Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the JK Cement Limited Q1 FY27 Earnings Conference Call hosted by Phil lipCapital India Private Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen -only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Vaibhav Agarwal from PhillipCapital India Private Limited. Thank you and over to you, sir.

Thank you, Dorwin. Good evening everyone. On behalf of PhillipCapital India Private Limited, we welcome you to the Q1 FY27 call of JK Cement Limited. On the call, we have with us Mr. Ajay Kumar Saraogi, Deputy Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Prashant Seth, President Business Information and Investor Relations at JK Cement. I would like to mention on behalf of JK Cement and its management that certain statements that may be made or discussed on today's conference call may be forward-looking statements related to future developments and statements which are based on current ma nagement expectations. These statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other important factors which may cause actual developments and results to differ materially from the statements made. JK Cement Limited and the management of the company assumes no obligation to publicly update or alter these forward-looking statements based as a result of new information or future events or otherwise. I'll now hand over the floor to the management of JK Cement for their opening remarks, which will be followed by an interactive Q&A. Thank you and over to you, Saraogi sir.

Thank you, Vaibhav. Good evening and welcome to Q1 call for April -June quarter. The Board of Directors met on 18th of July to review the performance of the company for the quarter April to June. The major highlights are as under During this quarter, we sa w a good growth in the grey business, year-on-year 19% growth in volumes, and even though vis-à-vis previous quarter it was marginally lower by 2%. Also, if we see the white business, year-on-year there is a growth of 11% in volumes, marginally lower by 5% Q-on-Q, and the combined growth in volumes was 18% year-on-year and marginal 3% down quarter-on-quarter. As a result of this, the net sale during this quarter was higher by 23% year-on-year at INR3,786 crores as compared to INR3 ,068 crores, though and also it was higher by 5% on quarter -on- quarter, which was mainly on account of the product mix and some price improvement. The EBITDA during this quarter was INR639 crore s, this is the standalone position, vis -à-vis INR673 crores in the previous year and INR670 crores in the previous quarter. The EBITDA margins was 16.9% in this quarter, previous quarter 18.5%, and previous year 21.9%. The profit before tax was INR423 crores as compared to INR460 crores in the previous quarter and INR498 crores in the previous year. After taxes, the profit after tax was INR291 crore s as compared to INR345 crores and INR333 crores in the previous year. The per ton EBITDA for the quarter was INR982 a ton as compared to INR1,229 previous year and INR1,012 in the previous quarter. On the consolidated front, the net sale year-on-year grew at 22% at INR3,962 crores as compared to INR3,242 crores, and on quarter-on-quarter it was up by 4%. The comparative EBITDA for the consolidated is INR648 crore s for this quarter, INR683 crores in the previous quarter, and INR688 crores previous year. The profit before tax was INR406 crores as compared to INR444 crores in the previous quarter and INR489 crores previous year. And the EPS in this quarter was INR35.90 as compared to INR43.10 in the previous quarter and INR41.90 in the previous year. If we see the work on the projects, the greenfield project at Jaisalmer is progressing well and we are confident that it will get commissioned within the targeted timeframe of first half of FY28. And even the grinding unit at Bhatinda is progressing well. We have acquired the land for the grinding -- the second split grinding location in Punjab and we are working out to start the work at that site as soon as possible. We had also taken up an expansion of the wall putty at in Rajasthan and we are and the work is almost on the verge of completion and we expect that in Q2 this year this will get commissioned. As far as the debt profile as on 30th June, the gross debt stood at INR5 ,551 crores as compared to INR5,136 crores as on 31st March. The cash balance as on 30th June is INR1 ,686 crores compared to INR1,765 crores. The net debt is higher at INR3 ,864 crores as on 30th June compared to INR3,370 crores as on 31st March. If we look at the net debt to EBITDA as on 30th June, the same is at 1.69 and net debt to equity is 0.53. If you have these are the major highlights, if you have any other questions, we'll be pleased to address the same. Thank you.

Thank you very much. We will now begin the question -and-answer session. Our first question comes from the line of Patanjali Srinivasan with Sundaram Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.

Hello sir. Congrats on a good set of numbers. I have a couple of questions. So firstly, volume growth was very strong. Could you help me understand how much of this would be from new plants commissioned with respect to East and some color on how regions are doing, how North is doing, how Central India is doing?

So yes, the major volume growth is as a result of the expansion we have which we have done in Central India, including the grinding unit in Bihar. So, the major volume growth is driven by that. We continue as far as the existing markets of North and South are concerned, I mean we continue to grow as per the market because in any case we do not have extra volume over there.

Got it sir. So, we would have gained market share, right, this quarter based on whatever volume growth we have done? Is that correct?

Got it sir. Sir, and I have two more questions. So, one was on costs. So there has been a very sharp increase in terms of fuel costs, diesel costs and all of that. So, could you give us some color on how much this would go up for us in the next quarter from the current quarter numbers?

So, see the cost should go up by about say INR150 in Q2 as compared to Q1. One, we have already I mean see some fuel cost increase would be there. There's also been like in the costs some packaging cost which was higher in Q1, that will go down in Q2. So o verall, you know, with diesel and everything we expect that the cost should go up by INR150 a ton. Q1 had a, you know, a timing difference, we had had a major I mean not we had taken out the maintenance, the preponement of some of the maintenance. So that we in Q2 the maintenance would be lower what we had earlier projected.

Got it sir. Okay. Sir, and just one last question sir. So, with respect to our expansion, I think we are trying for a 40 million in FY28 and 50 million in FY30. Just a confirmation here that there are no plans or anything that we are trying to like reschedule or push away a bit because a lot of competition has been talking about like taking a back step back with respect to capacity expansion. So, I am assuming that you're not planning anything like that, would that be a fair understanding?

Yes, as of now we have no plans. We are on schedule. Once the 40 million is already in progress and immediately we shall -- we are already working out on the next phase of expansion and at an appropriate time keeping our target for 2030, we shall be putting up before the -- we'll be going to the Board for their approval.

Got it sir. Thank you so much. Good set of numbers sir. Congrats once again.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Pinakin Parekh with HSBC. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much sir. So my first question is can you kindly give us some color on pricing, where are pricing today versus your June quarter average, and monsoon is traditionally a quarter where prices generally fall very sharply Q-on-Q, but this time there's a context of higher energy prices. So how do you see prices in your key markets?

So as of now there's no major variation. I mean, I think if we look at an average of Q1, the prices would be more or less same because some of the price increase took in in between in Q1. So keeping that in view, I think the prices are more or less same, flat as of now. And we expect that this time in the monsoon because of the cost pressures because of the geopolitical situation, we are not seeing any -- we should not be seeing any price drop in spite of being, some low volumes because of the seasonality.

Got it sir. So second question just coming back to your very strong volume growth in the first quarter which you attributed to the new capacity in Bihar and market share gains. How should we look for the remainder of the year if industry environment remains the same? Do you expect this volume growth of around say 16%-17% to be sustained and market share gains to continue through the year?

Yes, so we have already, the plan we are expecting, closer to 22.5 to 23 million in this quarter - - in this year. So we are working towards that and so we will have a double definitely a good double-digit growth in this fiscal, but I mean may not be that, we sustain if the demand continues, presently the demand is also supportive and if support in demand continues and we would be growing, but again see today we have some restriction in terms of capacity availability of capacity in the North and South. Had today if we had that capacity, we could have grown even fast more. But because the growth engine the growth opportunities presently with us are only in the Central India.

Got it sir. And lastly sir, you mentioned the 2030 timeline for the next phase of 50 million target. Should we expect, the company to take those expansions to the Board this year or do you see the work and the spending to start FY28 second half?

See we will watch, I mean I think closer to, it's a bit too premature now to give a date of going to the Board because we already have a large capex ongoing. Normally, I mean we are ready, we are doing our base working, but definitely as the project is abo ut to nearing completion and looking to the overall business environment situation, see because we are in a certain, uncertain geopolitical situations are there. If that situation really aggravates and has some impact, I it's very difficult to say anything now at this point of time. But otherwise we are not feeling that, any postponement or any delays in our plans.

Got it sir. Thank you very much sir.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Navin Sahadeo with ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.

Yes, good evening sir.

Good evening.

Yes, so thank you for the opportunity. Sir, my first question was on your white segment. So if I look at more from an annual perspective, FY24-'25 were fairly muted for this segment. Last year there was a good 11% growth and in Q1, I observe a very healthy I think almost 28%-29% kind of a growth and that too it is coupled with reasonable realization increase as well of almost about 4% Q-on-Q. So I would just request what is driving first of all this kind of a volume growth and how is the pricing also the industry I mean company is able to pass it on. So is it fair to say that the competitive intensity which earlier was there has reduced? How should one look at this segment incrementally overall?

So Navin, what has happened in the white business, this geopolitical situation, I mean had some on the white business per se had some positive impact for the company in terms of, a lot of volume was coming from UAE, the imports which were coming from UAE, that did not come here. So as a result we had that opportunity for extra volumes in in case of white cement and putty. So because the white cement availability was limited, so we could do some extra volume. But having said so, this the competitiveness in the white business will continue. I mean I would say that this is a impact more we have got a very good impact positive impact in the first quarter, may get something also in the second quarter, but things as things would normalize, the competitiveness on putty and all will continue to be there.

Understood, understood. My second question then was on your RMC business. I think last year we exited with about five plants. So what is there -- what is the outlook there, how much revenues did we clock in this in this particular quarter and for the full year how should one look at overall RMC revenues and profitability?

So as we see we have a plan to have about 100 RMC plants by FY28, 50 by FY27. As we speak, we have 17 plants operative now and we the top line would be anything between INR35 crores to INR40 crore s for Q1. And I think by this year end, we should be touching a base of about definitely maybe INR100 crore s quarterly. If this quarter is INR35 crore s, so we should be as things gear up by exit of maybe INR100 crores per quarter.

Great. And just to clarify sir, the cost related to RMC, would that be largely under the raw material cost consumed, right?

Yes.

Okay. That's it from my side sir. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Siddhart with Kotak Securities. Please go ahead.

Thank you for the opportunity and congratulations on a good set of results. Sir, just wanted to understand on a structural basis, we have some coal blocks which we plan to operationalize. So could you tell us more about the timing, what sort of output do you expect from them, what sort of cost savings do you expect from them and perhaps if we even plan to sell some of this external coal some of this coal externally?

So we have two coal blocks. So out of which the larger coal block which is at Mahan, where -- we because we had made a good progress and I think we should be able to by end of FY28, we should be able to commission this have some coal starting coming from FY end of FY28 from this coal block. One of the coal blocks an d definitely following maybe 1 year later from the other coal blocks. We have option to sell the fuel also, we will evaluate as we go what should be our plan and strategy for sale of coal. As regards the saving, yes, there would be substantial saving. I mean A, there are two things. One we are our risk exposure will reduce substantially because if not that with the like of current geopolitical situation, I mean if you have for the domestic fuel which is the cheapest fuel as of now, you had access to a more quantity, we could have used more domestic fuel, especially for the North plants. In Central we are still using domestic fuel which we use for against our linkages as well as from the open market. And I think we our own the fuel from the coal block, our own coal block, would be much cheaper than what is available in the market.

Understood sir. Secondly sir, just on the paint segment, since it's been some time since we've sort of been in this segment. So what would you say have your learnings been, what has the market evolution been like and what are the long-term plans we have in this sector? How much do we plan to scale, what are the aspirations, basically your thoughts on the segment and how we plan to be positioned within it sir?

So see our entry and a limited allocation to pa int business because putty was already there on the paint counter. And stand -- we were losing our customers because to survive on one product it was becoming difficult. That is why we entered the paint business, but having said so since our priorities on the core business, the board did not approve they have we limited our expenditure to INR600 crore. We have been growing this business in last 3 years, I mean today last year we did about INR380 crore, we are expecting over INR500 crore s net top line. We expect to be breakeven in this in third year of operations. And definitely I would say that it is helping our putty business. When we are showing a continuous a good growth in the putty volumes, I do not know whether that growth would have been there if we had not entered into the paint business. It's very difficult to say this is the extra volume we got because of the paint, but definitely it has helped. So that that cannot be ruled out and I think this will help in the medium term or long term. Again our commitment is and our capital is reserved for the core business. We will try to develop this business on the earnings of the business going forward.

Got it sir. And for this quarter what would be the revenue and EBITDA losses, right, so to say?

For the paints the revenue was around INR125 crores and it was breakeven.

Okay, so we've already achieved break even this quarter. That's good to know. Understood sir. Just sir one clarification, the entire paints business, sir is it carried out through JK Maxx which is our wholly owned subsidiary or is there a component which is also sitting within the standalone?

No, so what we are doing is that we the JK Cement platform, the putty platform is being used because you can't have two platforms to sell paint, the customers being common. So the putty platform is being used and there are I mean JK Cement charges a certain charges service charges as a platform charges from the paint company. The paint otherwise the paint business so it does appear, you know, part the sale the we have two brands, the Acro brand and the Maxx brand. So the Maxx brand sale is included in the also shows in the top line of the standalone results, but overall we do w hen we project we have a separate we analyze what is the top line of paint and what is the EBITDA of the paint.

Most of it, but partly is also in the Acro brand is a direct sale from the subsidiary.

Okay sir. Most of this is in the standalone. Got it sir. Thank you, thank you.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Tejas with Citi Group. Please go ahead.

Yes hi. On the cost increase guidance that you had mentioned earlier of INR150 per ton for second quarter, just wanted to clarify because we have like higher maintenance in the current quarter. Is this 150 adjusting for the benefit that you would have that ne xt quarter would have that lower sort of maintenance expense?

See the second quarter would have a similar maintenance cost, maybe marginally lower. So the second quarter would have -- we have done some of our major maintenance has been done, but few kills maintenance is still pending which will be taken up in the second quarter. So there will not be any further increase Q-on-Q in terms of maintenance cost. So the impact will only be shown in terms of the fuel cost and the other cost which is where the price I and the diesel cost which is having an impact. I mean this 150 will be a like a variable cost. It is not linked to the maintenance.

Okay, okay. And in anyways there would be some sort of operating deleverage impact also, because...

Yes, that will be there. The operating deleverage will definitely be there, so that impact would be there also.

Over and above this thing. Okay. Just second question on the RMC revenue, you mentioned INR35 crores to INR40 crore s recorded in first quarter. Can you just share what was it in the fourth quarter?

Fourth quarter this number was very low around INR5 crores.

Okay, okay. Understood. And then just one last question on the thermal substitution rate and the green power mix. So you have a target of 35% in FY30, but last like couple of years it has been in that 11% to 12% rate. And similarly also on the green power mix you have a 75% target for FY30. So just wanted to get a sense on the timing of when this increase might be reflected?

So for green power, I think we will definitely be able to achieve that. It's just that we could have had a higher number, but because of certain delays in the approvals being for the group power housing from the state level, there were certain delays, so that has resulted in some lower solar power. So green power we -- and we are working out on other green power projects. So we are hopeful that green power , I mean we have to achieve , get another 20%-25%. So we should be able to from maybe next year about 4%-5% annually and we should be able to reach that number. As far as thermal substitution is concerned, that target is given that , but we have to rework out on those because in case of -- because of the changes in the fuel mix. So when it was done , it was the expansions which has been done, had not been considered. So it was based on the existing capacities. So we are working out on that and we will -- based on the revised number , as per the fuel mix , because of the location, we will work out on that. Hello? Hello?

Sir, the current participant seems to have dropped from the queue.

Okay.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Ritesh Shah with Investec Capital. Please go ahead.

Hi sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, would it be possible for you to provide some color on regional utilization levels and profitability for us?

No, sorry. We do not share the regional profitability and the numbers.

Sir even utilization levels?

No.

Sir, how would...

Given that the numbers, that on the numbers that major growth is related to Central India and in the North and South we have grown as per the market. So beyond that we are not sharing.

Sir you did indicate that we have run out of capacity in two regions. So would it be fair to assume that we are closer to 90% plus utilization level in those regions?

Yes, effective capacity yes, we can say 85%-90% definitely.

Okay. And sir from a understanding standpoint, how different will be the fuel cost across regions because you indicated that if we get more of linkage, the better it is. I would presume that is the case for more for Eastern India wherein the petcoke component will be significantly lower.

So, in case of Central India, we are consuming only the domestic fuel. We are not using any petcoke or imported fuel for Central India. The petcoke or imported coal, I mean the US coal imported coal had also become cheaper when we had the geopolitical and sud den spurt in the petcoke prices and its availability. So, all petcoke and imported fuel is being used in the North plants and in the South plant. So actually in South plant we only use petcoke and alternate fuel. We are not even using Indian coal there, the Indian coal is also not very viable. So in the South plant it is only petcoke and alternate fuel. In the North plants we do get certain, you know, Indian coal which is because road movement is not economical to get by road. Whatever we can get by rail, the Indian coal we get for the North plants and balance we use petcoke and alternate fuel.

Perfect. And sir just last question, how should we look at power and fuel cost and packaging cost into the next quarter?

So packaging cost should be more or less flat or marginally lower in Q2 vis-à-vis Q1. Fuel cost, we should definitely see an increase of around INR75 to INR100.

Sure. This is very helpful.

If you talk about INR150 increase, it may have about INR100 towards fuel cost and INR50 for other increases, diesel related.

Perfect sir. Thank you so much sir for the answers. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Harsh Mittal with Emkay Global Financial Services. Please go ahead.

Good evening sir. Thank you for the opportunity. A few couple -- couple of questions. Sir what was the exit utilization of Panna Line 2 in the quarter 1 FY27?

Actually see Panna for the complete plant as a whole we can give the utilization because we do not see separately the clinker or the cement dispatches for Line 1 or Line 2.

No issue. You can give it cumulatively.

So Panna overall utilization is above 65%.

Okay. And sir what was the incentive income which was accrued in this quarter?

Incentive income was around INR50 crores.

Okay. And the last question, what was the maintenance cost which we incurred in this quarter?

Maintenance cost we incurred around INR50 crores, INR 60 crores of the extra maintenance in this quarter.

Okay. And this is what we would expect also spend in quarter 2 as well? Am I right?

Yes, it may be marginally lower.

Sure sir. These were my questions. Thank you.

Yes, good evening sir. My couple of questions. Firstly on RMC revenue of INR35 crores to INR40 crores in this quarters, the related cost which is in RM cost, is it also similar cost or like segment is in EBITDA loss for the quarter?

Marginal see as we are ramping up the capacities are coming up. No significant loss, some marginal loss is definitely there. I think see as the plant setup the initial costs some of the costs are maybe appearing also in the some fixed cost is also there. So we do monitor, but RMC will stabilize over a period of time as we set up the plant because each plant takes about to get into a breakeven situation, you know, about 3 months time.

I understand. The first time we have reported RMC revenues for the quarterly basis we are discussing?

Yes, we it's as it is part of the top line. Separate number it was because earlier we had about five plants exit March. So it was just insignificant.

And now we have 15 plants going to 50 by end of this year then 100 year after?

Yes, but this is our plan and hopefully we should be able to achieve that.

Other question is on fuel cost which like was reported 1.53. How should we look at this cost in Q2 and is that expected to be peak cost in the current fuel environment?

Q2 it will peak out. So definitely what we are looking at that it should go up by say around INR100 per ton in Q2.

And what will be this on a fuel kilocal basis, 1.53 what we have for last quarter Q1?

So it could be around we have to see I mean I think it will depend on a mix could be around 1.75 or something closer to tha t because domestic fuel is less, but still during monsoon it is a bit higher because of excess moisture.

Okay, but irrespective it is going to be peak cost and we should see decline thereafter?

Yes.

Sure, these are my questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Rajesh Ravi with HDFC Securities. Please go ahead.

Hello, am I audible?

Yes Rajesh.

Yes, you are audible.

Hi sir. Good evening. First question pertains to sir the paint business. After three quarters of INR100 crores each, we have seen a sharp jump to INR125 crore. So could you explain this jump and what is the target for full year and when you mention break even, you meant it at EBITDA level in Q1?

Yes.

Yes, it's all breakeven when we talk it is only at EBITDA level. And we said that the target for the FY27 is anything between INR500 crores to INR550 crores. So that is the target for FY27.

Okay. And in the RMC segment, you said you exited with five plants March and now it has crossed around 17. So what is the target -- so next year when you would be running at 50 units, 50 plants, any unit economics which we can work with because incrementally it will become a sizeable it will have a sizeable contribution in top line and EBITDA level or at least cost level?

See RMC we have to see RMC is not a very big EBITDA margin business. The RMC is a requirement either the margin is in cement, RMC standalone as a business it is 4 % to 7% EBITDA margins. It is not that because, but you have to be in RMC business because certain customers are there, otherwise you will lose that volume of cement. So you cannot address or you will lose that project RMC helps one to enter into project you start with RMC then there is a cement requirement, there are other building material requirements. So then you can re ally address the requirement of the entire project.

Agree. So for full of FY27 what sort of revenue you're looking from the RMC segment?

See we are just working out. This is I think [inaudible 0:42:05] as a ballpark number if you see maybe we have about INR250 crores topline in this fiscal from the RMC business.

Sorry, how much? I missed it.

INR250 crores as a topline as we grow the business to 300 maybe we can touch 300, but I think a INR250 crores number is something we have achieved INR35 in this quarter Q2. Every quarter would be better than the previous quarter as we are setting up plants and the plant gets stabilized. So this is how we see the numbers growing.

And from a full year perspective you would be EBITDA positive with these numbers, INR250 crores?

Yes, I think so we should reach to a level of a breakeven on and the loss is not it's a single-digit loss.

Right understood.

It is anything significant.

Understood. And sir on the costing front Q2 you mentioned around INR150 increase. So like you're factoring in INR100 increase in fuel cost and there would be some increase because of the diesel, but you'd also have the benefit of railways bulk discount as well as the fall in the packaging cost which would offset your [inaudible 0:43:29] loss because there would be between Q1 and Q2 there would be an [inaudible 0:43:34] loss because of lower volumes. So you're factoring in everything in your INR150 cost increase?

We factor in everything because again railways cost is limited only to the North plants where we have facilities in the Central India or in the South plant everything is by road.

Understood. Okay. And yes, in the Saifco expansion plan, would that be taken up later beyond FY28? What is the thought process over there?

See the first thing that we are working on Saifco and we are able to utilize the full capacity. We have -- we'll see and we get all the approvals and thereafter we will see what are the and put a go to the board as of now whether it is FY28 we will go or not it's not very clear. I mean but we have a plan we will work out with all the approvals, we will see that the existing business starts making profit and then we will plan and move.

Understood. Just the one last question on the RMC business, you mentioned the imports were impacted and that helped positively for Indian players like Indian white cement producers like JK Cement. So what is the scenario in Q2, has the volume picked up fro m UAE units, exports from UAE units or domestic sale in UAE?

So some imports have come in, I mean from the competition competitor so some clinker and cement has come in. It's still some is yet to come, not the normal quantities as yet, but definitely some quantities have started coming. But we have to see wait and watch.

Understood sir. That's all from my end. Thank you and all the best.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Girija Shankar Ray with Nirmal Bang. Please go ahead.

Hi, thank you for taking my question and congratulations on good set of numbers, sir. I have couple of questions, many questions are answered. So on a console basis if I see our raw material cost has increased. So is that the impact of diesel prices, the i ndustrial diesel prices or what is linked with it on per ton basis?

On per ton in case of on per ton in terms of console?

Yes, in raw material cost?

Okay. See again that is a mix if you see standalone and consolidated, you are dividing by the same number to your dividing factor console includes dry -mix mortar. So the dry -mix mortar which we do in UAE is part of the raw material cost over there. And the n the dividing factor remains the same because you are not dividing by -- there is no volume per se of dry mix is in a different volume mix so that volume number is not included. So therefore, the per ton will show a higher value.

Not in in the overseas, yes in Fujairah the freight costs have increased because one we could not dispatch anything. So as such the sale has only been in the GCC region at Fujairah. As far as dry mix is concerned, it is only it's a local-based business so there is no freight cost impact.

Okay. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Raghav Mashewari with Equirus securities. Please go ahead.

Sir the plant maintenance shutdown which we have taken into the Q1, is it the primarily plant shutdown or sudden shutdown?

No, it is a planned shutdown. It is some pre-ponement. The pre-ponement what happens in case of kiln whenever you see the red spot, you expect that it will come on a particular time, but when you see partially you have to do then you take that maintenance. So in always the kiln 1-month variation, 1.5 months variation could always be there.

Got it sir. And basically, it means if that is on the scheduled time that volume growth can be more higher for the quarter?

No, there is no volume loss on that account because we were having the huge clinker stock. So we have not lost any volume. This 18% growth would not have been possible if it is because of the forced shutdown.

Got it sir.

Though because of maintenance, we had purchased some clinker in case of South.

That too a minimal quantity.

Got it sir. And sir just last question from the incentive side, when the FY28 when our all the units of Jaisalmer, Bikaner and the Bhatinda will get operationalized, what are the incentives we are expecting from FY29 on number or the annualized rate from the FY29?

So FY29 what we see today it's about anything between 225 to 250 region because we are also having a capital I mean we are taking the input credit. So we are not able to take the GST input credit the subsidy because we are taking the input credit. FY29 onw ards I think this number should come to the number of about INR300 crores annually which we were getting earlier.

Got it sir. Thank you, all the best.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Amit Murarka from Axis Capital. Please go ahead.

Hi sir. Thank you. I thought I will not be allowed to ask a question despite pressing star one 13- 14 minutes before the start of the call. Nevertheless, I will go ahead with my question. Sir, when we mention that we are looking at on the grey front 22.5 to 23 million ton kind of a volume for this year, that means we are looking at a very subdued growth for the next three quarters maybe a close to a 6, 6.5% given already this 6 million ton we on Y-o-Y basis if I look at 0.95 million tons so kind of a 1 million ton incrementally we have done. Last time we were looking at close to 2.5 million ton incremental volume in FY27 and given the strong number don't we think we should be at least doing a 3 million ton extra volume in this year and maybe a last time also we said in FY28 we will be doing a incremental 3 million, that number should be a inching 3.5 million ton incremental volume.

Shravan, if the demand is there, we have the volume we will definitely do so. I mean we had an annual number we are working on that annual number. We revise annual number every quarter plus or minus it doesn't make so our effort is to maximize. We will not leave any stone unturned and we will not lose our market share in any of the regions. So, depending we have to, you know, major volume as I said is going to come from Central India. To grow, you know, you get all the volumes from Central India, we also have to ensure that we maintain our pricing position and grow profitably. We can we cannot be very aggressive in getting to a top line even if we have volume, but we have to plan out in a very strategic form that the long-term benefit we get in establishing our brand and the market position.

Okay, okay. Got it. And -- at least we should be definitely be growing kind of a double digit…

Of course we will be growing double digit. I'm not saying that we'll be going single digit and anything. But in you have to see that in the in the South and in the North , we have a limitation we can we don't have that volume so the growth will be restricted. Even if we had an opportunity to grow there, we don't have the volume.

Okay, got it. And on the white front at a console level, kind of a double digit there also is doable for the year?

On a console on a console basis in the white, it may not be possible because in the first half in the first quarter in in the UAE region, we have lost we have lost 50% of the normal volume because of the restrictions, there were no loading available. So, b ecause of the geopolitical situation as of now in the in the Middle East, our white cement sale is only restricted to the GCC countries. We are not able to export to any other region because we are not getting the ship load. We have the volume but we have everything but we are not getting.

True, true sir. But once this 0.6 MTPA putty in Nathdwara will come in this quarter or Q2, so definitely so despite we losing in in the UAE, this quarter at a console level we are we are already at a 11% plus kind of a growth is already there. So that's wh at I was looking at and plus 0.6 million ton putty. So that's why I was looking at kind of a double-digit volume growth.

That's why we have put up at Nathdwara, we are already, you know, we to A to reduce our dependence on toll manufacturing. As a capacity peak demand , we are already I mean we had challenges in this quarter so we had to get lot of material from the toll manufacturers. And we have to be there the putty we have a plan that we should be growing that business, you know, in double digits year-on-year. So, unless and until we have a capacity, we cannot make that plan.

Okay, got it, got it. Secondly sir, on the paint front for this year you have clearly mentioned, but for next year FY28 on a INR550 odd crores kind of a revenue base of FY27, how one can look at and now this year we will be break-even so can we start seeing a kind of a 5 %, 7% kind of a EBITDA margin in FY28 on paint front?

Definitely we are working towards that and we will come out with a number when we are about to close. I mean yes, as whatever you said, this is a broad number we would be working out on some EBITDA positive good EBITDA 5 %, 7% in FY28 definitely for the paint business with the top line also increasing by another 150 crore s or so. But we have to really work out the numbers and we will definitely work out and then share the numbers.

Yes. And sir lastly on the capex just to if you reiterate the number how much we have done in this and for FY27 and '28.

Yes, for FY27 we have a plan to do around INR3500 crore s of capex. And in '28 also it will be around INR1200 crores and if we take up the I mean the next leg of expansion that that would be additional.

Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Anurag Gaikwad with Shree Bahubali Stock Broking. Please go ahead. -- The current participant seems to have dropped from the queue. We will proceed to the next question which will be from the line of Siddhart from Kotak Securities. Please go ahead.

Just one quick bookkeeping question. What was our fuel mix in this quarter?

It was 40% pet coke, 45% Indian coal, balance alternate fuels.

And sir, are we using coal also in the northern plants? Are we taking steps to sort of just increase the cadence or the salience of coal in our overall mix given the pet coke pricing currently?

So, we use some portion of Indian coal also in the North. We have also imported some US coal which is -- because it's cheaper, a high calorific imported fuel, so that also we use -- in when we see the economics vis-à-vis the pet coke.

Okay sir. And has it really changed for us, say for example, over the past one or two quarters when we faced this cost inflation on the pet coke front? Basically, I want to understand, how are we changing the fuel mix, that is the intent of my question?

No, see again, we had a definite plan up to February, pet coke was -- we had a plan what we need to import and the fuel mix was more or less frozen. But you have to keep on changing and evolving with the change in the scenario of availability of the fuel. So, we cannot -- fuel is something with the geopolitical situation is affecting the availability and the pricing. So, unless you have a stable scenario on pricing, you can't have a fixed thing. You have to continuously -- you need to evolve, so that your fuel cost is most effective, cost effective.

Understood sir. Thank you.

Thank you. We will now take the last question which will be from the line of Amit Murarka from Axis Capital. Please go ahead.

Yes hi, thank you for the opportunity and congrats on a great result. My first question was on clinker. So, I understand that the nameplate clinker capacity at Panna Line 2 is 3.3 million tons, but you had said that it will be debottlenecked to 4 million t ons subsequently. So, by when we are expected to achieve that, one, and secondly given the high growth rates that we are seeing, like is there any possibility of seeing clinker constraints in the peak quarter which is Q4 FY27?

So, A, when we are working the kiln on an expanded capacity of 4 million for Line 2, we have been working on that, and I think, we would be able to achieve the same in this fiscal. As of now we do not foresee any clinker shortage for the volumes in Central India.

Sure. And also, like once Jaisalmer is up and running, will the decision for next clinker line be taken post that or do you think you'll be able to start working beforehand, like now that we are at a much bigger base, so one clinker line actually may kind of -- that ways restrict your growth rates in the future?

Yes, yes. So yes, you're right, we have a much larger base which can support an additional capex, and we are working in light of that. But since it is a greenfield and a large project, we will not - - we may not wait till the full -fledged commissioning, but closer to when we see that the commissioning is there in the next few months, we may take a call. Because we have to justify to the Board, we have to see -- we will look at the total net company's balance sheet, the position, everything, take a stock, and then we would be able to decide. Maybe, we are in a better position to know some timing by end of this year or maybe beginning first -- in the last quarter of this fiscal.

Sure. In the order of priority, next one will be Muddapur?

Should be as of now.

Okay. That's it from me. Best of luck. Thank you.

Thank you. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Vaibhav Agarwal for closing comments.

Yes, thank you. Sir, just one thing sir from my end. So, on the call I missed it. Did you mention the number for the pre -ponement of expenses from Q2 to Q1, how much was the quantum, by any chance, if have you said that quantum? I missed that number.

Maintenance?

Yes, the maintenance which you told from Q2 to Q1 you have pre-poned.

INR50 crores. That is a thing. Okay. Thanks sir. That's it. Thank you on behalf of PhillipCapital India Private Limited. We thank the management of JK Cement for the call, and also many thanks to the participants joining the call. Thank you very much sir. Dorwin, you now conclude the call. Thank you.

Thank you everyone for joining the call.

Thank you. On behalf of Phi llipCapital India Private Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you all for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.