Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. We take the first question from the line of Ravi from Avendus Spark. Please proceed.

Hi, sir. Thanks for taking my question. My first question is with respect to the standalone Abrasive business. We have seen mid teen kind of growth. If you could give a flavor of how much would have been the value growth, volume growth in that and additionally, from a business perspective, how is the traction going on f or each of the major sub -segments which are there? Are we seeing market share gains from Chinese players given the fact that there were some changes in Chinese incentive numbers which were given from April 1 onwards? So, if you can give a broad flavor on directionally how this will pan out in this segment?

So, thank you, Ravi, for asking these questions. As I said, the growth is predominantly volume- driven. We had a very small price growth and the import competition from China, we just started seeing some easing out. But we need to really wait and see because there's a lot of moving factors like our exchange rate also is not helpful. So, there are multiple forces playing. So, we need to figure out what exactly is the reason for that. Is it withdrawal of the export benefit from China? Is the exchange rate becoming unfavorable, etc.? But overall, we see that it is a positive trend from our side.

Got it, sir and the second question is with respect to the Ceramics business; you have upped the guidance in terms of growth for that. Obviously, there are businesses attributed to the domestic market and also international market within the Ceramics business, you have Wear Ceramics, Technical Ceramics, Metz Cylinders, etc. Out of these subcategories, where you are seeing better traction? Are you seeing better growth prospects from the traditional private CAPEX?

So, we see the growth optimism in all segments other than the wear segment, which is going to be a normal growth. I mean, definitely this quarter we have seen, after several quarters, the growth in Wear Ceramics as well. As you rightly said, the Metallized Cylinder, Engineered Ceramics, all segments are seeing increased growth momentum and hence we revise d the guidance.

Okay and the growth in Metz Cylinders and Engineered Ceramics is coming from domestic market or exports?

It is predominantly export. Our business itself is predominantly export driven, as you know. But those players who are international players having business in India also will form part of that trend.

The next participant is from the line of Harshit Patel from Equirus Securities. Please proceed.

Thank you very much for the opportunity. My first question is on Ceramics. You have mentioned three key elements for our future Ceramics business. The components for semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment, aerospace and defense applications, and electronic substrates. Could you give some color on how FY'27 and FY'28 would look like in terms of revenue recognition from this segment? Because I believe major part of qualification as well as trials, I think we have already concluded.

Yes. So, thank you, Harshit. So, there are three broad segments and I think of this metallized substrate business, we are in the process of setting up the facility with one anchor customer with technology tie-up. This program is right now on. So, we should see th is coming up in FY '27, completing this whole program and then the revenues would start coming in from FY '28 onwards. As far as the semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment components is concerned, I think we started supplying based on the qualifications so far what we have got. This year, it's going to be a very, very small part of the business. FY'27 will be small. FY '28, it will start picking up. I earlier communicated it will peak in FY '30. This is how we are expecting this. Aerospace and defense also will be slightly better in this year. But again, the whole program will start kicking in FY '28 onwards because we are going through various sets of our own qualification as well as working with anchor customers in terms of being part of their own product. So, hence this whole program will be spanning out like that.

Understood. Sir, is it right to understand that our whole guidance upgrade from 15% to 16% of Ceramics revenue growth in FY'27 to 23% to 25%, this entire upgrade is coming from the SOFC Ceramics? At least the major part of that, would that be the right understanding?

It will be a combination of Engineered Ceramics, Metallized Cylinder, and as well as this, SOFC Ceramics.

Understood. Sir, my secon d question is on Electrominerals. What are our plans for Zirconia- based products? The Calcia Stabilized Zirconia and the monoclinic zirconia. Will we make these

products in India once we have divested Foskor Zirconia? Also, if you could share the progress on the divestment of Foskor as well?

So, the Foskor, as we discussed in the last call, we found that it is no more viable for us to run the business. So, we wanted to explore options of how do we proceed further. So, we had a long discussion with our partners who are major players in South Africa - Foskor and based on that, we now have a couple of options that are there in front of us that we would start exploring and trying to close this by Q2. That is our next one more quarter. That's what is the current status that I can say and as far as the programs that you are describing about what we will do, I think maybe it will be a comprehensive update that I will provide once we complete this p rocess so that it will have all elements of what we are planning to do.

Understood. Sir, just a small follow -up on Electrominerals. This time the standalone revenue grew a massive 33% Y-o-Y. Could you provide some broad mix between pricing m ix and volume for this particular product?

It's again a big trend. A big portion of it is volume and there is some amount of mix which is also helping us because the treated product growth is on the higher side. So, that also will give the margin growth. But it's more driven as a product mix rather than as a price realisation. So, I would say sum and substance of this is volume driven. Very, very little or no price increase. Mix is contributing to this.

So, sir, if there is not too much of a price increase in the Electrominerals market, then why were our margins so much in pressure for the Abrasive segment? I understand that the energy related and other input costs as well were pretty much up. But did it have a major port ion coming out of higher Electrominerals prices for our Abrasive segment? That is my last question.

Good. Very good question and I think of the cost of goods sold, somewhere between 80 -85% will be grains and other related stuff and that did not grow much. Meaning, we had a cost growth of, let's call it 3 -5%, which is predominantly offset by our own normal price increase. But the rest of the stuff, which is all predominantly oil-based one, could be resins and related products. That grew up significantly in the month of May and June , particularly after the brokerage rules fell, and then again heightened conflicts started, really the market went up and you all will know that the prices of oil went up during that time. Particularly in the month of May, it reached $117 and then it slightly came down to $107. So, those periods truly cost. So, a combination of this plus the fuel cost, which is again a significant portion, really contributed to the cost impact in Abrasives.

Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Amit Anwani from PL Capital. Please proceed.

Hi, sir. Thank you for taking my question. So, first question on VAW. Now, it's almost one and a half year that the sanction is into effect on VAW. So, I wanted to understand strategically how one should think of VAW in the medium to long term and second, if you could touch upon the

performance of VAW for this quarter and earlier, I think the sales were mostly locali sed. So, what's the utilisation and update on sales? Any changes or any update you would like to give on VAW?

Good. Thank you, Amit, for asking these questions. No broader change in the way the Russian business is happening. It is predominantly domestic centric business and they continue to focus only on that. So, that no change since then. You were asking about what is our view on this business. I think we have shared this in the earlier calls also when you asked the similar question last time. I think from our point of v iew, it is too difficult to predict what would happen in this geopolitical conflict. Our aim is to stay put. Make sure that we comply with all laws. Make sure that we comply with the local rules and regulations and serve the domestic market and stay above the water and then see what happens to this. Fortunately, these people with even tough conditions, they are trying their best and doing it properly in terms of profitability and cash flow. So, that's what I would say at this point in time. It's tough times, but we need to kind of stay put and see what best we can do.

Second question, sir, on solid oxide fuel cells. Last time you updated about the opportunities there. I just wanted to understand; can we expect very strong growth if possible for you to highlight the contribution and growth which can come from SOFC this year in the Ceramics business?

Yes, I think when we earlier shared the guidance which was for the Ceramics business and now, right now, we said that we will ma ke slightly up. You know, the reason for making it up is the combination of the business growth that we are expecting from solid oxide fuel cells, Ceramics, similarly, Metallized Cylinder s and as well as the engineering Ceramics. So, that is what it represents and we are not sharing any individual details of how much of each of these businesses constitute.

Understood, sir. Sir, lastly on the guidance, comparable guidance of 11% to 12%. I just wanted to understand how much volume growth we are expecting here, and would there be, as you highlighted about the cost push, would there be any further scope of price increase? So, I wanted to understand volume versus price, what you are looking for the full year in your guidance?

Yes. So, right now, I think it is fully, we are looking at a normal price increases and predominantly a volume driven growth. It's going to be tough for us to guess how long this war and what is the kind of impact it does. Every day, it changes. When you go to sleep yesterday, it was different. Today morning, it is different. They are saying that, you know, no more, you know, we are not going to continue. So, it's going to be very tough and it's going to be tough for us to say that based on which we will start putting up price, etc., is also going to be tough. So, we will take it one quarter at a time and then we will have to handle it. I am not sure we will have any better model at this stage to sta rt looking at this beyond at this point in time. So, the sum and substance of the answer is it's predominantly volume driven growth. Mix could help. Volume is the predominant part. Small price, which normally that what we would factor it.

Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Varun Jain from Dolat Capital. Please proceed.

Hi, good morning, sir. Most of my questions have been taken up. So, just if we exclude the 251 million Sterling gain, the consolidated Abrasive EBIT margin is close to 2.5% versus the guidance of 9%-10%. So, any comments on that?

So, my comment was largely based on the fact that the losses of Awuko is not there. So, I still feel the same way. If you exclude that, we are still fine with that because we still have the losses even in this quarter and hence you are looking at that way. But I still hold what I said.

Sure, sir and, sir, of the 400 Cr. CAPEX, any breakdown of how much is going where for FY '27?

We gave a detailed listing last time in our earnings call, but I will quickly cover that. It includes expansion in advanced Ceramics for power electronics including substrate, metallized tubes, rings, brazed assemblies, expansion of brown -fused alumina, addition of integrated furnace facility for thermal spray powders, zirconia furnace, grain...

My question was how much will be allocated to the various projects?

So, we wouldn't be able to share project -wise details, Varun. I think this is the broad guideline we can share.

No problem. Sir, has CUMI received the SCOMET approval which is required for ballistic Ceramics?

We have set of approvals which are required as per the industry standards and those industry standards we have got already and both domestic as well as the international standard. Most of the customers expect us to be having those standards that we should have. So, that is what is required and we are going by that.

Okay, sir.

Some of these are all like NIJ 3, 4 levels, similarly in terms of BIS Threat Level 5 and 6. These are the basic standards that we meet that your product should meet and that's what we have basically tested ourselves in laboratories outside of India.

Got it. Sir, just last one. Sir, on a consol basis, unallocated expenses rose to close to 190 million for the quarter. So, what is the quarterly run rate we should incorporate? And for this quarter, was there some spike due to some one-off or something?

Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Sajal Kapoor from Antifragile Thinking. Please proceed.

Thank you for the opportunity. I am just trying to understand the broad capital allocation mindset of the group. How do you distinguish a temporary setback worth persisting through from a signal to change course or even exit? Thank you.

So, good conceptual question. I think the examples of what we took call in terms of Awuko and Foskor is an example where we feel that it is not a temporary setback. We have given enough and more time for it to perform better. At that point, we took a call saying that it is no more an asset that we should own and perhaps we should find the right owner for that asset. So, that is practically an example that I can share. But temporarily, many businesses go through these types of cycles within our own business itself. Even though it is called for business, each business has got sub-elements of it, and we continuously monitor and take a call. Is it going to come back? We always wait at least four to eight quarters to see whether these are temporary trends or fundamentally things are changing. Then we take a call whether it is the right one to continue or not.

That's very helpful. Thank you for sharing that. My second question is, in areas like semiconductors, aerospace and defense where CUMI has no material operating history to draw on, how do you make decisions before pattern recognition is available?

I think , again a good question. We are not getting into semiconductor fab equipment manufacturing. We are going to get into supplying of Ceramics used in the semicond uctor fab equipment. We have been manufacturing Ceramics for over 40 -50 years, and we have gained many expertise as well as patterns and know -hows in this field. Then we work through anchor customers to prove ourselves. When the product goes through a qual ification and they feel we have the capability etc., that is when we start working on an investment. We are not going without any experience. In both the fields, we have a very core experience based on which we get into the next step. It is more an adjacency that we get into it.

Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Akshay Thakur from Helios Capital. Please proceed.

Sir, on Metallized Cylinders, we are the world's second largest producers. How much of the current growth and CAPEX is driven by the global SS regulator phase-out which is pushing the switchgear from gas insulators to vacuum interrupters? Is that a structural trigger for medium - term and how do you see the demand for this?

Okay, sir. So my second question is in terms of tech developments, how do you see the silicon carbide products LLC acquisition helping the overall portfolio and within these three segments like Ceramics, Abrasives, and Electrominerals, the application of this can you quantify the same in which and how much how is it going to help us?

Yes, so we acquired this niche company largely for the NBSiC refractories this is the wherever there is going to be ware as well as impact-based application is required definitely this product stand out for better and compared to the traditional alumina-based product and that's where the role of you know SCP comes and they have been doing well both in terms of helping us securing certain critical businesses. We also feel that the other objective of them is to see how do we get an anchor into America using them as a you know key business focal point . That is work in progress we are progressing well towards that direction.

Okay, thank you, sir. One last question on my part sir with respect to CRPS composites, we are currently making that products for drones. Do we have the capability or any plans for commercial aerospace applications?

No, not yet. That takes time I think right now we have this capability and we will look into it based on our opportunity as well as the capital allocation.

Thank you We take the next question from the line of Aditya from Kotak Institutional Equities Please proceed

Yes, this is Aditya from Kotak Institutional Equities I will just go ahead with my questions and thanks for the opportunity The first part of what I wanted to get a sense of is standalone EMD and the strong revenue growth that is coming in . Could you give us a sense of how much is exports in this segment we understand last year the salience had gone up just trying to get a sense of how much is exports and should we be looking at this number because the standalone sales if there is any interplay wit h inter-segmental and the growth is lower . It would be useful to get your comments on both these things.

So, the inter-segmental are always removed so that won't come into play . As far as the export saliency of this business is definitely has gone up you know, what we used to be roughly in the range of about kind of 20% we moved to last year to kind of 40% and now we are in that trajectory at this point in time So, last year 35% and we are getting into 40% trajectory.

What I wa s asking was a related question that in the EMD side and exports a trajectory is it starting to benefit from let's say Europe and the duties being put on Chinese imports specifically on the alumina side and can that be a meaningful driver of export portfolio and that is the related question on the first one

So, the export growth of EM D is a consequence of long sustained effort that we have been making and reaching out to all the global players in Europe and it goes through a qualificat ion process establishing ourselves, so it takes time and so that now with the coupled this opportunity

definitely helps us and we are definitely making use of it. We are also working similar effort in in U.S. as well as in Asia.

The second question from my side would be on the semiconductor side of things . N ow we understand that Ceramics for equipment is something that you are already working on in the annual report you also talked about two other things the first one being you having now a path towards 6N purity on the powder side and then you working on certain substrates and materials and having tie up with Mersen, so this is again linked to semicon. So could you give us a sense of how to think through these two different aspects which are an add -on to your current base equipment business.

So we have been communicating this for quite some time. As we said earlier we have established a 5N purity level and we now need to move to the 6N purity level. It is enough to have 5N purity level to get into some of the SiC based semiconductor products but it is always good to have the 6N purity for which we now have kind of worked on certain options and then we have kind of feel that comfortable that we should go ahead with that and that's what annual report clearly says that. As far as the metallized substrate that program we have been telling in the last few calls even in the earlier question that I said this will be a program where technology tie -up is on , anchor customer is on we are in the process of setting up the capability at this point in time and we should start seeing these benefits in FY'28 onwards.

Is there a thought process for doing something inorganic on either of these three ventures. Let's say you start with the pow der go to the wafer stage in the silicon carbide side . Is it something that the company thinks through?

Right now our focus is that we should be a raw material supplier and so we stay focused on that.

Thank you We take the next question from the line of Pravesh Kochar from Four Line Capital. Please proceed.

Thank you for taking my question. A quick one on the refractory segment. I think you mentioned there is some volatility in terms of dispatches etc . and at the same time I think last time we guided we are expanding capacities over there so just some color on longer term opportunity that you are seeing versus the linear term headwinds in that segment? Thank you.

Thank you. I think it's even in this quarter we have comfortably grown there is absolutely no issues I was just saying compared to Q4 it's a seasonality , always Q4 it's a higher quarter in refractory business . W hatever we said communicated earlier in terms of capaci ty expansion programs very much on and we don't see any issues in that.

Thank you. Thanks for taking my question again Sir, m y question is with respect to the JV we have, Murugappa Morgan Thermal Ceramics Ltd. sir, the annual report mentions that we are serving thermal fire and EV applications Can you throw some light on the EV applications part?

So we serve the thermal surge application, and we are covering some of the leading auto players at this point in time and to the products that Morgan has got.

Okay, sir. Any specific product like the substrates or anything?

No, it's a thermal paper which helps to address the surge of heat particularly in the battery section which is what is the product that we serve.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we take that as the last question for the day and would now like to hand the questions over to the management for closing comments. Over to you, sir

Yes, so thank you for all of your participation. I just like to summarise that we had a good growth both in terms of standalone and consolidated. We have grown in all the three segments well. All the programs that we said we will do in terms of our long-term strategy is very much on. Some of them hit the road , started seeing the benefits . We have shared more details in our annual report; you could definitely go through this. We also feel that the CAPEX program that we laid out for this year will definitely very much on and all of them are being pursued well . At this point in time I see tha t we are tracking to our trajectory and we are growing well. We have slightly, you know, the growth rate that we have targeted and communicated last quarter we are slightly going up at this point in time . As we share more and probably in the next quarter, we will have more clarity, and we will share a better update at this point in time. So that's the broad summary I would like to leave it with you. Thank you.

Thank you. On behalf of DAM Capital Advisors Limited that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines.