Good afternoon, shareholders. I am Varun Malhotra, Head Taxation, Legal, and Company Secretary of Voltas Limited. I welcome you all to the 70th Annual General Meeting of Voltas Limited. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has, by General Circular Number 20 of 2020, dated May 5, 2020, read with other relevant circulars on the subject, including General Circular Number 9 of 2023, dated September 25, 2023, permitted companies to conduct their annual general meeting in the year 2024 through video conferencing or other audio-visual means. Accordingly, we are holding this AGM through video conference. Most of the shareholders have, over the past few years, become familiar with the process for participating in the AGM through video conferencing.
For the benefit of those shareholders who are first-time participant, I would like to briefly take you through certain procedural and technical points. All shareholders who have joined this meeting are, by default, placed on mute mode to ensure that there is no disturbance arising from the background noise and to ensure smooth and seamless conduct of the meeting. The company has received requests from few shareholders to register them as speakers at the AGM. The shareholders have been registered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Once the question and answer session starts, the chairman will announce the name of the shareholders who have registered themselves as speaker shareholders one by one. When chairman calls your name, the host will send your request for unmute. On receipt of such request, you have to click on the unmute button on your device.
Thereafter, click on video button only once and wait till the video is on. If the shareholder is not able to join through video for any reason, the shareholder can speak through the audio mode. While speaking, we request the shareholder speaker to use the earphones so that he or she is clearly audible. Minimize any noise in the background. Ensure that the Wi-Fi is not connected to any other device, no other background applications are running on the device, and there is proper lighting to have a good video experience. If there is a connectivity issue at the shareholder speaker's end, we would invite the next shareholder to join. We would request the shareholders to be slow and audible while asking their questions and limit their speech to three minutes only.
During the AGM, if a shareholder faces any technical issues, he or she may contact the helpline numbers mentioned in the notice of the AGM. I would like to take this opportunity to explain the sequence of meeting and the process of voting on the resolutions as contained in the notice of the AGM. The Companies Act 2013 and SEBI Listing Regulations provide for electronic voting. Accordingly, the company had provided its shareholders the facility to cast their vote through the remote electronic voting system administered by NSDL. E-voting commenced on Saturday, 6 July 2024 at 9:00 A.M., and continued till Tuesday, 9 July 2024, till 5:00 P.M. Pursuant to Section 107 of the Act, there would not be any voting on the resolutions by show of hands.
Facility for voting at the meeting is also provided to the shareholders who have joined this meeting through video conference and who have not yet voted. Shareholders may please go to the voting page of NSDL e-voting website and cast their vote, while at the same time watch the proceedings of the meeting. Since this AGM is being held through video conference and the resolutions mentioned in the notice convening this AGM have already been put to vote through remote e-voting, there will be no proposing and seconding of resolutions. I now request the chairman to take forward the proceedings. Thank you. Over to you, Chairman, sir.
Thank you, Varun. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to welcome all the shareholders to the 70th Annual General Meeting of the company. I have beside me Mr. Pradeep Bakshi-
Hello, everyone
... Managing Director and CEO of Voltas. As the requisite quorum is present, I now call the meeting to order. May I now request my fellow board members to introduce themselves? Mr. Mukundan Menon, who joined our board on the tenth of July, 2023, as an executive director. He is also the Head of the RAC business.
Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Mukundan Menon, Executive Director and Head of the Home Air Conditioner business, attending this AGM from Mumbai.
Mr. Behram Vakil?
Good afternoon, everyone. I am Behram Vakil. I am an Independent Director in your company and also the Chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.
... Thank you, Behram. Mr. Vinayak Deshpande?
Good afternoon, I am Vinayak Deshpande, Non-Executive Director. I'm attending this meeting from Pune. Thank you.
Thank you, Vinayak. Mr. Debendranath Sarangi?
Good afternoon. I am Debendranath Sarangi, Independent Director, attending this AGM from Chennai. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Sarangi. Ms. Anjali Bansal?
I'm Anjali Bansal, Independent Director, attending this AGM from Mumbai.
Thank you, Anjali. Mr. Arun Adhikari?
Good afternoon. I am Arun Adhikari, Independent Director, attending this AGM from Mumbai.
Thank you, Arun. Mr. Saurabh Agrawal?
Good afternoon, shareholders. I am Saurabh Agrawal, Non-Executive Director, attending this AGM from Gurgaon. Thank you.
Thank you, Saurabh. Mr. Jayesh Merchant, our new director, has joined the board on the 30th of January, 2024.
Good afternoon, shareholders. I'm Jayesh Merchant, Independent Director, attending this AGM from Mumbai.
Thank you, Jayesh. Mr. Zubin Dubash is not able to attend the AGM. Other participants attending this meeting through video conference include Mr. Jitender Verma, the CFO of the company, Mr. Varun Malhotra, Company Secretary, representatives of statutory auditors and secretarial auditors. I thank all the members for joining us today. In order to facilitate a wider participation of the shareholders from different locations other than Mumbai, and as permitted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and SEBI, the AGM for this year is held via video conferencing. The company has taken the requisite steps to enable members to participate and vote on the items being considered at this AGM. A live stream of this meeting is also being webcast on NSDL's website. Since there are no physical attendance of shareholders, the requirement of appointing proxies is not applicable.
The company has received four authorized representations, along with board resolutions from corporate shareholders, authorizing representatives under Section 113 of the Companies Act 2013, in respect of 10,225,3480 equity shares, representing 30.3% of the paid-up equity capital. The registers, as required under the Companies Act 2013, are available for inspection. Notice of this meeting and the link for the annual report were sent to shareholders who had registered their email IDs. I'm happy to note that more than 95% of the shareholders have registered their email addresses with us. With your permission, may I take the notice as received and read? Since there are no adverse observations, qualifications, or comments by the statutory auditors and secretarial auditors, their reports are not required to be read.
Before I call upon shareholders who have registered to speak, I would like to talk about the industry and your company's performance in FY 2024. The Indian consumer durables and information technology, CDIT, industry, which is valued at over INR 100,000 crore in 2024 vs China's INR 500,000 crore, has significant room for growth. The Indian CDIT industry is expected to grow in double digits, major appliances at 11% and telecom at 12%, while the global industry grows sluggishly at 0.3%. The low penetration of room ACs, washing machines, and refrigerators vs developing economies like China, Brazil, Malaysia, Thailand, etc., is a big opportunity for the growth of the industry. The next ten years will see significant growth in the Indian consumer industry, driven by increasing disposable incomes, rural market expansion, and access to credit.
The last year, however, has been a mixed bag for Voltas. Voltas achieved a consolidated revenue of INR 12,734 crores, the highest in our history. We sold 2.5 million+ ACs, unprecedented in the Indian market, getting 18.7% market share as of March 2024. The new fully backward-integrated manufacturing facilities for split ACs in Chennai is on track. Commercial production is expected to start this month. Our JV with Arçelik, under the Voltas Beko brand, crossed INR 1,500 crores in revenue for the first time and is one of the fastest-growing Indian consumer durable brands, selling over 5 million appliances in just five years. We strengthened our market leadership position in chest freezers, water coolers, and water dispensers.... Voltas has also entered a new segment, water heaters, with quartz line technology.
Brand Voltas has been recognized as one of the top 10 strongest Indian brands by the Brand Finance India 2024 report. The textile machinery division and the mining and construction equipment business achieved the highest profits in their history, each of them crossing INR 100 crore. I'm sure you will all join the board and me in commending the management and our colleagues for their efforts in achieving these. Regretfully, these achievements were partly negated by the INR 400 crore provision for bad debts, which we had to make in our Middle East projects business. In our consumer businesses, despite increased competition in the room AC business, your company achieved 35% growth, with a turnover of around INR 5,700 crore.
Some of the key reasons are the expanded range of products featuring enhanced attributes, strong distribution, a higher share of sales from key regional retailers and modern trade partners, and a much stronger performance in the southern region. Voltas Beko, our consumer durable business, sold over 1.8 million units, registering a growth of 53%. Voltas Beko has around 300 SKUs and over 11,400 touch points. There has also been a steady growth in market share, with over 5% in refrigerators and over 8% in washing machines in FY 2024. Our air cooler business registered a robust growth of around 40% in volumes, resulting in a 70% turnover growth. In our B2B businesses, the new manufacturing facility at Waghodia for the commercial refrigeration business commenced trial production in March 2024 and has received ISO 9001 certification.
An all-time high production from the Pantnagar facility duly supported the commercial refrigeration business. However, during FY 2024, the business de-grew by 3%. As a significant player in the commercial air conditioning business, Voltas offers various cooling systems such as VRF systems, chillers, ducted and packaged units, and light commercial ACs. Your company is the largest service provider in the Indian CAC market and is strategically leveraging digitalization to educate customers about its products and services. CAC has reported a 16% growth in turnover in FY 2024.
In our projects business, UMPESL, the domestic projects and engineering products and services business, has reported a turnover of INR 2,865 crore and a PBT of INR 288 crore in 2023-24, as compared to a turnover of INR 1,767 crore and a PBT of INR 235 crore, respectively, last year. The domestic projects business, comprising MEP, water, electrical, and solar projects, has a healthy carry-forward order book position of over INR 5,000 crore as of March 31, 2024. The business has executed several prestigious projects, including the new parliament building. Major metro infra projects in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Chennai are under execution. The business has also executed many water projects with the Odisha and UP governments.
The Textile Machinery Division of UMPESL specializes in offering products and services to the textile industry through its reputed principals, including Lakshmi Machine Works, duly supported by excellent after-sales support and maintenance services. LMW, the largest principal of TMD, enjoys a market share of 65% in spinning machinery. The business achieved an all-time high revenue and grew by 11% over last year with INR 106 crore of profit. The mining and construction equipment business segment provides services to mining companies by providing specialized mining equipment. The business also provides mining services in Mozambique and executes long-term maintenance contracts for loaders and other mining equipment. The business achieved a 13% growth of turnover with a INR 100 crore profit.
In our international projects business, a healthy carry-forward order book by the International Projects Business Group, comprising MEP projects in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, enabled it to deliver a turnover growth of 29%. However, due to unethical practices of our main contractors, some of the earlier projects in Qatar remain under stress. IOBG therefore made a provision of approximately INR 400 crore for the same. This significantly impacted the overall profitability of the company at a consolidated level. If not for these provisions, your company would have reported a PBT of around INR 900 crore, the highest in Voltas' history. The management is making efforts to collect the payments while simultaneously pursuing these matters legally to recover the outstanding amounts.
The board of directors of your company has taken a conscious decision to strengthen the terms and conditions on which overseas contracts are taken, and advise management to minimize exposure of your company in these markets. Your company has reported a higher consolidated total income of INR 12,734 crores, with revenue from operations at INR 12,407 crores for the year ended 31 March 2024. Profit before tax was INR 486 crores, and net profit was INR 248 crores. On a standalone basis, your company has reported a total income of INR 8,988 crores, with a profit before tax of INR 758 crores and a net profit of INR 604 crores.
Based on the company's overall performance and keeping in mind the shareholders' interests, the board of directors have recommended a higher dividend of INR 5.50 per equity share of INR 1 each, 550% for the year 2023-24, as compared to 425% last year. The dividend, if approved by the shareholders, would result in a cash outflow of INR 182 crores. This payout works out to 72% of the consolidated EPS of the company. The dividend will be paid on or after the 15th of July, 2024, subject to deduction of tax at source as applicable. Your company has had an encouraging start to FY 2025.
Driven by the hot summer, our RAC volumes have increased and crossed over 1 million units in the first quarter of FY 2025, a growth of 62% over the corresponding quarter last year. The commercial refrigeration, air coolers and consumer durables have all performed better than corresponding quarter last year, with air coolers crossing 200,000 units as compared to 84,000 units in Q1 FY 2024, a growth of 169%. Voltas M&CE has achieved a growth of 46% in Q1 FY 2025 over Q1 FY 2024. On behalf of the board and myself, I would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation and gratitude to all the stakeholders, including the shareholders, for their trust, understanding and constant support. I would also like to convey our appreciation and thanks to the employees of the company and our JV partners for supporting the company.
I wish to inform you that over 98% of the company's equity share capital is held in demat mode. As the transfer of shares and the issue of share certificates in physical form have been discontinued by SEBI, I urge the shareholders holding shares in physical form to consider converting their shareholding in demat into demat form. The said shareholders can contact our secretarial team or Link Intime, the company's registrar and transfer agent, for any assistance they require in this matter. I also take this opportunity to thank the shareholders who have registered their email IDs with their depository company's registrar, thereby supporting the Green Initiative program of the government by receiving the annual reports and other documents electronically.
Accordingly, a soft copy of the Voltas AGM notice and the annual report was sent to around 2.44 lakh shareholders out of a total of 2.57 lakh shareholders. I would now like to invite the shareholders who have registered themselves to speak and express their views on comments on the annual report and the notice of AGM. Since we have an extremely large number of speakers, I will call speakers one by one and request you to strictly maintain a three-minute timeline on your questions. The first speaker, Mr. Arunk umar Bopanna. Yeah, good afternoon, Arun.
Good after-
I think you're on mute. We can't hear you.
Hello?
Yes.
Hello. Can you hear me, sir?
Yes, I can now.
Yeah. Good afternoon, sir.
Good afternoon.
Your, your smile is a curved line which is straightening out a lot of things. One, 1.5 minutes, very bad. And compliments for Voltas completing incredible 70 years and with a new facility, a renewable energy facility in Chennai, too. So the presentation of Voltas Micro Factory, Chennai is fantastic. The robotic assembly. So do you think I'll keep quiet by not asking for the factory visit? I'm, I'm asking for a factory visit now. I don't ask for dividend bonus. And my questions: What is R&D budget for emerging technologies? What is risk management architecture for Voltas, and what is the risk appetite of Voltas? What are new offerings from Tata Tech and Tata Elxsi for Voltas? With the rise of airports and, what revenue can we expect for Voltas in AC and MEP?
Sir, life cycle assessment of zero ODP, ozone depleting potential, and lesser GWP, global warming potential, what is the outcome? Then split inverter air conditioner, smart air conditioner series continue to lead the market. What are future targets and what are revenues expected in that sector, in that product? Sir, AI and GenAI, IoT impact on Voltas production and cyberattacks, how does Voltas protect against data breaches, track and trace for quick response? Outcomes of online and offline distribution with new launches. Sir, are addressing the unseasonal heatwaves with temperature crossing more than 52 degrees, and what moves are you making in this field? Sadly, Sir Varun is superannuating now. I think this is the last AGM for him. Varun has been a dear friend with fantastic service over the years. Varun, sad, will be retiring soon. Varun was always keen to serve, sir.
Varun, as a person, was adorable, and Varun's friendship was memorable. He was always full of zest. I wish Varun all the best. In conclusion, I wish Voltas to make history in the eighth decade with relentless customer centricity. Sir, I finished less than 2.5 minutes.
Thank you.
I hope to see you for the Titan AGM day after tomorrow.
You will.
I hope you conduct the meeting.
You, you-
Thank you.
You will. Thank you, Arun.
Bye-bye.
The next speaker is Mr. Bimal Kumar Agarwal.
Hello, I am audible?
Yes, you're audible.
Hello.
Yes, you're audible.
Yes. Good afternoon, sir.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon to everyone. First of all, I thank the company secretary and his team, management, staff, and the shareholders. I will again thank the company secretary. They are so fantastic that I got fed up, like, they are saying, like, you have joined the meeting or no. How many times they called me? Thanks to company secretary. I just want one question. Like, nowadays, we are seeing AC buses, AC, AC Trent. What are our suppliers for we are doing supplying them? That's all from me. Thank you very much. I hope company will continue video conferenc e forever.
Mr-
That's all from me. Thank you very much.
Mr. Agarwal, I didn't understand your question. What was the question again?
I want to know, like, nowadays, AC buses are there, AC Trains are coming. Before, there were no AC buses. Now, what is our supply-
Okay, AC buses and trains.
Yeah, yeah.
Okay, understood.
Uh.
Thank you.
That's all from me.
Thank you, Mr. Agarwal.
Thank you.
The next speaker is Ms. Lily Pradhan.
Am I audible?
Yes, you are.
Okay. Very good afternoon-
Good afternoon
... all chairpersons and all viewers. Myself, Lily Pradhan from Kolkata. First of all, I give my respect to the board of directors, respected chairman, respected secretary, with secretarial team. As a secretary, always coordinate with me, with all shareholder. Very good appreciative, personalized human beings. Overall, very good investor services. I am really proud of our company secretary for being polite, decent, hardworking, and patient behavior. Go ahead. Good wishes, always with you. I received email, e-notice well in advance with annual report hard copy. The theme of cover page is very good, knowledgeable. I wholeheartedly support all resolution. I am very happy to know the company's performance is developing a lot, which is sustainable growth in nowadays. Credit rating of the company is very good. But I have put some specific question in present situation.
What is the aim and object of future development in all over world as a, like as a national, international level? What is the by-product planning? What is the CSR activities on challenging persons? Microanalysis of CSR activities. What is the CapEx plan for future development? Please must be bifurcated analysis, top line and bottom line growth. Please must be submitted microanalysis audit of cash flow management. Please must be continue visit in future, because any part of the world, abroad persons can participate and express their views easily. Please must be considered planned visit for encouragement of the shareholder. And also, reversal policy, please consider the reverse policy. As a woman speaker, request to always support woman empowerment. Nothing more. Thank you. Thank you so much. Best regard. All the best.
Thank you, Ms. Pradhan. The next speaker is Mr. Vinod Agarwal.
... Yeah, can you hear me, Mr. Tata? Yeah, Chairman, Mr. Noel Tata-
Yes, I can hear you.
Yes. Yes, Chairman, Mr. Noel Tata, MD and CEO, Pradeep Bakshi, our CFO, Jitender Verma, and our CS, Varun Malhotra. Good afternoon and regards to everyone, sir. This is our seventieth year, we have crossed it, which is a remarkable journey. We have, we've grown from a one-product company, joint venture with Volkart and Tatas together, but now we are in a league of our own. So we are the largest AC sellers in the country, 2 million units we sold plus. Now, my only one or two queries, I've got a lot of points with me, but I'll come down to the points only. We have-
Thank you.
Making a 150-acre factory in Chennai and Waghodia also, we have set up a plant for refrigeration units. And so I'd like to know what have you got any PLI scheme for these plants for these two huge factories that we have got? What will be the total CapEx that will be there, and what will be the PLI scheme amount that we'll be receiving over a period of 5 years that generally a PLI scheme is for of the projects that you invest in? And like Arun and the previous speaker, if a plant visit to Chennai could be arranged because we've been attending the meeting since the past several years. It would be better now, and we have not seen any of your factories.
It would be better that you could arrange for a plant visit also. It is for you to consider, sir. There are a lot of points I've got. I don't want to take up other point. I can go on and on. I don't want to, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
If you have any other points, you can always contact the management and the company secretary offline, and we wish to answer your questions. Thank you, Mr. Agarwal.
Thank you.
The next speaker is Mr. Yashpal Chopra. Mr. Yashpal Chopra, are you there?
We believe we are facing some technical issues with Mr. Yash.
Okay, so let's go move on to the next person, please, which is Mr. Kirti Jayantilal Shah.
Speaker number six has not joined the meeting yet, sir.
Okay, then we move to speaker number seven, Ms. Lekha Satish Shah.
Go on unmute. I'm not being unmuted.
Mrs. Lekha Shah?
Hello.
Mrs. Lekha Shah?
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Am I audible, sir?
Yes, good afternoon. Please ask your questions.
Thank you, sir. Respected Chairman, sir, Board of Directors, and my fellow members, good afternoon to all of you. Myself, Lekha Shah from Mumbai. I would like to thank our company secretary, Varun Ji, and especially Arun Ji, and he's giving the opportunity and for smooth process, where I am able to talk in front of you all in AGM. I saw this AGM report. I'd be like to say that annual report is so beautiful, full of colors, facts, and figures in place. Again, I thank our company secretary, Varun Ji, for their best performance and outstanding support for all my doubts. Best wishes to our company secretary, Varun Ji, for his retirement life. Chairman, sir, I personally request you to kindly continue his services as a consultant of our company.
He may continue for few more months to help this effort, advice on my business way to issue. Chairman, sir, I hope the company will continue video conference meeting in future. Also, I would like to extend my heartfelt wishes to the company for all the awards received by the company during the year. I'm proud to be a shareholder of this company. Chairman, sir, I would like to ask only one question: How much revenue our company received from the Middle East countries and risks from foreign currency exchange rate? How it will affect on the profitability? So I hope the company will continue video conference meeting in future. So I strongly and wholeheartedly support all the resolutions for today's meeting. Thank you so much, sir.
Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Shah. Thank you. The next speaker is Mr. Yusuf Rangwala.
Good afternoon, Chairman, sir. I'm speaking... My name is Yusuf Rangwala, speaking from Mumbai. I'm very thankful to our company secretary, Malhotra, sir, and his team for sending me a link, but somewhat of my mobile is not okay, so that I cannot take part. But I support the resolution, and I'm very happy with our all the Voltas team and his sales department, for point number one. What are the total number of staff? Point number two, as you mention, as you, as I received, annual copy, I am thankful to Malhotra, sir, for sending me annual copy. That is a very excellent of 250 pages printed, and I would like to know, what is the cost of this copy?
Sir, next time, please don't keep that it is a video conference, because what about my link? Why is it not opening? So that is why I'm sending my video. So accept my speaker number is eight. So please play this video, so that will be okay, because I cannot take the part because NSDL are not giving a telephone link. Tell them to give a telephone link. If the people, the link is not open, tell them this facility they must provide. This is my humble request, because sometimes the link is not open so that I cannot take a part. So this is my humble request. Tell the NSDL to give a telephone link. Nothing more to add. I request for a factory visit at Thane, in Thane, and nothing more to add.
I thank our Malhotra Sir and his team, and also sending me annual copy. That is a very excellent, very knowledgeable. Thank you very much. I am not Sir Tata, sir. I'm very happy with your performance, and seeing your smiling photo. I think next coming year, this is next year, we can accept a bonus from you. Today, market trade is very up, because due to good profit in your guidance. Nothing more to add. I end my speech praying the God, saying some from few, say.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Rangwala. Thank you. The next speaker is Mr. Anil Champaklal Parekh.
Hello?
Yes, Mr. Parekh.
Hello. Hello, good afternoon-
Good afternoon.
Mr. Tata.
Good afternoon.
Hope you are fine at your end. And-
Yes, yes, thank you.
Good afternoon to all the board members, all the company executive and employees. First of all, I would like to thank our CS team. Very strong CS team, consisting Mr. Varun Malhotra, Mr. Siddhartha, Mr. Arun Kawade, and recently joined Subodh Soni. All these people are very good asset to the company, and so is their relation with the shareholder. Sir, kindly preserve this team for our future growth. Chairman, sir, I have gone through this voluminous annual report of 436 pages. Excellent presentation by our board and CS team, and I'm really delighted to go through it. However, reading a full annual report is not possible, but I would like to put before you some of the points.
Firstly, Chairman, sir, congratulations for highest ever consolidated income of INR 12,734 crore, increase of 32%, and profit before tax was higher by 58% to INR 486 crore. If there would not have been 450 crore bad debts, and you have made provision for that, it would have been around 900 crores, and so as our dividend would have gone, gone up. But anyway, despite the provision of 450 crores, you have given us an handsome dividend of INR 5.50 paise. Chairman, sir, thank you so much for that gratitude. Chairman, sir, our new facility at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, of 150 acres, what is the total capital expenditure we have made there?
How much it will add to our top line and bottom line, Chairman, sir? I would join with other speaker before me; kindly arrange factory visit to Chennai. It is now five years we are not able to meet each other. At least we can have a one-to-one physical meeting there and giving so many compliments to you, Chairman, sir. My second question is, despite many headwinds, our Voltas Beko is doing very well in last five years, and we have sold more than 5 million appliances.
Chairman, sir, this Voltas Beko is another brand other than Voltas that I would like to know, and do we sell this Voltas Beko brand out of India also or only for Indian market? That is my question. And I would like to know this ProSmart refrigerator which we are manufacturing in Thane factory. Would it be only for commercial purpose or for home purpose also? That is my question, sir. And our International Operations Business Group has secured multiple projects in UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Anil, sir-
So, uh-
Due to time constraint, we request you to limit your question to three minutes.
Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry. See, this is the only opportunity where we can talk to the management. Give me 2 more minutes. I will not take more than 2 minutes. Okay? Our UAE and Saudi Arabia program, how it will go, that I would like to know. And also our foray into electrical and solar segment. Kindly give little bit details on that, how we are going forward. Chairman, sir, as per your request, I would not take now any time, but only once again request you to kindly have a plant visit at Chennai facility. Thank you for allowing me to speak at this forum, and I once again thank our CS team for excellent work and excellent relationship with the shareholder. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Parekh, and if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to contact our secretarial team. The next speaker is Mr. Manjit Singh.
Hello, Chairman, sir, meri awaaz aa rahi hai aapko?
Yes, we can hear you. Go ahead, please. Ask your questions, please.
Chairman, sir, first of all, good afternoon to you, saare directors and saare shareholders. Sir, hamari company jis tareeke se saalon se electronic compliance mein chal rahi hai, aur aage bhi tarakki karegi, iski humein puri umeed hai, sir. Sir, thoda sa yeh poochna chah raha tha, sir, ki jis tareeke se aap apni total income ka research and development par kitna kharcha karte hain? Sir, thoda sa is baare mein bataiyega. Aur sir, jis tareeke se is saal garmi ne India ke andar kai shehron mein 50 se leke 54 degrees Celsius ka jo temperature level paar kar diya hai, sir, iske se hamari aage aane wale time mein company pe bhi kitni sale mein growth aayegi, sir, thoda sa is baare mein bataiyega.
Baaki, Chairman, sir, aapke secretarial department aur moderator ka sir hum dhanyavad karna chahenge, sir, jinhonne itne aaram se hume aapke saamne bolne ka mauka diya. Aur sir, jis tareeke se hamara share ka BSE code hai, 500575, aur symbol hai, sir, Voltas. Isse sir, ek jo investor hota hai, sir, usko pura vishwas hai ki hamari company hamein achha return deti hai. Shukriya, sir, Chairman, sir.
Thank you.
Bolne ka mauka dene ke liye.
Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Singh. The next speaker is Mr. Ravichandran.
Am I audible?
Yes, you're audible.
Good afternoon, Chairman. I'm V. Ravichandran, joining from Chennai. Good afternoon to all the other directors, as well as those who are attending the AGM. My first point is,
Good afternoon.
Yeah, my first point is, you know, water heaters, water dispensers and all, but I don't find them in any of the outlets. In Chennai, Viveks, Vasanth & Co, and all are popular, but I don't find them. Maybe you will have to introduce Mr. Murthy for these products also. So Mr. Murthy-
Okay
... is very popular for ACs. My second point is, this substation business. It is more of a, supplier-driven business. What is the value addition for Voltas? Because you may be procuring, whether it is air-insulated or gas-insulated substations, you may have to procure everything from outside. So what is the, you know, value add and what is the margin profile? Third point is, how much money are we making in overseas business? Because many of the contractors, they seem to be losing money in, overseas, especially West Asia. So I don't know how much Voltas is making. And, the next point is on ESG. There is no mention about, tree plantation. Why is it so? Are you, planting trees but not finding a place, or you are not at all doing it?
Because climate change can be brought about by, you know, planting trees. My next point is, I have been seeing, you know, from 1994, 1995, the equity has not changed. See, from 1994, 1995 to current year, you know, it has crossed milestones like 50 years, 60 years, and all. But there has been no change in the equity. Why the company is not considering a bonus issue? At least every decade, companies like Voltas should be issuing bonus. So that way, you know, shareholder value also adds. They get more dividend. And in page number 150, the list of other applicable laws, I don't find a mention on this IT Act, Information Technology Act, Contract Act and all, which are relevant for any company, especially for contract companies like yours.
My last point is on the trade payables. See, there are INR 358 crore of outstanding to vendors, which are more than one year old. One to three, to more than three years, two to three years, one to two years, and all. And there are, there are no disputes against them. Why they have not been paid? And lastly, before I conclude, I'm just curious to know how Mr. Bopanna is related to the Tata Group, because in every meeting I find him, you know, the to be the first speaker. I don't know, like Chairman Emeritus. I don't know if he's being considered as a chairman speaker. See, I don't have anything against him, I'm just curious to know.
That's all, and I wish all the best for the company in future years, and I would request you to consider a bonus issue at least now. Thank you, sir.
Thank you, Mr. Ravichandran. The next speaker, Mrs. Celestine Mascarenhas.
Hello, am I audible?
Yes, you're audible. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank.
Ask your question, please.
Yeah, thank you very much, even visible. I... Respected Chairman, Mr. Noel Tata, other members of the board, my dear fellow shareholders, I am speaking from Mumbai. First of all, I thank the company secretary and his Mr. Malhotra and his team for sending me annual report and also registering me as a speaker at my request. Thank you so much, and giving me a very good platform to speak. Our revenues are up, PBT PAT is up, and a good dividend of INR 5.50, in spite of certain provision was made, and a very good market cap. Next, I congratulate for all the awards and accolades received all in the page 35, and very good CSR work. Keep it up. Now my queries.
We have many verticals, sir: cooling products, home appliances, international business group, infrastructure solutions, textile machinery, mining and construction, construction equipment. In which of these we have good margins and will be the growth drivers for the future? Have we got washing machine and room ACs where AI is used? I would, I would like to know. Please throw light. Now, we have employees of 10,600+. What is their average age, and what is the attrition level? Sir, are we eligible for the PLI scheme of the GOI? If so, how much amount we have received from PLI, and mostly on which of our products?
The future, I would like to know the future map for the next five years, CapEx requirements for organic as well as inorganic growth, and which vertical, according to you people, will be the growth drivers and also very good margins. With this, I support all the resolutions. I wish my company all the best. May it grow from strength to strength, and it become another Trent. So I wish you all very good health, as health is wealth. Thank you once again.
Thank you, Mrs. Mascarenhas.
Namaskar.
Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Mr. Dharmesh Vakil.
Okay. Am I audible, sir?
Yes, you are audible. Please ask your questions.
Okay. Yes, sir. Very good evening, Tata Seth.
Yes, thank you.
Yes, sir, thank you. It's my pleasure. My first and foremost point is why we are not holding a physical meeting, in spite of the COVID pandemic is over now more than two years back? And those of so you or you can have a hybrid meeting, but we want to meet each other for a better interaction. Your annual report is very, very informative, full of pictures and information, and I'm very much thankful and I give my best compliments to our entire secretarial team of Varun Malhotra, Subodh Bhai Soni, Siddharth Bhai Sahab. They are even taking care of all the emails, and Shweta also there very humbly reminded me to attend the meeting. I have no complaints or any grievances for our company's performance.
PLI.
Instead, my best compliments on the progress and the development of our company year by year. I would like to know which are our new products to be introduced in the current year, and how do you foresee the competition? How will we stand? Who is our... Who are our major competitors, and how- what is our rank in the market? See, in the dictionary, the meaning of Tata is defined as a trust, so we are very happy, and we are proud to be a shareholder of a Tata Group company. Secondly, my office AC is not working properly, so I very kindly request you to send your immediately send your mechanic, technician, or engineer. You have my all the contact details and telephone numbers. As all my predecessors have very rightly said-...
About the factory visit, kindly please arrange our each and every plant visit year one after the other. What about the bonus issue? I think considering the small and minority shareholders request, you will announce the bonus before the end of this meeting. That's all. I once again wish all the best to not only to the company, but to each and every staff and the entire Tata Group. Jai Shri Krishna, thanks for patient hearing.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Vakil. The next speaker is Mr. Sarabjeet Singh.
Hello, Chairman Sir, can you hear my voice?
Yes, we can hear you.
Chairman Sir, first of all, good afternoon to you, all the Board of Directors, all the staff of Voltas Limited, and my co-fellow shareholders.
Chairman Sir, जिस तरीके से हमारी कंपनी ने 52-week का low लगाया था, पिछले साल INR 745 का और high लगाया sir, INR 1,560 का, और sir आज भी हमारा शेयर around INR 1,490 पर trade कर रहा है। Sir, ये आप लोगों की मेहनत तो sir clear दर्शा रही है कि पिछले साल के, पिछले साल से लेकर अब तक हमारा share double around आज भी trade कर रहा है। इसके लिए sir हम आपको मुबारकबाद देना चाहेंगे sir, ये आप लोगों की मेहनत ही है sir, जो shareholder को एक अच्छी return दे रहा है। और chairman sir, जिस तरीके से अभी हमने देखा mutual fund ने हमारी company में अपनी holding बढ़ाई है sir, उन्होंने 18.81% से 24.17% करी है। उन्होंने sir, around 6% जो अपनी holding बढ़ाई है, तो sir ये clear विश्वास दर्शाता है कि क्योंकि mutual fund एक ऐसा fund होता है, जिसका किसी भी company में और विश्वास आने का मतलब है sir, कि company आगे आने वाला time उनका तरक्की का और भी बढ़िया तरीके से है। Sir, आप लोग मेहनत already कर रहे हैं sir, shareholder को अच्छा return देने के लिए, और sir, ये आपके secretarial department के अंदर भी दिखता है sir, जिन्होंने इतनी मेहनत करके हमें sir, आपके सामने बोलने का मौका दिया। sir, हम आपके secretarial department, company secretary साहब और moderator साहब का भी sir धन्यवाद करना चाहेंगे sir, जिन्होंने हमें आपके सामने बोलने का मौका दिया, और thank you chairman sir, for giving me a speech in your AGM.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Singh. The next speaker is Vasudha Vikas Dakwe.
Hello, can you hear me, sir?
Yes, we can hear you.
Thank you, sir. Respected Chairman Sir, Board of Directors, and my fellow shareholders, myself Vasudha from Thane. I would like to congratulate our company secretary team for sending me the soft copy of the report well in advance, which itself is clear and transparent. The opening speech given by Chairman Sir is also very informative. Most of the question was asked by my previous shareholder. I will not like to repeat it again. Only one question I would like to ask, when did the last bonus given and in which proportion? With this, I support all the resolution. Thank you very much and wish the company all the-
Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Dakwe. The next speaker is Miss Smita Shah. Do we have Miss Smita Shah, moderator?
Hello, hello, hello.
Yes.
Sir, आवाज़ आ रही है मेरी?
Yes, please go ahead and ask your question.
Okay, thank you, sir.
माननीय Chairman साहब, श्री Noel जी, MD CEO श्री Pradeep जी तथा अन्य उपस्थित माननीय Directors, Sir, आप सभी को मेरा Smita Shah का सादर प्रणाम। Sir, प्रथम आज आपको 70th AGM की बहुत-बहुत बधाई देते हुए Company का excellent better performance के लिए plus excellent awards के लिए मैं अभिनंदन भी देती हूं, और आपके साथ आज बात करने का आज AGM में जो मौका दिया और हमें balance sheet भी transparent, attractive, colorful, बढ़िया बनाना ही, so balance sheet के लिए और good investor service के लिए हमारे मेहनती hard worker, सालों से हमें shareholder को always helpful होकर अच्छी service देते आ रहे हैं। श्रीमती, श्री, Company Secretary श्री Malhotra जी, उनको मैं बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद करती हूं। साथ में उनकी team से हमारे जाने-पहचाने, hard worker श्री Subodh जी, बहुत मेहनती और hard worker है, so पूरी, Subodh जी और पूरी sales team को मैं बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद करती हूं। और Chairman साहब, Company का जो पिछले 15 साल से record देखें, तो current year का progress बहुत अच्छा दिख रहा है। Dividend भी बढ़ते कदम पर आ रहा है। Sir, आपने अपनी speech में बहुत कुछ अच्छा Company के बारे में बढ़िया बताया है और आपका presentation भी देखा, तो pro- एक से बढ़कर एक बढ़िया product के साथ बहुत बढ़िया work अपनी Company कर, करते जा रही है। So सालों पुरानी Company, आज भी Voltas का नाम market में सुप्रसिद्ध रहा है, यह जानकर मैं बहुत खुशी हुई है। Sir, आपके यहां महिलाओं को बहुत अच्छी safety मिल रही है, वो भी हमें समझ में आया। आप महिलाओं का बहुत अच्छा care कर रहे हो, बहुत अच्छी बात है। तो दूसरी बात Sir, आपके products देखकर आपकी factory visit दे, हमें, करने की मन हो गया है Sir। तो मेरे आगे भी कई लोगों ने बताया कि factory visit जरूर करवाइए। तो Sir, मैं, मैं भी visit करना चाहती हूं, तो Sir जरूर आप factory visit करवाने की कृपा करें। So आंखों देख का हाल बढ़िया रहता है, और Sir, visit जरूर कराएं। बाकी तो Sir, आपके competitor कौन है?
Aur sir, aapne apne jo ek se badhkar ek jo product hai, to apna Voltas ka kaun sa product kaun se place mein zyada sell ho raha hai, aur market mein apna kaun sa product... zyada sell hota, uska kya zyada demand mil rahi hai, kaun se product ko?
तो जरा हाईलाइट करिए। बाकी तो सर, हमारा ऑलवेज सपोर्ट आपके साथ है। हम आप हमारे दिल में हो, सो दुआएं हैं मेरी दिल से आपको थक ना सके आप कभी, फुर्सत के कुछ पल दे, आपको सुखद आज और बेहतरीन कल दे, बस यही मेरी शुभ भावना के साथ शुभकामनाएं मैं देती हूं। आप सदा स्वस्थ रहें, मस्त रहें, मुस्कुराते हुए आगे बढ़ते बढ़िए। सर, लास्टली मेरी एक ही रिक्वेस्ट है, सर नेक्स्ट ईयर से हमारी फिजिकल एजीएम जरूर करिए ताकि हम रूबरू मिल सकें। सर जरूर यह रिक्वेस्ट मान्य करें, बाकी तो फुल्ली सपोर्ट करते हुए मैं धन्यवाद करती हूं। सर, चालू रखिए, भरत साहब बात करते हैं। थैंक यू सर।
Thank you, thank you.
Mananiya mananiya Chairman Shri Noel Sir, MD Shri aur anya mananiya directors. Sir, mera naam Bharat hai. Sir, main issue time se barson se aapka shareholder raha hoon, sir barson se AGM attend karta hoon sir. Meri koi shikayat nahi hai sir, kyunki vyavasthit aapne ekdum vyavasthit multinational company chalai hai. Company ko kahan se kahan upar lekar le gaye ho, bahut-bahut dhanyavad, abhinandan deta hoon uske liye main sir, aapko aur poore Board of Directors aur company ke chhote bade employees ka bahut aabhar manta hoon sir. Aur sir baaki to sir CSR activity bahut acchi vyavasthit chal rahi hai, uske liye bhi dhanyavad, abhinandan!
Aur sir, iske bonus sir, last kabhi aapne diya tha sir aur yeh saal mere pehle shareholder ne bhi bonus ke liye request kiya hai to jarur aane wale 1-2 saal mein bonus ke liye meri request hai sir aur sir, physical meeting sir next year jarur kariye, kyunki abhi to sir corona bhi nahi hai aur abhi government ne bhi hybrid ke liye bola to hybrid kijiye, taki rubaru mein hum logon ko mil sakein aur bahar wale walon ko bhi chance mile. To itna dhyan rakhna sir jarur ki next year jarur physical meeting sir karna aur sir factory visit ke liye bahut time ho gaya sir. To mere aage bhi shareholder ne bola to ek baar jarur factory visit rakhiye sir. Chahe to Chennai rakhiye sir, to thoda Mumbai se jane wale ko sir thoda bhada rakhiye. Hum aur nahi to khana visit karaiye sir, lekin jarur factory visit karane ki meri heartily request hai sir. Aur sir baaki sab resolutions mein mera sir pura support hai sir. Aur aane wale dinon ki shubhkamnaen. Aapki health wealth achhi rahe aur apni company bahut badhiya aage badhe, main bhagwan ishwar ko prarthana karta hoon aur saare resolutions mein mera pura support hai sir. Thank you very much. Jai Hind!
Thank you, thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Mr. Ashok Subramaniam.
Good afternoon sir. Am I audible, I hope I am visible to you.
यस, ऑडिबल।
I am visible to you.
एंड विजिबल।
Yeah, yeah, nice to see you after the Trent AGM now in Voltas and hope to see you in Titan also. So thank you very much for the opportunity in the 17th AGM of our company. My hearty congratulations to the management, the employees, the stakeholders and specifically the retail individual investors for the fabulous performance. As early as speaker said, we have marched from 700+ to 1,400 1,500 this year and it also and I also speak this attending this AGM from Coimbatore, that is the LMW city, as you mentioned in the opening remark. So, in this context, I extend my warm welcome to your my my place one ever you visit for a cup of tea at home or coffee at home. Okay.
थैंक यू!
सो-
थैंक यू।
I evaluate and evaluate and feel myself as a dominant shareholder, not with respect to the number of holdings of shares which I have, but with respect to the interest I have in your company in our company. So, in that context, my points and my observations and suggestions which are coming now, will be based off the unique combination of an individual shareholder, a loyal customer of Voltas and also a Voltas employee family family member. And and more than that and recently superannuated safety HSSC professional. Okay, so now I have a couple of things to quote, which is not in the interest of a complaint or reasoning, but in the interest of the well-being of the company and as well as the market leadership of the company. See, I recently moved out from Mumbai to Coimbatore and I appreciate the way in which the mobile application works for moving of your split AC from one location to another location. But every time only the problem is that you have to call for a dismantling there and then you have to call for an installation. So, instead of that, it can be one call and they can do that it is good enough. And when I came here for installation, also I had faced some problems. This is in the interest of the after all, how the customer's perspective is more important in that angle, it should not happen with anybody else. So they charged me the whole amount with respect with saying that why ask the why this much of amount?
This is all because of GST. But finally, when the bill came to me, the invoice was given as a cash bill, without any GST factored in it. There was no GST number, there was no invoice, proper invoice and so that means in a way, I am paying in GST and I am not getting a GST invoice bill also. So, there seems to be some kind of a fishy thing out of it. So, I represented this to your regional setup and they took it up and accordingly my bill was modified and given to me. So, it should not happen with anybody in the process, it should not spoil the reputation of the company as such. That is only one point I would like to mention. And second thing is I would like to mention is that as told by all the people of the members, the last thanks for rewards and the dividend of INR 5.5 over INR 4.25 of last year.
As the last bonus came in, I think, 1:2 in 1989. That's what I could see from Moneycontrol. So it's a huge gap. With a lot of requests pouring in now, I think it will be duly considered. And I would also like to do a factory visit in the capacity as a safety personnel also, which may be helpful to you. I do observe that there are a lot of things I can contribute to you, and I'm also a CSR leadership program I'm undertaking myself. I'm learning through Tata Steel Foundation, so I would like to have some opportunity in case it is possible.
With respect to the state-of-the-art facilities, which is coming, yet to come up for commercial operation in Chennai, that is in Gummidipundi, there is irony which people are saying about that, that the people working in the air conditioning manufacturing unit are sitting without ACs. So that-
Sir, due to time constraint, we request you to-
Yeah, that's the only point. I'm closing it
-your question.
So kindly, I think the management should look into the many aspects of that plan, and I think the way employees deserve a better facility. With that, I thank everybody for an opportunity. Thank you very much. Hope to see you in the next AG.
Thank you, Mr. Subramaniam. The next speaker is Mr. Jivraj Shah. I notice, Mr. Jivraj Shah, you've been a shareholder since 2003, one of our oldest shareholders. Mr. Shah, are you there?
Sir, it appears we are facing technical issue with Mr. Shah.
Okay. So shall we move to the next one, Mr. Manoj Kumar Gupta?
Hello.
Yes.
Good afternoon, respective Chairman, Board of Directors, fellow shareholders. I'm Manoj Kumar Gupta. I've joined this meeting from my residence, Kolkata. I feel to be proud to be a part of Tata Group, Voltas. Sir, I congratulate you and your team for the excellent result of the company, and I thank to the company secretary and his team for help us to join this meeting through VC. And, sir,
Hello
... we have got a good return on our investment by the way of in the market last one year, sir, and we expect that company will do better in future under your leadership to return to the employees and the investors. And, sir, now the demand has grown up of everything, like the AC and refrigerator and everything. And, sir, try to increase your market share to compete with the LG and Samsung and Whirlpool. And, sir, I request you to offer some discount to the investors that they can buy. They can buy the Voltas product to increase our market share in the market. Now, I go to the Croma store, I find the Voltas products. And, sir, do you supply the product, Croma brand products to Croma? Because Croma brand is also popular, sir.
Which I believe that company will grow more under your leadership to get the new market and because the people want everything now. So you open a Voltas store in big cities to increase the market, market share. With this, thank you, sir.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Gupta. The next speaker is Mr. Rajesh Kewalram Chainani.
Hello, am I audible, sir?
Yes.
Yeah, respected Chairman, Mr. Noel Tata Ji, MD CEO, Mr. Pradeep Bakshi Ji, and a very highly eminent board of directors, my fellow shareholders, I am Rajesh Chainani, I'm speaking from Vile Parle, Mumbai. So first of all, thank to my Company Secretary, Mr. Malhotra Ji, for sending me the physical copy of AGM report very well on time. So the secretary department is doing very good, sir. He's a link between the shareholders and you, so that job has been done very nicely. And I thank you for the dividend of INR 5.50. The last bonus, as my previous shareholder said, was in 1989 on one bonus on two shares, something it was like. Yeah, two shares, one. Two on one. And the stock split was done in September 2006. So now no room is left for the stock split.
It's INR 1 face value. The only thing left is the bonus, but that is up to the management, sir. It was 1989, now it is 2024. So I hope you will consider because our share capital is INR 33 crore, if I'm not wrong, and the reserves and surplus are INR 5,787 crore. And, sir, regarding the promoter holding is 30.3%. So I just wanted to ask whether we have any plans on increasing the promoter holding, because SEBI has permitted us to increase up to 75%. So I just wanted to ask for this particular, because at Tata Investment, we are 73.7% something. So if you can throw the light on that, sir. And I really thank you very much for the dividend, and-...
Wish to see you again, sir, after two days, sir. It's a Titan. So thanks to my previous shareholder, Dr. Arun, because I just forgot him, so I just registered now for Titan, sir. So I'm sorry for that. And missed out the train one, because train, I had many things to tell you for that, because I was in Hyderabad, and I just saw the way the train was been expanded. So thank you very much, sir, and all the very best.
Thank you.
My best wishes to you, sir. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chainani. The next speaker is Mr. Amit Bajpai.
Namaste to all dear shareholders and officers of the company. Greetings to all of you. For the benefit of company, I want to make few suggestions in very few words. First is, being the biggest company in AC world, our responsibility is also very big. We should take more steps to improve our relationship with the customers. Second is, our employees are our most precious assets. For their welfare and well-being, we should include yoga meditation in their daily activities. For this purpose, we can request for the help of various yoga and meditation organizations. Number three, for our social responsibility, we can extend our support to the organization promoting tea plantation from CSR fund. That's all. Thank you, sir. Thank you all-
Thank you.
for giving me opportunity to speak in this AGM. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bajpai. Thank you for your suggestions. The next speaker is Mr. Saman Dinesh Harishchandra.
Good evening, everybody. Hello.
Good evening, mister.
Good-
Good evening.
Good evening, everybody. I'll read out my speech. Respected Chairman, sir, Board of Directors, all CMG members, and dear fellow shareholders. First of all, congratulations and thanks to Company Secretary, Varun Malhotra, for his best efforts for impressive and informative annual report of the company, well placed before the time on the company's website. Let me take opportunity to congratulate Board of Directors for recommending dividend of INR 5.5 per share. While celebrating 78th year of company has recorded total income of INR 12,734 crores, which is 32% more than last year. Profit after tax reaches INR 248 crores as compared to last year, INR 136 crores. For achieving this great success, all Voltasites have to work very hard, and therefore, I salute all Voltasites, Board of Directors, and stakeholders for their tremendous efforts.
I am confident it will remain the same for the next year, too. While celebrating 78-year journey, if we look back, it was started with Tata Sons and Volkart Brothers in 1954 in Mumbai in the room air conditioning business. Since then, taking ups and downs, today, we sustain firmly in our three segments, particularly number one in AC business in India. Company has captured good hold on AC market by giving good quality product and a prompt service after sales was the key way to attract more customers towards the company. We have made a lot of improvements in our units for them. Improvement with the branded quality product results in customers' response and faith on company. We achieve a huge sale of our units in the market.
Customers' faith, demand, and satisfaction plays a big role to reach our company number one in air conditioning business in the country, and retain number one since so many years. To achieve and remain on number one constantly, board has to keep keen watch, well planning, appropriate discussions and decisions in all prospects in the segment, and implement it wisely from time to time, since so many years. Going through the report, it seems company management, under the supervision of our MD, sir, has very careful, very careful, discussions, planning, and decisions in all segments and well supported by the director boards.
Dinesh, sir, due to time constraint, we request you to limit your question-
Okay.
-to three minutes.
Okay, okay, okay. Also, I'll come directly on one page, page number 1 to 6. Human resources, it is stated that company continues to maintain a harmonious and engaging relationship with Voltas Employees Union and Federation. Sir, I'll happy to know it now in such harmonious atmosphere, I suppose there will be no any issues or problem of the employees remain unsolved. Everywhere, there will be a good understanding and cooperative atmosphere among them, which will be helpful in company's growth. Lastly, on diversity and inclusion, I have expressed my views separately in advance... and address it to you, sir. All my good wishes to every Voltasite, CMG members, board of directors, and you, Chairman, sir, in the growth and progress of our company. Thanks for allowing me.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Samant. The next speaker is Mr. Anil Babubhai Mehta.
Hello, am I audible?
Yes, please. Go ahead and ask your question, Mr. Mehta.
Good afternoon, sir. This is Anil Mehta, attending this meeting from my residence, Kandivali, Mumbai. Sir, we have a few questions that, first question is: with increasing globalization, what has the company done to increase the international breadth of knowledge and experience on the board? Second question: How does the management monitor intercompany transactions? Number three: What are the major opportunities and challenges facing the company, and how does the management plan to respond? And the last question: How does the company assess its liquidity and the availability of the funding sources for operation? With this, we are, supporting all the resolution, and, thanks to the secretary department led by VP Malhotra, for their cooperation and supportive nature. Thank you. All the best.
Thank you, Mr. Mehta. The next speaker is Mr. Jaideep Bakshi.
Yes. Good evening, Chairman, MD, CFO, and Board of Directors. Myself, Jaideep Bakshi, connecting from the city of Kolkata. Thanks to our company secretary, Mr. Malhotra, for giving me an opportunity, and also to the secretary department for conducting this video conference in a smooth manner and presenting a detailed annual report. Sir, your initial speech was very much descriptive, and myself proud to be a part of a company covering through an extraordinary journey of seven decades. Our company has made a good performance in the last financial year, and thanks once again for the dividend you have passed on to us. Sir, any revised pricing policy due to this rise in input costs? And undergoing landmark projects for the high-speed trains and palaces, and recently, the new Parliament House mentioned in page 93. Any new such projects on orders in hand?
Kindly share some. And our future plans to unlock the potential of our nation, as our nation possesses, and business guaranteed due to this unpleasant—generated due to this unpleasant adverse weather condition prevailing. Sir, we have installed the large-scale solar projects contribution to the system energy. A solution, a very good initiative to cut down on the fossil fuels. Kindly highlight on the Mozambique project under mining and construction equipment, and share thoughts on ways to wealth management segmentation. Congrats once again for the awards we have received mentioned in page 35, and also to our support to our MSME and other small producers, detailed in page 221. I have supported the resolution and wish our company come out with much better results and growth in coming years with trust of all stakeholders and trust of the shareholders also. Thank you, sir.
Continue with the-
Thank you.
video conference, so that we can keep in touch. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Bakshi. The next speaker is Mr. Gautam Tiwari.
Good evening, sir.
Good evening, Mr. Tiwari.
Good evening, sir. Good evening. Good evening, our very dear Chairman, sir, Noelji, our CEO, MD, Mr. Pradeep Bakshi, or Jitender Verma, CFO, all eminent and learned, dignified board of directors, team, Voltas Limited, our CS, Varun Malhotra also, myself, Gautam Tiwari. I am participating at this meeting from Mumbai. So dear sir, apne thank you very much for paying higher dividend this year as promised by you last year. Sir, also congratulations for winning lot many awards and accolades, year after year. Sir, I thank and congratulate each and every member of the management team, led by our MD, Pradeep Bakshi, and Jitender Verma, CFO, also, under your leadership for giving wonderful, amazing performance year after year and rewarding shareholders very gracefully.
Sir, ek baat I would like to stress upon, ki aap, Varun Malhotra ji ko, superannuation dena chahte the, lekin sir aapne... Sir, you are listening to me, sir?
I am listening to you. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Sir, lekin aap, ye Varun ji bahut ek achha heera hai, 36 years se hum unhe dekh rahe hain, sir. Unke hard working, aur unki dedhiep pe maan, kala ko aur unki, performance ko dekhte hue lagta hai ki unhone apna pura jeevan, Voltas ko diya hai, right from his youth till now. Har condition mein sambhala hai, sir, Voltas ko. Many challenging situations have come, and he has done the best. He has worked from early morning till late nights. Toh aap is heere ko kisi na kisi tareeke se apne paas zaroor rakhiyega. Aane wale dinon mein bhi, sir, bahut fayde mein rahega, aisa hume lagta hai. Sir, Voltas has always worked, in the interest of all minority shareholders and all shareholders, and rewarded the shareholders very gracefully and continuously.
Sir, I congratulate each member of this committee for their effort and hard work in improving and uplifting and helping our society through their best CSR activities, as is the heritage of Tatas. Sir, I also request, sir, for bonus issue jaisa aapne last AGM mein promise kiya tha. Ab lagbhag aapne kaha tha, that is what I recall. Aur for some nearby factory visit, if it is possible sir, as other shareholders have requested. Sir, aap se question puchna to, aasman ko chirag dikhane ke barabar hai sir, in fact. But in order to understand my appreciation and understanding little bit, I would like to know out of my curiosity few things from you sir. Sir, what is the target for our room AC sales volume in this year 2024-2025 financial year?
So secondly, how many brand shops, we people have very good brand shops, they have a lot of name sir, very good sales. So how many brand shops have been added in during the current year, during the current year, for the current quarter. Sir, then what is the target for cold room business? Because, our present status in this what is? Because sir Blue Star is making a lot of progress in this. Last time you promised that we people are moving forward very well in this direction. Sir, last year our company had signed technology license agreement with Vestfrost Solutions Denmark company. So to what extent it has added and enhanced our business, business growth, business revenue and to our profits. Sir, what are our future plans for Voltas Beko products in your view?
Sir, how much is the capacity utilization, consolidated of our factories now? What is our market share in semi-automatic washing machines? Semi-automatic washing machines. Yes, sir. Sir, and finally, jara si baat hai ki what is the cost of physical copy and how many copies we have printed, sir?
I have got the physical copy on request. Very voluminous, very nicely done, a very well designed, transparent and pristine as usual. Sir, I support appointments and re-appointments of all directors. Also I strongly, very strongly support all resolutions and I already voted for all for each one of them in advance. Sir, I am a shareholder of your company right from day one. Your all companies in Mundra and all where you are there, all Tata, all Tata company. And we have a total trust, faith and confidence and the heritage of Tata culture. And so we are always there till our lifetime sir, even after that also-
थैंक यू।
-ओंस अगेन।
थैंक यू।
Sir, thank you very much! And I, and here I am sir, you can see me also. Here is a grand salute to you sir, grand salute.
Thank you, thank you bhai.
Yes sir, look at, look here sir, look here.
Oh, there you are. Thank you. I hope you are going to wait for all the answers to your question.
Oh yes, of course, of course, by all means sir. I am very happy to listen to you sir, always and all the time to see you also, to wish you all the best.
Thank you, thank you very much.
Icon, yes sir.
The next speaker is Mr. Aspi Bhesania.
Sir, can you hear me and see me?
Yes, we can hear you and we can see you, Mr. Bhesania. Good afternoon!
Good afternoon, today I can talk. That day I couldn't talk.
यस।
Sir, you should have a physical meeting next time, that we get a chance to meet you. Sir, please request a moderator to announce the speaker number, that we know when our name will be called out. Sir, this is the last AGM of our Company Secretary Mr. Malhotra. He has wealth of information, experience and skills, so try to keep him as a consultant. I wish him a healthy, wealthy and cheerful retired life. Sir, our subsidiaries and JVs are incurring losses. When can I expect them to turn around? Sir, segment report shows continuous losses for electromechanical projects and services segment. What are your plans for the segment? Sir, due to heat wave demand for ACs has increased. Do you expect this increased demand to be maintained or will it go back to previous level?
Government is also not doing anything like planting trees and increasing ground water level. So heat wave is very likely to continue next year also. Sir, this heat wave..... company. Thank you very much and all the best for the future.
Thank you, thank you Mr. Bhesania. The next speaker is Mr. Vinay Vishnu Bhide.
Sir, this speaker has not joined the meeting yet.
Not joined the meeting. Okay, we go to the next speaker, Mr. Dinesh Gopald as Bhatia.
Am I audible, sir?
Yes, you are audible. Yes.
और मेरा वीडियो आ रहा है सर?
Yes, yes, please go ahead. Yes, we can hear you.
Chairman ji, first to main aapko aur aapke poora team ko dhanyavaad, congratulations kahunga. Bahut badhiya, bahut aap accha kaam kar rahe hain, jo hamare stock ke bhaav ke upar dikhai dete hain. Jo BSE, NSE jo hai, wo har ek company ka jo mirror, hamare Gujarati mein bolte hain, Hindi mein bolte hain, aaina hai, mirror hai. Jo company taraqqi karti hai, uska bhaav aage hi aage badhta hai. Aap log jo aap log ke netritva mein jo ye company hamari kaam kar rahi hai, bahut badhiya kaam kar rahi hai. Aur aap Tata ka naam hai, Voltas brand bhi hai, jo hamara ismein koi bejawab kaam hai. Hamara aaj ki taarikh mein mere ghar mein 2 AC hai, Voltas ka. Main 5-7 saal se use kar raha hoon, seven years.
Takleef nahi hai aur jo service jo hai, kabhi kuch thoda sa technical problem hua, to aapka serviceman turant jaise phone karte hain, within 24 hours aake service karke deke jaata hai. Wo ek bahut badhiya cheez hai, hamein garv hota hai ki hum aisi acchi badi company ke shareholder hain.
Mr. Bhatia, you needed to buy new AC now. Seven year bahut ho gaya, abhi naya AC Voltas ka le lo.
हां, AC सर्विस भी हमारा AC जो है, आपका Voltas के साथ ही है। तो उसके हिसाब से क्या है कि कोई टेक्निकल प्रॉब्लम आना बहुत कम है, कि सर्विस रेगुलर करते हैं, तो बहुत AC भी हम रेगुलर करते हैं, तो बहुत बढ़िया काम दे रहा है। बहुत अच्छा है, हमें खुशी होती है। आप तो हमारा ध्यान रखते हैं, पर आपके जो सेक्रेटरी डिपार्टमेंट है, वो भी बहुत बढ़िया है। पहले के जो मल्होत्रा थे, अभी के जो सेक्रेटरी है, ये सभी लोग एक से बढ़कर एक है। हमें लगता है कि टाटा ग्रुप जो जिसको सिलेक्ट करते हैं, बहुत बढ़िया लोग ही एक से बढ़कर एक ही है, इसके लिए क्या कितना वक्त करूं, तारीफ करूं, कुछ समझ में नहीं आता है। आपकी भी तारीफ करना चाहते हैं कि आप जब से आए, हमारा Voltas का भाव किधर से किधर पहुंच गया। आज हम देख रहे हैं कि हमारा लास्ट ईयर का जो 745 का जो था, उसके सामने आज का जो क्लोजिंग प्राइस है, वो INR 1,405। हमारा वन रुपीस शेयर जो है, वो INR 1,405, मीन्स एकदम बढ़िया तरक्की दिखा रही है, एक्सीलेंट वर्क, एक्सीलेंट प्राइस और आप लोग जो डिविडेंड भी देते हैं, बहुत बढ़िया डिविडेंड देते हैं। हमें बहुत खुशी है कि हम बहुत बढ़िया कंपनी के शेयरहोल्डर हैं। बस हमारी आपको करश रिक्वेस्ट है, मेरे आगे भी कई लोगों ने आपको रिक्वेस्ट किया है कि आप कुछ प्लांट विजिट का कुछ अरेंजमेंट कीजिए। अगर हो सके तो आप जो है ना दूसरे किसी को दिया है, तो उनको रिपीट करने के पहले जो फ्रेशर जो है, जो नए आज तक कभी विजिट नहीं किया है, कंपनी का, उसको जो आप पहला मौका देंगे, प्लांट विजिट का, तो हमें बहुत खुशी होगी। बाकी तो आप जो करते हैं, बहुत बढ़िया ही है। हमने ये भी देखा, दिसंबर का जो हमारा रेवेन्यू है, उससे मार्च महीने का रेवेन्यू डबल के आसपास हो गया है। दिसंबर 2023 में हमारा क्वार्टर में जो रेवेन्यू था, INR 1,587 करोड़ था। जिसके सामने हमारा मार्च का रेवेन्यू जो है INR 3,056.56 करोड़। ये बहुत बढ़िया, खाली रेवेन्यू पर ऐसा नहीं, हमारा जो नेट प्रॉफिट भी जो है, वो भी डबल जैसा हो गया। जो लास्ट ईयर, जो लास्ट दिसंबर क्वार्टर का जो नेट प्रॉफिट था, वो INR 97.33 करोड़ था। जिसके सामने हमारा मार्च 2024 का जो क्वार्टर है, उसका जो नेट प्रॉफिट है, INR 190.31 करोड़। ये बहुत आप लोग की मेहनत, आपकी और आपकी पूरी टीम की मेहनत दिखा रही है। हमें खुशी होती है कि बस कंपनी ऐसा ही आगे ही आगे बढ़ती रहेगी। मैं आपकी कंपनी को जो अवार्ड्स मिला है, उसके लिए भी-
Dinesh sir, due to time constraint, we request you to kindly limit your question to three minutes.
Within half minute, 30 seconds में बस खत्म करता हूं। मेरा कोई सवाल नहीं है। मैं कंपनी के बारे में हमारा कोई सवाल नहीं है। कंपनी आगे ही बढ़ती रहे, हमारी बस वही इच्छा है। कंपनी को best wishes, all the best कहते हैं, कंपनी आगे बढ़ती रहे और चेयरमैन जी, आपकी भी जो तबीयत और उम्र दोनों अच्छी रहे, ऐसी हमारी बस मनोकामना है। भगवान-
Thank you, thank you.
उम्र दे और स्वास्थ्य के साथ ही, हेल्थ और वेल्थ दोनों अच्छा रहे, ऐसी हमारी मनोकामना है। बस थैंक यू, आपने जो मुझे बोलने का मौका दिया। ऑल द बेस्ट!
Thank you, Mr.-
थैंक यू।
Thank you, Mr. Bhatia. Namaskar, the next speaker is Mr. Hiranand Kotwani.
The last speaker, Mr. Kotwani, has not joined the meeting, sir.
Okay, thank you! So with that, I will attempt to answer all the speakers. If by chance I have missed out on any of your questions and they remain unanswered, please by all means feel free to contact the company. There is no doubt we will respond to you, either on telephone or by email and be happy to answer your question. To start with, I am going to take up some themes and then I will try and move on to independent, individual questions, because some themes have been asked by many shareholders and I think as predicted, the largest number of shareholders spoke about the superannuation of Varun. I think there is no doubt in my mind at least that the companies in which I have operated.
Varun is one of the most outstanding company secretaries that we have had and obviously the team, the board and myself will be sorry to, to, to have him superannuate, but I think that's something which, which happens to all of us. I have been blessed in all the companies and Trent, we had Mr. Surti for a long time. We have been blessed by having some really good company secretaries and I hope that and we will ensure that Varun's replacements are also, look after shareholders and attend to shareholders request. So I think on behalf of the board of shareholders. Once again, my thanks to Varun for the many, many years as company secretary of Voltas.
The thing I would like to draw everybody's attention is that over the next few years, Voltas is changing from basically a trading company to being a serious manufacturing company in the air conditioning and air cooling and refrigeration segment. The amount of investment that we are making both in Chennai, in Vadodara, in various other of our plants, is more than the investment that Voltas has made in the last 50 years. So it's a serious investment. I think it's in line with the government's Make in India program, which we support. We're making this investment to start with in Chennai, where we've created a plant with a capacity of 2 million room ACs.
It will be the largest plant for room ACs in the country, and we are in the process also of considering compressor manufacturing in Chennai, and we hope to be able to announce to the shareholders when that is being done. At Waghodia, we've put up a large plant for our CR, our refrigeration, commercial refrigeration business, to make water coolers, to make freezers, and the B2B business, and that will help us increase our capacity as well as for completely manufacturing the walk-in cold rooms, et cetera, which will be made there, and we'll be able to concentrate on that. A lot of shareholders have raised the issue of physical meeting. Why not a physical meeting?
This is mainly raised by shareholders who live in the Mumbai area. Equally, we have a lot of requests during the year from shareholders outside Mumbai to continue with the virtual meetings that we have. Perhaps we need to find a way of meeting the Bombay shareholders at another time. And as long as we can continue the virtual meetings, I think it's our preference to continue with virtual meetings. There was a lot of questions on the PLI scheme, and if I'm not mistaken, we expect to get between INR 150 and INR 175 crores across various products as part of the PLI scheme. A lot depends on the production, a lot depends on when the production starts and the quantity of production.
So it's a number which is not fixed, but it's a number which will move across, across time. A big number of shareholders have mentioned bonus, bonus shares. The last bonus was given in 1990. You know, my view is that bonus is really a mathematical calculation. If the price of... If we give a bonus, the price of the share corrects to the level of bonus, the dividend drops, and therefore, whilst you get a feeling of extra wealth, there really isn't much in terms of extra wealth that is created by that. I'd much rather keep increasing and make sure that the performance of the company goes up, and that we can keep increasing dividends to all the shareholders on the shares that they hold.
I think also the last two years have been, in some ways, a little difficult for the company. While our consumer businesses have done well, our projects business, especially in the Middle East, has caused us a lot of grief, with the provisions of nearly INR 400 crore last year and perhaps even the same amount this year. This has impacted the profits of the company, and I'm hoping that in the current year, as we see, there won't be any further further shocks to the system, and we will have a year without any provisions from the Middle East. In fact, I hope that the team is able to recover some of the monies that are outstanding to us. Big demand for factory visits.
You know, factory visits were the norm many years ago, and in those days, factories were close to Mumbai, and therefore, a lot of shareholders found it quite easy to go. Nowadays, factories that are set up are set up far away from large residential agglomerations, and they're much more difficult for people to visit. But I've taken on board your views. I will talk to the team to see if we can do something. We have a state-of-the-art factory at Sanand, and we'll see whether we can organize one day in the year where we can welcome shareholders who'd like to go there.
But it's a bit difficult, but we'll try to see if we can address this. Now, coming to individuals, individual questions. Arun Kumar Bopanna, you mentioned a factory visit, I've addressed. You talked about the R&D budget. We spend about INR 24 crore a year. You asked about our risk appetite, and all I would say is you can see that our risk appetite is good, given the amount of investments that we are making in plants, as I have just described. You asked for smart AC revenue targets. I can't disclose that at the moment. And you asked about outcomes of new distribution.
Yes, indeed, we are looking at those areas where our distribution is weak, and we are making attempts to rectify those. You spoke about them, machines with temperature crossing 52 degrees. We have in our range one or two models which work at those temperatures. But given the increase in temperatures, where our R&D is working on more models to be able to cater to higher degrees of temperature. And Varun's retirement, I've already spoken about. Mr. Bimal Kumar Agarwal, you spoke about the ACs on buses and trains. At the moment, we do not cater to that. It's something that perhaps the team can look at. Lily Pradhan, you asked for our range in our aim in international markets.
The Indian market itself is growing so strongly, and as you've seen in this last quarter, we've had stock shortages. We've not been able to deliver all the ACs that our customers want, and therefore, our aim is today to be able to be relevant, to keep our market leadership in the domestic segment, for which I think we'll have to grow between 20%-30% in order to do that, and that's our first priority. We will, when we get some inquiries from international, look at developing some products for the international market. You asked about our CapEx plan. As I mentioned, INR 400 crore is the CapEx that we have planned for Chennai. Our CSR plan is as per the government norms, it's 2%.
We tend to work in areas of education and health, primarily in those areas, and we're also looking to see what we can do around the new factories that we are putting up. Mr. Vinod Agarwal, you asked about Chennai factory, PLI, CapEx. I think I've answered all of those. Lekha Shah, how much revenue did we get from the Middle East? Most of the IOBG revenue is from the Middle East, annual. And it's about INR 1,500 crore. You'll find it in the annual report. Mr. Yusuf Rangwala, we'll take on board and talk to the moderators about the telephone link that you suggested. Mr. Anil Parekh, you spoke about Chennai CapEx, and I've already mentioned INR 400 crore. You've asked whether we ship anything on Voltas Beko out of India. Yes, we have shipped.
I believe it is about INR 8 crore of product, last year, which... Yes, under the Beko brand, we, we exported. You asked about frost-free refrigerators, and they are for the home. They are the upmarket home refrigerators. You spoke about UAE, Saudi foray going forward. So, as I mentioned in my chairman's speech, we are not at all happy with the bad debts that we have, we have, incurred in the Middle East. We've asked the team and modified the rules of engagement that we have in taking orders. We will be circumspect with what we do, and we don't want to increase the, the company's, risk in the Middle East because we don't want to have the sort of, bad debts that we've, that we've had in the, in, in the past. Mr.
Manjit Singh, you asked about the growth in future due to high temperatures. If you can tell me what the temperatures are gonna be, I can tell you what the growth will be. I think it's something that we need to address as and when we get to it, and we need to see whether these high temperatures that we've had this year become a regular feature or it was a one-off, which nobody can predict. Mr. Ravichandran, you spoke about the non-availability of water heaters and dispensers. The dispensers are available in some distributors, I'm told, and if you want, you can contact the team and they will give you names of distributors. Water heaters have just been launched, and the distribution is being built up.
Again, as soon as we have something in the south or we'll ask our team to get in touch with you and give you distributors. I hope you buy one of our water heaters. You asked about the value add in substations. I would suspect it's about 15%, but again, I would suggest you ask the team if it's really important to you and get a proper answer. How much money are we making in the overseas business? Obviously, with the two INR 400 crore provision that we've had to take last year and this year, total of INR 800 crores, this has wiped out any profit that we would have made over the last few years.
You asked about planting of trees, and several people have asked this. I will take it up with management and, hopefully at the next meeting, we come back to you and tell you how many trees we have planted, and we'll take this up on a more vigorously. Equity not changed since 1995. Actually, it's not changed since 1990. This I have already spoken to you about, about the bonus. I think we need our share price to go up further, and we need a more consistent results before we can think of a bonus. Ms. Mascarenhas, you talked about many verticals. I'd like to explain to you that, yes, it does sound like a lot of verticals, but if you recall, we have desubsidized the company.
We have moved the B2B India B2B operations into Universal company, Universal Projects. That is looking after our Indian projects business, the mining business, the textile business. So allowing Voltas in India to concentrate on the consumer side, the cooling side, both in consumer as well as B2B, and that is going to be our focus, going forward. So we've, we've simplified the management, simplified the operations, and, and, and that. Where are all the good margins? I think we, we, all the business in which we are, have got good potential, especially those in India, and, certainly our consumer, our consumer businesses will continue to show, good growth as the company's GDP continues. And if we come up with become the third biggest economy in the world, I'm sure Voltas, will, will benefit from that.
You asked about PLI from government of India. I think I've already dealt with that. Mr. Dharmesh Vakil, I've dealt with the physical meeting. You asked who our major competitors are. I think just about every international company is a major competitor, including domestic, like Lloyd and Godrej, are all competitors to us. The big international white goods player, LG, Samsung, also competitors to us, and I think it's credible that Voltas has been able to maintain market leadership against world companies such as Samsung and LG, and I hope that Voltas Beko one day will also be able to demonstrate the same in the white goods space. Factory visit and bonus, I've already dealt with. Ms. Dakwe, you spoke about bonus, already dealt with. Ms. Smita Shah, you spoke about factory visit, competitors and physical dealt.
I've already dealt with those. Mr. Bharat Shah, bonus, we've already spoken. Mr. Ashok Subramaniam, I've noted your installation problems. I think we'll get somebody senior to talk to you on, on this and try and see how we can learn from your experience. Bonus, factory visit, again, we've already, we've already done it. In terms of employees not having an AC in factories, I don't know many AC companies where, where the factory itself is air-conditioned, if I, if I get your, your, your question right. Mr. Manoj Kumar Gupta, market share. Our market share is around 19.5%-20%. It was higher. It will get higher again. I can assure you, we will build a bigger, a bigger market share. I've taken note, you want a special price for shareholders.
We'll take note of that, and we'll work on it. Mr. Chainani, you spoke about bonus. We've already dealt with that. In terms of the increase in promoter holding, I suggest you contact our promoters and ask them what their intentions are. Mr. Bajpai, you spoke about improving relationships with customers. We take note of that. Mr. Harish Chandra, we've covered all your points. Mr. Anil Mehta, you spoke about globalization. It is something that as a team, management should look at bringing international expertise into the company, and we'll take that challenge. What are our major challenges? Obviously, the competition. Obviously, going forward, it's going to be: how do we balance the manufacturing that we have with the very skewed demand that we have?
So we have demand in really high demand in 3-4 months, but our factories need to produce all 12 months. That is going to be a challenge, and it will... Moving from a trading company to a manufacturing company will have some bumps along the way, which I'm sure the shareholders will understand. Liquidity and funding, you know, fortunately, our company has got very good reserves, and we therefore have enough liquidity and funding to take care of our expansion requirements. Mr. Bakshi, you asked about any revision in pricing. We continually look at raw material prices and adjust our pricing, but pricing is dynamic. We have to respond to what some of our competition is doing, and therefore, this is a dynamic issue. You asked about our Mozambique project.
This is a project where Voltas maintains the equipment in some of the biggest mines in Mozambique, and it's been a very good project for Voltas, very well-organized in extremely difficult conditions. Mr. Gautam Tiwari spoke about Varun. I've already answered. You spoke about a bonus, which is answered. You spoke about a factory visit, which is answered. A target volume is really the highest possible volume we can get in the market. The cold room business has not grown as much as it should. Hopefully, this year, with the addition of the facility to manufacture our own cold rooms, this will grow. You asked about Vestfrost. It's in the initial stages. It is a very niche business in terms of vaccine refrigeration, and we keep working at that.
Voltas Beko, we are proud of the progress that we've made, the fastest-growing consumer durable brand in the country, and I hope that will continue. In terms of capacity utilization, I think in most of our factories, we are at near 100% capacity utilization, and that's why we have expanded our capacity both at Waghodia and in Chennai. Mr. Bhesania, you spoke about Mr. Malhotra. You spoke about our subsidiary making losses, and I've answered them. These are subsidiaries mainly in the Middle East. You've asked whether demand will be maintained, and maybe I can ask you, what are your projections for the weather next year, and then we'll be able to tell you that. Mr. Bhatia, you mentioned your seven-year AC.
As I said, it's time for you to change your AC, and we'll ask our representatives to come to you and offer you a new AC. Plant visit, I've already spoken and so thank you for your support. I think with that, I hope I have answered all your questions, and as I said earlier, if I have not, then I request you to contact the company's secretarial team, and the company will respond at the earliest. I now authorize the company secretary to conduct the voting procedure and conclude the meeting. M/s N.L. Bhatia & Associates, practicing company secretaries, have been appointed as scrutinizer for this meeting. I also authorize the company secretary to accept, acknowledge, and countersign the scrutinizer's report and declare the consolidated voting results upon receipt of the scrutinizer's report.
The e-voting facility will remain open for the next 15 minutes to enable shareholders to cast their vote. The results will be announced within two working days of the conclusion of this meeting, and the same will be communicated to stock exchanges thereafter. I would now like to thank all of the shareholders for attending this meeting, and more importantly, for their continued support of the company. With your consent, I and the other board members would now like to leave the meeting. Thank you very much. Have a wonderful evening.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good evening, shareholders. The e-voting facility was kept open for 15 minutes, as mentioned by the chairman. We now close the e-voting. The requisite quorum was present throughout the meeting. The results of the annual general meeting will be announced by the company on or before 12th July 2024. With this, I declare the meeting as concluded. Thank you.