Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Antony Waste Handling Cell Limited Q3 FY 2024 Earnings Conference Call. This conference call may contain forward-looking statements about the company, which are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the company as on the date of this call. These statements are not the guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference, please signal an operator by pressing star and then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Jose Jacob, Chairman and Managing Director. Thank you and over to you, sir. Good afternoon and thank you for joining us for our Q3 FY 2024 Earnings Conference Call. With me I have Mr. Mahendra Ananthula, Group President, Operations, Business Development, and Diversification. Mr. Subramanian, our Group CFO, and HCH, our Investor Relations Advisors. Our investor presentation for third quarter 2024 is now available on the website of the Stock Exchange and also on our company's website. In our third quarter, we posted core operating revenue reaching INR 193 crores, marking a strong 22% year-on-year growth. This growth can be attributed to several factors, including escalation in tipping fees and improved revenues from fixed shifts, trips and household fees. Furthermore, the initiation of our C&T project at Panvel and the start of sales of power from our WtE project have begun to contribute positively. The bulk of our CapEx is behind us and has dropped in indirect expenses. With this shift in our revenue mix, the driver of our margin is now being led by core operating revenue. This is evident from our improvement in EBITDA margins, which jumped by 690 basis points to attain 22.3%. The third quarter of FY 2024 core EBITDA margins meet our expectations, boosting confidence in our stability and long-term growth. On the corporate side, the company has submitted a scheme of merger with the NCLT, which entails the absorption of two of its wholly owned subsidiaries, namely Antony Infrastructure and Waste Management Services Private Limited, and KL Envitech Private Limited, and into AG Enviro Infra Projects Private Limited, a subsidiary fully owned by the company. The primary objective behind this strategic move is to rationalize and simplify the organizational framework, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and facilitating better management oversight. Thank you and now hand over the call to Mr. Ananthula, our Group President, Operations and Business Development. Mahendra, over to you. Thank you, Jose. Pleased to present an update on our operational performance for the third quarter of FY 2024. During this period, we effectively managed 1.18 million tons of waste, demonstrating a notable 13% year-on-year increase. This growth can be attributed to the successful execution of operations in a newly acquired contract, improved volumes at existing collection and transportation sites, and an uptake in tonnage processed at our waste processing operations. Specifically, within the C&T business segment, we handled 0.48 million tons in quarter three of FY 2024, marking a significant 19% growth compared to the previous year. Furthermore, our waste processing business managed 0.70 million tons, representing a commendable 9% increase over the previous year. During this quarter, our refuse derived fuel, which is commonly called RDF, reached a new milestone, totaling approximately 47,000 tons. This signifies a substantial improvement compared to around 15,500 tons in the same period last year and around 25,000 tons in quarter two of FY 2024. Additionally, we sold around 3,200 tons of compost during the quarter compared to about 1,700 tons sold last year. It is worth noting that the sales volume of compost was softer than expected due to lower uptake of fertilizers in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, primarily due to the weaker-than-expected monsoon in the period. A specific achievement this quarter was the commencement of commercial power sales from our waste-to-energy plant to the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation. We are pleased to report that during the first three months of operations, the plant's performance has met all the technical and operational parameters as designed satisfactorily by our Japanese technical partner, Hitachi Zosen. Currently, we are supplying approximately 8 MW of power to PCMC's water pumping station in Ravet and the sewage treatment plant in Chikhali, lowering their monthly power bill. Over the remainder of this fiscal year, our aim is to steadily achieve PLF of 85%-90%. We are also in the process to onboard additional PCMC assets for full utilization of power generated in our waste-to-energy plant. On the ESG front, in terms of emissions, our Scope 1 emissions totaled about 6,348 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents in quarter three. Our Scope 2 emissions increased to 1,405 tons in quarter two, reflecting increased biomining and shredding activities. Our commitment to emission reduction is evident in avoiding emissions of 2,559 tons in quarter three as compared to 1,060 tons in quarter two. Currently, our ground stock shredding tonnage is 9,781, with a sequential increase reflecting the commencement of the Panvel C&T contract. We remain proactive in pursuing opportunities in C&T, biomining, and waste processing projects, underscoring our firm commitment to sustainability and creating value for our stakeholders. Our operational excellence is exemplified by the prestigious rankings bestowed upon the cities we serve, as demonstrated by the recent Swachh Bharat survey. These remarkable accomplishments are thoroughly outlined in slide number 13 of our investor presentation. In conclusion, these accomplishments underscore our steadfast dedication to environmental sustainability, innovation, and the creation of a better, greener future. Our company remains committed to growing sustainably while promoting a clean environment. In the coming months, we eagerly anticipate achieving important milestones, including the commissioning of our construction and debris processing project in Mumbai and expanding power sales from the waste-to-energy plant in the Pimpri-Chinchwad region. Onto the financial aspects, let's get NG involved here. NG, over to you. Thank you, Mahendra. The standout feature for the quarter lies in the transformation of our revenue mix, signaling the nearing completion of the capital expenditure phase of the group. In the third quarter of financial year ending March 2024, the company achieved significant growth, with operating revenue rising to INR 193 crores, which represents a robust 22% increase compared to INR 158 crores in Q3 FY 2023. Sequentially, the core operating revenue shows a softness, and this is mainly due to the recognition of INR 14 odd crores of escalation booked in second quarter for the past period. Adjusted for this one-time escalation benefit, sequentially, the total reported revenue is still up by 12.3%. On a nine-month basis, the company has reported an operating revenue of around INR 570 crores, reflecting a substantial 20% increase on a year-on-year basis as compared to INR 474 crores for the nine-month period last year. This impressive growth in operating revenue can be largely attributed to a substantial increase in volumes handled, the successful acquisition of the Panvel project, and the escalations materializing in the last three quarters. In Q3 FY 2024, the total tonnage handled reached 1.17 million tons, which reflects a 12% growth over the previous year. For the nine-month period, the total tonnage sat around 3.52 million, which reflects a growth of 12% for the same period last year. In terms of consolidated EBITDA performance, the group demonstrated a significant growth of 45%, reaching INR 50 crores in Q3 FY24 compared to INR 34 crores in Q3 FY 2023, accompanied by an impressive EBITDA margin of 22%. This marks a noteworthy increase of around 690 basis points from Q3 FY 2023. However, on a sequential basis, the margin appears softer, primarily due to the recent stated above, which is basically INR 14.8 crores of past escalations being materializing after a delay. When adjusted for this factor, the second quarter's EBITDA margin would have been around 18.1%, and this compares against the Q3 FY 2024 EBITDA margin of 22.3%. For the nine-month period ending December 2023, the company exhibited a robust 23% in EBITDA, reaching INR 158 crores compared to INR 129 crores for the same period last year with an EBITDA margin of 23%. This demonstrates a remarkable increase of 400 basis points on a year-on-year basis. Avoiding the other expense line item, the total other expenses have risen by 17%, primarily driven by a 96% increase in RDF transportation cost, which came in at around INR 10.9 crores. The other components of other expense line items, namely power, fuel, and vehicle hiring costs, came in at around INR 34.6 crores and INR 24.3 crores, respectively. Interest expenses have jumped from INR 6 crores last year to INR 11.4 crores in the last quarter, while depreciation has risen by 15% year-on-year. These increases are primarily attributed to the commercial launch of the waste-to-energy plant. Despite these factors, the pre-tax profit for the quarter has risen by 24% year-on-year, reaching INR 23.2 crores for the quarter. However, despite the uptick in the pre-tax profit, the rise in deferred taxes has exerted a pressure on the PAT numbers, which have come in flat at INR 15.6 crores. The deferred taxes increased during the quarter due to an increase in undistributed profit at the subsidiary level and also due to a deferred tax liability at our renewable energy waste-to-energy plant as new assets are being capitalized. As of December 23, the group's gross debt stood at around INR 383 crore, with a net debt of around INR 330 crore, indicating a net debt to equity of 0.5x. The weighted cost of debt for the group stands at 8.8%. The company remains steadfast in its commitment of bolstering operational efficiency, enhancing liquidity, and cultivating a favorable financial landscape. During the quarter, one of the large subsidiaries of the company has been upgraded by CRISIL by a notch to A minus with a stable outlook. Similarly, the waste-to-energy project has also started being initiated at an investment grade by the rating agency. Given these parameters and the upcoming projects, the company is sure of achieving a sustainable 20%-25% CAGR in its core operating revenue outlook. That's all from our end, and now we open the floor for Q&A. 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 withdraw 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. The first question is from the line of Faisal Zubair Hawa from H.G. Hawa and Company. Please go ahead. The financial results keep on showing a very big up and down as far as the EPS is concerned. So how can we really stabilize this? It is becoming more and more difficult to understand the figures each quarter, particularly there's a huge variation in each quarter. That's one. Second is, sir, what is the kind of revenues we are now expecting in quarter four from the Pimpri-Chinchwad project? What is the kind of EBITDA? Has the project even stabilized? Good afternoon, Mr. Hawa. The volatility in the earnings is primarily because of lack of clarity and directions and decision-making at the bulk of our clients. Since most of our clients don't have elected members, there is a significant delay in decision-making process. As a result, there's a lumpiness of escalation getting recognized and being passed on. That is why you are seeing a significant jump in recognizing these escalations, which you've been seeing in the EPS kind of changing in the last two or three quarters. Answering to your second point. Yeah. So on the second point about the PCMC's waste-to-energy, I mean, we are pleased to disclose that in the last few weeks, especially in the last three weeks, we have been running the plant at full load of 14 MW, which basically means that we have maximized our power generation capability and the plant is functioning well. And that's why this reflects in a very healthy power load factor of 99%, and we're talking the last 21 days later. So going forward in the next distinct week, it's expected to achieve 85%-90% of PLF, right, which I think is a great achievement or a great target to have in the first year of operations. What kind of revenues can we get in quarter four from there? So yeah. So typically, if you see the revenue model for this from the power sale, 14 MW is a generation. You take out let's say you have an average if you work on a PLF of 15%, and then an auxiliary power of about 12%, the average billing would be for 11 MW of power. Okay? So that's going to be the that's going to be the billed volume. Okay. I mean, what is the kind of luck that we could have with the Supreme Court in this quarter? Whatever case come up for hearing because that INR 10 crore-INR 11 crore is always hanging on balance. That date, unfortunately, I will postpone again. We have got the date of February 26th from the Supreme Court. So as and when the case comes for hearing, we will be taking that from there. You feel that the construction collection program also could start in this quarter? C&D. The C&D contract is expected by 1st of April. The construction phase, the establishment of the assets, everything is ongoing. So we expect approvals and everything to be in books by the end of the current financial year. Commercialization of the project is likely to start from the first quarter of the next financial year. Sir, on a per-unit basis, are we profitable in this RFP that we send to the cement companies, or are we still making losses on each unit? So we are positive. I mean, there's a positive contribution because what we are looking at is that after adjusting for the transportation costs, we need to make a positive contribution. So on that. Are we earning anything on each truck that we send to the cement companies? Absolutely. On each ton of RDF that we are selling, we are. We are having a positive contribution. We are having a positive contribution. Okay. Because it is tending to bring down the EBITDA every time the volumes go up on this front. Mr. Hawa, there is a combination of revenue contributors and the margin contribution. Sale of RDF, though, is a very bulky item. It is a low-margin business. So that is why the weighted average of EBITDA margin drops in. But on quantitative terms, I mean, if we look at volume and on value basis, it adds to the bottom line. I appreciate you answering my questions so well, sir. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Neerav Dalal from Maybank Investment Banking Group. Please go ahead. Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity. A couple of questions. First is, can we get a PBT for the Pune project and for Ex-Pune? Because I think that will give a better indication in terms of how the performance is shaping up, at least on the PBT side, obviously excluding the one-offs that we have in terms of collection and all of that. So is that possible? Yeah. Currently, we don't give segment-wise information because none of these projects provide more than 10% of the revenue or of the profitability or the CapEx. So I mean, we don't only disclose the segment-wise information and the contribution of those projects. No. Where I was going to was that because depreciation and interest costs would have been higher just because we've capitalized the waste-to-energy project, right? Yeah. So if you were to ask the depreciation cost and interest cost of the waste-to-energy project, on a thumb rule basis, I think the cost of interest, annualized interest, is in the range of around INR 13 crores. Depreciation would be in the annualized range of around INR 17 odd crores. Okay. Got that. The other question I had was for the waste-to-energy, so our average cost, interest cost, as you said, is down less than 9%. So is there a possibility that we can rework the waste-to-energy project debt? Because I guess we've taken that it's been taken from PFC at 12.15%. So is there a possibility of anything? There is definitely a possibility of refinancing this, but based on the performance and the rating that we have got, PFC has already reduced the rate to around 10.25%. So the cost of borrowing has already come in to lower levels. But after two years of successful performance and once the cash flow comes in, our ability to get it refinanced will be much stronger and much easier for us to sell than the way it is today. Just last question. In terms of the RDF and all of that, what would be that as a percentage of revenues? Less than 2% of our total revenue. I mean, it's a significantly small pie. Significantly small. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we request you to please restrict your questions to two questions per participant. You may rejoin the queue for follow-up questions. The next question is from the line of Saumitra, an individual investor. Please go ahead. Hello. Am I audible? Yes, you're audible, sir. Please go ahead. Yeah. So quickly, I've understood the interest and depreciation part. So this is something that will continue for the next quarter also, right? So just to observe that, what would be required is probably those assets giving you value and your revenues going up. So I may have missed this. If it's already been answered, I just wanted to understand what kind of revenues, not only core but cumulatively the entire business, what kind of revenues can we expect in the coming quarters? We are comfortable on the core revenue part. I think we would be looking around INR 200 crores-INR 220 crores based on the existing kind of projects that we have. Going forward, I think with the construction delivery processing contract kicking in in the next year, that gives us a visibility of around 18% year-on-year growth for the entire group. This is at the core operating section. Okay. So basically, what we are saying is at least 20% growth is something that or 18%-20% growth is something that we can expect year-on-year from the company. That's on the overall revenues, right? That's on the overall revenue, not on the project specifically. Yeah. This This one thing is actually it's a little confusing. Your business is a little complex. And just understanding which moving part is going where so you talk about core, then there are certain non-core activities. So it becomes a little difficult to understand what would be the revenue projections. And hence, specifically, if going forward, you can just provide some kind of a view on the overall. I'll tell you why the reason is. So I am an HNI who has been interacting with a lot of people, not only in this country but outside. There is a lot and lot of interest in businesses like you. And I feel it is terribly undervalued just because of certain aspects of communication and clarifying what exactly is the business. This business does not deserve the valuation that it is currently having. It deserves much, much, much better. These are the businesses globally people are looking at and figuring out and wanting to enter because this is the future. Now, the only question is, can we expect from the management to provide because we have to understand people are not as engrossed in the business as these guys are probably, and they would require a simplified understanding of the business? So if that is something that can be done, I see wonders happening for this particular business. So this is one request from my side. This request is basically interacting with multiple people across different countries. I appreciate this point of view. But if you were to look at our investor presentation, if I can draw your attention to slide number 25, it actually spells out our revenue contribution, what we call as core operating revenue, which is our revenue from collection and transportation and from waste processing. That is my core operating revenue. After that, we have a line item called contract and others, which is what our index revenue is. So when we talk about a 20% growth in core revenue, I mean, I'm actually giving a number every quarter about what we are talking about. Similarly. Can you keep it on? Yeah. Go on. Similarly, when we talk about EBITDA margin and core EBITDA margin, we strip out the index-related revenue and index-related cost, and we say, "This is what we're talking about." My reported EBITDA is for this quarter, it's around INR 49.7 crores. But my core EBITDA, which strips out my index-accounted revenue, project revenue, this is INR 49.3 crores. So I actually split out my revenue potential, my core revenue, my core EBITDA. This is there in slide number 25. No, my suggestion only comes from the perspective that everyone is looking for such businesses because this perfectly falls into the ESG category. If you realize there are a lot of funds across that are looking for such businesses. It's an appreciation that somehow it can be properly communicated. I understand even the first person founded it was a little difficult to understand how the revenues are functioning, etc. If there can be some improvement in terms of how the communication is done about the business, I feel this business has a lot of value. I think that is appreciation towards you as a management who identified it at the right time and are working in the right, let's say, business. It's just I don't know why, but I just feel there is a lack of awareness about this business across. Sure. It's helpful that you said we will look into it, and we'll try to improve our line of communication. That's the only thing. That's the only thing. Everything else is good. The point is basically. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Utkarsh Somaiya, an individual investor. Please go ahead. Thank you for the opportunity. I had a question regarding your accounting again. So in your core operating revenues, which is INR 193 crore, the waste-to-energy project, which is just commissioned, is a part of this. Am I right? Yes. That's part of the MSW processing. Right. And the contract and others, why is there so much volatility in that number? This is reflective of the CapEx that we have done. In the past, if you see the last nine-month details, it was for the previous year, it was INR 192 crores. For this last nine months, it's around INR 100-odd crores. This is primarily because as and when we do the CapEx, the same line item gets reflected as contract revenue. Once the construction period is done for us, the contract revenue falls off. That asset, once it's put into use, gets reflected into my processing or a C&T line item. This is as per the accounting standard norms wherein assets are not owned by the company. These are DBOOT projects. Hence, I need to recognize them using this kind of methodology. It flows through my income statement and then sits as either financial assets or as intangibles in my balance sheet. So is there any way to make this a little more predictable for investors? We would be very happy to do it. For that, I would like to go back to my old Indian accounting standard, which is simply whatever you own, you put it at land, buildings, plant and machinery, and there is nothing to do with this accounting standard. I would be very happy to do it because it is a nightmare just to explain internally and to my bankers and financiers, "This is my core earnings. This is my accounting-adjusted earnings." Trust me. I mean, this is something that we always bother. But the fact is, today, I mean, with Q3 and Q4, maybe part of Q4, I would say, all my construction phase is almost done. So I will not be having significant contract revenue line item going forward. All of the revenue would predominantly be driven from my core activity of processing and handling waste. We'll just go down to almost zero now from Q4. Quick question, please. Rejoin the queue for follow-up questions. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Jishan Singhi from Krijuna Research and Analytics. Please go ahead. Hello. Hello. Am I audible, sir? You are audible, sir. Please go ahead. Okay. Thank you for this opportunity. First, I would like to ask that if we see on the quarter-over-quarter-wise, your profit has been impacted nearly by 50%. So what could be the potential reason for that? During second quarter, we recognized around INR 14-odd crores of escalation of a past period that got approved in the second quarter of FY 2024. And hence, there was a significant increase in the second quarter's number. Now, if you were to strip out that, then my margins on a year-over-year and sequential have improved on that basis. So this is just the lumpiness coming in because of the administrative lapse in the past, which got rectified in the second quarter. Okay. Okay. My next question is on the construction debris that you mentioned in your last call. I would like to know more about that. That means if it's a new segment your company is entering into and how it can contribute to your top line further going ahead. Yeah. So yeah, this is our first project in the construction and debris processing segment. And there are two revenue streams. Actually, there are three revenue streams in this. The first one. One second. One second. One second. Hello. Hello, sir. It's not audible from your end. Can you please move clear? I think there is an audio issue at your end. If you can kind of mute yourself, then we can hear you. Am I audible now? Yeah. Now it is audible, sir. Yes, sir. So what I was saying is that, yes, this is our first C&T contract. There are three revenue streams in this project. The first one is for the collection and transportation of construction debris from the Western Suburbs of Mumbai to our processing site. This processing fee has got a INR 1 per ton kind of shipping fee, which is paid by BMC to us. The second revenue stream is basically by the sale of the value-added products that we would be selling, which is the sand and aggregates and things like that. These are the two broad revenue streams of this project. Both these will add to our processing revenue. Okay. So in percentage of revenue. Quick question to please rejoin the queue if you have further questions. Okay. The next question is from the line of Shreyansh Jain from Arthya Wealth and Investments. Please go ahead. Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity. I just want to know, like a protest that's going on in Delhi, Noida, and you have collection transportation contracts there. So is there any operational effect that you receive from that protest and on? Sorry. Can you please repeat the question? How does the protest, which is currently going on in Delhi or Noida side, so how does it affect your operations of collection and transportation, which are in Delhi or Noida side? If you can just step a little back because the mic is probably too close. Hello. Am I audible? You're audible but somehow not very clear. Maybe you can try again. Yeah. Now I am audible? Yes, sure. Yeah. I was just asking about the protest which are currently going on in Delhi or Noida side. How does it affect or is it affect your operations of collection and transportation which are going on in Delhi or Noida side? Are you referring to the ongoing farmers' agitation? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, it's too early to say because this agitation actually started technically only yesterday or probably today. It's a bit too early. But Noida, as of now, there is no effect. Delhi also, I mean, there is some restrictions going to the land service thing. But all in all, I mean, there's no effect on our business, I mean, in terms of collection of waste or transportation. Because if any problem in transportation, transporting the waste to your main central point, then will it not be an issue to you? Not really. Currently, we are working out of Karol Bagh area. So there are no great impacts because of these strikes in that region. And the dumping ground or the waste putting sites are away from the places where the strikes are going on. So we don't have any impact on our operations. Because the so-called agitation is only at the border because what we understand is that the Delhi government or Delhi police has stopped these farmers that have these entry points checked, right? But all our operations, our collection points, transportation routes, and the landfill site or the processing site is within the city limits. So we don't, as of now, have any impact on our operations. Okay. And one last question. If I see your C&T revenue, which was in last quarter, INR 152 crores, and this quarter is INR 139 and INR 140 crores, so why there is a fall in it instead you also go last quarter that from 1st November, your Panvel collection and transportation contract is going to start? So it should add your revenue. And there was no other expiry date of your contract. So why there is a fall in collection revenue? Yeah. So last quarter, the second quarter of INR 152.4 crore of revenue, we had around INR 14.8 crore coming in as escalation for the past period. I mean, this was for the past six quarters. So there was a lumpiness there coming in. So if you were to look at a steady state of Q2 C&T operation, the number would be around INR 138 crore. So it's not a significant decline at those numbers, primarily due to escalations being booked in Q2. That is why you're seeing an 8% sequential fall there. Also, in the current quarter, Mangaluru and Thane are kind of getting under the extension mode. So there is some kind of offset in the Thane coming in. So C&T operation on a peer-to-peer comparison, it's still flat to at best positive sequentially. There should be some growth rise because Panvel contract has also been added. So it should add your revenue. You said 420 tons per day you are collecting there. So it should add some revenue while it's flat there. So we started Panvel operations from 1st of November. So we have only two months of operations in the reporting quarter. The ramp-up of any new project doesn't happen at full 100% capacity. You slowly ramp up your operation from ward and then scale it to 100% of the area to be covered. Yeah. But because in the case of Panvel, unlike most of our C&T contracts, it is a responsibility of the corporation to give us vehicles. So this handover of vehicles happened over a period of time. So it's only in January by when Panvel actually handed over the entire fleets to us. So that's why in November, even technically, we started the contract in November, the full impact is not visible in the numbers. Okay. Okay. And is there any solution that the escalation clause you said you are adding to your C&T revenue because this will make our revenue much volatile? Which revenue will be resolved at which quarter, and this should not be able to know in which this would create much volatility in your C&T revenue? So is there any kind of solution or anything? Currently, as for the tender, the escalation is either annual or quarterly. Because of the absence of elected members, there are no rigors being processed by the administrative group. For the foreseeable couple of quarters, there is likely to be some lumpiness in the revenue recognition because currently, they are not recognizing any escalation in the contract which has not been approved by the client. As and when the same gets approved, we would like to bring it into the books. Till that time, we cannot recognize them on notional basis. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Dhruv Shah from Dalal & Broacha Stock Broking Private Limited. Please go ahead. Yeah. Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, just wanted to understand what would be the in-depth impact on the interest and the depreciation part in this quarter in particular because I can see that in September, we had this INR 32 crore of right to use of assets which was created. But I don't think so that similar impact had come in Q2. The majority of it has come in Q3. So if you could just give a bit of detail on that, sir. So I think the total assets that have been incrementally added in the Q3 portion would be not more than around INR 14-odd crores, which forms part of the contract revenue. So that is a bit of it because if you look at the project expense component, that's just INR 5 crores as compared to INR 36 crores in the year-ago period. So bulk of the assets have been booked in, and everything is done. This was just a timing from the independent engineer to certify the bills that is getting recognized in the third quarter. Okay. But in interest and depreciation in particular, what would be the impact of the indebtedness? That won't be significant here because this is the first quarter wherein the PCMC's assets have been put to use. So the incremental hit would be in the range of around INR 3 crore in terms of depreciation and in terms of interest bills less than INR 2.5 crore. So that is the incremental impact that you can see. Okay. The rest of the interest is the increased cost, or what is any other reason for that? It's also the increase in cost due to the pulldown of debt at two or three sites where we have incurred the CapEx support vehicles at Panvel, for example, and at Nagpur and other sites. So incremental CapEx at a Kanjur project and C&T operations is the reason why that is there, slight increase in the interest cost. Additionally, the cost of interest is slightly inched up over the last three quarters. So that is also kind of weighing on the numbers. Okay. Okay, sir. Got it. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Arpit Shah from Stallion Asset. Please go ahead. Hello. Sir, you're audible. You may proceed, sir. Yeah. I think I missed a number for interest and depreciation normalized for waste-to-energy plant going ahead. What was that number? Yeah. On a steady state of operation, my depreciation on waste-to-energy would be around INR 17-odd crores. That is for the full year. INR 17 crore. What would be the interest? Interest would be around INR 13-odd crores. 13 or 30? 13. What was the revenue this quarter from the plant? Revenue from the waste-to-energy plant in the current quarter, that is Q3, was around INR 6.2 crores. And that is just because when we started the operations, we have less than around 60 days or 70 days of effective operations and tested the plant right from 30 PLF to 95 PLF and everything. So we have recognized just around INR 6.9 crores or INR 6.2 crores, sorry, from the waste-to-energy project in Q3. What kind of monthly run rates did you see in this plan given that you already operated the last three weeks almost 90% PLF? We have around INR 6.2 crore revenue that's only from the sale of power. Over and above that, we also have revenue from the tipping fees, which is payable by PCMC to us for the incoming waste. So that's the initial revenue. What would a steady state tipping fees plus sale of power, let's say, when the plant is operating 85%-90% PLF? It should touch anywhere between INR 12 crores-INR 13.5 crores. This is a very conservative number based on an 80% PLF plan with load factors and an auxiliary consumption of around 14%. So that is a number that we're looking around. I mean, actually, the numbers for Q4 would actually give us a benchmark on how the steady state of our plant is likely to be. INR 12 crores-INR 13 crores, is on a quarterly rate or a monthly rate? On a quarterly rate. Which includes tipping fees plus sale of power? Yes. Okay. And what kind of margin you'll be making on this business because it's a typically high-margin business, right? Yes. It's normally a very high-margin business. So this is like any processing contract will be around 40%-45%, kind of an effective kind of number. It can even be better depending upon the auxiliary power consumption stats and everything. So that is why the Q4 would be the first quarter where we have the basic numbers about what kind of rated capacity, the ops consumption, the kind of LDUs that we need to use for startups and shutdowns. All will come into play. Got it. Got it. Thank you so much. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Dr. Gagan N. Jain from HRJ Investments. Please go ahead. Yeah. Hello, everyone. I think, sir, you've answered most of the questions regarding to the balance sheet. Am I audible now? Yes. Yeah. So I just wanted to ask you, sir, in the future, what are we doing for the car recycling businesses which are really coming up, battery recycling, the biogas? As you know, in this budget, they said that biogas, they're going to add 25%. They're going to add. So are you looking at these verticals also, and what is the revenue, and by what time can we expect these revenues to really materialize, if any? So our first focus in this recycling segment is also enterprise vehicle scrapping thing. Currently, we are in the process of identifying suitable land. We have already zeroed down on a couple of locations in two different states. And we are also talking to one of the OEMs as a potential partner for this project. So I think if all goes well, I think by third quarter of next financial year, we should be in a position to announce this project. So that's our first focus. Second one is the tire recycling, which we want to actually set up in the same auto recycling facility. For that also, we are not looking for a partnership, but we already have identified the equipment for the same. Just for the biogas? The bio-CNG, more than the bio-CNG, we actually are looking at as of now, our focus is to look at more waste-to-energy products because we think that that probably has got a better return on our efforts. Okay. Sir, I just like to understand by saying just one thing, sir. Actually, I think we have to publicize this business a bit, and we have to make people more aware because I think I agree with the second caller that the potential is high, but the communication thing is really which is troubling us, and it can really make us fly if we can just work on that communication part and maybe get into that battery and biogas if possible. You can look ahead for that and maybe give some announcements and some future plans so that we can also just work on that. Thank you. Sure. I mean, what I would say, like the gentleman who said earlier, I mean, we can always have an offline discussion, take your suggestions, and improve our communication narrative. Yeah. Because I think that really makes the investor confidence really go up, and that will help everybody as a whole, as a business also to grow, I guess. So thank you, best of luck. We'll be happy to engage. Yeah. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sandeep Salaria, an investor. Please go ahead. Yeah. Hello. Am I audible? You're audible, sir. Please proceed. Yeah. Good afternoon, sir. I've joined late. Pardon me. My questions have been half already answered. I have two questions. See, I see the interest cost has doubled, and depreciation has also impacted 50% in this quarter. Top line has remained that of big long funding last year and a half, two years. When do we see this top line growth coming back? I also see in the past, we had a bit of margin of 25%-26% range. When do we expect that? The interest cost and depreciation, are they going to go down in further quarters? To start with, the interest and depreciation has ignited because of the commercial start of the waste-to-energy project. To date, they were under capitalization phase, so that is why those were absent. Now that the plant is put to use, the sale of power has started, so the cost is now coming in. So we see these things to taper off over the next year or two. It's going to be gradual because these are 21-year projects. So the interest cost, of course, will taper off faster within the next six to seven years. But the depreciation is going to be steady at these rates given the projects that we already have. The total revenue is flat primarily because the fall in the project revenue, which is the construction-related revenue, which has come down sharply from INR 64 crore to INR 30 crore in this quarter because the entire construction phase is done and dusted. But if you look at our core operating revenue, that increased by 22%. So the fall in project revenue, which shows the fact that the construction phase is going off the schedule, is getting replaced by the increase in my core operating revenue. So as you mentioned, we will grow the company at core operating revenues around 18%-22% comfortably given the underlying projects that we already have. Okay. Thank you. I have a second question. I see a lot of variation in our PAT due to these huge variations in our tax. Our tax rate is erratic. It ranged from 11% in one quarter to 35% next. Is there any specific region where we have a large variation in our tax every quarter? And is there any way we can reduce this lumpiness in our EPS and tax percentage? We call it give electric shocks to investors every time we see this. I agree. The lumpiness is primarily due to administrative reasons at the municipal corporations because of the absence of elected members. Since approval for escalations are not coming in a timely fashion, that is why we are seeing lumpiness in the revenue recognition and the booking of income. And that is also reflective in the receivable cycles. Once things stabilize, once we have elected members in all the clients that we work with, this thing will be streamlined. So if you were to look at our financial numbers, pre-2022, I mean, there was a steady state of affairs with a steady kind of numbers coming in, which was very predictable in an annuity kind of a model. Post-2021, where most of the clients don't have elected members, we are seeing a significant delay in decision-making authority. We hope post-May or May, June, when the elections are over and we have elected members in most of the municipal corporations by the third quarter, things should be back to where it was a couple of years back. But does this relate to tax as well because tax I see a huge variation? We joined the queue for follow-up questions. Thank you. The next question is from the line of CA Shivam Parekh from Valuewise Wealth Management Services. Please go ahead. Hi, sir. Good afternoon. I wanted an update regarding the dividend policy of the firm. Second question is that you told that you were interested further in the waste-to-energy projects. Are we in potential talks with some municipalities regarding waste-to-energy? These are my questions. Yes, of course. I mean, that's why we are talking to several municipalities. As you know, municipalities need to tender out these projects. The next three months, everyone would be under the election fever. We expect that many of these municipalities will launch their waste-to-energy tenders by the end of this financial year. Okay, sir. Sir, update on the dividend policy? The board is very cognizant of the dividend point. Given the fact that the company is currently in the growth stage, the board is aware for the projects to stabilize, the DSCR and the interest coverage ratio should be stabilized once, and then they will initiate on the dividend policy. Okay. Sir, two, three quarters or fourth quarters down the line, can we expect some dividend announcement? I think the board has already been aware of this point, and they are definitely working on the same principle. So we would expect the board to inform the management on the policy on this aspect. Okay, sir. Thank you, sir. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rohit Maheshwari from TATA AIG. Please go ahead. Hi, sir. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to ask a question. Sir, my question is related to construction and demolition debris. INR 1,200 crore is a maximum potential revenue in 20 years, or there's an upside to this number? No. The C&D waste we have been talking about, annual revenue of about INR 30 crore per year. It's a 21-year concession. So we expect that the tonnage also will increase over a period of time, plus the tipping fee also will get escalated as per the tender condition. So that's the potential upside. The maximum revenue per year will not be more than INR 60 crore, correct? Approximately, that should be the ballpark, assuming tipping fee and sale of byproducts put together. Okay. My second question is, if I see an annual tax rate, for example, if I see the nine months for this financial year is close to 27%, so going forward, that should be the number we should estimate in our model, correct? A couple of variables. The tonnage always keeps swinging. But yeah, around 20%-24% growth in our core operating is a number that, based on the underlying projects that we have, should be baked in, and the EBITDA should be in line with what we have reported now. No, sir. I was talking about tax rate. The tax rate, what we should consider on an annual basis, should be between 25%-27%, correct? That should be a very good assumption. Okay. Thank you, sir. Thanks. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ketan R. Chheda, an individual investor. Please go ahead. Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity. So sir, given the nature of our contracts, which are pretty much long-term contracts, and based on the projects that you have ramped up and started ramping, would you be able to give guidance for Q4 and FY 2025? For Q4, our core operating revenue would be in the range of around INR 200 crores-INR 210 crores. I mean, that is a number that we are comfortable with. Again, I'm talking about the core operating revenue. And for FY 2025, around 20%-24% growth is a safe assumption. Currently, looking at the way the tonnages and everything is coming in from the projects that we handle, I think this is a number that we are working with internally. 20%-24% growth rate? Yeah. Sorry. Did I hear that correct? Is it 20%-24% growth? 20%-24%. 22%-24%. Okay, sir. Yeah. The next question is, in this Q3 revenues, do we have any contribution from C&D revenues, or C&D revenues have not kicked in yet? Not yet. Not yet because the project is under construction. Okay. Do we expect them from Q4 onwards? From quarter one of next year. Yeah. Okay, okay. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Utkarsh Somaiya, an individual investor. Please go ahead. Yeah. Thanks again. I had a question. Just wanted to ask you, from your discussions with the municipal corporation officials, what is the sentiment regarding municipal solid waste collection, recycling? Given that globally, the sentiment is very bullish on this sector, just wanted to understand from your conversations, is there any sense of urgency? And yeah. From the point of view of municipalities and these officials, they are extremely, extremely now finicky about improving their ranks in this Swachh Bharat Abhiyan ranking, the city ranking, cleanliness ranking that Government of India has. You must visit some of these cities. And then if you talk to some of these officials, they actually seriously want to improve the collection efficiency, want to have most of their waste processed, and actually work along those lines. So that's why we see that in terms of business opportunities, there are endless opportunities because not only the big metropolitan cities, even the Tier 2 cities are now actually allocating a much larger part of their budget towards sanitation activities, which is a huge positive for our business. So wherever government has actually intended to spend a lot of money, for example, in the power sector and defense, they have really gone all guns blazing. So do you see this sector to really see a lot of allocation from the government or a lot of spending from the corporations? And thereby, do you see a lot of tenders coming, sizable tenders? And yeah, size of the tenders also, if you can kind of speak about what kind of sizes. That's what I must say, that the order of magnitude of the power sector or the different sector is very different from this kind of waste management business because even a large power plant, we'll be talking about 2,000, 3,000 MW of power. Right here, we're talking about municipal waste. The largest would probably be like 20, 25 MW. So we're talking about a different scale. But within that scale, we see not many opportunities and not many cities coming up with more and more such projects. So to answer your question about the increased funding which is available, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan actually has CapEx funding for funding the CapEx portion of some of these collection, transportation, contract, and processing projects, even for the viability gap funding, which is required to make some of these projects commercially viable. So which in itself is a huge improvement. But as I said, don't compare the scale to order of magnitude. But if you compare with what the business was two years ago or three years ago, we see a quantum chart. Thank you so much. Can I ask one more question, if you don't mind? Yes, please. Yeah. Can you speak about your margin profile of the three segments you have? And going forward, do you see the revenue mix changing between the three segments? Yeah. So normally, we don't comment upon the segment margins over here because that's slightly more sensitive given the fact that it has a very competitive industry, and it's on a price-bidding kind of a range. So we normally don't comment on the margins, activity-based margins. Yeah. But talking about some things, I mean, if you see historically, our C&T business was about 60%-65% of the overall revenue. Going forward, in the next couple of years, we want to make it at least 50/50, if not more, in favor of processing projects. So that's one. Secondly, we are also very keen to increase our non-municipal revenue because as of now, only sale of compost or RDF, which is about 2% of our revenue, is non-municipal. Going forward, with the addition of some of these value-added products from the C&D projects, the construction-related projects, and commissioning of these auto scrap or the tire recycling projects, we want to at least increase that revenue to 5% in the next couple of years. That's the business plan or the target that we have very intermittent. Oh, okay. Noted. Thank you so much. And best of luck. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraints, we will take that as the last question. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Jose Jacob for closing comments. Over to you, sir. I want to express my sincere gratitude to our dedicated team, whose unwavering commitment has been instrumental in achieving our objectives. I also extend my heartfelt appreciation to our esteemed clients and stakeholders for their steadfast support. Together, we have built a strong and successful company, and I'm confident that our journey towards a cleaner and a greener future will be characterized by ongoing triumphs. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. On behalf of Antony Waste Handling Cell Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you all for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.