Namaskar, a very warm welcome to all of you to the 77th annual general meeting of Asian Paints Limited. I am Deepak Satwalekar, Independent Director and Chairman of your company. I'm joining this meeting from Mumbai. It is with pleasure that I am addressing all of you today. Dear members, this AGM is being conducted through video conference in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2013, various circulars issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and the Securities and Exchange Board of India. We have taken all efforts to enable the shareholders to participate through video conference and vote at the AGM in a seamless manner. Participation of members through video conference is being reckoned for the purpose of quorum under Section 103 of the Companies Act 2013, as per the circulars issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The quorum being present, I call this meeting to order. Before we start the main proceedings of the meeting, I shall introduce my colleagues on the board who are attending this meeting through video conference. Let me start by introducing the Non-Executive Vice Chairman of your company, Mr. Manish Choksi. Mr. Manish Choksi is the Non-Executive Vice Chairman of your company and a member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the Investment Committee. He is attending this meeting from Mumbai. Now, I'd like to introduce Mr. Amit Syngle. Mr. Amit Syngle is the Managing Director and CEO of your company, and a member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and the Investment Committee. He is attending this meeting from Mumbai. Next, I would like to introduce Mr. Ashwin Dani. Mr. Ashwin Dani is the Non-Executive Director of your company. He is attending this meeting from Mumbai. I would now be introducing Mrs. Vibha Paul Rishi. Mrs. Vibha Paul Rishi is an independent director of your company. She is the chairperson of the Stakeholders' Relationship Committee and the Risk Management Committee, and a member of the Audit Committee and the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. She is attending this meeting from Gurugram. Next is Mr. R. Seshasayee. Mr. R. Seshasayee is an independent director of your company. He is the chairman of the Investment Committee and a member of the Audit Committee and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. He is attending this meeting from Chennai. I would now be introducing Mr. Suresh Narayanan. Mr. Suresh Narayanan is an independent director of your company. He is the chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, and a member of the Investment Committee. He is attending the meeting from Gurugram. Next, I would be introducing Mrs. Pallavi Shroff. Mrs. Pallavi Shroff is an independent director of your company. She is a member of the Audit Committee and the Risk Management Committee. She is attending this meeting from New Delhi. Next is Mr. Milind Sarwate. Mr. Milind Sarwate is an independent director of your company. He is the chairman of the Audit Committee. Mr. Sarwate is attending this meeting from Thane. Next, I would like to introduce Mr. Malav Dani. Mr. Malav Dani is the non-executive director of your company. He is the chairman of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and a member of the Investment Committee. He is attending the meeting from Mumbai. Next up is Mrs. Amrita Vakil. Miss Amrita Vakil is a non-executive director of your company. She's also a member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and the Investment Committee. Miss Amrita Vakil is attending this meeting from Mumbai. I would now be introducing Mr. Jigish Choksi. Mr. Jigish Choksi is a Non-Executive Director of your company and a member of the Stakeholders' Relationship Committee and the Risk Management Committee. He is attending this meeting from Mumbai. Lastly, Miss Nehal Vakil. Miss Nehal Vakil is a Non-Executive Director of your company and a member of the Stakeholders' Relationship Committee. She is attending this meeting from Mumbai. All the Directors of the company are present at this meeting. We also have Mr. R. J. Jeyamurugan, CFO and Company Secretary, joining the meeting through video conference from Mumbai. Mr. Rupen Bhatt, Partner, Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP, statutory auditors, Mr. Rasesh Chokshi, Partner, R A & Co., cost auditors, and Mr. Kulbhushan Rane, representative of Dr. K.R. Chandratre, secretarial auditors, have also joined the meeting. I now request Mr. Mr. Jeyamurugan, CFO and Company Secretary, to provide general instructions to the members regarding participation in this meeting. Good morning, everyone. It gives me immense pleasure to welcome all of you to the 77th annual general meeting of Asian Paints Limited. I request you to take note of the general instructions regarding participation and voting at this meeting. This meeting is being held through video conference in terms of the relevant circulars issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Your company has tied up with National Securities Depository Limited to provide the facility for e-voting through remote e-voting, e-voting during the AGM, and participation in the AGM through video conference. Live streaming of this meeting is being webcast on NSDL's website. The register of directors and key managerial personnel, and their shareholding, the register of contracts or arrangements in which directors are interested, and other relevant documents referred to in the AGM notice and the explanatory statement have been made available electronically for inspection by the members during the AGM upon login to NSDL e-voting system. As the AGM is being held through video conference, the facility for appointment of proxies by the members is not applicable. During the AGM, if any shareholder faces any technical issues, they may contact the helpline number mentioned in the notice of the AGM. We have received an overwhelming number of registration from shareholders intending to speak at the AGM, and depending on the availability of time, we shall endeavor to provide the shareholders with the opportunity to express their views or ask questions pertaining to the items set forth in the notice. It may be noted that your company reserves the right to limit the number of shareholders asking questions at the AGM. The moderator will facilitate this session once the chairman opens the floor for questions and answers. During the question and answer session, I will sequentially announce the names of the speaker shareholders, and the maximum time allowed to each speaker should be 2 minutes. Members are requested to refrain from repeating questions or observations already made by fellow speakers. For a better experience, we would request the speaker shareholders to use earphones so they are clearly audible, verify the network connectivity, ensure Wi-Fi is not connected to any other devices, no other applications are running in the background, and there is proper lighting for good video experience. The speaker shareholders may choose to turn on their video before addressing the meeting. If any shareholder is unable to speak due to connectivity issues, I will ask the next speaker shareholder to address the meeting. Once the connectivity improves, and if the time permits, the speaker shareholders may be called upon again to join only after the other speaker shareholders have completed their turn. The company is providing the facility to vote electronically on all the resolutions set forth in the AGM notice. The shareholders who have not cast their votes through remote e-voting and who are participating in the AGM will have an opportunity to vote during the AGM through e-voting system provided by NSDL. Thank you. I would now request Mr. Deepak Satwalekar, chairman of the company, to address the shareholders. Dear shareholders, the past year has seen significant challenges. While widespread concerns around COVID-19 were on the back burner, uncertainties and challenges persisted. The ongoing war in Europe and the persistent inflationary trend impacted economic activities across countries. The economic uncertainty was further heightened with the steep monetary policy rate hikes across advanced and emerging economies. Amidst this unprecedented inflationary and dynamic demand environment, our management team continued to execute its business plans and made progress on driving sustainable growth. I feel proud to state that your company has reported yet another year of stellar performance, delivering on our promise of industry-beating growth. We launched new customer propositions and innovations across segments, which helped us to galvanize overall demand. We also implemented some calibrated and gradual price hikes, which helped us protect our margins and also support the overall demand sentiment. Towards the latter half of the year, we started seeing some softening in raw material prices. This, coupled with the work on cost efficiencies and formulations, ensured that we were able to drive a recovery in our profit margins in the second half of the year. At standalone level, your company reported growth of 19.8% in revenue from sale of products and services at INR 29,953 crores. Despite the inflationary environment, the profit before exceptional items and tax increased by 29.2% to INR 5,490 crores, and the profit after tax and exceptional items for the year increased by 30.8% to INR 4,100 crores. At the consolidated level, the group achieved growth in revenue from sale of products and services of 18.8% at INR 34,368 crores. The consolidated profit before exceptional items and tax grew by 33.3% to INR 5,738 crores for the financial year. The net profit after tax for the group was higher by 36% at INR 4,195 crores. Considering the financial performance for the year, the board of directors have recommended payment of INR 21.25 per equity share as the final dividend for the year. This is in addition to the interim dividend of INR 4.40 per equity share, which was paid in the month of November 2022. If approved, the total dividend for the financial year 2022, 2023, will be INR 25.65 against INR 19.15 per equity share paid for the previous financial year, an increase of about 34%. With this recommendation, dividend payout for the year will be at 60%, as compared to 58.6% for the previous year. I would request all shareholders to approve the recommended final dividend for the financial year 2022, 2023. Moving ahead, I would like to take you through the business highlights of the last financial year. We delivered a robust double-digit volume and value growth in the decorative business. During the year, we took multiple steps to expand the market and also gain from the organized and unorganized segments through our distinct product and service offerings. Our focus on expanding the market and making inroads in the bottom-of-the-pyramid segment, resulted in strong growth in the economy range of products. Overall, our decorative business delivered a volume growth of 14% and a strong value growth of 20% for the year. We ended the year with a presence across 1.5 lakh retail touchpoints, widening our distribution network across smaller cities and towns. Focusing on our core mantra of providing customers with a hassle-free and reliable painting experience, our safe painting service and trusted contractor service gained further momentum. Addressing lakhs of customers with presence in over 600 towns, we are committed to elevating our service levels and further expanding the reach of these services. Our projects and institutional business maintained its high growth trajectory during the year. Demand was buoyant from the construction and the factory segments, boosted further by the increased government push on infrastructure. Innovation is the backbone of our company and the key to our sustained leadership position. We leveraged our technological edge and have made strategic investments to deliver superior, sustainable, and safer products. We launched 22 new products in the architectural paints, waterproofing, and adhesive segments. During the year, 10 patents were granted to your company, taking the overall count till date to 49 patents. For almost a decade, Asian Paints has collaborated with St+art India Foundation to democratize art and transform urban landscapes in India. Our partnership continued to thrive this year as well. During the year, we embarked on one of our most formidable projects. We joined forces for the Mumbai Urban Art Festival. You will see more of the wonderful work we accomplished together, published in some of the pages of our annual report. Our evolution from share of surface to share of space has grown from strength to strength this year. We are moving well on our stated objective to make this business about 8%-10% of our overall decorative business over the next 3-4 years. With its natural synergy with decorative paints business, this segment will make Asian Paints a key partner in our customers' decor life journey in creating beautiful homes. We offer a unique phygital experience to our customers in this segment that is both physical and digital. At the heart of this digital experience are inspirational content, engagement, and good design curation. These would enable us to build a new-age home décor brand that is tasteful, approachable, and trustworthy. Our décor engine, www.beautifulhomes.com, underwent a refresh to become India's leading destination for home décor enthusiasts and design professionals for inspiration, design services, and products. Our network of Beautiful Homes Stores is now spread across 31 cities. We continue to expand our reach by providing best-in-class consumer experience through expert consultation, 3D visualization, endless customization, making it a true one-stop shop for décor. On the home décor front, we continued to augment our décor offerings, expanding into the newer categories and increasing the range of our offerings. Our offerings now include products in furniture, furnishing, lights, rugs, modular kitchens, bath solutions, wooden flooring and tiles, home automation, and uPVC windows. Through our White Teak lighting brand, we added a host of new offerings, providing unmatched design and differentiation to the customers. We continued our focus and drive on establishing the Weatherseal uPVC Windows brand, with more than 50 stores expansion across the country. These partnerships have grown and scaled up well over the year, benefiting from the integration with our Beautiful Homes stores and the Beautiful Homes services network. Our performance in industrial coatings has been one of the best in the last decade, leveraging our partnership with PPG Industries, Inc. of USA. The automotive industrial coatings business benefited from the recovery in the automotive space and was also supported by the growth in the refinish segment. Our non-automotive industry coatings business grew exceptionally well across, crossing the INR 1,000 crore mark, annual revenue mark. Both the businesses, automotive and non-automotive industrial coatings, also registered improvements in profit margins. Furthermore, we are expanding our technological capabilities and product offerings to address some key infrastructure project requirements. Against the backdrop of tough economic conditions across South Asia and Africa, our international business has delivered good profits for the year. Overall, the business grew in value terms and to a larger extent in constant currency terms, given the currency devaluation in many countries. All geographies grew except for South Asia, due to the economic crisis in Sri Lanka and depleted demand conditions in Nepal and Indonesia, especially in the second half of the year. We have registered good gains in our premium and luxury product offerings and the project sales segment across the countries. Our foray into waterproofing and painting services will continue to fuel our performance in the international markets. We have always focused on intertwining our sustainability agenda into the company's business objectives. Through our commitment to clean energy, renewable energy is now over 62% of our electricity consumption at our manufacturing locations. One of our key achievements is becoming water positive, replenishing 3.8 times our fresh water consumption. Several of our factories were recognized and awarded for their environmental performance, be it on our initiatives on water or for our efforts under energy use. We also impacted and touched the lives of over 3.5 lakh people through our various health initiatives. Employee well-being is paramount to our commitment for sustainable operations and our promise of care. We actively engage in initiatives aimed at promoting positivity, wellness, and good health among employees and their families. Our people form the backbone of our organization and are our pride. We will continue to lay focus on their development, health, and well-being, thereby making the organization stronger. We consider our focus on ESG to be a key driver of long-term value creation for all our stakeholders. This year, we have established and published targets for ourselves through 2030 across all critical areas of ESG. We will annually report progress on these targets to update all stakeholders on our ongoing initiatives. During the year, we embarked upon certain key strategic steps to enable our next growth milestones. Our prioritized investments will differentiate and further enhance the Asian Paints brand saliency with our customers. We have commenced several initiatives, laying out an investment plan of INR 8,750 crores across multiple areas. These include capacity expansion, futuristic technology, and product capabilities, and a host of other initiatives. We believe that all these investments will propel your company onto its next growth trajectory. As I look forward, I'm certain that this new year and the years ahead will present their own unique set of challenges, I firmly believe that your company is well-positioned strategically to continue being the partner of choice for our customers. Throughout your company's legacy, we have seen many changes and overcome several hurdles, treating every challenge as an opportunity to evolve. We have always emerged stronger, enhancing our brand saliency and pushing ourselves to stay relevant to the emerging customer needs. India is well poised to deliver strong and consistent economic growth, its high correlation with the domestic paint industry will ensure that the industry will continue to grow well. The industry is seeing elevated interest from many new players, which highlights this strong growth potential for the industry. We believe that this offers enough opportunities for existing and emerging competition to coexist and thrive. Within the emerging landscape, as a leading company, we will continue to strive to build on our leadership strength, driving customer centricity to propel your company forward. I take this opportunity to thank my colleagues on the board for their wisdom, engagement, and support. I also want to appreciate all our stakeholders for their trust and confidence. We will continue to deliver as we always have, whilst bringing joy to people's lives. Moving on, the notice convening this AGM detailing the business as set out in items number one to six, and the integrated annual report containing the audited standalone and consolidated financial statements for the financial year ended 31st March 2023, along with the board's and auditor's report and management discussion and analysis report, have already been circulated through the permitted mode to you, and with your kind permission, I take them as read. There are no qualifications, observations, or comments or other remarks in the statutory audit and secretarial audit reports, they are not required to be read. Dear members, in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013, and the rules issued thereunder, and Regulation 44 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the shareholders were provided with an opportunity to cast their vote through remote e-voting on the resolutions as set out in the notice convening this annual general meeting. The remote e-voting period commenced at 9:00 A.M. on Friday, 23rd June, 2023, and the facility was available to the shareholders till 5:00 P.M. on Monday, 26th June, 2023. Mr. Makarand Joshi, failing him, Miss Kumudini Bhalerao, partners, Makarand M. Joshi & Co., Practicing Company Secretaries, have been appointed as the scrutinizer for scrutiny of the votes cast through remote e-voting and e-voting during the AGM. Mr. Makarand Joshi has also joined the meeting. The voting results will be declared within 2 working days from the conclusion of this meeting. The results, along with the scrutinizer's report, will be available on the company's website and on the website of NSDL and the stock exchanges where the company shares are listed. I would like to formally commence e-voting at the meeting for all those shareholders who have not cast their votes through the remote e-voting in respect of all the resolutions as set out in items number 1 to 6 of the notice convening this annual general meeting. Members can click on the Vote tab on the video conference screen to make use of this facility. The speaker shareholders may now ask questions pertaining to any item as set forth in the notice. Members are requested to keep their questions brief and specific. To avoid repetition, the answers to all the questions will be provided towards the end. Members may also note that the company reserves the right to limit the number of members asking questions, depending on the availability of time. I invite Mr. Manoj Kumar Gupta, speaker shareholders, to speak, please. Hello? Hello. Yes, sir, we are able to hear you. Yeah. Good morning, respected Chairman. Okay, Uh. Hello, good morning, respected Chairman, board of directors, fellow shareholders. My name is Manoj Gupta. I've joined this meeting from my residence, Kolkata. I'm very happy to see you. You are our Chairman because earlier we had met you in HDFC. Now we are meeting you in Asian Paints, and we believe that you will run this company like as a HDFC, and you will take the company in new heights under your leadership because you have done a wonderful job in HDFC to return to the small investors like me. You will think about that, like that in Asian Paints also, how to return to the employees and the investors. Sir, I thanks to our MD and CEO for the excellent result of the company, for good return to the investors and dividend. I thank to the Company Secretary and his team for excellent job to help the small investors to join the meeting through VC, especially Swati and Sahil. They have also kept in touch with the investors after sent the registration request. They always help us from last four years. This is the fourth AGM through VC, so they always help the small investors to join the meeting. Sir, I thanks to you for new products launch. Sir, kya product aap market mein chhodenge? Asian Paints jo hai na ghar sajane se lete aur ghar ka pura jo hai na, kitchen, bedroom aur sab bistar ko sajane ka pura saman banane laga. Ab kya business bacha, ye bata dijiye, sir? Kyonki abhi recently you have launched the linen, and linen fabric is very good, sir, excellent, and they are competing with the Raymond and Valspar. Your linen, jo fabric hai na, sir, very excellent in the market, and there is a big demand of pata ke Asian Paints linen. Try to launch in a big manner of your linen in big malls like a Spencer's, a Reliance, a Smart Bazaar, because they are captured by the Valspar. You should try to tie up with the big hypermarkets to sell their linen in that market. Sir, when you will revert to the shareholders, when our shares will be double? Because bonus share is overdue. Now, I will not suggest you to issue the bonus share. To consider to issue the bonus debenture at 8% annum for three years redemption. Try to consider the bonus debenture, and what's your future plan? Have you any plan to come in Northeast with a greenfield project? Northeast is growing, think about to bring some more investment in. Sir, your regional festivals, you have a doing a lot of good job for the regional festival, like in Bengal, Durga Puja, and Tamil Nadu, Pongal. Think about more extra increase about the, it will help you for your advertisement also for Asian Paints. Now, when people will go to a dealer, he will ask: "Why are you going to buy the Duker dealers? Why are you not purchasing the Asian Paints?" You think about to increase the, inspire the peoples to launch a new products in the festival time, reasonable festival time. CSR, your CSR work is very excellent, and I'm very happy to see Mr. R. Seshasayee and Mr. S. Narayanan in our board. They are the leader in the inter-field, because Mr. R. Seshasayee has lead the Social- India and IndusInd Bank. Mr. S. Narayanan is leading the Nestlé India in the country. Both have a vast experience. I have attended several AGM in their chairmanship. They are very investor-friendly. I thanks to you that you had kept 3 lady director in our board. The government is failure to give the 33% reservation to women. You had given the 33% reservation to the women in your, in your board. That shows you are increasing the women empowerment in your board. Sir, think about to reward to the shareholders. I strongly support to the all the resolutions. My thanks to our company secretary and his team. Once again, to Sahil and Swati, for their excellent job. Thank you, sir. I now request Mr. Arvind Waikar to speak, please. Mr. Vaikar, we request you to please unmute yourself and start speaking. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Arvind Waikar. I'm calling from Ahmedabad. At the outset, I would like to thank the Asian management and secretariat department for giving me this opportunity of speaking. In addition, I also want to thank you for sending me a colorful, you know, beautiful, integrated annual report with fantastic results. After studying, I find that the sales and profit of financial year 2023, and also of the last quarter, Q4 of 2023, is highest so far. Even your reserves are at the peak. I congratulate the entire management and the staff and all the shareholders for Asian Paints this, you know, performance. I also find that your borrowings have increased, possibly for capacity expansion and backward integration. Can you please elaborate on your expansion of the, or backward integration plan, and how much benefit in terms of sales turnover and profit can be envisaged because of this? Please, I'm sorry to make this. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next, I invite Mr. Sharad Kumar Jivraj Shah. Mr. Shah, we request you to please unmute your mic and start speaking. Thank you. Good morning, everybody. Firstly, what I wanted to, before going to the annual report view, what is my experience with the secretarial staff of Asian Paints. All staff is very cooperative, give very good service, but in addition to that, what I found, there are number of staff, but at the same time, they have got good coordination. My experience with other companies, all companies, most of the companies give good service to the shareholder, but between the staff, there is no coordination. If the coordination is not there, then the shareholder slightly suffers. That is the only point I wanted to tell you. Another thing, sir, I have already sent my email, only one point which I have not mentioned is that what is happened to Bhandup plant, that is not there in the whole annual report. If you can highlight that I will be very happy, sir. When I was referring to your annual report, sir, our debit is increased this particular year, debit, equity debit ratio. What first pick up suggested as debenture bond or something like that, bonus, I don't in favor of that. I am only in favor of that because the market price of share is good. Company has got debit, which is higher. We should definitely go for a right issue. That is my. This will make a shareholder also happy, company also happy, because in like Indian Hotel, who have somehow keep the right issue, their debit equity ratio became better, and now they are very comfortable, sir. Now I go to next point, sir. We'd like to know, I'm very happy that since first time I've seen. They talked in actual meeting, and so what? He tell me, what I remember, our earning per share is just equal to Hindustan Unilever. Hindustan Unilever specialty is their dividend is always equal to earning per share. My company is now around 75 years old. Why not we look for in the same angle? Retaining money is not necessary, because your name is so big that anytime we can raise the money. Why I'm telling you about dividend? This particular year, the market price has fallen down. Market cap has fallen down. We, as a shareholder, I'm not really bothered what is the share price of the company. I'm always bothered that what I take from the company, and my all point when I speak, all are related to the interest of the shareholder. Look from that angle, sir. Another thing what I observed in balance sheet, sir, we invest in what is called, the mutual fund bonds, 60%, and equity also. What is this time has happened? This time happened that our return on equity is really good, 21%. What I said immediately, that why not to stop bank business and go only into equity investment? Here I what is feel that if equities are... it looks like that you have a good experience how to invest in equity. I personally feel that experience it is utilized to the maximum extent, so that people can take benefit of it. Sir, you talked about 62% renewable energy. I do agree with that, when I was referring to page number 342, sir, page number 267 and 432, what was my observation is, that we are putting 400 kW PNG generator in place of diesel generator. Our philosophy to go to renewable is get depleted, sir. Principally, once we decided to go for renewable, we should see that every now and then, we should not go from diesel to PNG or anything else, but only go to the renewable. That is what I said, that we should be clear in our ideas of having renewable. Why we should go to renewable? It is not because government is saying. If renewable is profitable to us, definitely we should go for that. Another thing what I observed, sir, is the, in our balance sheet, you talk more about impairment, you talk about exceptionalities. There are number of pages you spent on that, and what I found that we have in consolidate, we have got impairment, and which is shown under exceptional items. If you see the description, you define exceptional items, exception, and impairment is different. I'm not very clear with that. Guide me on that despite, I will be very happy, sir. Now when I was looking into your highlights, highlight, you talked about growth and margin, and what I observed, the growth has been reduced this year. The margin also decreased. Really, if you just see, the HCM Ben is definitely doing well, but because when I looked into the last previous year, there was no growth, no margin. If by chance, this year, my growth and margin is lower, it doesn't matter. I have again, I'm not convinced to how I can relate growth with margin. That is very important, sir. If you can, relate or coordinate between the growth and the margin, and that will be happy, sir. What can I observe? This particular annual report is absolutely excellent, but in it, what I observed, earlier, annual report, where we are saying how a shareholder becomes rich, how he has just increased, and it was explained in a very nice way, and it was very much convincing. Such good things to repeat in the new annual report or coming back annual report, which I found in page number 222 is missing. I think good things should continue, should be printed out again and again, so that people get the idea of how company is doing. Another thing what I observed, sir, is page number 31A. The shares are in the name of Abhay Arvind Vakil, late Arvind. Why the shares are not transferred to his relatives or not? That is not very clear, sir. If you can clarify that, I will be very happy. Rest of that, I am really happy with the HCM Ben, because I was holding some pre-06 shares. What we worked earlier to that, I don't know. Once you have reached, the shares remains 3060, and I'm really not interested to increase the number of shares by bonus or anything, but definitely I'm interested to have a rights issue. Because of the right issue, shareholders also get. Now, earlier, before 2020, if right issues are there, I have to apply because it was not listed in the stock market. From 2020, right issues are also listed in the stock market, so you can purchase right issue or you can sell the issue and make money. Basically, I don't sell my original share anytime. Whatever right or something like that comes, only that point I start doing some trading, otherwise, no. Thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to speak. Really, I appreciate all your secretarial department for good cooperation, sir. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next, I invite Mr. Yusuf Yunus Rangwala. Mr. Rangwala, if you wish. Rangwala. Sir, aapko mera awaaz aa raha hai? Good morning, Chairman, sir. Aapko mera awaaz aa raha hai, sir? Yes, sir. Good morning, Dynamic Chairman. Aapko awaaz aa raha hai, sir, mera? Yes, sir. Hello? We are able to hear you. Dynamic Chairman, mera video ke liye maafi chahta hoon. Mere video mein problem ho raha hai, toh uske liye main video nahi chalu kar raha hoon. Main directly se baat karunga, madam, main maafi chahta hoon, sir. Kyunki aaj itna meeting hai, kyunki problem ho raha hai, toh aapka first toh aapko, aapka Sahil sir, apna Sahil sir aur madam, apna Company Secretary, unki jitni tareef karoon, itna kam hai. We are very hardworking, sir. This is 77 Annual General Meeting. Many years has passed, sir, not declare a bonus, sir. There was a large bonus given many years ago, sir. We are not celebrated 75th year. My humble request, sir, I come on directly on point 168 page. 168 page mein apna winning FICCI for product turnover for the year. This is a first award. Second award, Asian Paints recognizing our brand, power brand, sir. These are 2 award on 1 page, 168. Sir, this shows how our companies are growing. Sir, now I come directly on point number 1. Sir, waterproof, uska brand name hai Damp Block hai, sir. We are having a 1 kg, which is at INR 350, and we are having a 20 kg. Sir, mera itna janana tha, ye jo paint lagane ka, kaisa lagane ka hai, sir? How is the proceed? Sir, if you can give a knowledge, sir, how to put this product, because I'm having at a mere native place, Sriperumbudur mein, terrace plate hai, sir. sir. Humein janana kya tha, uska use karne ka process kya hai? Sir, apna jo world ranking hai, sir, at present, we are the world number 1. Itna apna hardworking chairman, sir, Aapki team, sir, apna unki company secretary, jo hardworking, very particular towards shareholder. There are many important meeting. Saloni Arona. Saloni madam ko jitna dhanyavad du, utna kam hai, sir. Unki hardworking ke liye main bahut dhanyavad deta hoon. Aaj board meeting hai, sir. Sab meeting chhod diya maine. Apna balance sheet, around 462 pages ka. Hello? Mr. Rangwala, can you hear us? We are facing some technical problems from Mr. Rangwala's residence. We will please move ahead to our next speaker shareholder. Yeah. Next, I invite. Remember, aap ko dijiye, sir. hamein remember ke liye, sir, main aapko haath jod ke vinanti karta hoon, kyunki 75 years hua, woh choti, kabhi nahi aata hai, sir. Abhi 25 saal ke baad aayega. Is 75 years ke liye, sir, aisa hamein kuch dijiye, toh hamein aapko remember karna chahiye ki we are a shareholder Asian Paints. This is my humble request to you. Nothing more to add. Whole circuit of factory visit karaiye, aur apne chairman sahab ke bare mein kya kehna hai, sir? Phoolon ki khushbu mehakte rahe, har aane wale sab resolution mein mera full support hai, aur apne Sahil sir, aur apne Company Secretary ko main bahut dhanyavad deta hoon. Thank you very much, sir. Jai Hind, sir. Nothing more to add, sir. Aap sab mere tere full support hai, sir, aapko Asian Paints walon ko, sir. Aur maine sab favor mein vote kiya hai, sir. Thank you very much, sir. One more I will thank our Saloni madam and our Sahil sir. Thank you very much, sir. I am not cutting my video, sir. Uske liye, sir, maafi chahta hoon, sir. Thank you very much, sir. Aapko mera awaaz aaya? Dhanyavad, sir. May God bless you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Next, I invite Mr. Shailesh Mahadevia. Yes, sir, you can proceed. Mute. We request you to please unmute your mic, sir. I have done so. Respected Chairman, distinguished directors, and members of the company, including the members of the management team. Let me congratulate our company for excellent result, which is our way of life in any case. Year after year, we are giving excellent result, and these results are well reflected in our integrated report, which also includes vital information on BRSR and corporate governance, et cetera, et cetera. I also appreciate the Chairman's speech. He has given briefly the working of the company and what we are looking forward in the years to come. I also would like to appreciate the services of the Secretarial Department, which has made it possible to connect the management on one side and the shareholders on the other. With this, first, I would like to appreciate the services of Mr. Dani, whose resolution is there today for his reappointment, and in view of the age, a special resolution is also being passed. Let me tell you that Mr. Dani has served the company as one of the promoters of the company for years to come. He's enjoying very good health, and we find him in award distribution programs, on TV, et cetera, et cetera, and age should not be a bar on such a man. I would like to put some questions with a view to increase my understanding and appreciation. Before I do that, I would like to appreciate two more things in the report. There are many, but these two. For example, we are enjoying now ESG rating from MSCI, and our rating is a leader. Sir, other thing is that we are depending on technology. Not only that, we are making progress on that count, and we are enjoying as many as 49 patents. These two things I thought was important in many other things are there. Now my questions. Sir, my first question is that we are now increasing our work in the automobile sector, and now EV cars will be coming up. Sir, what I would like to know is whether EV cars require a different paint compared with the traditional cars which are being used. This is in particular in the fact that ethanol percentage in petrol is also being increased up to 20%, and there may be other reasons for having a different paint. Sir, my next question is that the BR and SR report has been prepared on standalone basis. Sir, that report should be prepared on consolidated basis, then only we will get a complete idea about the working of the company in a brief report. Sir, we are enjoying a number of patents. What I would like to know is whether these are product patents or they are process patents, because it is important to learn things by which we are enjoying. Sir, my next question is regarding, and what also Chairman emphasized, that we are also moving from share in surface to share in space. Sir, what I would like to know is, what is the percentage which we are enjoying as far as our work on space area of our activities is concerned, and how we are planning to expand it in the times to come? Sir, I would also like to understand that new large paint companies are coming up, such as Maruti, JSW Paints, Grasim Industries, and to some extent, Pidilite also. All these are giant companies. In what way are we likely to be affected as a result of introduction and perhaps program in the times to come? Sir, I would also like to understand that in all our decorative things, our businesses, other than paints, I hope you are taking every step in avoiding plastics. From long-term point of view, it is necessary, and I would like to understand what particular step is being taken by the company. Sir, the other thing which I wanted to know, that the petroleum prices have gone down considerably, and therefore, are we substituting petrol in place of other oils, like, our castor oil or castor seed oil and other things, and how it is likely to benefit as far as our cost structure is concerned. Sir, with this, I wish your organization every success in all our efforts, which has become a way of life. Sir, this year, you have put all shareholders also on alert by keeping their videos on, even though they may not be speaking. Well, anyway, this is a new idea, and I appreciate, so that the shareholders may also remain alert as they are being seen by the participants, particularly the directors. Namaste to all of you. Thank you, sir. I now request Mr. Aspi Bhesania to speak, please. Sir, can you see me and hear me? Yes, sir. Sir, I'm Aspi from Bombay. Sir, yeah, outside I would like to know, why no physical AGM when other companies are having physical AGMs? Next year, even if the government extends the day for virtual meetings, please hold a physical AGM. Sir, you should have an app for AGM where we can enter our own without any host letting us in. Because sometimes it takes a long time for the host to allow us entry. Sir, during the year competition is increasing. Is it possible to acquire a company to eliminate competition? Sir, during the year INR 1.48 crore unclaimed dividend was transferred to IEPF. This is shareholder's right and you should not just quietly transfer it to IEPF. Please give a target of reducing the unpaid dividend by 10% every year to the share department. If the share department doesn't achieve its target, no increment for the year. Sir, at the moment, RTA and company secretaries keep on sending reminders and thereafter nothing happens. Sir, again, 2.58 lakh shares have been transferred to IEPF. That again is too much. Please try to reduce that also. Sir, as suggested by Yusuf Yunus Rangwala, you should teach the shareholders how to paint. Sir, thank you very much and all the best for the future. Thank you. I now invite Mr. Bharat Shah and Miss Smita Shah to speak. माननीय Chairman श्री, सर आवाज आ रही है ना? Yes sir, yes, please speak. माननीय Chairman Shri, MD Shri और अन्य माननीय Director. Sir, मैं मेरा नाम Bharat Shah. Sir, मैं बरसों से इश्यू टाइम का आपका shareholder रहा हूं, Sir. बरसों से AGM अटेंड करता हूं, Sir. आपने Sir इतना साल में कंपनी कहां थी और कहां पहुंचा दी, Sir और कंपनी को बहुत neutral ही चला रहे हो, Sir. Shareholder का हमेशा अपनी इसको ख्याल रखा है, Sir. Shareholder को अच्छा dividend इतना सालों से दिया है Sir. बहुत अच्छा dividend दिया है और हमेशा कंपनी को अव्वल नंबर पर आप पहुंचाते रहे हो और भी अव्वल नंबर पर कंपनी पहुंचेगी. अब मेरा आत्मविश्वास है Sir और good return दिया है Sir. Sir, खाली bonus के बारे में मैं कहूंगा कि आपने bonus के लिए क्या सोचा है Sir. अभी तो 75 years भी हो गया है Sir तो जरूर 1-2 साल में Sir bonus तो अच्छा bonus declare करने की मेरी heartily request है आपको Sir. बाकी तो Sir मैं आपको Chairman Sir, आपको MD Sir और पूरे Board of Director और कंपनी के सभी छोटे-बड़े employee का बहुत-बहुत आभार मानता हूं और कंपनी बहुत आगे बढ़े. Sir दिन दोगुनी, रात चौगुनी आगे बढ़े, मैं ईश्वर भगवान को प्रार्थना करता हूं Sir. Sir, CSR activity भी बहुत अच्छी चल रही है, बहुत व्यवस्थित आप CSR activity चला रहे हो. एक मानवता का कार्य है तो मैं Sir बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद देता हूं, CSR activity के बारे में और Sir सारे awards के लिए भी मैं बहुत धन्यवाद देता हूं. बहुत अच्छे अपने लिए अपनी कंपनी को बहुत धन्यवाद देता हूं Sir और Sir, Company Secretary Jai Murugan Sir और उनकी टीम के Sir अपने Saloni Ji, Jai Bhai, Sahil Makkar Ji और पूरी टीम को बहुत धन्यवाद देता हूं Sir. बहुत hardworking टीम है Sir. बहुत shareholder का ख्याल रखते हैं Sir. Shareholder का हमेशा respect देते हैं. कोई query है तो Sir solve करते हैं वो लोग और अभी आज भी AGM के लिए भी आपका join हुआ नहीं हुआ, ये सब बात में वो बहुत ख्याल रखके फोन करके पूछते हैं. बहुत hardworking Sir टीम है. वो पूरी CS team का मैं बहुत-बहुत आभारी हूं Sir. बहुत धन्यवाद मानता हूं Sir और Sir, factory visit आपने कितना सालों से नहीं कराई है तो जरूर Khandala plant का visit है तो जरूर shareholder को एक बार factory visit कराईए Sir. अभी 75 years हो गए तो जरूर factory visit कराने की मेरी heartily request है Sir और Sir, face to face अपन मिलेंगे तो आत्मीयता बढ़ेगा Sir. अभी तो Sir Corona का Government भी बोला है कि आपको कर सकते हो, physical करो वरना तो बाहर गांव के shareholder के लिए Sir hybrid कीजिए तो face to face मिलेंगे, आप आत्मीयता बढ़ेगा और बाहर गांव के shareholder के लिए hybrid कीजिए, वो भी join कर सकेंगे Sir. Next year जरूर Sir face to face रखने की मेरी आग्रह भरी विनंती है और आने वाले Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali सारे त्योहारों की मैं बहुत-बहुत शुभकामनाएं देता हूं. आपकी सबकी हित अच्छी रहे Sir और कंपनी अपनी बहुत आगे बढ़े. भगवान ईश्वर को प्रार्थना है और सारे resolution में Sir मेरा पूरा-पूरा support है Sir. Thank you very much Sir. Jai Shri Krishna, Jai Shri Krishna Sir, Jai Hind! Smita क्या बोल रही है सर? Yes, ma'am, yes. Please speak. Thank you, sir. माननीय Chairman सर, Mr. Deepak Satwalekar, MD CEO Mr. Amit Syngle, Mr. Ashwin Dani और अन्य माननीय Director. सर, मैं Mumbai से Smita Shah बात करती हूं. सर, company का excellent performance and so many awards के लिए आप सभी को बहुत-बहुत बधाई हो सर. Standalone और consolidated दोनों में आपका 10 साल के compare में 2022, 2023 में आपने जो increment बढ़ाया है, बहुत अच्छी बात है. आज आपने 75th AGM भी पार तो कर दी है, लेकिन सर वो भी VC through है. ना तो आज अभी तक आपने कोई get-together किया है, ना तो कोई physical AGM है, तो सर physical AGM तो होनी जरूरी है सर. Next year physical AGM जरूर करें, तो सर ताकि आपके साथ एक रूबरू मिलने का मौका मिले. बाकी तो आपने shareholder का ख्याल रखकर बढ़िया dividend जो दिया है, तो बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद सर. आज अपनी company सालों पुरानी company का नाम world में मशहूर बनाया है. आपकी leadership में MD Mr. Amit Syngle, Mr. Ashwin Dani और पूरी team का सहयोग रहा है. छोटे बड़े सभी employee worker सभी का भी hard work- जो रहा है, कंपनी में आज 4 चांद लग गए हैं। सर, आपने जो कस्टमर की संख्या बढ़ाने और मार्केट There is a network issue, at your residence. Can you please repeat again? Okay, one minute. Hello! Yes, hello. Yes, ma'am. We can hear you now, ma'am. Please continue. Okay, okay. सर, आज अपनी कंपनी जो सालों पुरानी कंपनी का नाम world में मशहूर बनाया है, सर। आपकी leadership MD Shri Amit ji, Ashwin bhai, पूरी team का सहयोग रहा है। छोटे-बड़े employees, workers सभी का hard work आज कंपनी में चार चांद लगा दिया है। सर, आपने जो customers की संख्या बढ़ाने और market से कुछ और भी 4x positive प्रतिसाद मिलने के लिए आपने कोई कुछ अच्छा plan बनाया है क्या? At least 3 साल के फ्यूचर प्लान मुझे बताइए सर. आप सभी का तो हार्ड वर्क मेहनत है ही और always आप कंपनी को चौगुनी तरक्की के साथ आगे बढ़ाते रहे हो, dividend भी बढ़ाते रहे हो. मैं आशा के साथ ईश्वर से प्रार्थना करती हूं और मेरी heartily शुभकामनाएं भी future में देती हूं कि कंपनी दिन दोगुनी, चार चौगुनी और अच्छी प्रगति के साथ, तरक्की के साथ आगे बढ़े, साथ में dividend भी बढ़ाते रहे, यह मेरी हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं. सर, हमें बैलेंस शीट इंटर मिली, very आपकी फिजिकल कॉपी as per रिक्वेस्ट मुझे मिली है. बैलेंस शीट में आपने पूरी information, CSR activities, products के जो photos और 10 years का highlights और आप सभी के भी photos, सर बहुत बढ़िया, जो कम, बैलेंस शीट में बहुत अच्छी शोभा दे रही है सर. सर, मैं जानना चाहूंगी कि यह बहुत heavy बैलेंस शीट है सर, तो इसकी one each बैलेंस शीट cost कितनी रहेगी? आपने कितनी कॉपी छपवाई है? सर, हमें आपके CS टीम से अपने जो बच्चे Sahil Makkar, Jai बहुत अच्छा हमें हेल्प कर रहे हैं। सर, अभी भी मीटिंग के साथ हमारे साथ जुड़े रहे तो काफी सारा हमें जो हेल्प कर रहे हैं तो बहुत अच्छी बात है। ताकि हमें भी कोई तकलीफ नहीं हो रही है आपसे बात करने की, तो मैं उन सभी की सराहना करते हुए मैं धन्यवाद करती हूं और साथ में Murugan, Saloni Arona उन सबका भी मैं उनका भी सहयोग जो रहा है तो मैं उन सबका भी मैं आभार व्यक्त करती हूं। सर, यह 4 साल से VC थ्रू हम मिल रहे हैं तो हम 4 साल में 1 बार ही मिल रहे हैं। सर, कोई क्वेरी है, एटलिस्ट मैं Murugan को मैं 1 रिक्वेस्ट करती हूं कि प्लीज 1 कॉल करके भी हमें थोड़ा पूछ लीजिए तो अच्छा लगता है। बहुत सारी कंपनियां, सारी कंपनियां मतलब पूछती है, जो मेन कंपनी सेक्रेटरी रहते हैं, तो आपको रिपोर्ट मिला कि नहीं? आपको कुछ query है क्या सर? थोड़ा हमें भी अच्छा लगेगा। आप 4 साल से तो मिल तो नहीं रहे हो तो at least फोन करके बात करते हैं तो भी अच्छा लगता है। At least Murugan ji, आपसे मेरी एक humble request है कि यह जरा बात करते तो अच्छा रहता था। बाकी तो आपका और पूरी secretary का बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद देती हूं। आपका सहयोग बहुत अच्छा है सर, next, मैं आशा करती हूं कि next की AGM में हम physical में ही हम रहेंगे साथ-साथ। तब तक आप सभी रहे good health well के साथ और हमारा हरदम सपोर्ट भी रहेगा आपके साथ। आज के सभी resolution में मैं fully सपोर्ट करते हुए, मैं बस आशा करती हूं बस next year हम physical में रहेंगे और आने वाले सभी त्योहारों की मैं शुभकामनाएं करते हुए धन्यवाद करती हूं। Thank you. थैंक यू मैम। I now invite Mr. Dharav Jamadar to speak. Good morning and greetings of the day to the respected chairman and to all the board members. My name is Dr. Dharav Jamadar. I am a proud shareholder and a customer from Surat, Gujarat. I would like to congratulate each and every stakeholder of the company on performing tremendously well, outperforming the peers and posting robust and impeccable numbers both on Q on Q and YOY basis in such a volatile environment. Sir, like every year, it is an honor and a memorable moment to get an opportunity to have an insightful conversation with you on different aspects and attend such AGM. I would also like to bring to your notice and acknowledge and appreciate the services of Corporate Secretariat Department, particularly of Mr. Sahil Makkar, which my fellow shareholders also said. Some of my questions which I would like to, I would request you for to address are, first, how much has falling crude price helped the company in improving the profitability and its margin? Second, coping up with the competition in the core segment has been done quite elegantly, but is my company facing any major challenges in any other non-core segments? What are the steps taken to translate the same success story in other non-core segments also? Third, delaying monsoon, rising inflation rate and lower spending in rural area of India is posing some stiff resistance to the profits of our company. How is the company planning to manage it? Fourth, what is the company's outlook on the international markets wherein we are exporting? Fifth, can we expect a new non-core segment our company is exploring and going to enter in this particular fiscal year? Sixth, in the last couple of years, our company is developing technology of depending low on raw materials, particularly like crude oil, which is highly volatile. Depending more on raw material like water to bring down the uncertainty and the cost. How is that development going on, and how much scalability has already been employed in manufacturing the paint? Seven, what steps has my company taken for wellness of its employees in the last fiscal year? I would also like to thank the management on answering each and every question via mail, and seldom does any management do so. Sir, thank you very much for addressing each and every question. Thank you. Thank you. I now invite Mr. Prafull Chawda to speak, please. Hello, sir. Yes, sir. Good morning. Chairman, sir, Board of Directors, मेरे साथी शेयरहोल्डर बहुत सारे प्रश्न पूछ लिए हैं, जिसमें मेरे भी थोड़े पूछने का था, वो भी चला गया। ठीक है, मैं कुछ अलग बात कहना चाहूंगा। First तो आपका जो AGM मैं first time कर रहा हूँ, तो कंपनी का नाम है Asian Paints, कलर की कंपनी है और AGM भी कलरफुल दिखा। जो Chairman स्पीच के टाइम पर जो बैकग्राउंड चेंज होते जाता था, बहुत वंडरफुल सर! बहुत अच्छा इंटरेस्ट से आप AGM बनाए। इसके साथ-साथ Secretarial Department में जो सपोर्ट करें और मुझे फोन किया और अभी एक इंडिया में, मैं मानता हूं कि फर्स्ट टाइम WhatsApp group बनाया उन्होंने speakers का, और वहां direction देते गए। मुझे तो ऐसा मालूम हो रहा है कि जो लेडीज मुझे 2-3 बार फोन किया, वो हमारी grandmother है या grandson है, daughter है। मेरी पोती है, मेरी दादी है, कुछ समझ में नहीं आता है। इस तरह मेरे से बात करें, बहुत अच्छा दिखा, तो इस तरह कंपनी के स्टाफ shareholders से बात करते रहेंगे। अच्छा लगेगा। सर, TV, paper और festival के टाइम पर city में सब जगह पर Asian Paints के बहुत सारे displays लग जाते हैं, तो मालूम पड़ता है कि कुछ festival आ रहा है। Festival Hindu का हो, Muslim का हो, Christian लोगों का, किसका भी हो, पर कंपनी sell करने के लिए, अपना product बेचने के लिए जो hard work करती है और distributors को, छोटे-छोटे दुकान वाले को जो support करती है और इसको बोलती है, इसे अपना results में दिखता है कि कंपनी sell करने के लिए आगे है। पर जो अभी बोले Chairman सर कि 22 new products आ रहे हैं। Generally सर, जो दुकान वाले हैं, वो जिसके में ज्यादा profit होता है ना, वो sell कर देते हैं। खरीदने वाले को पता नहीं चलता है कि कौन सी चीज किधर use करना है, कैसा use करना है। इसके लिए कुछ कंपनी toll-free number बताना चाहिए और use करने से पहले वहां से direction लेना चाहिए। आपका कोई specialist है, वो बताएंगे कि यह product, यह चीज में use करो और किस तरह use करना है। इसमें oil paint है तो इसमें कितना क्या mix करना चाहिए । Water paint है तो इसमें कितना पानी use करना चाहिए। इसके लिए कुछ direction, सही direction रहा, तो अपनी कंपनी का result best से best आएगा। सर, कंपनी का एक बात मैं यह भी कहना चाहता हूं कि इतना बड़ा publicity होती है, पर आप लोग समझते हैं कि कंपनी का जो बड़े-बड़े actors लेंगे, film artists लेंगे, तो product ज्यादा sell होगा, तो मैं नहीं मानता हूं सर। मैं बहुत देखा हूं कि कंपनी का product अच्छा है, distributors सब मेहनत करते हैं तो होता है। जो पैसे अपने बड़े-बड़े film artists को देते हैं, इसके बदले दूसरी जगह पर use करके छोटे लोगों से cartoon द्वारा भी publicity करेंगे, तो अपना ढेर सारा पैसे बच जाएंगे। सर, duplicate goods भी बाजार में आता है। जो बड़ी कंपनी बन जाती है, जिसका product बिकता है, उसका duplicate product भी market में बिकना शुरू हो जाता है। अब duplicate goods पकड़ने के लिए, duplicate किधर मिलता है, देखने के लिए आप लोग Vigilance Branch या आपका Vigil Department कुछ है कि नहीं है, इसके बारे में बताएंगे? मैं मानता हूं कि आपका पूरे के पूरे जितने आपके पैकिंग के कार्टून आते हैं, इसके ऊपर विजिलेंस ब्रांच का नाम देना चाहिए, ताकि किसी को ऐसा महसूस हो कि। सर, अपना पैकिंग जो होता है, कलर का पैकिंग वेरी गुड सर। कलर चला जाता है, पर जो बाकेट लेकर आता है हम, वो बाकेट नहीं टूटता है, वो सालों साल चलता है। जो अपना पैकिंग मटेरियल जो लोग सप्लाई करते हैं, वो मुझे कुछ जानकारी मिली कि हमारी हैदराबाद की कंपनी Mold-Tek प्लास्टिक का भी आप प्रोडक्ट लेते हैं। वेरी गुड सर! इससे मैं बहुत खुश हुआ हूं कि हमने जो आपका प्रोडक्ट use करने के बाद, इसका पैकिंग का भी हम सालों साल use करते हैं, पैकिंग के लिए आपको बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद। Sir, खासतौर पर CSR में, Sir 75 के ऊपर कंपनी का हो गया। कंपनी बहुत help करती है, कंपनी लोग के हिसाब से help करती है, देखा कि कंपनी ऐसे प्लेयर को भी help करें। ऐसे प्लेयर को ढूंढें कि वो World Cup में या कोई भी गेम में, world में कोई भी गेम हो, जिसमें golden, silver या कोई भी medal लेकर आए अपने बोल सकते हैं कि Asian Paints ने इसके बच्चे को help किए थे और ये प्लेयर आगे जाकर अपने लिए Gold Medal, Silver Medal लेकर आए। इसके अलावा जब अपना स्कूल भी चलाते हैं Sir, मैं, मेरा बोलने का है कि स्कूल में भी अपने को हिंदू के हिसाब से Gita, Mahabharata, Ramayana का भी education देना चाहिए। अच्छे sanskar देना चाहिए। आजकल education ले लेते हैं, job नहीं मिलता है Sir. आदमी फिरता है, government को गाली देता है, इधर-किधर गाली देता है कि job नहीं मिल रहा, job नहीं मिल रहा। स्कूल के टाइम पर स्कूल ऐसा भी education दे, technical education, जिसको TV repair करने को आता हो, fridge repair करने आता है। ऐसे छोटी-छोटी जो item है, repair करना, plumber होना।... ऐसा भी इसको education देना चाहिए ताकि वो बाहर निकल के इसको नौकरी नहीं मिले तो भी, इसका घर का खर्चा या खुद का खर्चा निकालने के लिए ऐसा भी कुछ कर सकते हैं कि technical gyan इसका जरूरी है और खुद का भी कुछ कर सकते हैं। Sir, CSR में जो शहीद हुए जवान हैं, इसको आप क्या help करते हैं? शहीद हुए जवान के बच्चों को आप क्या help करते हो? इसके पढ़ाई-लिखाई, education देना, इसके बारे में आप क्या सोचते हैं? इसके बारे में बताएंगे? Last में Sir, CSR में एक ही बात कहना चाहता हूं कि आज Love Jihad का नाम पर चल रहा है। अपनी कंपनी में कोई ऐसा किस्सा न बने, इसके लिए ladies के लिए आप क्या कर रहे हैं? जो यंग जनरेशन लेडीज है, इसको कोई-कोई फंसा देते हैं, इसके टुकड़े कर देते हैं। ऐसा नहीं होना चाहिए। इसके लिए भी आप एक बिजनेस ग्रुप बनाइए और ऐसे लोगों को कंपनी में पकड़ के पहले से पकड़ लो ताकि नुकसान न हो। धन्यवाद, सर। Thankyou sir। I now invite Mr. Sunil Kumar Modak to speak. Hello! Yes. Hello. Yes, sir, we are able to hear you. Okay, okay. Thank you, sir. শুভ दोपहर, আমি কলকাতা থেকে এই ভিডিও কনফারেন্সে যোগদান করছি এবং সব্বাইকে শুভ দুপুর জানালাম। আমার নাম Sunil Kumar Modak. Respected Chairman, Board of Directors, Company Secretary, Managing Director and my fellow shareholders. Sunil Modak from Calcutta. My residence is joining this meeting. Sir, ours is a best leading number one paint company in our country. Proud to be a member, shareholder of such esteemed company and like to thank management and secretarial department to give an opportunity to speak on the 77th AGM, providing all necessary help as and when required, also a hard copy provided on request. Sir, very good demonstration, Chairman speech. Very good, very attractive, very informative, very impressive. बहुत अच्छा लगा है। Excellent result by our company. Under your able guidance and control, our company made a brilliant result this financial year. Sir, what is your CapEx program and roadmap for next 2 years? CSR activities is very good. Sir, cancer is nowadays a threatening and alarming to our society. Do something for the cancer victims as a part of your CSR activities. Sir, I want to know our employee strength and male, female ratio. Are there any specially challenged people in our workforce? If yes, how many? Sir, new employment you provided this financial year and coming year you would like to add, please mention. Sir, make it convenient to make a get together among the shareholder zone wise, so the shareholders could meet you from time to time. Sir, do arrange a plant visit if possible, as we eager to see our sophisticated plants. I have casted e-voting, supporting all resolutions in favor of the company, and also my family members do this e-voting. With this, I conclude and hope we will meet next year with good results. Thank you very much for patient hearing. नमस्ते. Thank you, sir. I now invite Mr. Aloysius Peter Mascarenhas to speak, please. Mr. Mascarenhas, we request you to please unmute your mic. No, sir, we can't hear you yet. Please unmute your microphone. Sir, please press O.K. on your screen. We have sent you a prompt. Yeah, yeah. Yes, sir. Can you hear me? Yes, sir. Okay. Respected Chairman, sir, very distinguished members of the board and my fellow shareholders. Good afternoon to you all. My name is Aloysius Mascarenhas. At the outset, I thank the management, company secretary, and the team for sending me the e-balance sheet, though I wanted a physical copy because of my age, 75, it's difficult to see the e-balance sheet. The Chairman has beautifully presented in his speech the highlights of our company, all the parameters, financial parameters, and our product, which has gone round the world. I'm happy to know that we are doing extremely well. Our PBT, PAT has gone up, so also are our dividend. As compared to last year, this year you have declared a very good dividend of INR 20, INR 25.65 versus INR 19.75 last year, a growth of 34%. The dividend payout also has increased by 60%. Sir, very good. My humble question, being the 77th year, most of the company declare bonus in the 75th year. We have not done so. Hopefully we are looking forward for a bonus. When was the last bonus declared? I would also like to know, being a paint company, a very competitive company, who are our peers and competitors, and what is our market share? I would like to know whether we export to various countries of the world, I would like to know which countries. Why I ask this question is, the rupee-dollar fluctuation, the rising dollar against the falling rupee. If we are an export company, we stand to gain by dollar terms. I would like to know what is the revenue our company has generated by exporting. I would, I'm happy to know that 50 more stores have been established in the country, and we are into renewable energy and also ESG rating. The ESG platform has been done. Sir, somebody had pointed out that about the unpaid dividend and unpaid shares. It's very heartening, because this is the hard-earned money of the shareholders. Many companies send reminders to those who have not got their dividend. I would like that the company sends the dividend warrants across to their re-registered address and see that the dividend and the shares are given in the hands of the shareholders. Pratik, more to add, because most of the questions have been asked by my predecessor shareholders, I would also join with them for a factory visit, because seeing is believing. Rest, I don't want to speak. I would give the chance to others to speak. With this, sir, I end my speech, wishing you personally, all the board members, and more importantly, all the employees, all the very best in the days and years to come. With this, sir, thank you very much for patient hearing. God bless you, our board, and the employees, and our company. Thank you very much for patient hearing. Thank you. Make it low now. Chairman, sir, we request you to please take over. I want to thank you all for your participation and for your constructive suggestions and comments. With reference to questions on rewarding shareholders, we believe in a combination of both long-term as well as short-term return, returns to the shareholders. The dividend payout has increased consistently over the years. Apart from this, we will continue to evaluate all other means, including bonus and rights issues, to reward the shareholders in future. On the area of new competition emerging in the paint industry, while your company will watch out for the strategies adopted by the new competition, we will continue to focus on our core strengths. We will work on expanding our scale through newer value propositions and look at making our products accessible to larger part of the market. However, even today, the per capita paint consumption in India is much lower as compared to some of the other comparable markets, and hence, the market offers strong growth potential for everyone to grow. We are confident of retaining our leadership through our customer-first innovative approach. On the question regarding our home decor plans, the company intends to transition from share of surface to share of space, and enable it to play a larger part in the customer's life cycle of home makeover. The home decor business today makes up about 4% of the decorative business revenues, and our plan is to grow this to about 8%-10% over the next 3-4 years by continuously looking on expanding its home decor product and service portfolio. With reference to the question on investment in backward integration areas, all these investments will support in the longer-term growth objective to the company and also help us support our margins in the emerging competitive landscape by helping us to improve on the raw material cost as well as sourcing. As far as investing in Northeast, we would like to highlight that the company is undertaking various brownfield expansions in its current manufacturing plants, as well as looking at new greenfield plant in Madhya Pradesh. We will evaluate further capacity requirements in other parts of the country, including the Northeast, depending on how various regional demand and supply gaps emerge in future. With respect to falling crude prices, crude-based derivative is one of the key raw material categories that we consume in paint manufacturing. Over the last 2 quarters, we have seen reduction in the prices of many key raw materials, including crude delivery, derivatives. This has helped in improving the gross margins by almost 6%-6.5% in the second half of the year. Hence, the company is watching out for the progress of the monsoons in the next couple of months. From our side, we continue to support the demand from rural areas by continuously looking at expanding our distribution reach, as well as bringing out innovative new products in the economy price range. While the company has a very strong balance sheet and can raise resources whenever required. The company's philosophy is to retain adequate and sufficient funds on the balance sheet to pursue any opportunities that can emerge in terms of new investments to further the strengthens company's standing in the marketplace. The increase in borrowings in standalone balance sheet is on account of interest-free loans from the Government of Karnataka as part of the industrial promotion scheme for setting up Mysuru plant. At a consolidated level, the increase in borrowings is due to increased working capital requirements in some of our international subsidiaries and also towards fresh investments made to support operations in Indonesia. With respect to a query on BRSR, last year, the company had published BRSR voluntarily. The company has this year published the report on standalone basis. We will endeavor to include our subsidiaries and report BRSR on consolidated basis in the coming years. Dear members, while we have endeavored to respond to all the queries raised by you during this meeting, and also which were sent to us in advance, in case any of them have remained unanswered, the company secretary will suitably respond to you post this AGM. Members may note that the voting on the NSDL platform will continue to be available for the next 15 minutes. Members who have not cast their vote yet are requested to do so. The resolutions as set forth in the notice shall be deemed to be passed today, subject to receipt of requisite number of votes. We had 150+ members participating today in this 77th annual general meeting. We are grateful to all our shareholders from all over the world who joined this meeting through video conference. Friends, with that, I conclude today's proceedings. Thank you all for making it convenient to attend this meeting. We look forward to seeing you again next year. Be safe, be healthy.