Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Ambuja Cements Limited Q4 FY 2026 Earnings Call, hosted by JM Financial Institutional Securities Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be on listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Dharmesh Shah from JM Financial. Thank you, and over to you. Thank you, everyone. Without much delay, I will transfer the call to Mr. Deepak Balwani, Head of Investor Relations. Mr. Deepak, over to you. Thank you, Dharmesh. On behalf of Ambuja Cements, I am pleased to welcome all the participants to our earnings call for the fourth quarter of FY 2026. Ambuja Cements is the ninth-largest building material solution company globally and part of the diversified Adani portfolio. Before we start, please note that this call may include forward-looking statements based on our current beliefs and expectations. These are not guarantees of future performance and may involve unforeseen risks and uncertainties. We remain committed to further strengthening our disclosure standards and improving the quality of our capital market communications to the best in the industry. We are pleased to have with us on the call Mr. Vinod Bahety, Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Rohit Soni, Chief Financial Officer. I invite Mr. Bahety to provide his valuable insights on the quarterly performance. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, Deepak. Thanks, Dharmesh. Good evening, everyone. FY 2026 was a year of resilience for the Indian cement sector, marked by industry consolidation and the GST 2.0 reforms on one side, while the adverse and the extended weather conditions, global geopolitical factors, and the various state elections also affected the industry and demand in some or the other way. Against this backdrop, Ambuja delivered a resilient performance for the year, achieving its highest ever annual sales volume of 73.7 million tons, up 16% year- on- year in that manner. On a normalized basis, the EBITDA of INR 6,539 crores, up 31% at INR 887/ metric ton, which is on a PMT basis up 12%, and the PAT of INR 2,647 crores, up 17%. The company continues to remain debt-free and with highest credit rating. Annual volumes grew well ahead of the industry. Trade sales volume grew steady at 10%, while the premium cement accounted for 35% of the trade sales during the year, reflecting sustained progress on premiumization. During the year, company's cement capacity increased to 109 million tons, supported by commissioning of 10.7 million tons of new grinding capacity at various locations like Marwar, Farakka, Sankrail, Sindri, Krishnapatnam, and the additional clinker capacity of 7 million tons at Jodhpur and Bhatapara. During financial year 2026, we also made meaningful progress on the portfolio integration. Successful amalgamation of Sanghi Industries and Penna Cement with Ambuja Cements is now completed, while ACC and Orient Cement is under process. The One Cement Platform is a strategic initiative and will help to bring sharper focus on the operational performance, business synergies, and the overall higher degree of compliances. Therefore, this time, the balance sheet of Ambuja Consol now has finalized purchase price allocation of Orient and Penna. Till December, it was on a provisional basis. The numbers you will find marginally changes in the balance sheet versus the classification of goodwill and the other intangible assets. While in the P&L, you will find some changes in terms of amounts for depreciation and the deferred tax accounting treatments. Further, friends, you will see in the notes of the accounts, you will see various tax-related provisional notes with respect to reversals. Details are there in the published financials. Please also note, financial year 2025 and financial year 2026 are not comparable like- to- like, since FY 2025 does not have Orient Cement, while Penna was acquired and consolidated from 16th of August 2025. That is only seven and a half months for the FY 2025, as against 12 months for FY 2026. While Orient is only for 11 months in FY 2026 and was not there in FY 2025. Let's again come back to the business part. My green power share increased almost 32% now in Q4 compared to 26% before. The newly acquired assets, particularly Sanghi and Penna, they witnessed lower utilization levels. Sanghi still remains at around, say, for the full year at 57% on cement capacity utilization, while Penna is 46%. Last time I mentioned to you that in December quarter we have seen a good improvement, especially for Sanghi. The turnaround initiatives have taken a little longer than the expected timelines, and some of these plants, especially of Penna, needed higher than expected time for maintenance CapEx and overall upkeep of the assets. On a cost front, we have seen bit of higher cost compared to our own expectations and therefore some disappointments. If I have to look at the reasons, higher freight cost due to increase in the overall, say, lead, primary and secondary both. Increase in some of the state like the Additional Goods Tax, especially in Himachal. In terms of the higher packing cost, which we more so have seen that in the month of March, which has seen some abruptions given the West Asia war. The higher fuel cost on account of little higher than expected heat consumption what we have, and more so for the acquired assets, the higher branding cost, now that we have focused more on trade sales, starting from the Q4. While we have also improved our trade sales to 74% compared to in December quarter of 2025, it was 68%. Which would clearly mean we are focusing on blended cement. If you also see my clinker factor has improved from 67% in December quarter to now 65%. This has also, one of the cost which is the branding cost and the sales promotion cost have gone up. Some of the other issues like the raw material costs, which we could have improved in terms of the fly ash, pending some of the railway infrastructure which will be completed in the coming months, you will see a good level of improvement on that. Pending that, we have not been able to meet our some of the raw material costs to our desired levels. Essentially, there is a three to six months delay on some of the efficiency CapEx which has happened. Hopefully like in coming quarter, we should be gaining momentum to complete and get the benefits of it. Therefore, in FY 2027, our focus firmly remains on streamlining the operations and margin expansion. We will continue to focus on trade sales and more so on the premium product sales, which we have a huge leadership. Almost 36% of my trade sales has been premium cement sale for Q4. We will continue to improve the reliability at Penna and Sanghi and the overall asset utilization. Together they have 19 million tons of capacity, and the target is to increase the utilization by at least 5%-10% for these assets. In terms of the cost, while we are cognizant of the overall ongoing global geopolitical situation, and we have already seen a cost escalation in Q4, more so in the month of March, almost by INR 25 a bag, closer to, let us say, ballpark INR 400-INR 500 if I have to go on a full-blown basis. Cost increase is there in the industry and so it's to our company. We are recalibrating our cost for this financial year. I have mentioned earlier about our journey to achieve cost of almost INR 4,000 a ton by March 2026 exit. Meanwhile, in terms of the full year of 2026, we have given a figure, we have achieved a figure of INR 4,400 a ton, which is almost 10% higher to our own target, for the reasons which I have mentioned before. Although in the month of March, we are closer to at INR 4,100 a ton. Since these are like fast-moving global situations and dynamisms over the energy costs and other basically expected hikes in the fuel and diesel and all, therefore it will be very difficult to provide any long-term estimates for right now, till the time things stabilize over the next two, three quarters. Therefore, I would say that on strong conviction on certain components of costs, for example, which I have, A, is in terms of the overall, say, raw material cost, led by fly ash, and in terms of the green energy cost, for example, which is going to see a substantial improvement further in our overall utilization. Therefore, I strongly believe, INR 150-INR 200 saving will come from this components. On our [overall] console volumes, we are expecting it to grow in FY 2028, 2027 by almost say 8% to around 80 million odd tons. We are cognizant of the fact that we will focus on value with the trade volumes and premium cement. Therefore, we are keeping a little moderate [overall], say, growth in the volumes card. At an industry level, we believe that, given the headlines of inflation and a weak monsoon, the industry may grow at around, say, 5% to 5.5%. We continue to remain committed to our end state sales volumes targeted, supported by a sharper focus on higher utilization of the existing capacities and while operationalizing the new capacities and stabilizing them. With this proposed ongoing additions of 10 million tons of GU, which you are aware of, which I have already shared with you in the Investor deck. Some of them, for example, Salai Banwa and Vatsali Gunj and so on and so forth. We are expecting to hit capacity of almost 119 million tons by end of FY 2027. Capacity expansion plans, we are recalibrating in line with our approach to take the advantages of the recent railway policies on bulk cement terminals, with additions pursued more gradual in terms of first focusing on optimizing the current capacities in hand. This will also help in terms of a very disciplined allocation of capital and a steadfast commitment to maximizing the returns on the capital employed. Looking ahead, India's long-term infrastructure story remains fundamentally very strong and secular. However, with the expected inflationary pressure, weak monsoon and cement demand is expected to remain little soft. Against this backdrop, Ambuja remains focused on disciplined execution, strengthening brand penetration, scaling trade sales, driving premium cement sales, and maintaining the cost and capital discipline. Thank you. I will now hand it back to the moderator. Thank you very much. We will now begin the question- and- answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. We'll take our first question from the line of Navin Sahadeo from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead. Friends, also just to inform you that we also have our full-time Director and [senior] Mr. Karan Adani also on the call. He has just joined us. I welcome Karan Bhai. I just, basically, Karan Bhai, did the opening remarks and we are now to a Q&A. Over back to the moderator, please. Yes. We have a question from Navin Sahadeo. Navin? Yeah. Yeah. Hi. Please go ahead. Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity. My first question was on the volume growth front. In this quarter, as per the Investor deck, volumes have grown by about 10% odd. If I adjust them to the Orient Cement volumes, they are more like flattish on a YoY basis. Here my question is that if we are seeing some pressure on volumes, because for FY 2027 we have given a guidance of 80 million tons, which is roughly a growth of 9%-10% against the backdrop that we are expecting a much softer industry growth of 5%. I'm just wanting to request your overall color on your volumes, please. Hello? Yeah, Navin. Sorry. Yeah, sorry for the snag. Navin, you're right, absolutely. In terms of the volume, especially for this March quarter, it has been little muted. But now for the FY 2027, when I given you indication of 80 million tons, which is around closer to, say, 8%, we have the visibility in terms of A, stabilizing the acquired assets of Sanghi, Penna, which I told you. B, the ongoing expansions which will get commissioned in the next few months, like between let us say now to September, we'll see the capacities will get commissioned and we'll also then stabilize them. I have the incremental volume also coming from this capacity which I mentioned almost around 10 million tons and of course stabilizing the acquired assets of Penna and Sanghi. On that basis, basically, we are expecting although with a softer demand for the year. Did I answer your question, Navin? Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. My second question then was on the overall CapEx plan. As mentioned in this presentation, we are recalibrating our entire growth plan. We have visibility of taking that overall capacity to 119 million tons. I am just trying to understand by when will we get a color on the next leg of CapEx? The first day when the asset was acquired, the vision was to double the capacity and take it to 140 million tons. In the interim, we even increased it to 155 million tons, and now we are taking a slightly a step back. My question was, from a growth point of view, by when, first of all, can we get a color of the big picture or the next longer term plan? In the same breath, is it that we are more open to pursue inorganic growth which helps us catapult to that overall growth target, or we still believe organic is the way to go? That will help. Thank you. Navin, our primary focus remains organic in terms of stabilizing our ongoing expansions and also already acquired assets. Therefore, I would say that that remains the primary focus. I think we have a good headroom to improve our overall, say, market share by improving the capacity utilizations of these plants. Therefore, as I said, we are going to follow a quite a disciplined capital allocation. Given the headwinds right now for the industry, it makes sense to push little bit of the CapEx, but without losing eyesight on the overall, say, market share and the volume improvement from the existing asset and the ongoing expansions. To answer your question, I think, maybe, what I would say that, the target plans of FY 2028, it could move a year or two. Let us say on a safer side, I would say that, FY 2030. As I said, it doesn't really matter. What matters is how you are able to ramp up the volume from your overall existing assets. I have substantial good headroom to ramp- up over there. Even if I hit 120 million tons by end of 2027, it will give me a good leverage of the overall, say, market opportunity. Helpful, sir. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Raashi Chopra from Citi. Please go ahead. Thank you. Just, on the continuum of previous question, what is the clinker capacity as of now? Raashi, as of now we are sitting on 73 million tons of clinker capacity. You will be adding another 4 million tons this year? Yes. at Maratha and at Penna, Marwar, we will be adding up almost 5 million tons. Penna, Marwar is 3 million tons. Sorry, 2 million tons, and Maratha is another 2 million tons, so you have 4 million tons. Yeah. Okay. You mentioned earlier on that the 56% utilization was for Sanghi for the year and Penna was 47%. Is that correct? That is true. That is true. Okay. The next question on costs. For the full year, the cost is INR 4,400. For the quarter, what was the average cost? INR 4,500? For FY 2026, INR 4400. In terms of the quarter cost, Raashi, we are sitting at almost INR 4,250 for the overall, say, quarter. Plus, some of these increases what we have seen from the overall escalation. Let us say that a normalized was almost INR 40-INR 50 and plus another INR 250 which we have seen increases. Almost we are at now INR 4,500 a ton for the quarter of March. Right. you were saying that the industry costs have gone up by anywhere in the range of INR 400-INR 500. Yeah. Is it fair to assume that because of the crisis you will see another INR 200-INR 250 increase in costs, which will get offset by your fly ash green energy, et cetera? Is that how we should be thinking about it? Sorry, I missed your question. You indicated that. We are at INR 4,500 now on cost. Your. You said INR 150-INR 200 is a reduction that you're expecting because of fly ash green energy, right? That's INR 150-INR 200. The overall industry cost has gone up by more, right? Because of the West Asia crisis. Is that INR 150-INR 200 already capturing the increase in industry cost or is INR 150-INR 200 decline in your internal cost and then there's an increase in cost because of the war beyond this? Raashi, like, as I said, the INR 4,500 which is for the March quarter has already taken the hit of existing increases of almost, say, INR 250. I would say that INR 4,500 safely I would say is on a peak basis, let us say on a higher basis, which we have seen, barring like any aberration of ± INR 50. Otherwise you will see a journey which will actually start coming down in passing quarters. Although, like for example, with the overall situation, how the overall energy situation emerges, I would not give with conviction, but I strongly believe that, yeah, this is like the peak which we have hit and should see a progressive improvement. If I can just rephrase this. If nothing increases further in terms of global prices. Yeah. You will see a decline of at least INR 150-INR 200. Yes. Absolutely. Well summarized. Absolutely. Okay. On the pricing, what has happened to offset these cost pressures, cement pricing? That's interesting, Raashi. You are hitting on both the right questions. On the pricing, like industry has seen a modest improvement of I would say INR 10 in few pockets, let us say INR 15- INR 20, but that's like in a very selected area geographies. Otherwise, ballpark for the quarter of March, it's around ballpark say INR 10. With the demand getting little softer, the pressure on pricing definitely is higher. Despite the circumstances of costs gone up, unfortunately, industry is still under the relentless pressure and not able to pass on the price. Got it. Just last question for me, what was the CapEx for the year? CapEx for the year, we are keeping it little moderate and ballpark when you say this year. You're saying for FY 2026. FY 2026 is closer to about INR 7,500 odd crores. I will just answer because there would be another question. For FY 2027, we are keeping a estimate of almost INR 6,000 crores-INR 6,500 crores. That too will also. That is how things pan out. It may change a couple of hundred crores here and there, but that's the estimate what we have. Got it. Thank you. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Indrajit Agarwal from CLSA. Please go ahead. Hi. Thank you for the opportunity. Congratulations on increasing both trade sales and premium mix. On that note, if I look at slide 27, the realization has hardly moved QoQ versus for peers it is up somewhere between 1.5%-2%. Is it mainly because of mix or what is driving this weaker revenue? Indrajit, absolutely you're right. I think, the journey has just begun, when we change the gears and therefore you will see it more, differentiated, benefits coming in the subsequent quarters. What we have done is we have sustained the price levels, at, INR 254 a bag, compared to in December. From our own December quarter, we are up by, say, modestly at, say, INR 1. Compared to, say, last year, we were at, say, INR 255. Yes, the journey would further see improvements, with, higher blended cement and more, premium, cement sales. It has just begun. Thank you. Second, if I look at your blended utilization for next year, would we add with 71%-72% on your expanded, let's say, weighted average capacity? On that note, probably you will not need additional capacity in FY 2028 as well. Is that what is driving a more calibrated CapEx approach? I have, Karan Bhai also to answer this question. Just a sec. Yeah. I think the way we are looking at this, how we would look at CapEx is two, three things. One is when we look at our performance, we know where are the places we need to improve on. There are certain capacity which is there, which is in the wrong places. And we will be adding few capacity in places which will help us in terms of reducing our cost, logistics cost especially, as well as help us improve our penetration into those markets. I'm talking specifically into the markets where we have high, high market share and high recall value. Those are the places that we would definitely look at expanding our capacity over there. The second thing is, as we would be looking at, as we are expanding our clinker capacity, the correspondingly GU capacity will also increase. This year we are apart from Rajasthan and Maharashtra, as you know that we have won a limestone block in Assam. Again, that's a completely new territory for us, so that is one new area which we will start in maybe end of this year. The second new area that we will be starting is in Mundra, which is again completely new clinker line. These are the two new projects apart from the new GUs that will help us in terms of reducing our reducing our costs. Thank you so much for the elaborate answers. One last one, if I may. In light of this, how would we see any inorganic opportunity that comes up? Would you be interested or the focus would squarely be on organic growth right now? Inorganically, we keep evaluating, but our focus right now is on organic development and greenfield expansion. That is our number one priority. Sure. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that management is able to answer queries from all participants, kindly restrict your questions to two at a time. You may join back the queue for follow-up questions. We will take our next question from the line of Jashandeep Singh Chadha from Nomura. Please go ahead. Hello. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, my first question is regarding the cost structure, especially in the fourth quarter also we saw that the fixed cost, which is employee plus other cost, has increased significantly YoY and versus, when we compare it to your peers also. I just wanted to understand, why you say there were some vegetation conflicts, that impacted the cost. However, the conflict started towards the end of February, and the packaging cost was also in the mid of March, which impacted the industry. I want to understand, why among all your peers, Ambuja is seeing such a increase in its cost structures. Secondly, in your presentation, you have also mentioned that the freight cost was high because of some plant shutdowns. If I'm not wrong, in third quarter also you took plant shutdowns. You know, normally the industry takes shutdowns in the second quarter. In quarter three and quarter four, where the volume growth was really strong, the management decided to take plant shutdowns, which resulted in higher costs. I just want to understand what is the, you know, rationale behind taking plant shutdowns in volume push quarters, and why are, you know, Ambuja's fixed cost is increasing way higher than its peers? This is my first question regarding this. Jashandeep, I think when Raashi asked this and we have tried to explain. In terms of picking out on our cost at INR 4,500, which I mentioned, and from here you will see improvements. Your question is in terms of compared to the competition, why? Few components which are relevant to my business, I mentioned about higher focus now on the branding advertisement to promote the trade sales and premium cement. Second is in terms of higher repairs and maintenance costs. You are right that ideally one should do it during the off seasons like monsoons. Not all the machines can be done during that period. There have been few breakdowns also of the acquired assets of Penna and all. Under the planning and also under the out of planning we will do it. Therefore, there have been those additional expenses of repairs and maintenance. Then, in terms of the bag cost, which although, yeah, came it in the, in the last week of February to the overall, say, full month of March. When you promote and sell more premium cement, then there are also some additional costs of logistics and handling which also chips into to increase your cost. I also mentioned to you the journey which we want to achieve in terms of improved heat consumption. It is still not coming in the range and therefore we still have a higher heat consumption and I would say ballpark 35 kilo calories- 40 kilo calories minimum which we have to improve. Again, I will attribute to some of the acquired assets. Actually, when I look at the EBITDA of Ambuja and ACC minus of the acquired assets, the EBITDA is actually higher by INR 70- INR 80. It will be almost like INR 800, and actually more when I normalize it, but it is at least INR 800. I would say that the acquired assets still are not basically coming in the range to our desired level. For which, I had mentioned that the first priority is stabilize the overall operations, achieve a good level of performance improvement. Hence, in the, I think, maybe couple of months, we had taken the entire investor community to Sanghi plant just to showcase that how Sanghi is now in state of readiness and give higher improved volume improvement. This I think we did in somewhere. In March. March itself, right? Okay, March itself. That is like, for example, we want to showcase that, yes, some of the assets have taken time, but now they are states, they are in the state of readiness. Sooner that I will take you, take all of you to Penna assets also. Before that we took you to Marwar. So the journey is known, the issues are known, and therefore, in my opening remarks also, I mentioned about certain disappointments to us also, where we think that INR 4,500 is on a higher side and we are, we are basically in a position to bring it down in coming quarters. Therefore, like, you will see, this is peaked out and you will see an improvement prospectively from here. Thank you for the detailed answer, sir. My next question is, you know, largely taking forward Navin's question only. You know, first of all, Ambuja is the only company which has given such a bearish scenario for FY 2027, and I understand the rationale that you have given behind it. You know, with 5% industry growth and Ambuja expecting an 8% growth, there are certain capacities which are coming. I completely, you know, understand that. What is your target utilization from the assets of Sanghi, Orient, and Penna for FY 2027? I understand there are some challenges, will there be additional CapEx required to bring the acquired assets to Ambuja's set of standards? I just want to understand this. Thank you, Jashandeep. Like Orient for example, is operating at full capacity. Far as Sanghi is concerned, I will peg myself at almost like 65%-70%. Far as Penna is concerned, I will consider around 55%-60% in terms of the utilization factors. The existing assets of Ambuja and ACC, I would peg it to closer to around 75%-80%. On a overall basis as an, as a, at the Ambuja consolidated level, average in the situation, the scenario which I have mentioned to you, I would say 70%-75% ballpark utilization for. You're right, like, we have, we anticipate this softer demand and therefore we would go with this belief. If for any surprises positive in the industry and, which we would all wish to, these numbers will definitely look positive. As of now, situation is softer. Sir, any further CapEx to bring these assets to Ambuja standard? As mentioned by Karan Bhai, the overall, say, disciplined approach of CapEx where we want to now set up in the high potential market which we have now completely done a mapping where we have market leadership. Which we will, he has already indicated few of the assets in his narrative. Progressively now, for example, let me first commission the existing assets in hand which are ongoing, basically this 10 million, and come to you all with stabilizing and achievement of the capacities for them. Passing quarters then we will also highlight to you the CapEx program as it forms up. [audio distortion] Mundra, Penna, Sanghi mentioned, Mundra is very much now in the pipeline. So are the few assets which he mentioned. Thank you. Understood, sir. Thank you so much. We'll take our next question from the line of Manish Somaiya from Cantor. Please go ahead. Good evening and thank you for taking my questions. You know, Bhai, I just wanted to ask, we have talked quite a bit about fiscal 2027 and outlook, but what I'm trying to reconcile is how should we reconcile between the improvements that you're planning in fiscal 2027. Is that dependent How much of that is dependent on internal execution versus external normalization? Maybe if you can just help us understand that. I would say, Manish Bhai, thank you. A very good question. I would say that the external factors will affect most of the industry players, therefore I will give more weightages on the internal factors and the execution of the same, which will bring the overall differentiation and leadership leverage on that. That I would put it in this manner. Manish, if I may, just come here, Karan here. I think if you look at our performance, you know, we realize that where the gaps are, and that's exactly where we are hyper-focused on and improving on those performance. You know, based on whatever guidance we are giving, this is 100% which is controllable, which is controllable by us. If we are not able to achieve the guidance, it's purely because of our internal execution and not any other factor. That's where the whole team is really focused on and delivering on the numbers now that we are talking about. We are very confident Okay. That's it. We are very confident that this year we will be able to hit the numbers that we are talking about. Yes. Thank you, Karan. Okay. My second follow-up is on the premium products. Now, they constitute about 35%-36% of trade. What should be the realistic target that we should have in our models as we go out to fiscal 2027 and maybe even beyond? You know, what's the upside to that 35%-36%? Manish, right now, for example, I would say that 36 is a good number for us to sustain and therefore, that is what, for example, can be considered in terms of the share of premium cement as percentage of trade sales. Okay. Wonderful. Thank you so much. I'll get back in the queue. Thank you. Thank you. We request participants to restrict to one question at a time, please. We will take our next question from the line of Prateek Kumar from Jefferies. Please go ahead. Good evening. My question is on cost again. In the last 3rd quarter con call, which happened around start of February, management talked about cost of INR 4,000. We are talking about INR 4,100, INR 4,000 in January. We are talking about INR 4,100 in exit of this quarter. How the quarter cost is INR 4,500, I am unable to understand. Another question is on the balance sheet. Your ACC's operating cash flows are negative, sharply negative for the year. Your overall consolidated Ambuja's cash flows also were negatively impacted by negative working capital. Can you throw some light on this? Thank you. Thanks, Prateek. I will take the second question first. In terms of the ACC Ambuja, if you see, ACC has receivable from Ambuja under the MSA and you also would be aware that we have taken shareholders' approval in terms of the ICD wherein this receivables will get paid also. Like you'll find, in the coming quarter, this will get mount up with the ICD, number one. It's like as a one, consolid business, under the MSAs, the receivables are there, therefore ACC will find negative operating cash flow. So far as Ambuja is concerned, I think if you would have seen, we have a good level of inventory which is higher. When it comes to receivables, these are under good control with the higher degree of trade sales. Therefore, on a overall working capital of Ambuja, you will see only improvement for the March quarter compared to December quarter. Your question about about the cost. Prateek, I think what we had envisaged to what is the reality, yes, there are differences because of the overall acquired asset situations and many times those anticipations, for example, have not worked upon. Suddenly the packing bags situation which have come up and which also, for example, when Navin mentioned about tepid the 10% growth, we also lost a good level of volume because of the packing bag issues and all. There are these situations which will have to be dealt with. Luckily now at least, we know that this is the peak level of say cost which we have hit. From here, for example, as Karan also mentioned that the numbers will be tapering down with every passing quarter. Reasons I have already explained right from branding to repairs and maintenance to the higher freight cost, the higher lead, for example, the AGTs or, for example, when it comes to EBITDA, the lower government incentives which we are now. That also, for example, we have a lower government incentive, A, because of the GST rates which have come down. B, we also exhausted some of the plants which were giving or having the incentives. Third, in some of the states we are now accruing on incentive on virtual visibility basis, basically certainty basis, so that we don't want to have pending long-term accruals and all. There are a combination of these accounting policies and the situation of some of the plants which have not matured to what we thought, most of all the acquired assets. Yeah. Sure. Just one clarification, and Yeah, go ahead, please. One clarification. In the opening remarks it was said that you had like INR 4,100 of cost. Is it just a day cost or a month cost or a last batch cost? Like, what is that cost? No, that was. We had basically hit it INR 4,100 for the month of March, Pratik. As I said that except those, the escalations of war, for example, almost INR 250 which affected us. On a normalized basis, I was saying INR 4,100 for the month of March. Sure. Okay. Thank you. I'll get back to you. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Amber Singhania from Nippon India AMC. Please go ahead. Hi, gentlemen. Thanks for taking my question. My question is also following up with the Prateek Kumar question on the cost front. If you see on the first week of February when we had the last conference call, and if I may quote, the average cost for the quarter was INR 4,500 along with the one-off. Whereas we had admitted December quarter went below INR 4,000 of cost. That was the commentary on the first week of February. I understand we do carry a good amount of inventory as well, at least one month on that account for most of the raw material and imports on that part. Furthermore, we had some one-off in the Q3. We have increased or enhanced our revenue contribution in this quarter. Pricing was slightly better than the previous quarter. Seasonally, this is a better quarter, which could logically contribute towards the better profitability. Despite everything and also with the just previous answer that March month was INR 4,100 of cost. I'm trying to understand how could one add up the entire cost for the quarter on the light of the previous commentary of its December INR 4,000 t hat was given on first week of February with the inventory which generally the people carry, along with your commentary currently on the March INR 4,100 average cost. Also the reasons which you mentioned, most of them are extremely macro factors which could impact every player or most of the players in the industry. For whatever results we have seen from the large guys or with the smaller guys or the medium guys, these factors are not affecting too much on a, in a totality, in this quarter, so in Q4. Just wanted to understand how should we reconcile your last quarter commentary along with the exact numbers which has been broadly reported, along with the peer peers who have reported numbers in this. How should we take Dinawar outlook on that? It just helps us understand. Thank you very much. Thank you. I think, see, basically, when in the December, for example, we have been very upbeat in terms of some of the turnarounds which you will see in some of our acquired assets of Penna, for example, more so especially. As you know, Penna is geographically more in say south. If you actually look at the numbers, south, for example, has been one of the most affected geography for the March quarter. Therefore, we have taken some of the machines on shutdown and basically there have been two breakdowns also, and therefore, which has increased my higher repairs and maintenance for the quarter of March, number one. Number two, in terms of some of the acceleration which we have to give to our sales and branding and advertisement is what we have given. The results of the same we will get actually as an investment on our supply chain. This will more be accounted as an operating cost. That is where, for example, the branding and advertisement costs are higher. Of course, for the month of March, there have been this abnormal cost for the packing, for example. We have also seen a higher fuel cost and higher fuel consumption also. For example, the moment, if you don't have a right blend of fuel, the heat consumption is also higher. Those also, for example, technically, the technical KPIs have got affected. That was when we also in December, our quarter was at INR 4,500 of cost for the quarter, INR 4,500. March also, for example, we are almost at, say, INR 4,500. Yeah. I think look it in this manner that certain planned movements for the March could not fructify or we could not also fulfill. Therefore, we have basically been at the same level to what we were in December 2025. Thank you. Sir, just I understand that part of INR 4,500 versus INR 4,500. I'm just trying to reconcile the commentary with quarter of INR 4,000 exit in December with the current commentary of INR 4,100 for the month of March. Just because it's one month in February, I'm just trying to understand how the entire cost switched up because of that when we know that inventory gets carried on for couple of months, which is there. I mean, I'll appreciate if you can share us a quantification of maybe cost item, large cost item along with the benefits also which has come in from exit of INR 4,000 to now exit of in March. Yes. May not be now, but later on also we can release that. No, I know. I think it's because the commentary I think, even if you remember the last call, I had always said that the exit month of March. While you are considering for the whole March quarter of 2026, no, that was not the. The commentary was more about our aspiration and our plan to get closer to INR 4,000 by month of March. Basically, therefore, while the average would still be higher than not at INR 4,000, therefore please don't mistaken with INR 4,000 as average for the March quarter. Number one. Number two, of course, like, therefore I was highlighting that month of March, for example, barring this aberration of the West Asia prices and you might say that we would have got little bit affected more compared to degree as compared to others could be. Yes, we have, we got affected with the overall packing bags and all. Therefore the pressure of volumes and therefore the pressure on sales and hence the higher advertisement, branding or sales promotion have been there. Therefore like, we unfortunately could not come below INR 4,500 for this entire quarter of March 2026. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Amber, I request you to join back the queue, please. No problem. I'll take it up. No problem. Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Pulkit Patni from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead. Sir, thank you for taking my questions. I have a couple of them. One is, sir, for the Sanghi plant, which is operating at 57% utilization. How important is for the Nalia railway line to be ready? How far do you see Nalia being connected and ramp up in volumes at Sanghi? That's question number one, sir. Pulkit, our base model is not linked to Nalia railway line. It is more with the overall, our marine infra, for example. Therefore, as you would know that we have already ordered seven vessels, which will be delivered in a progressive manner starting from next year. That is what, for example, Sanghi will bring the strength. Then, otherwise we are counting on the road movement from Sanghi. The railway line only will be an add-on, but not being considered in the base model. Sure. The plan is to ramp up even if Nalia takes a little longer to be ready. Is that the right way to look at it? Yes. Yes. For right now, although in Sanghi we don't have a ramp up per se of capacity expansion, but yes, ramp up of the existing capacity, the utilization part. Correct. Absolutely, sir. Yeah. Sir, my second question is it fair to assume that as and when there is a final resolution on the Jaypee assets, that those assets would come to us? Or is there a possibility, given that we already have our own organic growth plan, a lot of work to do on increasing capacity utilization, that we could also not be considering having those assets? How should we look at it? Pulkit, I will still consider that for Jaypee, the RP is another listed company, and therefore it would be inappropriate from my side to answer anything on that. As things progress, whatever development happens, we'll come to know. Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Pinakin from HSBC. Please go ahead. Thank you. Sir, I have two questions. My first question is, given Ambuja is the fourth company to have reported earnings, and the EBITDA per ton is the lowest with high cost inflation, do you see the industry and the company raising cement prices in the next few months to pass on to the full cost inflation? Or can we expect further margin deterioration with the inability to raise cement prices? Pinakin, I would say that given the scenario of demand will be very important to basically see the price being passed on to the customers. As of now, I anticipate the overall demand looks to be for right now when I look at, say, April and now in May, bit little subdued and soft. Therefore, for example, when you attempt for, say, X, I would be happy even if the industry gets half of the same. That is like for example right now, the situation is. Yes, cost on the other side has gone up by at least INR 25. That is like, the only way then to resolve and protect the margin is to focus on our own cost of production. That is therefore I was highlighting the internal factor will be playing a more important what Manish Somaiya had asked. The internal factor will be more important, compared to the external factor. Sure. My second question is given Ambuja's cost delivery has been all over the place over the last few quarters. Can you give us some guidance, where you move away from cost to EBITDA per ton, you know, by FY 2028? Given where your EBITDA per ton is today and over the next two years, where do you see the EBITDA per ton reach? What are the building blocks of that margins? What kind of price increases? What kind of cost savings? What kind of turnarounds do you want to see or do you expect in the next two years? Pinakin, I think it will be herculean task for any industry person to give any estimate of EBITDA per ton at this stage. I would rather still continue my efforts on cost and therefore, for example, one thing is like INR 4,500 a ton, let us say it peaks out and then it starts coming down from here. To what journey we will go, I think, progressively we'll keep you posted. And especially next two, three quarters as things looks more brighter and clear. For right now, cost remains the key focus area. Obviously, like when you focus on trade sales and when you focus on premium cement, this will keep giving you more mitigations. I think any guidance on EBITDA will be difficult at this stage. Let me just add that cost we are looking at roughly INR 250 a ton reduction this year and then another reduction of INR 250 next year as well. That is the minimum reduction that we are looking at. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Participants are requested to restrict to one question at a time, please. Next question is from the line of Rahul Gupta from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi. Thank you for taking my question. My first question is, now that you have talked about cumulatively INR 500 per ton of cost improvement over the next couple of years, are we shying away from the earlier target of INR 3,650 that you had shared earlier? That is my question number one. We are not shying away from our target. I think, as we told earlier also, we need to focus on our execution. There are multiple steps on the cost that we need to take, between manufacturing, between raw material and between logistics. We are confident that we will be able to achieve that number. I think it's just we are giving you a realistic in terms of where we will be able to achieve in next two years' time. That does not mean that we don't have the runway to go to the earlier target that we have said. We know what are the steps we need to take. We know where we need to improve in terms of our efficiency, and that's where we are focused on. This is something, the INR 500 is what we can commit right now for the next 2 years. Got it. Got it. I have one more clarification that I want, Karan, is you talked about shifting away from a 155 million ton capacity. Just a clarification that the company had earlier guided for 15 million ton of de-bottlenecking exercises across assets. Does that stay or there will be some change on that as well? Those still continues. I think it's just timing which will differ based on where we get the maximum return of the return on the investment. Got it. Thank you. One final question. I remember in second quarter and third quarter, the company was already accelerating your branding and advertisement cost. It would be helpful if you can help us understand what would be overall branding and advertisement cost for full fiscal 2026. Thank you. For the full fiscal year 2026, we are closer to almost like, almost like, INR 700 a ton, basically. INR 70 a ton, basically, on the full year, which is of 2026. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Ritesh Shah from Investec. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi. Thanks for the opportunity. One question for Karan Bhai, one for Vinod Ji. Karan Bhai, one question. What prompted us for a reset right now? If you could highlight five key monitorables that probably you have set for yourself for next one year. How does SNF fit in overall scheme of things after the reset? Sorry, can you repeat that question? I couldn't hear you properly. The first question is, what prompted us for a reset, right now? Second, what are the five key monitorables that you have laid out for yourself? Third, how does SNF fit in overall scheme of things after the reset? I think why the reset, I mean, it's quite evident our performance has not been great. We've not been able to deliver what we have promised to our shareholders, and that is number one. I think if we have to assess ourself, we really need to improve on our cost. That is number one. I think the key KPIs that we are putting for ourself is I would say five things that we need to focus on. One is L1 plants delivering to the market. The discipline on L1 plants delivering to the respective markets. Second discipline is on trade versus non-trade sales. Number three is on our raw material consumption, reducing our cost on raw material as well as on the electricity front, energy consumption. Number four is improving our channel network in terms of to help us increase our sales. I think these are the five things, but predominantly if I would say 80% of it is to do with the cost. We really need to get our act in order in terms of to make sure that we are able to reduce our costs. That is what we are looking at. Until the time we are not able to deliver on what we are promising, I don't think so it makes sense to make more capital investment because you don't get the returns on those capital invested as well. Thank you. Sorry, you had a second question? Yeah. On SLA, service agreements, I think for a few of the plants that we have tied up with, how should we look at that on overall. Yeah, sure. SLA-based contracts, this is something that is part of these initiatives because we do believe that what we need our teams to focus on and what where they need to put their energy on. We do believe that there is at least in India now there are enough competent partners out there who can run the plants at the efficiency level that we would aspire to. That's how we are looking at. Second, obviously, given the history of Ambuja in ACC, I think the SLA partners help us in terms of cleaning up all the past, you know, union issues and all of that. From that perspective, it really helps us in terms of reducing our costs and improving our efficiency. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next question is from the line of Ashish Jain from Macquarie. Please go ahead. Hi, sir. Good evening. Sir, you know, it is great to see, you know, explicit capital discipline. In that context, you know, I just want to understand this INR 65 billion-INR 70 billion of annual CapEx for the next two years that we're talking about. Can you break it down ballpark in terms of, you know, growth versus cost efficiency versus any other initiative that it includes? Roughly INR 4 billion is what is already the CapEx which is already under execution. It is implementation of that, which includes capacity, which includes WHRS, which includes your fly ash transportation system that we need. The balance is, I would say, debottlenecking plus maintenance CapEx. Yeah. Yeah, Ashish, basically, I hope that answers your question. Ashish? Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Amit Murarka from Axis Capital. Please go ahead. Hiya. Thanks for the opportunity. I just wanted to understand more from a strategy perspective, like when Adani had acquired these cement assets, you had voiced out a ambition to kind of become the industry leader and double capacity and volume. In that context, the current guidance seems to be quite subdued. Is it fair to say that there is a reset in ambition from the earlier? Yeah thought that was there at the time of acquisition? We'll be honest with you. Yes, partially there is a reset. We are not moving away from the target. Yes, we are moving away from the timeline. That is to do with the, we know that we are not delivering in terms of what we have, what we had committed. It definitely makes sense to step back, to look back and to see where we are going wrong and to course correct. That's where we are. That's why we are giving you the new guidance in terms of where, what is the capacity, revised capacity enhancement that we are looking at and the timeframe that we are looking. Sure. Thanks. Is there a target IRR in mind when you are doing your CapEx program now? It's CapEx, I mean, the project IRR has to be 18%. This is all equity money, so you have to look at equity return like anybody else. Sure. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Rajesh Ravi from HDFC Securities. Please go ahead. Hi, good evening. My audio is it? Yes, Rajesh, please go ahead. Thanks for the opportunity and happy to know that the management focus is more graded on CapEx and also focused on, you know, cost execution. My only question while you have been candid on the, you know, the guidance. When you say INR 250 cost reduction, you're looking for FY 2027 over FY 2026. At the same time, from exit Q4, we are seeing around INR 250-300 cost inflation because of the packaging and fuel price increase. Is this INR 250 net off or, you know, net net you see INR 300 odd increase and INR 250 decline. From current level you would still see our cost going up by INR 50-100 in Q1 or in FY 2027. Rajesh, thank you. What we would put it is INR 4,500 is the peak and this INR 250 reduction is from here. Right. it would mean to INR 250 as a target for 2027. Right. This is factoring in the cost inflation that we have already given place? Yes. Yes. That is true. Okay. In Q1 also you are looking at similar cost structure? In Q1? Versus Q4 versus Q1, what sort of cost you are looking at, based on the current cost inflation and your cost savings? Right now, for example, the headwind still continues and therefore, it could be flattish for Q1. Mm-hmm. As things comes out better that it will start tapering. Sorry, sorry for the clarity. Flattish means your current cost, which is some of the cost inflation is factored in Q4- Yes. you know, the energy and the packaging. Almost like INR 4,500 I would peg it for, say, Q1. From there, we will have the reduction journey continue. For the year therefore we are targeting to have a reduction of INR 250. Right. Right. On the non-core working capital, if I look at your core working capital has come down year-on-year from 30 days to 20 days. If I look at your non-core working capital, ex-cash, that seems to have gone up significantly. Is there any strategic reason from what 14 days it has now gone up to 49 days? You know, that is where your total non-cash working capital seems to have shot up significantly, you know, from INR 1,300 crore to INR 5,500 crore. Rajesh, like for example some of the, some of the point which I mentioned that, on certain incentives and all, now we will be looking to book it on a actual basis, when received then the actual basis, for example. That this non-core working capital or of operating the working capital can be controlled. Second is, I think some of these are, which you are referring to could be purely, accounting, working capital. Maybe, separately we can turn it, generally, the core working capital as you also mentioned has come down, and that efficiency of working capital will continue. Which specific, non-core you are referring to, for example, you can, connect to me offline and I will address. Sure. Will do, Sure. Will do, sir. Thanks. Two clinker units which you have. Thank you. Yeah, just conclude this. All right. Two clinker plants which you are looking forward to. One was Mundra, not clinker but quasi-clinker. What was the other beyond what is getting commissioned right now? The one which I mentioned was, one was, in our 73 million tons, for example, the 4 million tons. Just to correct to what Raashi asked me the first question, my current capacity is say 69 million and this 4 million tons will have one at Penna Jodhpur 2 million tons and 2 million tons at Maratha. That would be like 73 million tons. On top of it, the upcoming Mundra will be another 2 million tons of clinker. That will be over and above this 4 million tons which I mentioned. Okay. The Assam one which will be another, 2 million tons. Okay. -pair of additional new assets. That would at least take you three years from now? That would say, let's say 24-28 years. 28 months is what we are targeting. Great. That's all from my side. [Non-English content] Thank you. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Shravan Shah from Dolat Capital. Please go ahead. Thank you. Sir, just to clarify this INR 250 cost reduction, this is on a full year average FY 2027 that we are seeing? Yeah. Thanks, Shravan. This is for the full year FY 2027 as a average. Therefore, for example, when I said that June quarter will be flat from the March quarter, then the degree of acceleration will have to be more for the rest three quarters. You're right, the INR 250 will be average for the year. Got it. Second, when you mentioned about the prices, was it INR 10, and the INR 15-INR 20 hike that you mentioned, this was for April you wanted to say or this is for March? Currently on an average, from the exit of March, have the prices for us have increased by INR 10 odd? That's what we are trying to say. Yes. Basically, I was hinting on that only. April over, say, March as a trend for the hike, cost. Okay. Lastly, for full year FY 2026, RMC EBITDA in Q4 you mentioned INR 102 crore, but for full year FY 2026, what could be the number? Just a sec. I have to just dig on this number. Full year RMC EBITDA you're asking, right? Yes, sir. Okay. around, INR 300 crore. full year RMX EBITDA is a number of INR 300 crore basically for the FY 2026. Yeah. Got it, sir. Thank you. Hope, we will be achieving our cost reduction targets and maybe, revisiting and then upgrading the original target. Thank you. Yes, Shravan. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Raghav Maheshwari from Equirus Securities. Please go ahead. Hi, sir. Good afternoon. Just one question from the CapEx side. Our CapEx is continuously getting delayed. As a Adani standard, we are known for a pro CapEx and a very fast execution. At the cement side, we are continuously getting delayed at the, especially like Maratha plant we have already delayed, plus our earlier plant also got delayed for this one, Chhattisgarh one. What is the issue behind the continuing? The continuously we are getting some breakdowns at our bigger plants. Is it the maintenance related issue or what we are facing currently right now? You're right. Your observation is right that CapEx, our CapEx has not been up to the mark, and that's one of the reasons why we are pausing and correcting ourself. We want to first complete our projects that we have taken in our hand before we start any new projects. One of the main reasons why we have not been able to deliver as per what our standards are is two, three things. I think, one is, we did not choose the right contractor for execution. Number two is, you know, we started these projects when we acquired Ambuja and ACC, and at that time there was no team. It took us time to build up that team as well. We are confident that at least now we will be able to complete these projects in the timeline that we're given. Number three is a lot of these projects were started without full engineering being done in place. We are using this six months to complete all our engineering for the new projects that we are thinking of starting. Once that is in place, then we will be looking at starting the project. That's where you are. You're right. That's a correct observation that we've not been able to deliver projects in the stipulated time. Number two, I think the breakdown, I would say it is predominantly in the acquisition assets where we have seen major breakdowns happening, especially Penna and Sanghi. That's where the problem area has been for us, that's where the team is focused on in terms of improving the reliability of the plants. That's one of the reasons why you are seeing a higher R&M cost in this year. Partially because a lot of the repairs and maintenance which was supposed to be done was not done, which is why we are why one of the reasons for this breakdown as well. Sir, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Raghav, I request you to join back, please, as we have other participants waiting for their turn. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Harsh Mittal from Emkay Global. Please go ahead. Yeah. Good evening to the management. Thank you for the opportunity. My first question is that in your pursuit to focus on premiumization, what is the current average gap between Ambuja brands, versus the nearest competitor currently, and what is the target to narrow it further? This is my first question. You are referring to premium cement, and I can highlight that the gap between my base product and the premium cement product is closer to, let us say INR 50-INR 55 for the super premium and INR 20-INR 25 for the premium one. I think that was like first. Second, your question is about the gap between our price and compared to that competition. I think, see, everyone looks at to his price better than others. And therefore, every time when the industry people try and compare, there is always different opinions. I would say that the pan-India players like us and basically the other player, number one UltraTech, I think the prices are more or less in the similar range. In few districts, INR 5-INR 10 rupees here and there, either they are higher or we are lower or whatever reverse way. That's how the trend has been. That is also reflected in the overall, say, NSP of the quarter, which is close to each other for the number one and number two. Sure. The competition- Thank you. Harsh, I request you to join back, please, as we have participants waiting for their turn. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Satyadeep Jain from Ambit Capital. Please go ahead. Hi. Thank you. This question is for Karan. Karan, just want to understand the comment you made about recalibrating capacities. That earlier, the capacities were not in the right location. Now the capacity you're looking at in the right location. Where were you initially looking at these capacities? I believe Sanghi was also there in terms of expansion initially. Maybe could you just discuss where is this recalibration coming from in terms of capacities? No. The recalibration is coming, basically, you know, especially where we have the integrated units, those are the locations where we are recalibrating because we find that the grinding units, the operating cost, the logistics cost. One of the reasons for the logistics cost being so high compared to competition is because the distance traveled by the integrated units is quite higher than what it should be. One of the things that we are working towards is, you know, shutting down the grinding units in a lot of these places and moving them closer to the market. That is the recalibration we are looking at. I don't think that we are looking at recalibration of, let's say, clinker units. The second is, we as Sanghi is predominantly a clinker plus cement. We are moving towards in the next three years, you will see Sanghi moving predominantly into clinker, and you will see new capacities coming up on the coastal region of Gujarat. Behed line 2 is one of the classic examples of that, where we would look at Sanghi supplying clinker and moving and cement being supplied from these two. Some of these recalibration is happening. Majority of the recalibration is happening in the North, U.P. and Bihar region and Southern Gujarat and Maharashtra. This is not something ACC specific because I believe ACC had more integrated unit. You are mentioning some of these locations. It's both ACC and Ambuja. It's ACC and Ambuja, both of them had issues. I'll give you example. Like, today we move-- we supply our Bihar market through Chhattisgarh. Though we get the EBITDA, but it is not the optimal movement of the cement that we are seeing. That's where we are looking at we need to set up grinding units in Bihar to serve the Bihar market and Chhattisgarh unit should be just a clinker unit. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll take that as the last question for today. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Deepak Balwani for closing comments. Over to you, sir. Yeah, thank you, Karan Bhai, for joining the call and sharing your insight. Thank you. All right. I trust most questions have been answered. You have my contact number. Please feel free to call me. Thank you. Thank you. On behalf of JM Financial Institutional Securities Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.