Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Praj Industries Limited Q4 and FY25 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 touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Nupur Jenkunia from Valorem Advisors. Thank you, and over to you, ma'am.
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and a very warm welcome to you all. My name is Nupur Jenkunia from Valorem Advisors. We represent the investor relations of Praj Industries Limited. On behalf of the company, I would like to thank you all for participating in the company's earnings call for the fourth quarter and financial year ended 2025. 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 a few of the management participating with us in today's earnings call and hand it over to them for opening remarks. We have with us Mr. Shishir Joshipura, CEO and Managing Director, and Mr. Sachin Raole, CFO and Director of Resources. Without any further delay, I request Mr. Sachin Raole to start with his opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Nupur. Good day, everyone. I welcome you to Praj Industries' earnings call for quarter four and financial year 2025. First, all of you had the opportunity to go through our results for the quarter ended 31 March 2025. I would like to start today with two key developments. India has officially achieved 20% ethanol blending, much ahead of the schedule. Praj is proud to have been a key catalyst in this historic shift towards energy self-reliance and sustainability. In another significant development, Praj has partnered with Uday Inventa Fisher, UIF, a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp, to offer end-to-end solutions for PLA production. UIF is specialized in polymer technologies. The offering will cover all stages from feedstock conversion to polymer production. Praj will take care of feedstock to lactate through a fermentation route, and UIF will be responsible for polymerization.
Praj will also do the entire engineering and building of this entire plant for PLA. Now, coming to the business performance, our results for the quarter are reflective of the developments taking place globally in the bioeconomy and energy transition space. This year has been a year of transition shaped by several external factors such as changing pace of energy policy across the globe, availability of liquidity, emergence of new sectors, and increased focus on carbon abatement. We have mentioned in past that Praj's business is being made up of pearls represented by several business units. The business construct for the year is reflective of this fact as we saw significant contributions from CBGs, services, and international business. On the domestic bioenergy business front, India has achieved its EBP 20 target way ahead of the schedule.
This augurs very well for the future policy initiatives to expand the share of bioenergy in the overall energy mix of the country. We are fully geared up to serve any emerging needs from the enhanced blending mandates. Our technology team is focused on enhancing margins for our customers by developing co-products and plant-yield improvement solutions. We have commercialized technologies for production of distillers' corn oil, rice protein, high-protein DDGS, etc., which are gaining increasing traction from the existing ethanol producers. These co-products will significantly alter the financial viability of bioenergy projects. These patented technologies will significantly differentiate Praj in the market and create unique sustainable competitive advantage. On the project execution front, we are still witnessing liquidity challenges for financial closure of projects. Funding agencies have become more stringent on the approval processes, which is leading to extension of average execution cycles by almost 12 months.
On the international bioenergy front, there is a strong build-up of inquiry pipeline mainly from America, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. To cater to this potential, we have strengthened our presence in America by adding local resources. The much-awaited 45Z draft notification has been issued and is likely to be enacted by October 2025. This will create significant pipelines for low-carbon ethanol opportunity in the market of America. During this quarter, we won a significant contract from a customer in Paraguay to set up an ethanol plant based on starchy feedstock. On the CBG front, we have signed an agreement with an industry leader in South India to set up a CBG project of 36 tons per day capacity. The project will be one of the largest single-location facilities in India. Earlier this month, we have signed term sheet with DTCL for developing 10 CBG projects under the joint venture.
The next step is going to be regulatory approvals and formation of a formal JV. In parallel, we will be working with the feedstock owners to develop the projects under this arrangement. We have started discussing biometabolism module addition with our CBG customers. Since it can significantly improve the viability of the CBG plant, we are witnessing increasing traction in this segment. We have a healthy build-up of inquiries that are expected to translate into firm business as we move forward. Our services business has witnessed healthy growth in order book and revenue from both domestic as well as international markets. Our order book for financial year 2025 has doubled as compared to the last year. There is increasing traction for solutions such as biogenic CO2 capture, fermentation process management, and operations and maintenance services.
Moving on to engineering business, Praj Genex commenced operations at its Mangalore facility in March 2024. During the financial year 2025, the Mangalore facility was audited and approved by eight key customers. Three customers have already signed long-term framework agreement for supply of goods and services. For the financial year ended 31st March 2025, the reported profit before tax incorporates scale-up related expenditure totaling to almost INR 760,000,000 in the consolidated profit and loss account. With requisite client approvals now secured, Genex is geared up to contribute to group revenue and PBT from XY2526. Our brewery business is witnessing some early momentum after long pause. After a period of three years, the first greenfield plant has been announced, and we have received this order. On the PHS front, we continue to grow in newly identified segments of high-capacity fermenters, complex injectables, and blood plasma.
Storage batteries, EVs, solar cells, and semiconductors are new business avenues for Praj activity, and we are seeing a healthy build-up of inquiry pipelines from these segments. Overall, we see a positive development for all our business lines, and we continue to remain confident and committed to our long-term goals. On 20th March 2025, a fire incident occurred at the office block of Praj Matrix, our R&D center in Pune. Fortunately, there were no casualties or injuries, and the facility did not sustain any major damage. There has been no impact on any of our R&D operations. We are now in the process of refurbishment of the highly impacted office block area, which is expected to be ready in two months' time.
On the financial performance, the consolidated income for our operations stood at INR 8 billion in quarter four of financial year 2025 as compared to INR 10 billion in quarter four of 2024. PBT for the quarter stood at INR 582.51 million as compared to INR 1 billion in the corresponding period of the last year. Profit after tax stood at INR 398.169 million in Q4 of 2025 as compared to INR 919.36 million in Q4 of 2024. There has been improvement in margin, and of course, the margin has to be considered after considering the cost of material and direct expenses by almost 2.3% over quarter three of 2025. As I mentioned earlier, fire at the office block at the R&D center temporarily disrupted the activities at the R&D center for two weeks, and there is no financial loss since the facility is under insurance cover.
For the full year ended March 31, 2025, income from operations stood at INR 32,280 million as against INR 34,662.78 million. PBT stood at INR 2,703 million in FY 2025 as against INR 3,774 million in FY 2024. PAT for 2025 came in at INR 2,189 million as against INR 2,850 million in FY 2024. Export revenue was accounted for 24% for FY 2025 as against 18% of FY 2024. Of the total revenue, 70% is from bioenergy, 20% from engineering, and 10% is from PHS business. The order intake during the quarter was INR 8,320 million, with 61% from domestic market. Of the total order intake, 70% came from bioenergy, 21% from engineering, and the other 9% from PHS business.
Sorry to interrupt, sir. Sorry to stop you.
Yeah.
This is Awant from your line. Can I reconnect it?
Please do that.
Ladies and gentlemen, please be patient and hold the line. We'll reconnect the managers. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for patiently waiting. We have the management back with us. Over to you, sir.
May I know where the call got disturbed? Any idea?
Just the last two, three sentences which I can say.
Okay. Maybe I will start from the export revenues because that's where I believe you called me up and said that there is a disturbance.
Yes, sir.
Export revenues accounted for 24% for XY25. Of the total revenue, 70% is from bioenergy, 20% from engineering, and 10% from PHS business. The order intake during the quarter was INR 10,320 million, with 61% from domestic market. Of the total order intake, 70% came from bioenergy, 21% from engineering, and balanced 9% from PHS business. The order backlog as of March 2025 is at INR 42,930 million, comprising 63% of domestic order, with 77% from bioenergy and 18% from engineering, and balanced 5% from PHS business. Cash in hand as of 31st March 2025 is INR 6 billion. The Board of Directors proposed a final dividend of INR 6 per equity share at the rate of 300% of the face value of INR 2 per equity share for the financial year ended 31st March 2025, which is subject to the approval of shareholders at the forthcoming AGM.
Some other developments in the board meeting of yesterday: considering the emerging growth horizon for companies' business areas, the Board of Directors requested Dr. Pramod Chaudhari to accept the role of Executive Chairmanship for the next five years, which Dr. Chaudhari graciously consented to. Accordingly, the Board has approved the appointment of Dr. Pramod Chaudhari as Founder Chairman and Group Mentor in the Executive Director category for a period of five years with effect from 1st of July 2025. The Board has also approved the appointment of Mr. Praj Chaudhary, son of Dr. Pramod Chaudhari, as Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director with effect from next AGM. With this, I will conclude my remarks. Thank you all for joining, and we would now be happy to discuss any questions, comments, or suggestions you may have.
Thank you very much, sir. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchstone 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'll wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. We have our first question from the line of Mohit Kumar from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, sir, and thanks for the opportunity. My first question is only for.
Sorry, sorry, I'm not able to hear you.
You can hear now, sir?
That is clear.
Yeah, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. My question is, can you please help us dissect?
No, Mohit, I'm again losing you.
I'll try once again, and I'll go back in the queue, sir. Can you please help us dissect other expenses? They are sequentially and year over year look much higher.
Okay. When I mentioned about the improvement in the margin for the quarter of 2.3%, it is after considering the cost of material and the other expenses. Our other expenses have a major component of site expenses, which are meant for putting up a project at the customer's site. In this quarter, the site activity was on a higher side, especially because we are now constructing the CBG plants, which have a major component on the site activity as compared to the material which is involved in the normal equipment business. That is the reason this other expenditure, which we are seeing right now, is on a higher side. As compared to that, the cost of material is lower, and that is why this margin is looking in a very different way.
Understood, sir. My second question is only what is the outlook on order inflow from ethanol in the domestic sector? Is it fair to assume that a substantial growth in the new order inflow will be contingent to government increasing the target?
You are basically asking only for domestic ethanol business, right?
Yes. Domestic, domestic only, sir.
Domestic, okay. As I mentioned in the opening remarks, the EBP 20 program has almost reached its finality. Technically, the capacity which is required is either already built up or already committed for EBP 20. There are different avenues which are emerging after the EBP 20 program, such as in the form of flexible vehicles or vehicles which can run only on 100% ethanol or the blending with diesel, which is also going to come up in the near future. All these developments are going to create demand for ethanol in the domestic segment. One more avenue which will come up for demand for ethanol is on the SS side, which will start building up over a period of time and which will need ethanol as a feedstock. There is a possibility of different avenues which will come up for ethanol demand in the near future.
Shishir, would you like to add?
To add to what Sachin said, there are two, three other drivers that we see clearly emerging. One, the existing producers are now looking for solutions to enhance their operating margins, and therefore two or three steps that Sachin also briefly mentioned in his speech. One, the co-product development that we are now offering to our customers for the same input that they are now already doing for production of ethanol, they will now be able to garner higher revenue because they will be able to develop a separate co-product. Now, what is that co-product? Whether it is rice protein, whether it is high-protein DDGS, whether it is distillers' corn oil, whether it is CBG, it depends on the overall scheme and the location of the project. The one big dimension will be this.
The second is, as the plant has started to operate and people have learned and stabilized their plants, it very clearly, being a processed plant, means opportunities for de-bottlenecking the plant, which leads to then, A, enhanced recovery or enhanced output, or you can also look at lowering the cost by improving the efficiency. There are different steps that one could take. That also we see now emerging, and we are regrouping that as a very special offering from our end to help our customers de-bottleneck their plants to either higher outputs or lower cost of operation. That is the second one. The third opportunity that is likely to come, which Sachin mentioned about opportunity from SAF, one opportunity would be for setting up a SAF project.
For SAF project to work, we need carbon intensity of the ethanol to be lowered, and that is another set of solutions that we will come up with even in the domestic market as we move forward because that will be the key requirement as we move forward for SAF to have a low carbon intensity ethanol. Different levers will come into play in the ethanol segment. Just plain Manila Greenfield projects are not the only option. There will be other groundfield expansions, de-bottlenecking, all the other co-product development, etc., that I mentioned.
Understood, sir. Thank you and all the best, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. We have our next question from the line of Neerav Bhadkam from Ask Investment Managers. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir, and thank you very much for the opportunity. Sir, my question pertains to diesel blending. Any idea by what time can we expect initial orders or some backing from the government for the same? Can we expect in this financial year?
The diesel blending program, as you would probably appreciate, has to obviously meet the tax requirements first, and that is a testing that is currently underway. We have passed all but one stages of testing, and the final stage of testing is now currently underway where a joint study is being undertaken by ARI, BPCL, Praj, and Cummins. We are, because this is a spend, this has to be extended time test because we have to test it from the perspective, not only from mileage and combustion and power, but also from environmental perspectives of what happens with respect to what I would call as emissions. The fuel specification standard that needs to get specified as to what needs to, because we can't sell anything as fuel in India unless it gets so notified by the government.
These tests will then get recommended to the government saying, "Now, this is possible." Based on that, a new standard will get defined. It's difficult for us to put a timeline that will happen this year in the month of September or in the month of August, but this is definitely progressing as a joint program, and we are sure that we will see a very positive traction on this during the year. Government has taken steps to actually initiate this program notification, but obviously, all these steps have to be gone through. Environmental norms to be met, the power norms to be met, fuel to be specified, certified, recommendations to be made. It's going through the steps.
My other question is pertaining to the petrol blending from 20%-30%. According to your assessment, the journey from 20%- 30% would require significant contribution from second-generation ethanol, or that is something that can be managed using molasses, maize, and some other feedstock, agri feedstock?
I think as we move forward, two or three things will likely shape the new capacity creation for ethanol. One, of course, as you rightly said, if the blending percentage changes, that itself will drive the demand. Second, we'll have to map it against availability of feedstock and also availability of feedstock regionally. I mean, something that will not, that is of no use in south, because then you end up transporting ethanol, which is not the purpose. What is likely to happen is that there is also a big push now from government to use starchy feedstocks, especially corn, because that seems to be a very amenable crop for us to use. We are working on a program of intercropping right now, which is at a very advanced stage. So different feedstocks will emerge, definitely, yes.
In what form, at what moment in time, is a matter of the locality, the geography, the current availability, the capacity availability, technology availability, etc., etc., etc. We are very confident that as we move forward, we will see an emergence of newer feedstock as well, which will also be one of them.
My final question is.
sorry, it's the turn, sir. May we please request you to rejoin the queue as there are several participants waiting for their turn.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to take questions from all participants in the conference, please limit your questions to two per participant. Should you have a follow-up question, we request you to rejoin the queue. We have our next question from the line of Dipesh Agarwal from UTI AMC. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good afternoon, gentlemen. My first question is, what would be the impact of the possible tariffs on U.S., both on your existing business as well as the potential business on SAF and Praj Annex?
Sorry, your voice was a little bit getting disturbed, but if I understood your question, you are asking about US tariff scenario, right?
Yes.
Yeah. Currently, the equipment which are getting exported to the US for both of our businesses, that is ethanol business and the critical equipment business, they carry duty between 5%-7%. The announcement for tariff is of 26%. Of course, for the next 90 days, it is reduced to 10%, and of course, there will be some discussions and negotiations which will be happening to reach to a stage of final tariff rate, which we currently, unfortunately, do not know. As per our agreement with our customers, naturally, these duties are not on our head. The customer is supposed to take care of that. If you look at the competition which India has in the US market from other markets like Taiwan and Korea and China, their duties are going to be far, far different than what duty structure is going to be for India, is our current understanding.
We'll have to wait and watch till we see the complete picture of how the tariff scenario is going to emerge over a period of next, now, whatever, balance, 70 days or 80 days. Our current understanding is that compared to the countries that we compete with, especially for our engineering business in that market, we are more favorably placed as far as duties are concerned. However, the impact of duty itself on the project is something that remains to be seen, and of course, as we know that this is a dynamic scenario, what the final number that is set out to is something that will determine how things move forward.
What would be the share of U.S. in our revenue?
Only U.S., if you look at currently, it is minuscule in that sense. Because even though the customers are based out of the U.S., the projects where our critical equipment are going, they are even going to the Europe market also.
Canada.
Canada and Europe both, yeah. In the U.S., currently, it might be 3%-4% kind of a revenue which might be forming a part of our current number.
Projects located in the United States.
Yeah, yeah. Ordering may be happening out of the U.S., but projects getting located in the U.S. is a very low number.
Understood, understood. The other comment is on the CBG side. If you can help us, how now this year the scenario would be because you have come side up with all the OMC, seems like the largest oil and gas company in the private is also setting up a large CBG plant. What is your expectation with respect to the CBG ordering now, and how confident are you in terms of Praj being getting a disproportionate share, being number one or number two in that segment?
Yes, that's a very good question. I think what we are witnessing is right now a statement of intention from many of the OMCs and other PSUs that they would like to be participating in the journey of CBG. Our participation with them, obviously, comes with a very different purpose. One, when an OMC is involved, the offtake of the gas, which has been one of the major issues for the industry, gets addressed. The CGD networks that are now being built are also across the cities, and as you probably know, from next year's January, it is a mandatory blend that is required to be done in the grid, 5%. That becomes the next driver for it. The third thing is the technology itself. I'm very happy to share with you. In fact, this happened just last week.
We have done a record commissioning from start to final output at the guaranteed level with DCN in 60 days. That is a project that we have commissioned at a record pace. That clearly establishes us as a leader in the business of CBG. No other company can come anywhere near this record. We have also, as Sachin was mentioning, we are building a very single large capacity, single location project, which is also, in a manner of speaking, a repeat contract from a customer who has already experienced one of our plants. That goes to show that there is an increasing confidence in the ability of technology to develop. The next development, which is very, very significant, especially from CBG's perspective, is the development of biobitumin technology at Praj.
As you are aware, we had mentioned in our last call that a road built using biobitumin from our technology is now inaugurated as the success of National Highway by Honorable Mr. Sri Gadkari near Nagpur. That becomes a very, very important co-product for CBG production, which helps to address several challenges that the CBG industry faces. We have worked closely with CRRI to get the product specified, and that is currently under the process because the byproduct of biobitumin actually happens out of waste stream processing. It enhances the value significantly for CBG projects as well.
As we move forward, we believe that after the initial dust has settled and people have understood what technologies work and what do not and where is the value addition that is happening, Praj will be in a position to be the market leader as we should be given our technological prowess.
Sure. Last question, if we look at last two years' earnings now.
Sorry, Mr. Dipesh, can maybe request you to rejoin the queue?
Sure.
Thank you. We have our next question from the line of Aditya Mongia from Kotak Securities. Please go ahead.
Hey, good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for the opportunity. I hope I'm audible to all.
Yes, Aditya.
Thank you so much. I'll go ahead with my questions. The first question that I had was more on this next year and how you see it from an audit info perspective. As in the imponderables over here are EBP 20 having been achieved already. The imponderables over here are the ETCA orders that you may end up achieving. The imponderable over here is the CBG pipeline, as you see through it. I would want to focus on both the bioenergy and the ETCA segment separately. Just to gauge from you, how do you see through from a bioagro perspective things happening from an info perspective in FY 2026? That would be my first question.
Okay. We were talking about FY25 as a year of transition, looking at what is happening on the EBP 20 program. Rather, we started working on what should be the scenario beyond the EBP 20 program and what can be the contributor to our order book starting, let's say, from 2026, 2027, and going up to 2030. That is the planning which we were doing for the last two, three years. What Shishir was talking about, the products which are coming out for the commercialization, the value add which you mentioned for the ethanol plants, is the one which is going to contribute in a big way. EBP 20, we like to also see how EBP 20 is going to move to EBP 25 or 30, where there are some talks which are going on from the decision-making point of view at a government level.
There will be one more lever which will be available for taking EBB demand from 20- 30. There are multiple avenues which are possible within the existing plants, which, again, Shishir was earlier mentioning, that what kind of a value add which we can do for our customers, that that will be another stream of ordering which can happen under the ethanol business for us. I think there is more than enough opportunities which are available in that market or in that segment, technology-wise, or from the solutions point of view, we are completely ready to offer that. That is on the ethanol side. CBG scenario is still evolving. Again, CBG is not going to remain only CBG, CBG.
As Shishir was making a mention, there will be an addition of our offering to that in the form of biobitumin, which actually differentiates our offering as compared to anyone in the market and takes us into a very different league because it enhances the financial viability for the projects which are having a waste stream in the form of a lignin. That is the business segment which will emerge. Of course, there are other factors which still need to get settled down. Market still needs to have more developers to come on the board. Some kind of an ecosystem from the offtake has to still get completely streamlined. I will have some cautious kind of an approach to CBG, but of course, it is going to be one of the big contributors in the next year in our bioenergy segment.
In the engineering side, if I may shift my gear to the engineering business now, as I mentioned earlier, already eight customers have verified or audited our facility of Mangalore. Unfortunately, my Kandla facility is so blocked that I cannot take any more orders in Kandla because it is blocked for the next 18 months. I can't take any new orders in Kandla. I will have to take orders only in Mangalore. That is why we were preparing ourselves in the form of infrastructure, resources, installing our new equipment and plants and getting them tested. As I mentioned, eight customers have already inspected, audited, and approved this facility. We have also advanced that to signing three long-term, almost eight years long-term agreement, framework agreement with them. What does that mean? These are not the orders.
These are the agreements which actually set the guideline for placement of orders from my customers. It becomes a little easier for them to directly place PO on us, and every time we do not have to go through the entire process of commercial discussion on these orders. We have advanced with three customers on that by signing these long-term agreements with them. I think the engineering business is definitely going to start contributing from the order booking in next year. As we were earlier mentioning about how this facility is coming up, we had mentioned that first two quarters, we will see the build-up of orders coming up in this facility. Some activities have already started. One of the projects for which we will be getting supply orders in the near future, engineering activities have already started in this year.
We see this engineering business is also going to contribute in a big way in the entire landscape of our order booking. I can't give you a number, unfortunately, but I very clearly see that there are possibilities of all these businesses to contribute in a big way. I missed out two or three other elements which are going to contribute to our order booking. One segment is on the services side. We are expanding our services business since the last three years. It is taking a good shape. As I mentioned earlier, this year's order book is almost two times of the last year, and now we are again looking at a rapid growth coming up in that segment on the services side. Another one is the internationalization, and internationalization is happening across. It is happening in the bioenergy segment also.
Let me also make a mention of PHS business because initially, they were having some kind of a sporadic kind of orders from the international side, but since the last two years, we are seeing a continuous flow of international orders coming in PHS too. Services business, internationalization is what is going to contribute for the order booking of our next year. As I said, I only can't give you a number because that's what we generally don't talk about from the guidance point of view, but I can give you a direction the way in which order booking is going to look like.
Understood. This helps. The second question that I had was on margins. Now, your margins are a consolidated 10% level at this point of time. Just trying to get a sense of margin shifting imponderables for.
Sorry to interrupt, Aditya. We are not getting you. Your voice is quite breaking in between.
Aditya, if I've understood your question, you want to understand how the margin is looking like for this quarter and going forward. Am I right?
Aditya is dropped.
Aditya is dropped. Okay, maybe in the meantime, we can take another caller, and maybe Aditya can come up in a call.
We have our next question from the line of Tushar from Kamaya Chair Wealth Management. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity. I just wanted to know if corn is the long-term solution for the ethanol, and the companies want to increase their margin. It seems a natural transition for the value addition in the existing plant. There are players like Globus Spirits and BPCL are working on that on the corn-based projects. Just wanted to know, sir, in terms of opportunity, what sort of opportunity in number terms you are seeing that? What percentage would be that for just an average capacity cost? That value addition would take what percentage?
If I understood the question correctly, very clearly, the focus is on adding higher value to existing customers, and obviously, that's highly value-attractive for both them and us. That also makes sure that we are able to bring all our technology progress to our projects. As markets mature, as technologies mature, as customer operations mature, they then start to look for some of these solutions. We are seeing this across the different markets in the world. Depending on at which point of growth they are, they are moving differently, but all of them are looking for solutions in a broad category of how do I enhance the value of my own operations. That is where I think a very significant role is played by the fact that we have steadfastly focused on technology development as an area.
That is why you heard us talk about biobitumin, distillers' corn oil, high-protein DDGS. We have talked about low-carbon ethanol, reducing energy intensity, improving yield. These are all solutions of technological kind that allow one to realize higher value and deliver higher value both. I think that's the key lever as we move forward. Could you just repeat the second part of your question? You were a little breaking up, so I couldn't catch that part. Hello? Tushar?
Tushar? We will move on to the next question. The next question is from the line of Shailesh Kanani from Centrum Broking. Please go ahead. The next question is from the line of Shailesh Kanani from Centrum Broking. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, one clarification was needed on the margin front. Vareena PPT, we have mentioned about the next facility expenses, cost impact of around INR 500 million plus interest and deposition of INR 370 million and INR 150 million. That total is INR 1,020 million. Are we indicating that this is directly impacting the PBT of around nearly INR 1,000 million? Is that understanding right?
Yes, Shailesh, your calculation or math is right, but there were some orders which were getting executed in Genex, which has also given a contribution. Almost INR 20 crore contribution will be there. If you look at, and in the note to our results also, we have mentioned the number of INR 76 crore or INR 77 crore as the hit to our PBT in the consolidated accounts. It is net of contribution which we have got for the orders getting executed or got executed in FY 2025 for Praj Genex. If you look at math, it is INR 105 crore minus INR 20 crore, and this is on a standalone Genex basis, and INR 67 crore intercompany adjustment, which brings down that number to INR 76 crore. INR 76 crore or INR 77 crore is the number which we have mentioned in our notes to accounts.
Okay. Does it mean that if we have a full year revenue of Genex, this would be getting absorbed and there is no repeat? In case we are building up a team, the cost is already in the P&L, so executing the future orders, this would not enhance, right? I understand material and the cost would increase, but this is part in the P&L, so it will not enhance, right?
Your understanding, Shailesh, is absolutely right. The moment we start executing the orders, all these fixed costs will start getting absorbed. Yes, to the extent of losses which you have mentioned from this Genex business for setting up other, this is, I will not use the word expense, it's our investment, but getting through P&L, these expense will not, or rather will get absorbed because of the orders which will get executed there. It will not have an impact on the consolidated profit and loss account or PBT of the company.
Thanks a lot. The second clarification which I wanted is that we have also mentioned about a large CBG order of around 36 TPD. Has it been included in an order inflow?
Currently, yes, in the current quarter order book, it is sitting there.
Okay. One indication I wanted to know on the international side, in the last two years, in terms of execution, has there been? See, we have not booked any orders for Genex, that is what I understand, for the Mangalore facility at least. In terms of orders booked and revenue, the ratio has deviated. Has the orders which we have got in the last 18-24 months are of longer duration, or they are taking time for execution? Any color you can provide on that?
You are saying for the international bit rate?
Right, right.
Our international order has both the segments sitting there, which is engineering and the bioenergy. Engineering orders, when they are of a larger value, naturally, their delivery cycle is a little longish. It can go up to 18 months. The orders can actually go even up to 24 months. The cycle is very, very different as compared to the ethanol business under the engineering side. Because as we know, under critical equipment business and Genex business, we are having equipment and modules both. When you are building up modules, the time requirement is pretty huge because all the equipment are supposedly to get loaded on those modules, and then those modules need to be dispatched to the client. The cycle is a little longish, so your observation is right.
Okay. Just one more thing on Genex. There has been some delay, as you have mentioned in the opening remarks earlier times as well. Any monitorables for us to expect momentum in the second half, or anything which you can give more color? Closing it, also, I would like to take this opportunity and thank Neerav Bhadkam. I believe this will be your last call. Thanks a lot, sir, for over the years, for all the help, the guidance, the learning what we have got from your side. Thanks a lot for that, Sachin.
Thank you, Shailesh. Learning is mutual. Your questions were also pushing us to think differently. Thank you so much. To you, and to all of you, all your colleagues, all of you have been—I was wanting to do this thank-you speech a little later, but since you said, I am really, really thankful to you guys because unless you ask questions, it shows two things. One, that you care, and the second, that you're asking us to think differently. When more minds work together, obviously, we are able to think from different dimensions. Thank you very much for being there for us for all these years.
I'm sure that as Praj moves forward, you guys will continue to ask same set of same penetrative set of questions so that Ashish and Sachin and everyone will be in a position to benefit from your wisdom and take the company forward. Thank you so much for everything.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sagar Dhawan from Valuequest Investments. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. Just wanted to understand, basically, in the current order book that we have, what could be the broader mix of the domestic ethanol orders in that which could be in the nature of slow moving given the current scenario domestically?
To be very frank with you, we are not calling them slow moving. Only we are saying that the execution cycle is getting elongated for them. There is no current—unfortunately, I'm not having a number right now in my hand to give you, but they are not non-moving. They are slow moving for a reason because we are also following very strict regime for recognition of a revenue, that if a client is ready with everything, then only we start working with them. That is what is taking some time. That is what we mentioned earlier also, that the execution delays are on that account. As I said, unfortunately, I'm not having a ready number. Maybe we can provide you subsequently.
Sure, sir. Understood. The other second part of the question was, let's say the current order book on bioenergy, which we are having of INR 3,300 crore or given in the presentation, what could be the execution cycle for that which you're looking at for that piece?
It should be somewhere between 12 months to 15 months.
Okay. Sure. Got it. Sir, the other question that I had was on the engineering segment. We are seeing, if I look at it on a full year basis, FY 2025, to basically take care of the quarterly fluctuation, the order intake on the engineering side has actually gone down by about 17% in the full year 2025 compared to last year. Anything specific to call out there?
Actually, no. As I said, we are not in a position to take orders in our Khandla because that facility is completely choke-blocked for the next 18 months. We are supposed to get all these orders now happening in the Genex, and that's the readiness of Genex which we are waiting for. That's the only thing because we had to regret a couple of orders on the Khandla because our Genex facility was not completely ready.
Okay. Good. Thank you. Thanks for the question.
Thank you. We have a next question from the line of Trilok from Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Thanks for all my questions. The first question is on flex fuel. Could you please share some insights regarding what's the development in this flex fuel segment, and what are the actions that the government is taking to successfully implement this?
Sir, could you just repeat your question? You were a little breaking up, so I couldn't hear it very well.
Hi. Am I audible now?
Yes, please. Thank you.
Oh, yeah. I want to just get some sense on the development of the flex fuel policy and when do we see some sort of light on that aspect. Also, could you just give us some sense on what kind of order book can we expect for the company in subsequent years? That'll be helpful.
I mean, our role as an organization that is closely associated with the development of biofuel technologies, our role is to make sure that we are developing technologies that can use differently available feedstock across the country for conversion to ethanol, and ethanol becomes available. That is the role that we play. Of course, as an important part of the overall industry ecosystem, we do provide our inputs to the requisite bodies, to industry bodies, to the government panels when we are invited. We also talk with automotive manufacturers' bodies and things like that. Our role is to provide inputs and say what is possible and how it could be made available because the moment flex fuel vehicles come, obviously, the demand for ethanol will shoot up. Obviously, then there needs to be a roadmap available for making ethanol available.
I think that's the role that we are playing. For me to predict a date on which date the flex fuel policy will be announced is not within the domain of either my knowledge or authority, so that will be very difficult.
Okay. Could you just talk about the order book expectations for the financial year 2026? I know you guys do not get into any numbers or growth percentage, but it would be helpful for us to understand what kind of growth should we be sort of thinking about in the subsequent years.
Yeah. Sachin mentioned in his speech that we have also mentioned that in the past that Praj's business is a stream of pearls, and we are beginning to see different pearls now beginning to shine. We are not dependent only on one business segment. Our services business, the CBG business, our push and thrust for internationalization, you've probably noticed that in the quarter that went by, 39% of our order book came from international business. That is a stated strategy of the company where we have stated that we want to move to an eventual situation of 50/50 between domestic and international, even as we grow our sales three times. Of course, both segments will grow, but we expect international to grow at a faster pace compared to domestic. That will be a clear dimension.
These other businesses that I spoke to you about earlier are mentions about higher value announcement, co-product development solutions. We are the engineering solution, the whole GenX picture that we discussed. We actually have multiple—we are fully ready in some of the areas where GenX specifically was getting ready, but now we are ready. The co-product development has picked up high speed. We are now ready to commercialize biobitumin. Distressed formaldehyde is already commercialized. Rice protein, we are ready to commercialize. There are different solutions, different co-product solutions for which we are ready with commercial solutions. As we move through the year, I think all of these levers will start to play out, and we will see a healthy development of the order book.
We see more reason that would lead us to believe that one part of a segment sort of not having a visible opportunity will lead to any deficiencies in our performance. I think we will continue to build from here onwards in a very strong way. There will be other levers that we take in over a period of time. Sachin briefly mentioned about diesel blending program. I mentioned about SAF. There will be these opportunities that will come and emerge as we go along and travel through the year.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. We have a next question from the line of Vikram Surivanshi from Phillip Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good afternoon, sir. I think most of the questions answered. Just on bioplastic, with our demo plant being ready and now with this JV, when can we start showcasing this for the orders, and how would be the opportunity in the international market?
Vikram, we are already jointly pitching in for the order booking now with the prospective customers. This being a completely different segment, but of course, there is a good amount of interest in the bioplastics in the market. There is a definitive interest which is emerging. We are meeting the prospective customers and presenting our case to them jointly with TK. We will see some action happening. I can't give you a timeline. I can't predict a timeline right now for you when the order booking is actually going to happen. Yes, the state of customers are interested in visiting our demo plant, understanding how it is happening, and dialogues are going on. Vikram, just to add to what Sachin said, the most very important factor is that this is now a domestically developed technology.
We expect that it will be very, very cost-competitive compared to any other technology, number one. Number two, the availability of technology in the global market also is pretty restricted, and our model of making it available to anyone who wants it is something very—it's a significant departure from most of the current technology players' strategy. I think these two things, coupled with the fact that there is a local, very rich in experience company that is backing up this technology, and now with this joint venture that we have signed with one of the world leaders, will actually make the full end-to-end solution available to customers. These are the three key drivers that I believe will help move this forward. Maybe this is a little early days, but I'm sure as time in forward in time, we'll be able to speak more specifically about.
There is already a lot of interest from a lot of customers.
Understood. For Genex, I think since we start order booking now, majority of the revenue will start particularly in the second half of 2026. Is that understanding right?
Some revenue is happening, but meaningful revenue will start happening only in the H2 because the orders for execution will start coming up at that point of time. Currently, there will be engineering, which we like to keep on doing based on the order booking which we'll have.
Understood. Okay. That was it, sir. Yeah, yeah. Thank you very much, and wishing you all the success for this opera, sir. Thank you.
Thank you, Vikram. It's been a pleasure. Thank you. We'll keep in touch.
Okay, sir. Thanks.
Thank you. We have a next question from the line of Amit Anwani from PL Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you so much for taking my question. First question, in your opening remark, you highlighted about the 45Z notification now being implemented from October 25. In the past, we have been highlighting about the US SAF opportunity. With this, what are the expectations of order wins in US SAF in FY26 and FY27? Any color you would like to give after this development? 45Z leads to lowering the carbon intensity of ethanol. Okay. As we said, we expect that since the draft notification now issued, considering normal cycle timelines, it should be notified towards the end of the second quarter. That's where we are today.
As in, when that happens, it will create a definitive opportunity for us because there are already existing projects in the U.S. where the carbon source lowering will present a very significant opportunity and financially also a very great return, which will become eventually the feedstock for SAF. For SAF projects to come, this is the first step that is required to move forward. One or two projects that will come up in the meanwhile, you will see that they will say, "Okay, we already have secure access to low-carbon ethanol," or they'll have their own low-carbon ethanol production facility. That remains to be seen as to what is the actual model deployed by the early project proponents that we will have to see.
In terms of the other notifications out of the United States for SAF, we need to see in terms of because there's also another development where the TCUS projects, which were dependent on pipelines, are facing a little bit of rough weather because pipelines are not getting approval. How will that be overcome? Multiple levers will have to come into play for us to see, but we remain confident that with the advent of 45Z, it will definitely create a good window of opportunity for us.
Right. A second part on you want orders in Paraguay and earlier you want orders in Brazil. So any pipeline there or any other international market for Gandhi, Maize, Sugar, Starch, where do you see order wins in FY2026?
It's a very high-focus area, Prash. Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, these countries, both in Central America and South America, are witnessing what I would call a severe movement for governments to, A, specify either higher mandates or new mandates for ethanol blending in their energy mix. That's a very, very positive step forward. Most of these plants, though not all, are likely to be start with, and we are very, very confident that with our strong footprint there, we will be in a position to move forward. Sachin already mentioned there are two projects for which the engineering orders are already underway. Once they are finished, that's the model in that market. They will switch over to the equipment ordering situation. We'll look at that as well.
Lastly, on Genex, since we are looking for order wins in Q1, Q2, any development which has happened, what kind of quantum we can expect with respect to order inflow or revenue, which you might be factoring in for FY 2026 for Genex?
There are dialogues that are currently underway. Orders are in finalization stage, in handshake stage, and we will let you know the numbers once they are done. I can't let the number out before the orders are finalized. You'll appreciate that.
Sure, sure, sure. Wish you all the best, Yashithira sir. It's always a pleasure to interact with you, and I wish you very best.
Thank you, Amit. Thank you very much. Pleasure is entirely mine.
Thank you. We have a next question from the line of Ramon from SeaQuant Investments. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Can you hear me?
Yes.
Sir, I have two questions. First, we have currently an order book of INR 4,293 crore. What is the execution pipeline with respect to this?
As I earlier mentioned, the execution cycle for most of the orders is in a range of 12-15 months. I am telling you the average. A couple of orders which are there from the critical equipment and modularization side, those might be in a zone of 18 months. The majority of the orders are in the zone of 12-15 months, kind of an average period.
Okay, sir. The second question, sir, is with respect to compressed biogas. Earlier, in the earlier call, you mentioned that the industry was facing, the entire industry was facing, economic and operational challenges. Now that the pricing mechanism has been changed, I mean, it is linked to 80% of T&G prices, I guess that is the new pricing mechanism. I want to understand the outlook, current outlook, and the future outlook. Is the entire industry still facing challenges, or have the operational concerns been sorted out?
This is a very new, nascent, and emerging industry when the word this exists. There are still nuances that need to get ironed out. Yes, you're right that on the pricing front, there seems to be a decent solution that has been provided, and there's already representation made by the industry to the government saying, "No, they need a higher percentage of the pump price." That's under discussion. Having said that, I think there are other issues that need resolutions around what to do with fertilizer, liquid fertilizer. They have now been notified, which is the first positive step. They at least now can legally sell those products in the market. That's the second question. Third is, as I mentioned, that from January of next year, there's a mandatory blending obligation on the CGD companies.
That will also create demand and push for rapid infrastructure development, also development of plants in and around those networks because they'll be looking for CBG as a source. That's another one. There are several positive elements. Offtake side, still some more resolutions are required, but I'm sure as we go through the year, we'll see those happen.
Okay, sir. A follow-up question. Sir, on the revenue front with respect to Q4, both bioenergy and engineering have seen a significant decline. Bioenergy has decreased by 15% on a year-on-year basis, and engineering has decreased by 30%. Sir, can I know why was there this significant decline in the revenue?
As we said, the execution cycles have stretched from their normal cycles of 9 to 12 months. They have stretched to 12-15 months. We are very cautious about some of the domestic projects progressing forward in view of the tighter liquidity norms, tighter money disbursement norms that the financing organizations are now putting, the banks, etc., are putting on our customers. We have to order book A. B, we could not voice them for the fact that they were not fully prepared to accept and pay for them. That stretched the project cycle. Third, there were also during the year—and I am being very open here—during the year, there was also a bit of a, I would say, order intake time mismatch for us, especially for our export jobs, where the thing started about six months late.
Because the orders came in, but they came in a little late, we could not go ahead and create that invoicing which normally would have happened. Those are the—if you recall, our first quarter was not a very high order booking quarter. That also impacted our ability to do the same thing during the last quarter of the year.
Last follow-up question. Can we expect there will be a spillover in terms of revenue in the next year because the majority of the orders which were supposed to be closed in this year will be closed in the coming year?
Yeah, that's what we have said, that the order book is there, and the order booking is happening as per the strict norm of Praj. That order has to be there. Agreement has to get signed. The advance needs to be paid. So there is a commitment from customers that they want to go ahead with the project. Yes, there is a delay. Delay is only in execution side. Naturally, this order book is going to get executed. Instead of getting executed over a period of 9-12 months, it is going to get executed over a period of 12-15 months. Yes, there is a spillover which can happen of the order book which we are holding right now.
Okay. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. We have a next question from the line of Manish Goyal from Thinkwise Wealth Managers. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you very much. I have a couple of questions. First, on the overall margins, probably there are three or four perspectives. One is on what kind of revenue booking would be required to achieve break-even at Genex plants. Would it be, say, considering you probably have an impact of INR 800 million, would it be revenues of INR 4 billion-INR 4.5 billion required? Do you expect that we achieve the break-even in entire FY2026, or it will be probably back-ended and on a quarterly revenue run rate? This was the first part. Second was on the margins related, as probably do we see a very good improvement going forward considering we would have a better revenue mix with the higher services revenue and higher international revenue considering higher order book from the international markets?
The third angle to this is also that with CBG plant revenue mix improving, where probably we see a higher outsource work, can this probably offset some of these margins? That was my first part of the question, sir. I have a couple of more, so please provide opportunity for that.
Manish, in the first part itself, you have asked three questions, but I will try to answer. Your question was related to BEP for break-even point for GenX. More or less, your calculations are right. The break-even point for GenX will be somewhere in the range of INR 400 crore-INR 450 crore. That's right. Your second part of the same question was whether this is going to get executed in an equal manner on a quarterly basis. Answer is no. As we mentioned, the modularization and equipment orders are a little longish from the execution point of view. The execution period is going to be a little longish. Revenue might get—of course, it is a point that it is based on the percentage of completion method basis. Initially, some engineering components will come through, and then the work on equipment and modularization will start.
There will be some kind of a lumpiness in the revenue-gating book for Genex. We had already mentioned that we are not expecting huge revenue booking to happen in the first half of the next year. It will start happening from quarter three onward. You will see some kind of a lumpiness from the revenue point of view. Your point is right. Break-even point will be somewhere around INR 400 crore-INR 450 crore. Your second question was related to margin improvement. Your point is right. Because of the services element and the internationalization, there will be a possibility of improvement of margin. We are not waiting right now too much on that and giving you a very different picture. We always mention that our first target is to reach on a sustainable basis to a double-digit EBITDA margin. That is what we are trying to do right now.
The moment these other components will start playing in, which are going to contribute higher on the margin side, yes, they can be margin-accurate going forward. Your third question was related to CBG. Sorry, I missed it out now.
Basically, the revenue composition of CBG probably may include higher outsource work. Can it probably impact your overall margins, or do you believe that we can achieve a double-digit margin in the CBG?
CBG has some component of outsourcing, of course, but it also has the side activity which I had mentioned earlier in my remarks. That side activity is on a higher side as compared to the bought-out components or the third-party component. Yes, that component will definitely be there. There will be three parts to it. One portion which we are supposed to do in the form of equipment, second one will be outsourced, and third one will be side activity. In the CBG business, side activity will be a little more as compared to the first two components.
Okay, sir. On the depreciation part, probably three observations from the cash flow statement that probably your principal payment on leases has remained steady at INR 32 crore. Where I'm coming from is that your depreciation has increased from INR 44 crore to INR 86 crore. If the lease payment outgoing is steady at INR 32 crore, does it imply that incremental depreciation is on plant and machinery from Genex? That was first. Second, there is a bad provision of nearly INR 25 crore versus INR 23 crore. Is it also reflecting in our P&L, and how do we see it going forward? Third question is on increase in working capital, which is quite significant considering contracts' working progress has increased from INR 700 crore to more than INR 1,000 crore. What should we read into this? Thank you so much.
I hope this is the last installment of your questions.
Sure, sure.
Cash flow, lease, your observation is right, but I can't explain you the accounting standard on a call. Based on the accounting standard, the treatment of the actual rentals getting paid out and the capitalization of lease assets and getting depreciated in the profit and loss account is a little different. That's why you will not see—I mean, my lease rentals were—I mean, if I talk from the cash flow point of view, the lease rentals were a little bit in a staggered manner. The asset gets capitalized in one number. I mean, the entire cash flow gets capitalized as one number and gets depreciated over a period of lease period. Especially, this is happening for my Genex facility. That's the reason why you are seeing that number, the range which you are seeing. Yes, you are right.
Apart from Genex facility, we do have plant and equipment which got, what I can say, decapitalized in the Genex facility. Those are also on a lease basis. That's the reason those lease rentals have also started kicking in now. That's on the lease. Second one, observation of yours is on a bad debt provision. Let me clarify. This is a provision for doubtful debt. There are no bad debts. Surprisingly, rather, we have not actually written off anything as a bad debt in the current year. Everything is on the provisioning side for doubtful debts because we have beefed up our policy from the provisioning side and changed a little bit and made it more a little aggressive on the provisioning side. That's the reason why you are seeing increase in the provision for doubtful debts. Sorry, I again missed your third question. That's the one. Manish, it's up.
Thank you.
Okay. Thank you.
This would be the last question for today, and I now hand the conference over to the management 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. Once again, we would like to thank you all for your time and have a nice day.
Thank you. On behalf of Praj Industries Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.