The first question is from the line of A.M. Lodha from Sanmati Consultants.

Sir, congratulations for the good set of numbers as well as congratulations to the entire team of the management for successful takeover of SKS Power plant. I have got 2 questions, sir. One in fact is relating to SKS Power and second is relating to coal. Now SKS Power, as you have mentioned in your presentation that NCLT appeal has gone in your favour but the aggrieved parties have gone to the Supreme Court. So what is the opinion of our lawyers for this acquisition and this Supreme Court matter?

So, it has been confirmed twice by NCLAT. That gives a reasonable strength to our case.

Does it make any material difference, particularly when you have taken the po ssession of the plant and made the payment and payment has been made to the banker. Will it make any material difference in Supreme Court?

It is up to the Supreme Court, matter being sub judice. I think the Supreme Court will take into consideration each and every aspect. Ultimately, it is being -- matter being sub judice, I don't think we can give any specific. It is up to the Supreme Court, but definitely all these factors will also be considered.

Okay, sir. So, in this acquisition, how much is -- out of 600, how much we are selling under PPA and how much we are selling in the market in the grid?

PPA, -- we have long-term PPA, medium-term PPA, short-term PPA and IEX all. For short - term PPA, quantity goes up and down. So maybe out of 600, maybe 400 around because it's a fluctuating figure. It is related...

What is the present rate prevailing in the exchange?

In Exchange, it also fluctuates again, but generally we are getting INR5 plus only on average because it varies hour to hour and day to day.

Whether the management has any intent to double the capacity of this plant?

My second question is regarding the coal mine, sir. We have got the capacity expanded to 1.68 million tonne and we applied for 5.2 MTPA. When we can expect to get the clearance for this expansion of the coal mines, sir?

In the first stage, we are increasing it further from 1.68 million to 1.8 million tons. We expect to get maybe by end of the current financial year or maybe in the beginning of the next financial year. Then we will go for 5.2 million tons. So that will take some time.

Okay, sir. Can I ask one more question, last?

Yes, sure.

The question is relating to hydropower, sir. Our Sikkim hydropower 113 megawatt, Rongnichu power plant at Sikkim. That we have, I think, commenced the commercial production last year. It's the second year running, I think?

This is, I think, third year.

Third year, so...

Total 3 years, this is fourth year.

Fourth year. Just I wanted to know the extent of the loans taken for this power plant and repayment schedule?

Yes. I think best we can provide you offline. Immediately, it will be very difficult to provide specific figures with regards to repayment schedule

I’ll send a mail to you, sir.

The next question is from the line of Aman Madrecha from Augmenta Research.

So, first of all, can you highlight on the total coal mix given that we are at 1.68 million tons of coal capacity currently. So how much according to us will be used towards the power plant? And how much will be used for our internal operations? Could you highlight on that? And what portion -- and second question is that what portion of the SKS coal requirement is met through PPA signed with Coal India and what portion is met in-house again?

Out of 1.68 million tons, 100% will be captively consumed whether it is in the power plant of SKS or internally for sponge iron plant, captive power plant and all those things. Broadly, maybe about 0.6 million tons might be used in other facilities and 1 million tons plus will be used in power plant.

We require more than 3 million tons, maybe 3.2, depending upon the grade of the coal. It will be 3 million tons plus requirement.

So given that, out of that 3 million tons, 1 million tons is met through this coal mine and rest we buy from outside in PPA?

Yes, for the time being, yes.

Okay sir. And can you also highlight on the upcoming two coal mines, let's say the Shahpur West and the other coal mines that is coming up? Where are we on the Shahpur West coal mine?

As given in our initial address, we have received forest clearance stage two also. Now we are in the process of executing the mining lease. Post that, we'll get the mine opening permission. And once we get the mine opening permission which we expect to get before end of the quarter, then it will take about 2 years' time to start the production or getting the production from that mine.

Okay. And sir if I believe according to previous remarks, previous interaction this Shahpur West coal mines quality is at par of the imported coal quality, right?

Yes.

Okay. Thank you so much.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Digant Haria from GreenEdge Wealth. Please go ahead.

Thank you for taking my question. Sir my question is again on this SKS Power that -- now it's at least 3 months that we have the power plant in our hand. So what is the peak PLF that we can reach in the power plant now that you will have some more access to the power plant and how they work? So that is question number one. Question number two is, sir, you said the blended realization right now is around INR5 a unit. So what would be the EBITDA or PBT per unit that we can make? I'm not looking at an exact number, but just a range depending on own coal mine or coal which we are using currently from Coal India. What is the potential here? So these are the two questions, sir.

In normal course, we should expect 85% of the PLF from the plant. And we have been operating at full capacity. We have been getting - the plant is generating full capacity generation. So there is no case of under capacity operation. The plant is capable to operate at full capacity of 600 megawatts. That is the first question, I think I have. What exactly you wanted this is what and PLF as I stated…

Yes, so PLF can be 85%, you are saying or even more?

Yes, 80% to 85%, because if we are selling part of the power in IEX, sometimes it happens that you have the capacity, but prices are not remunerative enough so sometimes you may have to cut down the production. So in that case, we may consider lower PLF on the safe side. If we consider it may be 80% because only a part is on the long-term contract. Sometimes, we have to cut down the production.

Got it. And my next question is what is the EBITDA per unit or profit before tax, PBT per unit because you said revenue is around INR5 a unit right now. Over the long term, where do you to see this profit before tax number? It will be INR1 a unit, INR2 unit? What is the economics if you can just explain us, that will be helpful?

EBITDA should remain in the range of, say, INR1.5 to INR2.5, somewhere in between, depending upon the prices because price volatility is there.

And sir INR1.5 to INR2.5 EBITDA, this will claim once we have our own coal mine, this entire 2 million right now, which we are buying from Coal India, if we get it from our own mine Gare Palma 2 years, 3 years later, then does this number change or it may remain in the same range, 1.5 to 2.5?

It will improve marginally. Definitely, it will improve marginally.

Okay. Sir, last question was on the steel part. You just mentioned that the imports from China have been very high and everybody is representing to the government. So these imports are very high on which parts like is it mostly flat, long or in the products which we are there? Any colour that you can give on this?

Can you come again, please?

Yes. So my question was that the imports from China has increased a lot on the steel side. So I just wanted to check, are there specific products where Chinese dumping is very high in India or is it just mostly affecting our products or any such color you can give on the imports from China? And how different are the spreads?

In the last few months, we have seen a lot of imports happening from China. And it's basically on the electrical steels and flat steels that are coming into the country. And the government has taken a note of that and is working on that to curb the imports also. So soon, we'll -- we are very hopeful that soon we'll see that there will be some import curbs in place. And overall -- basically, overall what happens when you see such a large sort of imports coming into India from China, the overall sentiment gets a little shaky here in India.

Right sir. Okay. Thank you so much.

The next question is from the line of Pradeep Rawat from Yogya Capital. Please go ahead.

Good evening and thank you for the opportunity. Sir I have some basic questions. Can you just highlight what is the cost of mining of coal and iron ore from our mines?

Coal cost depends on market price of coal because we are paying a substantial part towards revenue share. See, we are paying 67% revenue share in our Gare Palma 4/7 and we are also paying royalty. The whole cost depends upon the market price of the coal which fluctuates in a wider range. And in case of iron ore, it is somewhere in the range of INR2,500 to INR2,700 depending upon the output. There are multiple variables, lumps and fines. Again, because a major component of the output is the government taxes, which varies depending upon the grade and the size of the material taken out. So defining a specific pricing, what is -- the cost will be very difficult. In case of coal also, we have four different grades of the coal from the same mine. So the cost varies in a much wider range.

Yes, sir, I was just asking more about the cost of operations in mining, excluding that revenue sharing model that we do?

That is not material in overall cost structure.

Okay. And we have Kalyani mines which could -- so when can we expect this Kalyani mines to operationalize? And are we planning to use some kind of advanced mining techniques like underground continuous miners or are we going to do it with existing blasting technology?

So far as the use of the technology is concerned, in case of underground mines generally, continuous miners only will be used. Take the case of Shahpur West Coal Mine, We will use continuous miners only for extraction of the coal from the mine. So far as the Gare Palma 4/7 present operations are concerned, that is an open cast mine, continuous miner is not required. So appropriate -- whatever is appropriate technology depending upon the mine is applied.

And can you also comment on when could we expect Kalyani mines to be operationalized?

In the last concall, we had stated that there was a dispute on the boundary. There was overlapping boundary of the two different mines allotted to different parties. So that matter was taken up and that boundary dispute has been sorted out, but now we are in the process of evaluating. Post realignment of the boundary, we are carrying out the DPR and viability survey and final outcome will come only once that is approved by the South Eastern Coalfields Limited. So as of now the position is standstill.

Yes, understood. Just last one basic question. We have purchased Surjagarh iron ore block for 126% revenue share model. So I was just wondering how can we be profitable when we are giving away more than 100% of revenue share to the government? So that was one basic question from my side?

Yes. If you see all the iron ore mines have gone only in this range and I think within this Surjagarh iron ore block also. Our bid well, I think is lowest -- maybe among the lowest of the premium, which was bid by us. Others have given their bi ds much higher than our bi d in the same geology and same area. There were multiple blocks in Surjagarh, ours is block number 1. And we have got a better quality of the iron ore. There are multiple variables again in the pricing of the iron ore, iron ore fines, iron ore lumps. There are multiple variables there. What prices -- and their revenue share is payable on the notified price of the estate. It is not on your selling price because if we -- we'll be bringing -- in case of iron ore, the royalty and revenue share is payable on the notified price. So there are multiple variables in cost structure.

Next question is from the line of Balasubramanian from Arihant Capital. Please go ahead.

Congratulations for the set of numbers. So just wanted to understand the pricing point of view. Last quarter some price corrections around 6% to 8% for the wire rod and HB wire. And manganese ore also has been corrected 10% to 27% based on high grade to low grade in that range. In this quarter, how is the price of -- what's the scenario right now?

This quarter also, we see that the prices will be a little subdued because December holidays are approaching. And typically, we see that December is a little lull month. Overall, I think the government spending will also start happening in the next 3 to 4 months. Because if you look at the last 6 months government spending has been not as much as we had expected it to be on infrastructure. So going forward, I think the demand will pick up. But in the next 2 to 3 months, I think it will be a little subdued as well.

The next question is from the line of Pradeep Rawat from Yogya Capital. Please go ahead.

For the follow-up, so I just wanted to understand more on the Ferro alloy market. So how is it faring right now? And what can we expect going forward?

So the Ferro alloys market, as you know, that it ha d gone up in the middle because of the ore prices which happened in Australia where there was severe flooding, etcetera. That happened in the South 32 mines. Right now, the alloy market is quite slow and the demand globally is not very high right now because you've seen major regions and disturbances like the Ukraine, Russia war happening, the Gaza attack, the Middle Eastern regions. Also, the credit crunch is felt across regions. So we're not hoping that the next 2, 3 months, there'll be an uptick on the Ferro alloy side, or the Ferro alloy pricing. But maybe after January end and February onwards, typically, the demand picks up.

The next question is from the line of Rajesh Bhandari from Nakoda Engineers. Please go ahead.

Sir, I have a question on SKS power and a question on Ferro alloy. On SKS power, it is expected that the turnover will be around INR2000 crores annually?

Yes.

And profit in the range of INR500 crores?

Yes, it will come above that.

Very good, sir. And second, when is it expected that the high court case will be released in the next 3 to 6 months?

That is a good question, sir. No, there was going to be a hearing on the 12th, but no one knows if it happened or not.

No, there was no hearing on 12th.

Okay, there was no hearing yet. And when will the demand for Ferro alloy be stable? I mean, by December and January, it is expected?

It will be after January, sir. December is a holiday. You know that December season is always a little low season. And January, people start coming back to offices by the 10th of January. So after January, only the pickup will start in terms of demand. But globally, the demand looks to be a little slow because Japan has got an installed capacity of 105 million tons, and they are not going to produce more than 90 million tons. So, we are seeing shortfall in terms of steel production in Japan as well. We are seeing a shortfall in terms of production in European Union as well, in terms of steel production. And this year looks to be a little low in terms of demand because of the war situation going on everywhere. And we are also waiting and watching very quietly as to what will happen when Trump's policy comes into place. What are the impacts that are going to be put in place for China? We have to see what are the policies that he is bringing out for trade. And on ly then we can expect some demand pickup.

If there is a restriction in China, will the demand pick up from India?

There are already restrictions in China. But let us see what is the policy that comes into play.

But from January, the price stability and improvement is expected?

The price stability is still there. It is hovering around $860 to $880. So price stability is already there in terms of dollar terms.

I couldn't get it, $860 to $880, what is that?

$860 to $880.

Okay, okay, which is profitable for us?

Not too much, but it's okay. It's not that bad.

Okay, sir. All the best for SKS Power.

The next question is from the line of A.M. Lodha from Sanmati Consultants.

There is one follow-up question which I skipped. Regarding SKS Power, sir. Can you tell me how many units are generated in 600 megawatts, sir? 80, 85 percent load factor, right? Number of units.

No. of, unit. 400 crores, right?

Yes, I am saying 400 crore units. I am telling in units.

Okay, sir. The second thing is that your 25 megawatt hydro is ready. So I was looking at a chart in your presentation where I found that the total capacity after this 25 hydropower, you will be having 1000 megawatt power in total?

Not hydro.

Not hydro. All. One place you have mentioned 751, another place 166 hydro, another 50 solar and this hydro the 25 which is going to commence the production. So I'm making the total, the total comes to 1,200 megawatts?

I don't think 1,200. It should be somewhere in the range 1,000.

No, not 1,200, 1,002 only -- yes, 1,000?

It will be around 1,000 MW okay.

Okay, sir. This hydropower, since this year there was heavy rain, so I presume that hydropower will also generate some units in the month of October, November?

Yes, October, November is better. In our address also we have mentioned that October, November generation is better as compared to the previous year.

Thank you. As there are no further questions from the participants, I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for the closing comments.

Thank you. We thank all the participants for attending this con call. To summarize what we stated, the long awaited acquisition of SKS 600-megawatt power plant is completed, and this will be a major growth driver in our journey. Number of projects are under execution for consistent growth. Out of these, 25-megawatt hydropower project and 50-megawatt solar power project will be commissioned in the current financial year. Our diversification has resulted in better performance during volatile times. So we are poised for exciting times. Thank you. Please feel free to reach out to us or to our IR team with any further queries. Thank you all.

Thank you. On behalf of Sarda Energy & Minerals Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.