil fuels. If you look at the combined effect of this, Brazil should create a capacity equal to almost 500 crore liters based on corn as feedstock over the next 4-5 years. That is where this significant opportunity is being created right now on corn-based. As I had mentioned in my opening remarks, we have already shipped, the plant has arrived. It is under installation for our corn-based plant in the country.
In the rest of Latin America, different countries have different blending mandates, and based on those blending mandates, we are expecting some movement, positive movement there as well. We are building a very significant scale plant in Paraguay already, and that is under execution right now. So depending on how and as I was mentioning, in general, the trend is to move to higher energy security and therefore higher biofuels in the mix of any country's energy mix. We continue to see traction being built around these in Latin America. In North America, the situation is slightly different.
In North America, the demand because of some very efficient market mechanism, the carbon trading LCFS program in California, for example, the need and demand for low carbon intensity ethanol is high. That is something that is building up now at the back of also a fact that U.S. is also seeing a lot of traction being built around, you know, creating capacity for SAF, where ethanol becomes in the technology, one of the technological pathways that are available uses ethanol as a feedstock for end product of SAF. Even this intermixing of having the mechanisms, carbon trading mechanisms, carbon pricing mechanisms, 1G ethanol already in place, there is a market that is now opening up for creating low carbon intensity ethanol.
All the existing plants actually are a candidate for creating that through integration intervention as well as then defining some different set of energy solutions for them. That is what we see as a clearly emerging opportunity in United States.
Got it. Sir, I have one last question.
Sorry to interrupt. May we request you to come back in queue for follow-up questions. Thank you. Participants are requested to limit their questions to two per participant. Time permitting, you may come back in the queue for a follow-up. The next question is from the line of Levin Shah from ValueQuest Investment Advisors . Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity, and congratulations, sir, for a good set of numbers. My question is on order inflows for this quarter. If you look at the bio energy inflow, there has been a dip versus last quarter of around 15%. An absolute number is close to INR 840 crore versus INR 1,000 crore last quarter. Has that been on account of lower orders that we booked on the 1G side?
No. You said 50% drop. Where did you get 10%?
15%.
I'm sorry. We don't see any dips in the order book or opportunity as it is as we are doing now. As we follow pretty strict rule of what gets reported as order book, what we are seeing. It's fairly at the same level. The overall order book is at INR 1,094 crores this time. I think what was there in the last quarter order book that we had reported, there is a large export order that was also booked under the bioenergy segment there. In this quarter we do not have that, but as we move forward through the year you'll see them happening as well. Also, there is a seasonality especially for the sugar-based ethanol plants, right?
It's not just in the volumes that we are now reporting. All the projects are shifted to starch-based projects. About 70-odd% is now starch-based, but 30% is still sugar-based. Since there is a seasonality factor there may be minor variation on a March quarter to the June quarter, but nothing else to read in that.
Understood. Since we had in the base quarter exports order, if we exclude that, then we would have probably done a similar amount or better?
that is correct.
Right. Sir, and on the engineering side also, we have seen good order inflow during this quarter, as compared to what we have seen last two years. Was there any exports order or any large order that is, that we have got under the engineering business?
Yes. As I was mentioning, for our CPES business, the energy transition phenomena is creating significant opportunities, especially the green and the blue hydrogen space, as well as all the activities that is now taking place around the LNG and the CNG space, especially in Europe and America. Very positive traction. As I was also mentioning, our capability to conceptualize and design and manufacture modular system for these plants is something that is standing us in good stead. You actually see that being reflected in the growth of the engineering order book in the quarter. All these contracts for CPES are meant for export.
Right. This number that we have reported this quarter of around INR 186 crore engineering. This should improve from here as we get more export order on the CPES side.
Yes, more or less, yes. You are right, Levin.
Right. Sir, last question on the other expenses. This quarter, what we have seen is that YoY, the other expenses have almost doubled. Is there a component which is related to the execution and that has resulted in this kind of jump? Or is there any fixed costs which have gone up?
There is nothing extraordinary sitting in the other expenses. It is the direct function of the execution which we are doing. If you look at the top line has also gone up by 2 times. It is basically the variable expenses related to the project execution. There might be some element of extra transportation or a freight cost, but that's a very minimal. It's nothing extraordinary.
Understood. This trend should continue. I mean, with the execution, our other expenses should follow the trend.
That's right. That's right.
Okay. Thanks a lot, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Dhananjai Bagrodia from Alchemy Capital Management. Please go ahead.
Hello. Hi. Can you hear me now?
Yes.
Hello.
Good morning.
Good morning. Wanted to ask for the CBG plant, what is the IRR the asset owners are getting now?
I would not be able to put a number to you directly because there are so many variables, right? What's the cost of feedstock?
Sure.
What's the availability of utilities? At what cost they are available? Are they co-located versus independently located? It would be hazardous to get a single number for them. Let us just say that now the CBG projects are in decent two-digit IRR range, where it is possible for them to be commercially attractive and be funded by banks.
Okay. Is there cause for our next leg of growth? CBG would be an important space. Is there any, like, particular IRR asset owner they're targeting? 'Cause right now it's been only OMCs who have taken the lead. For private to go, they also have to see some decent IRRs, right?
No. Actually, the plant that we have set up are with private sector only. The public sector plant is still to be commissioned. All the 3 plants that I mentioned to you are in private sector. Depending on the cost of capital, their access to funds, how their funding structure is, I think everyone has their own internal hurdle rate that needs to be overcome. Obviously as we see it moving forward with these changes, which are positively impacting the IRR of the project, one should be in a position to see more number of corporates meeting their hurdle rates and therefore stepping up into this arena.
Sure. Would it be fair to assume that all of these players who have taken lead would be, someone who is using this as an ancillary segment, vis-a-vis putting a new plant as a new, asset, right?
Sorry, I have not understood your question.
No, they must be doing all these three plants which are there right now. Must be players who are already in the ancillary business who are using that as a raw material to put up these projects, right?
That is correct.
Okay, sure. Sure I'll just come back in more for questions later. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Naushad Chaudhary from Aditya Birla Asset Management. Please go ahead.
H i. Thanks for the opportunity. Just a clarification on the margin side. Sir, you have been indicating that the pain will be there till 1Q of 2023. Should we look at the current quarter as a bottom and should there be an improvement sequentially on the margin side? That's the first question. Or is there any pain still left which should come in 2Q?
Rather, since last two quarters we are maintaining that we will be seeing some kind of a pressure. Rather this pressure got little bit built up during the first quarter when we saw a very erratic kind of a movement in the commodity prices happening in the month of February and March. The impact, this impact will continue for not only this quarter, to some extent to the next quarter. The H1, we will have some kind of a pressure, but H2 should improve as compared to H1.
That assumes that there'll be no further o f course.
Negative movement on the commodity side. Okay, shouldn't be as bad as this quarter was in terms of gross margin. Should there be a sequential improvement?
Sequentially we should see some improvement because this quarter we had very low component of exports, revenues getting booked also, which will get covered in the next quarter. We will see some kind of a relief on that account. The pressure on the margin side because of the commodity price movement will continue at least for next one quarter.
On a two years timeframe, what is the number one should look at in terms of your EBITDA margin?
No, sorry. We will not be able to give you that kind of a guidance per se, but we will definitely see an improvement because all these orders are now basically getting instituted and new orders are coming with the new pricing in any case. Of course the stability which we are seeing right now in the commodity prices should not disturb the margin side going forward. That's what I can tell you.
Okay. Lastly, on your HiPurity segment, what is the demand outlook here and what kind of growth you expect from this division?
As I was mentioning that we see a clear movement around creating fermentation-based capacity and the manufacturing side of the drugs, and that it should augur well for the business. The other capacity creation of course will continue to serve the businesses as far as our water and wastewater systems are concerned. Now with the advent of this, we do expect that things will start to move even more positively in favor of the business so that we are able to leverage the competency that the parent company has on fermentation and then use that as a knowledge base and combine that with the capability of the PHS business as they understand the pharmaceutical business very, very well.
We will be able to then combine their understanding of markets and customers and the parent's capability around fermentation and leverage that to good effect.
Actually, I just want to understand the scalability piece of this segment. Do you think last year we did around INR 200 crores of business on this segment. Is it really scalable? Can we see a doubling of this segment in a couple of years or will it be near to INR 200-INR 250 odd numbers only?
One of the features of this business is that it serves a single segment, right? That in that sense makes it a, what I would call as a slave to the how the growth in that industry takes place. What is important is within the same industry growth space, now we see a space being created for fermentation technologies and that, as I was mentioning, which will definitely expand the market. Initially it is yes, so I may not be able to put a number out as you are saying, but definitely in the positive direction.
All right. Thank you. That's it from my side and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Haresh Hinduja from SBS Securities. Please go ahead.
Congratulations management on the very good set of numbers. Sir, I have two questions. First is on, in last week or maybe this week only, there's an article in the paper about Adani and Ambani entering into a CBG. Your take on this.
As I mentioned, in my remarks as well, that this augurs well that when some very significant players in the energy segment decide to build this also as part of their business portfolio, it fundamentally means that the markets are becoming attractive and that there is a definitive commitment as we move forward. I think this is very important development for the overall growth and health of the market.
No, but is it true? I mean, just.
Well, I cannot sit on judgment on a news article.
No, no, I'm just saying you, because you must be knowing in industry well.
I know. That's what I'm saying, sir. It's a good news, is what I said. We know that there's a dialogue that we have with both of them, and it's a good and positive development.
Okay. Thank you. The last question is, sir, there is this sugarcane. There will be an excess this year in India and et cetera, et cetera. Previously, there was always you know some argument between fuel and food. Fuel versus food. So is this means that there is a very good for the industry of ours, which has no issue as far as the feedstock is concerned? Why the sugarcane they are saying there will be an excess? Is it not diverting more to the ethanol? Thank you.
I think this is an argument that will always have to be taken into consideration. As you rightly said, feedstock will be a very major issue that
will be addressed in a constructive fashion.
Yes.
Right. That that's the fact. Now, given this background, I think what we have to see is that what are the different feedstocks. As we are also mentioning earlier, that we are clearly seeing a shift away. Earlier, three years ago, everything was on sugar, sugarcane-based feedstock.
Okay.
Now we are seeing 70% of the order book that we have booked in this quarter is now moved to starchy feedstock. That's already one transition that is taking place. I was mentioning about lignocellulosic or straw-based ethanol plant being commissioned towards the end of this year. That's a completely untapped source of feedstocks that will come into play. Up to another 20-25% kind of capacity, maybe 30% feedstock will play out. The further growth will happen based on the 2G or the lignocellulosic feedstock, as we call it, the straws, et cetera, that will come into play.
Different, as we travel through the journey of fuels and different mixes and demands in the economy, I'm sure that we'll start to see a changing mix of feedstock as we go forward.
Isn't it a good for us, being an excess sugarcane availability?
Yes. I will come to the other part. You mentioned that why is there excessive sugar and why that is not getting. Correct. Yes, you are correct. There is a sugar price dynamics also at play because the other big producers of sugar in the world may have a different cycle. There may be drought there. There may be less production or excessive production, as the case may be.
Yes.
Depending on that, obviously the world sugar market prices will also fluctuate. The producers in India will have to think in terms of what is the product mix ideally that they would like to have, to strike a balance for their own balance sheets and demands and needs of their company to be able to address the demands of sugar as well as of ethanol. From all calculations, it is very clear that even if all the Indian sugar demand is met by the sugar mills, we'll still be left with excessive sugar, which needs to be addressed. One part is that you go and export that sugar, and second is that you, rather than producing that sugar, you convert it to energy, which is ethanol.
There has been several indicators, several initiatives from the government side to ask sugar mills to actually push that sugar to for production of ethanol, which is what the country needs today. I think it also enhances our energy security, et cetera. I'm sure as we move forward, we will see a good balance being struck between the two.
I sn't it very good for the company to just save the juice with your new technology last year you introduced?
Is it beneficial for them to export sugar or to save as a juice and then use it for the ethanol manufacture? I mean, sugar or ethanol.
As I was mentioning to you, it depends on the price dynamics of sugar in the global market, right?
Okay. Okay.
What happens to the other sugar producers? As I was mentioning, if there's a drought in Brazil, it's a very different dynamic for the sugar prices in the world as compared to Brazil having normal sugar season. We have to see how that plays out. You are right. As I said, everybody will finally try and see what is the most optimal product mix for them, and they will act accordingly.
Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you so much, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Levin Shah from ValueQuest Investment Advisors. Please go ahead.
Sir, a follow-up on CBG. Have we received any fresh orders on the CBG front?
Sorry, I couldn't follow your question please.
Have we received any new order on the biogas front during this quarter?
No. During this quarter, we haven't received any new order.
Okay. Sir, how are you seeing in your dialogues with your customers or people who are interested in putting up this CBG plant post this price revision, has there been a renewed interest and do we see some kind of pipeline which can materialize maybe over next 2, 3 quarters?
Yes, we are seeing an increased interest and the activity levels have gone up. As you see, we were earlier mentioning, somebody also asking what happens if these two big players enter the business with the intention to set up capacity. I think those are clear positive signs. Some more clarity is, you know, required on how the overall dynamics will play out. As you know that the price increase has come into play only over the last 4-6 weeks. We still have to see impact of that. Overall, we clearly see an increased level of activity in the business in the market.
Right. Sir, lastly, on the CBG front, what we understand is there are a lot of other suppliers as well in the market. How do you see the competition panning out? Will we have dominant share when the orders start coming in or this will be different kind of business dynamics versus what we have in 1G?
Levin, I always believe that if there's competition, that's a good sign, because then that shows that there's a good potential that is developing, right? That is why people are wanting to jump into the fray. That's a good sign to, as far as. Because these are nascent markets. We'll have to see on how the market shares play out, and probably we'll have to give it at least 3, 4 years kind of timeframe for one to arrive at a market share position. But obviously everybody will try and push their own solutions and technology. Unless things are proven on the ground, I think once that whole cycle is gone through, then one will know which technology suits best.
We strongly believe, given our pedigree, that we have the solutions because a major question on this will also be the feedstock that was being asked in a different context earlier by one of the participants. What happens to that, the understanding on those feedstocks. These are several questions that are still to be answered, and only time will tell as to what actually works out. Market shares are a little difficult to predict right now, but definitely the activity levels are improving.
Sure. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Thank you, Levin Shah.
Thank you. In the interest of time, participants are requested to limit their questions to two per participant. The next question is from the line of Divyanshu Sachdeva from White Oak . Please go ahead.
Hello? . Am I audible?
Yes, Divyanshu.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Just one thing, like, in your high purity business, I like to mention that they're having a new optionality in terms of fermentation, and currently you're also serving the pharma market. Just wanted to understand, can you also explore a new optionality in terms of semiconductors and new tech companies as well? Because given the fact they're also in requirement of huge or high purity water. Can we see that as an optionality going ahead?
Yes, Divyanshu, that's a very good observation. You're correct. The water that semiconductor industry will need is very close to what pharmaceutical industry needs. So having capability in that space will obviously put us in a pole position to address the needs of the emerging semiconductor industry as well.
Okay. Just one last note. In the last conf call you mentioned a couple of new words like clean tech or green tech as well as carbon capture, and also today you mentioned of hydrogen also. Just wanted to understand from a longer term perspective, like how do you see Praj panning out in these segments as well?
As I was mentioning to you, there are different solutions on the offer. Right now, let's take hydrogen as an example. Globally, the movement is to use the electrolyzer technology for production of hydrogen, green hydrogen, and also, in several locations, people are producing blue hydrogen, which can fundamentally capture the carbon and separate it out and not let it go to atmosphere. That itself is creating a huge opportunity because we are able to conceptualize and design and manufacture a plant on modules or modules which can then go and very quickly help start up these plants and not take long time of construction every time. That's one clear opportunity that is emerging.
The second bit, I was mentioning to you about the overall, at a broad level, the low carbon intensity solutions that are required, whether in form of low carbon ethanol or we talk of CBG, which is also a low carbon intensity solution as far as CNG is concerned. Different, by-product markets out there. There also, as you know, we have a significant play and technology and experience to bring to the table and offer. Our deep understanding on the feedstocks will help us to address these needs in a good way. As and when, as I was mentioning, the U.S. already has a pretty advanced carbon pricing market. We don't have that yet, but as and when that comes, even that will open up several new opportunities.
We already have a business offering which offers customers capture of CO2, the biogenic CO2 out of our processes, which is considered to be superior grade. There are several solutions that are available in our basket, and they're all on the offer to our customers depending on which segment needs what.
Sure. Thank you so much, sir, and all the best.
Thank you, Divyanshu.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Kunal from B&K . Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, I just wanted to get some sense. Out of the total capacity required to meet the 20% blending target, how much would have been already ordered out, sir?
As I was mentioning, when we started out this accelerated program, about 1,000 crore liters was to be created. As we mentioned earlier, around 500 crore liters still needs to get ordered out.
Okay. Maybe 50% we have reached.
In terms of order, these are not built capacities yet.
O rder. Sir, you mentioned, if I'm not wrong, that you know, out of this, about 70 should be starchy, is what you mentioned?
I said that in this quarter that went by, we saw that 70% of the order finalizations were on the starchy feedstock and 30 on the sugary feedstock.
This INR 550 crore that has been ordered. What would be the, you know, your sense on how much would be sugar and how much would be starchy?
That's a tough one to say, but we clearly see, as I mentioned, that the shift is in favor of starchy feedstocks right now in India, because that's obviously the feedstock in terms of availability and volumes that are now available. Sugary feedstocks are very, very largely already captured in the ecosystem in terms of sugar mills, and then it gets processed from there onwards. Sugary feedstock growth, sugary feedstock-based growth may have a different dimension as compared to starchy feedstock.
Oh, sure. Lastly, within the starchy feedstock, any specific feedstock that you're seeing more, you know, more traction or, you know, more inquiries than others in terms of because of the better availability or, it's more, you know, region-specific?
Look, well, starchy feedstock, I mean, for example, if you go to the United States, it's corn and nothing else.
Right? In India, that's not the case where we have.
Absolutely.
Sugarcane as another feedstock that is available. We can also get maize or corn in parts of India. That's a very local geographical solution. The key issue is that we are in a position to provide a solution irrespective of the feedstock.
Okay. Great, sir. Thank you so much, sir. Best of luck for the future.
Thank you.
The next question is from the line of Bharat Sheth from Quest Investment Advisors. Please go ahead.
Hi, Shishir Joshipura and Sachin Raole. Congratulations on good set of numbers and expect a bigger order book. Sir, my question is related to this flex fuel, what we are talking, for our next leg of the growth for our company in 1G and all. Current is that correct understanding that beyond 15% there has to be a change in the engine as well as the dispensing center by the OMC, and/or it is up to 20%, this is workable?
As our understanding goes right now, the first stage that needs to be overcome is the EBP 20 compatibility for the vehicles. As I mentioned that some tests and trials are underway to understand what needs to change in the existing vehicles. I won't name, but I was talking to one of the largest automotive companies in India, and they mentioned to us that their vehicles are default EBP 20, just that they've not mentioned about it. It depends on what the technology deployed by different OEMs when they manufacture their vehicles. Some of them, which are large multinationals, told me that, you know, our vehicles are already suited as EBP 20.
Some may not be and especially the very old vehicles may not be in a sort of condition to immediately accept it. There also we know that some of the fuel train components will have to change in terms of the gas gauge and the material of rubber that is used, et cetera. No major change is required. In terms of flex fuel, it's a different car or a different vehicle. Flex fuel vehicles will have to be so we can't take the current vehicle and just start using it as a completely flex fuel vehicle. That is a slightly different technology, especially in the way the combustion is controlled, the compression ratios that are required to be brought into the engine, et cetera, et cetera.
Those will have to be designed from, as I would call for since they are already, in a big way they exist in the same brands and same cars, in the field. In that sense, it's a technology already proven on the road.
Okay, great. How OMC will be affected because if some of the vehicle which is if they go for 20%, some of the vehicle will not be really able to take that 20%. Do they have to set up a separate dispensing machine? Second thing, to make them more, I mean, what our government is doing to incentivize OMC to have a separate dispensing? Because currently, it might. If you can throw more light on it. Ethanol is under GST, whereas all the, I mean, gasoline is under, say, old regime. How do really. What about 20% or beyond that also if they go blending?
Whether they have to, I mean, their rates, I mean, taxation will be on the blending rate or it will say 5, if 20%, so 20% will be at the GST. How, otherwise the government is making the whole money. Are we like what we did in playing as a facilitator role to, I mean, bring those kind of change in the system?
As you rightly said, these are some of the issues to be resolved, where obviously number of ministries will get involved, OMC themselves, and those are the issue. I think this issue is also being taken up by the industry associations with the government. It's a very involved dialogue. Obviously these questions will have to be answered as we try to move. I'm sure that we will be able to find an answer. It's just sitting down and finding a logical answer to it, right? This is not rocket science, we'll be able to do it. I'm sure that we'll be able to do it.
Okay. All the best. Thank you.
Thank you, Bharat.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sagar Kapadia from Anvil Shares and Stock Broking. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Hello, Sagar.
Hello, sir. Sir, I just wanted to ask you, the technology solution you have come up with this BIOSYRUP. Suppose if the plant is 100 KLPD sugar plant, and this is working for 7 months, now it wants to work for the entire year. How much CapEx will the client have to incur for this? This CapEx that the client incur will be the revenue for Praj? Another thing on this, any recurring revenue Praj will get by supplying enzymes, et cetera, for this technology?
Yes. If an existing plant wants to run for a full year, and therefore they would like to treat the syrup and store it, and then use it for production of ethanol, they will need the BIOSYRUP technology, which will entail a one-time plant modification and installation of a set of equipment, as well as recurring expense that may be required to be incurred on the what I would call as the enzymes and some of the other performance enhancers, et cetera. That both will be required as far as the operations of a BIOSYRUP-based plant is concerned.
Okay. What will be the value, sir, one time CapEx?
Well, that depends on.
For example, just 100 KL.
I would not be able to answer that on the phone because we are engineers, right? We'll ask you 55 questions on what is the scope and what's the better limit and what's the existing infrastructure and what's the existing facility, how much capacity you've got. There are many questions to be answered. Tough call for me to answer on this and all my technical engineers will kill me if I give you a number. Let's stay with this. , it's not something that it cannot be considered for economic viability is a big issue. I think I keep on saying this to many customers. One is of course the fact that you expand your asset utilization from 6-7 months to around the year.
The bigger one, in my opinion, is the fact that you drop the effluent generation volumes by a factor of 4-5, depending on where the current process is. That is the critical part. I think that's very, very important to understand that this process also drops the effluent generation itself by a factor of 4-5. That is a big positive for the customers when they consider.
Okay.
What happens is that by going through this route, we are also in a manner of speaking, providing a flexibility for use of raw materials as to what they would like for the production of ethanol. BIOSYRUP itself becomes a pit stop then eventually.
BIOSYRUP becomes a pit stop. Sir, another question. I just couldn't hear. You said that you also in dialogue with Reliance and Adani for the CBG projects?
I said in my opening remarks that we are seeing big corporates now announcing plans, which was there in the newspapers. Somebody said, "Are you talking to them?" I said, "Yes.
Okay. You are also in talks with them. Hope, sir, the order flow which is coming for ethanol plants starts coming in the CBG plants also in order to-
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pankaj Kumar from Kotak Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you, sir. Congratulations for good set of numbers. Sir, my question is more related to the previous participant question related to implementation of EBP 20. There might be some challenges going forward because of the OEMs need to do some modification or even the old vehicles need some modification. Do you see any risk of further CapEx or new CapEx, the balanced CapEx that we have delayed by some year or something? Any comment on that?
Is your question that are there likelihood of some of the CapEx is getting delayed, and what is the cause you said?
Maybe because of the implementation of EBP, we still need to do something or because our petrol pump is maybe the fuel dispensing machines might be different for EBP 20 or normal fuel or maybe some other technical issue related to the vehicles, older vehicles and all.
This is exactly what some of the issues. Because up to 10% maybe some of these issues didn't exist. As we move forward, we'll have to address them comprehensively, not only for EBP 20, but also if we have to go beyond to say flex fuel et al, et cetera. CII, CAI, ISMA, all these industry associations of different stakeholders are currently in dialogue with the ministry, concerned ministries and officials. I'm sure that we will see a comprehensive and a conducive policy being rolled out. Because otherwise, if we don't have the enabling mechanism, it will not work.
Okay. Sir, my second question is regarding. Of course, we are creating such a huge capacity on the ethanol side. How do you see services as an opportunity for us in this, right?
Yes, that's a great question. I think a very good question. We recognize the need for bringing our technology and knowledge to our customers, even as we start to operate the plant and not just at that stage of commissioning. There's a big focused effort right now underway, where we believe that we can bring a host of solutions to our customers as they start operating their plants. Now, that could come in the form of, on one end could be CO2, biogenic CO2 capture. At one end it could be O&M services for the plant. It could be performance enhancing enhancers that we have a whole host of solutions, enzymes. We have yields. All of these where we have innate knowledge of what happens to different feedstock and how can we best combine them together.
The universe already exists. The good news is that there's a big market, which is where we have great relationships with our customers, and now our ability to bring all of this in combination will obviously be able to create decent inroads on the OpEx side of customer projects.
Just to extend to this question. What is the current portion of the services business in our revenue mix?
I would say it is at about maybe like 5%.
What could be the potential, assuming this E20 gets over? By that time, what could be the potential in our mix, assuming all other,
The market is very nascent on both counts. Maybe we will be in a position to go 10%. Our aim is to start growing pretty rapidly in that space because we believe there's a lot of headroom for growth. That is the plan that we are rolling out right now to see as to how that business can start growing at a fairly good pace.
Okay. Thank you. Thanks.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Naiser Parikh from Native Capital . Please go ahead.
Hi, Mr. Shishir and Mr. Sachin. Congratulations and thank you for taking the question. For the first question is if you could give a breakup between 1G, 2G and CBG from bioenergy side, about revenue and intake.
Naiser, from our, what I can say, presentation point of view or the monitoring point of view, we generally consider bioenergy as one segment. We have not yet started, segregating this segment into three or four buckets the way in which you are asking for. That's the reason why we basically gave a number for the bioenergy segment all put together.
Understood. Even if you can give some directional context, because, you know.
Directional context, I mean, we always maintain that the way we see, because these two segments, basically CBG and 2G are still in a very nascent stage. We said that they will be graduating over a period of time, and once they get into a little, what I can say, consistency kind of a mode, then we will be in a position to talk about them in a separate way. Otherwise, there is no point in talking for one quarter, then next quarter nothing. I mean, it's still, it has not reached to that kind of a maturity level we can start giving you the different numbers for these segments then.
Got it.
Wait for some time. The market is definitely developing. Seeing the development on CBG and 2G both. Please wait for some time and at the opportune time we will start talking about separately.
Got it. Around 18, is it safe to assume of the order intake, 80%-90% still would be 1G only, roughly?
It's unfortunately on a quarter-on-quarter it keeps on changing. Yes, right now there is a huge influx of orders on the 1G side. For the earlier participant, Shishir was making a mention that there is no CBG order in this quarter. Yes, on a quarter-on-quarter, the numbers might look very different. Yes, currently 1G is the one which is dominating this space.
Got it. Understood. The second question is on margin-
Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt. May we request you to come back in queue for follow-up questions? Thank you. The next question is from the line of Saket Kapoor from Kapoor & Company. Please go ahead.
Yes. Thank you very much, sir, for this opportunity. Sir, firstly, when we look at your consolidated numbers, the increase in revenue, there is a dip in margin. If you could explain what goes into the consolidation and the reason for lower margins when we look at the consolidated numbers.
Mr. Saket, sorry, can you please little bit elaborate your question? I didn't get your question.
Yes, sir, I will repeat it. Sir, when we look at the standalone numbers, the revenue stands at INR 667 crore and the PBT at INR 53 crore. Wherein for the consolidated number, the revenue is at INR 730 crore and the PBT is INR 54 crore. Would like to-
This quarter we have not seen major contribution coming up from our subsidiaries, and that's the reason why you are not seeing any kind of a difference between standalone and the consolidated numbers.
No, your revenues have increased, sir. There is a 10% increase in revenue, but I think that the costs are higher, that is the reason. That is the only reason.
Yes, yes, that's right, because in the subsidiary this time we were only having the execution activity going on and not the supply portion which has played a role, especially into PHS's segment. That is what has contributed. It's not having the corresponding margin coming in.
Okay. Going forward, this is even out, sir, because the costs have been built in this quarter?
That's right. That's right.
Sir, you earlier explained about the higher raw material costs, especially on the stainless steel front, affecting the margins and the passthrough was not easy. Now with this correction and the prices remaining lower, do we see an incremental increase in margin on the engineering segment, especially in terms of the stainless steel prices, which forms a good portion of our raw material?
Yes, we expect that this softening of the commodity prices, which has now started happening, will have an impact. In our kind of a business, you please need to understand that there will be some kind of a lag effect. All this downfall which is happening in the commodity prices, we'll definitely say, and earlier also we said that in H2 we will see this impact coming in, when the older orders which were at the high getting executed at the high commodity prices will come down, and the new orders will start hitting in from the execution side.
H2 would be a better.
Saket, I'm sorry to interrupt. May we request you to come back in queue for follow-up. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Aayush Shah from InvestYadnya . Please go ahead.
Thank you for taking up my question, sir. Am I audible?
Yes, yes, you are.
First, I wanted to ask, what's the development on the diesel blending front with ARAI?
Sorry, sorry. Could you repeat the question, please?
What blending you mentioned? Diesel blending. What is the update on the diesel blending from the R&D, with the ARAI?
Are you saying what's the update on diesel blending? Have I understood the question correctly?
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Okay. There's nothing new that has happened in 2 months, but you will see there is a thinking now going on to see, because that itself, when we started to dive deeper into this, there are very different segments and different standards that are prevalent for diesel engines. For example, stationary engines have a different norm, railway engines have a different norm, automotive engines have a different norm, telecom tower engines have a different norm. We'll have to dive deep. This is something on which work is continuing, and we will see that. Mentioned last time also that that is something which is about 18 odd months kind of time cycle. That would probably take it towards the end of next calendar year. That's when we should start seeing this.
Okay, sir. Sir, my next question,
Overall, I'm saying. There'll be an actual link between, but overall you'll see it at that point in time.
Okay, sir. My next question is on the SAF front, sustainable aviation fuel. I wanted to know if there is any traction we are looking at that front on a combined level?
Sorry, could you please repeat the question?
My question is on the Sustainable Aviation Fuel. Is there any update on that front, from the business point of view? Is there any traction we are looking at?
As I was mentioning, sustainable aviation fuel is something that is beginning to attract lot of attention globally. That business has a little different business process and model compared to, say, ethanol. There, the first stage has to be an offtake agreement signing from the airlines. That's where it begins because they are the only consumers for this fuel. Apart from the fact that there are standards and norms to be followed, et cetera, et cetera. Having said that, a few pathways have been now approved internationally, and pathways are the technology processes that you use. Alcohol-to-Jet is a prominent one among them, which where 50% of the blending is allowed. Right now, that's the maximum that is permissible.
In United States, we are seeing traction building up because some of the US airlines have actually signed up for offtake agreement. All these offtakes are not now. They are in 2025 onwards, not right now. Of course, the capacities will also take time to build. We will see activities, this activity space actually coming to fore. Although right now there is a thing around clean skies and policy environment, and initial airline signatures. The volumes are very large. Several questions will have to be answered in terms of what feedstock, waste capacity, what norms, how much blending, what are the clean sky norms that will come into play at what moment in time. There are different dimensions, the whole policy environment which will regulate or enforce use of blending blended fuels.
As we go forward, you'll hear more and more about it. One clear indicator there is that since the purpose is to reduce the carbon footprint, any fuel which has got a lower carbon footprint will have a higher acceptance, and that is where we were mentioning that the second-generation ethanol, low-carbon ethanol, they will become the preferred feedstock, as we move forward.
Okay, sir. Sir, on the CBG front, can you just comment on what is the accumulated order book Praj might have completed or is under execution till date?
It is not audible.
You are still echoing, so we are not able to hear you very well. Could you slow down a little and tell us? We couldn't hear your question at all. Am I audible, sir?
You're audible, but sometimes there's a lot of, what should I say, vibration in the voice.
Okay. Sir, I wanted to know that on CBG front, what is the order book that Praj might have executed or is under execution till date?
As I had earlier mentioned that we are not giving this breakup between the bioenergy number as of now. We will start giving at the opportune time. 3 orders are already executed. That's what we mentioned to you. 1 order is under execution. That's what we can tell you, but not in terms of the rupee numbers.
Okay, sir. Okay, sir. That will do. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Chandramouli, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Normally, I see whatever your Q2 I mean, Q1 end of the order backlog number, you'll be able to achieve that as sales in the rest of the financial year. At this point of the time, Q2 backlog order is about INR 3,200+ crores. Is this my fair assumption? Can we expect the same this year, this financial year also?
Sir, the INR 3,200 crore number is correct because that's the fact. We will have to repeat our performance, as you rightly said. We, that is the aim that we also have. The thing is that we need to execute these jobs and order book in line with what customers expect us to do. You know, the way their project finances are, the way their project schedules are, the way their overall site preparedness is. There are many factors that work in. But in general, right now, we don't see any reason to think otherwise.
Okay. Normally, if I could see your Q1 2020, Q1 2021, whatever the backlog that you had, approximately you could able to achieve it. If that is seeing we are heading towards a top line of approximately close to INR 4,000 crores this year.
Chandramouli, the thing as I was mentioning is there are also some other changes that are taking place. I was mentioning, for example, in our PHS business that now we see a traction building on the fermentation side. Now, just to share with you why the water treatment plant order, if it comes, I'll execute it in a, on an average in 12 weeks or even less. A fermenter order on the other end could be 12 months contract. It's a wide array of technologies that are on display. I think some of that changes will also have to be factored in, and we will have to see how we end the year.
I am not in a position to tell you exactly the number right now, because that's not the way we sort of provide guidance, et cetera. A good healthy order book is the first thing that we need. I also mentioned that in the opening remarks that this was a quarter that actually proved to us that our execution cycle, our capabilities and capacities are robust to take us forward in the year in a very constructive sort of fashion. Because that was the first requirement, if we build the base, then we can obviously build the building, and that is our attempt.
I totally understand, sir. Again, maybe I'm repeating. At least, do you have the capacity to execute all these orders?
Yes.
Okay. Okay. Thanks, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chandramouli.
The next question is from the line of Mahek Talati from Yellow Jersey Investment Advisors. Please go ahead.
Hello.
one more time.
Hi, everyone. As the Transport Minister had made a huge statement of running all the vehicles, you know, a large number of vehicles, ethanol-based vehicles by 20-
We can't hear you, Mr. Talati.
Can you hear now?
No. , maybe a little better, but I just couldn't understand anything that you said. Sorry for that. You're very-
Just a second. Can you hear now?
Yes. Yes.
The Transport Minister has made a huge statement of running a lot of, you know, huge amount of vehicles, ethanol-based vehicles in the country by 2025. Are we doing enough CapEx or taking any steps to capitalize the opportunity?
Talati, I was mentioning to Mr. Chandramouli's question as well, that we saw this quarter as a proof of the fact that we are in a position to execute improved and large volumes at short notice. That is something that has not happened because we just acted in six months. We have been acting in line with what developments take place in market. Because you and I know from experience that capacity creation takes time, both in terms of getting the right people and knowledge on board, but also the fact that I have to then create an executing infrastructure that can do both the manufacturing part as well as the project execution commitment. Right now we have put in place mechanism that allows us to see.
If we see further improvement in the market, we will also, as I was mentioning earlier, we expect better traction going forward, even in the export jobs. We will continue to. We now understand the model that we need to follow internally to augment our capacity and capability, and we'll continue to do so.
Okay. Okay. Thank you. That's it from my side.
Thank you, Mr. Talati.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Tanvi Bhandari from HEM Securities Limited. Please go ahead. Sorry, HEM Securities Limited.
Hello, sir.
Hello, sir.
Congratulations on the set of numbers. Sir, just first of all, I wanted to know about the, you know, the government plans and how we are in line with the govt plans about the CBG and the engineering business. You know.
We, sorry to interrupt, but we are not able to hear you very well, Tanvi. Can you repeat?
Better now?
Can you get a little louder, please?
Yes. One thing, sir, I wanted to ask that you earlier mentioned that as per the SATAT scheme, the target for CBG was 5,000 CBG by 2023-2024. Is it now possible? Second, again, on the ethanol blending, ethanol blending program, I just want to know what is the current update in terms of what is the opportunity that we anticipate with the existing ethanol blending target of the 20% by 2025?
On the SATAT plant , the plan the government had obviously, you know, we are not a country that is using gas as a significant source of energy in our overall energy pie. We have been a very liquid and solid source energy sources usage country. Introducing gas itself is a challenge, and that is what was recognized. I think, and this is the first program of its kind anywhere in the world. There were many firsts that got associated with it, and obviously that has delayed the program a little bit. I don't think 2023 will have 5,000 plants. That's a difficult one to achieve.
However, what is important, and I was mentioning earlier as well, that there has been very active dialogue with all the industry stakeholders, and that has allowed the government to also, you know, introduce necessary changes and amendments to the policies that were already announced, as well as supporting programs around the policy. Now, with the stepping in of the large corporates, we see a good ecosystem building. There has been what I would call a demonstration projects that have already been done at commercial scale. These are the elements of the ecosystem that are all now falling in place, and therefore we should see a good traction build as we move forward.
Whether it is 5,023, that's a little tough one, because I think we may not have capacity to build 5,000 plants in a year's time frame. Obviously this is a positive movement forward, so maybe 2-3 years delayed, but it is definitely going forward. On the ethanol front, I think the capacity that is getting built, and I had mentioned earlier, around 500-odd crore liters will still have to be built to meet the E20 target.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Keshav from RakSan Investors . Please go ahead.
Hi. Good afternoon, sir. Sir, I just have one broad question. The bioenergy in, material space especially is growing rapidly, and it will grow for a very long time. There are also a lot of positive disruptions happening on the technology side. For instance, CRISPR-edited algae or better are used for pre-treatment or chemical resistance. To exploit our competencies of process and systems engineering, are we working on some of these, early-stage projects, let's say, are planning to work with, biotech companies that develop these cell lines, build a system together with them, and then out-license these systems going forward?
I will attempt a broad answer as this is a pretty broad, big question. We understand that there are areas where we will need to partner with external companies or organizations external to Praj, and we are very open to that, and that is a dialogue that is constantly on. We are already working with several companies with whom we can co-develop, if I can use this word, or add value to what they've already done, take that and add it to the next step and bring it to a commercialization stage. What capabilities and capacities we use depends on what's the value proposition that needs to get defined. That's an area which we are working on.
I won't be able to tell you names because our agreements with them do not permit us to say so. Wherever it is possible, you will keep clearly hear about it. For example, when we introduced the Celluniti technology, which takes care of softwood and forest waste to ethanol conversion, and we worked with Sekab, that was at some stage it was allowed for us to speak about it, and we have gone about saying that that's a new offering from our end along with Sekab. As and when a development takes place, we'll keep you informed. Yes, that is also part of the way of life at Praj.
Okay, sir. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. We will take the last question from the line of Priyesh Babariya from B&K. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Sir, I just wanted to, you know, to know regarding the ecosystem that are actually building and in terms of that to-
We can't hear you, Priyesh. You are not audible.
Hello. Can you hear me now?
Yes, let's try. We couldn't hear anything at all what you said earlier.
Is it better now?
Yes, better. Go ahead.
Thank you so much for the opportunity, sir. I just had one question regarding the capacity building around starch-based feedstock. We are seeing action-
Sorry. Sorry, Priyesh, you are breaking up. I can't hear you at all.
One second. Can you hear me now?
Yes.
I just had one question regarding starchy feedstock ecosystem, because we are seeing more action in peak quarters and almost 60%-80% of our order inflow is coming from starchy feedstock. I just want to understand the availability, the supply side, basically, of the starchy feedstocks.
Right now we don't see that to be a challenge. We are, I think the country is sufficiently provided for the starchy feedstock. To meet the goals that are set out in EBP 20, we don't see a problem at all.
Thank you. That was the last question. I now hand the conference over to the management of Praj Industries Limited for closing comments.
Thank you everyone for your time today. In case you have any more questions, feel free to write us at info@praj.net. Thanks again for your time, and have a nice day.
Thank you. On behalf of Praj Industries Limited, that concludes this conference call for today. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.