Good morning, everyone. Good morning and welcome to the 3Q and FY25 conference call of NALCO Limited. On behalf of Systematix, we welcome you all today. We are joined by Mr. Sri Brijendra Pratap Singh, Chairman-cum-Managing Director; Sri Ramesh Chandra Joshi, Director of Finance; Sri Srimanta Panda, Executive Director Finance; and Mr. Bharat Kumar Sahu, Company Secretary, representing NALCO Limited today with us to discuss the 3Q FY25 financial results. Sir, thank you so much for joining us today to discuss your results and performance for third quarter and nine months of FY25. We can hand over to you, sir, for your opening remarks, and then subsequently we can open the floor for a Q&A session. Thank you, Shweta. A very good morning to all our esteemed stakeholders to this earnings conference call. I'm happy to share with all our valued investors that during the third quarter of FY25, NALCO has registered its highest-ever quarterly as well as nine-month cumulative turnover, profit after tax, and EBITDA since inception. NALCO has declared second interim dividend of INR 4 per share, followed by the first interim dividend, which was also INR 4 per share, making it the highest-ever dividend declared by NALCO so far. Driven by better sales realization in alumina and metal segment, higher sales volume of alumina, use of captive coal, and reduction in cost of raw material, profit in 2024 has surged threefold. 2024 Q3. On standalone basis, NALCO has registered a cumulative PAT of INR 3,246 crores during the nine-month period FY25, as against INR 1,044 crores during the corresponding nine-month period of the previous fiscal. The cumulative PAT up to December 25 is higher by 211% compared to the previous nine-month period. Turnover during the nine-month period is INR 11,434 crores, as against INR 9,506 crores in corresponding period of previous year, which is higher by around 20%. During the quarter, NALCO registered standalone PBT of INR 2,122 crores and PAT of INR 1,583 crores compared to PBT of INR 68 crores and PAT of INR 488 crores during Q3 FY24. The increase in profit after tax is around 224% during Q3 FY25 compared to Q3 FY24. I'm confident that the strong financial performance reported has further reinforced the trust and confidence of all our stakeholders in NALCO. These robust numbers are a testament to our resilience, strategic vision, and commitment to delivering sustained value. They reflect not just our financial strength, but also the trust our investors, stakeholders, and partners place on us. As we move forward, we remain dedicated to upholding this confidence by driving growth, innovation, and long-term success. Now, management will give a presentation before taking questions. Good morning. My name is Ravi, and I'll take you through a small presentation that we have prepared for this conference call. The presentation would cover the company's financial performance in the last three quarters, the financial highlights, the industry outlook which should include the global and Indian scenario, and business highlights apart from the last slide being on ESG. We are a Navratna PSU with the Government of India holding 51.28%, which has a 39% in 2024. We are one of the largest integrated bauxite, alumina, aluminum, power, and coal projects today. We are also a global leader in producing bauxite and alumina at the lowest cost. Our facilities include a bauxite mine of 6.825 million tons per annum, refinery of 2.1 million tons per annum, from where we have the finished goods, which are alumina hydrate, special hydrates, and calcined alumina. Our smelter plant is 0.46 million tons per annum, and the products at our smelter plant are the standard ingots, T-ingots, billets, wire rods, and rolled products. So this would include basically the primary alumina products as well as secondary products, which is covered in the billets, wire rods, and rolled products. We have a captive power plant which supplies our power to the smelter plant. It's about 1,200 megawatts capacity. And supplying coal to this CPP is a 4 million tons per annum coal mine, which is nearer to the CPP. It's about 25 km from where the captive power plant is located. We have dedicated facilities at Visakhapatnam Port for the export of our alumina. The dedicated berth has an automated loading system as well as storage facilities. Besides, of course, we also have input storage facilities at the Visakhapatnam Port. In addition to all these facilities, we also have wind power plants, which are spread throughout the country, specifically in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan, and the combined capacity is about 198 megawatts. On the production front, in the third quarter, all the facilities are working at 100% capacity as of date, and we have the performance for the Q3, which is the first column, and we have increased the production in bauxite, alumina, metal, as well as thermal power. In comparison to Q3 of 2024, the figures are significantly higher, except in the case of metal, where we have made certain internal technical adjustments within our smelter plant. However, we would be achieving the rated capacity of our plant, which is about 0.46 million tons per annum. For the nine-month ending, it's a tad lower when the metal is concerned at 342, but we hope to achieve the 0.46 million tons per annum capacity by the end of this quarter. On the sales front, the third quarter has been financially important. The third quarter has shown some strong performances. The sales volumes have considerably increased where the alumina export is concerned, and that has also been helped by the rising prices in the last two quarters, starting from the end of the second quarter and the third quarter. Metal export, you can see, is zero when compared to Q3 of 2024, and that's primarily because our realisations in the domestic market have been significantly higher. The domestic market is also being driven by the public infrastructure as well as transportation sectors. The domestic market sales have been robust. The financial highlights have already been explained to you by our director of finance. The highlights, of course, will be up for discussion after we finish this presentation. One of the highlights is, of course, we have had the highest-ever revenue from our operations, the highest-ever profit after tax, highest EBITDA margin ever, and the highest-ever dividend we've paid out by Nalco in the 45 years of our existence. One of the benefits that we have got from our quarterly results comes from the changes in the alumina prices. Now, since we are exposed to the commodity cycles, the alumina prices in the last two since May 2024 have seen their swings up and down. But in the last quarter, there have been significant swings in the upward trend of the alumina. The beginning of the year, the quotes were somewhere around INR 1,300 per tonne for 2024. However, the market dynamics have changed, primarily, of course, because of geopolitical reasons, and then there was an impact on the prices of alumina because of some of the exports emerging from Pakistan, Indonesia, as well as Australia. Subsequently, of course, this has changed, and we expect that by the end of 2025, there would be a strong surplus of primary alumina in the world market. We are still seeing the action of the tariffs that have been imposed on aluminum from the U.S. The play on this particular tariff will be emerging in the next few days. And there is a lot of volatility that can be observed in the next few days. The global alumina scenario, like I mentioned in the earlier slide, we expect that by the impact by there has been. Sorry to interrupt, sir. There's a lot of disturbance on the line. Yes, it's better now. So please carry on. So in the nine months that have ended, when global alumina scenario is concerned, we've seen a small deficit in terms of the metal that is available in the market. However, we expect that it's going to be very marginal because we expect more metal to come back into the market following the new tariffs that have been announced in the US. The alumina scenario, which was on the lower side towards the October and November of 2024, will be seeing an upswing in terms of international market, and we expect a surplus by the end of 2025. The industry outlook in India is far more positive in terms of the growth that is happening in infrastructure, transportation, and, of course, the electrical sector, which is taking the large chunk of the aluminum usage in India. The consumption in India in 2024 was about 4.9 million tons. And going by the estimates and market analysis, by 2020, in India, it is estimated that this particular consumption would increase to about 8.3 million tons per annum. So for the aluminum sector in India, the infrastructure, electrical, as well as transportation, are going to be the growth drivers in the next five years. And that is reflected in the kind of investments that are happening in this area, which is also announced in the recent budgets. We are, of course, one of the largest integrated operations. We are located strategically all in the state of Odisha itself. So all our plants are within this region. And logistically, we are well connected with respect to access to the traffic from our respective plants. The pit heads are very close to the refinery as well as the CPP. So the supply constraint when it comes to bauxite as well as alumina, sorry, coal, is managed very well. Besides, there is a lot of infrastructure development happening with respect to the transportation of material between the plants within the state of Odisha in the last six months. We have a zero debt, which can be leveraged to give us the strength in the balance sheet to fund our expansion and power expansion plans, which are going to come up in the next five years' time. We are, in fact, raw materials securitization where coal as well as coal is concerned is something that has happened very recently to the company. In fact, it is now two years running. And we are seeing incremental benefits of this securitization that has appeared in the results in the last nine months. Our refinery capacity is currently under expansion. The expanded capacity is expected to come on stream by the end of this financial year. One of the benefits that we will be retaining from this expansion is the revenue that we'll be generating from this refinery. In fact, in the first year, we would expect to produce about five lakh tons, and it will be increased to one million tons, which is the rated capacity of the refinery expansion. The excess alumina that will come from this refinery will go to the smelter, which is, again, a brownfield addition to our existing smelter plant. The plan is to have a 0.5 million tons smelter plant near our existing smelter in the next five years' time. The capacity from this, the cast metal from this smelter, would give us the scope for going downstream into extrusions as well as other value-added products. These are some of the projects which the company is already into. The bauxite mine expansion will add a capacity of 3.5, which will essentially feed the expansion that is happening at the alumina refinery. The bauxite mines is expected to come on stream by the end of 2026. The alumina refinery, which is also an expansion of the existing capacity, will add 1 million tons per annum, also expected to be completed in the upcoming financial year. The aluminum smelter is an activity which is already begun. So the land acquisition activities and other sector clearances are already underway. The capacity for this aluminum smelter is 0.5 million tons per annum, which is, again, expected in fiscal 2030. To feed this aluminum smelter, we would also be having a captive power plant at the same location, which would be about 1200 megawatts capacity, and which will also come along with the smelter in fiscal 2030. While not yet focusing on the business of aluminum, alumina, and bauxite, we are also, of course, focusing on several of the ESG requirements within the organization. The objective, of course, is to minimize environmental harm and implementing effective risk management strategies because, as a company, we are also doing a mining activity where we're exposed to a lot of regulations within the ecosystem. Some of the key initiatives to mitigate to bring the company to the forefront of focus into the environment are afforestation, wastewater utilization, advanced pollution control technologies, water pollution management, biodiversity protection, as well as efficient fuel handling. In fact, our bauxite mine is 98% free. Latest mining activity is performed in our bauxite mine. As part of the plantation activities, we have planted close to about 150,000 trees in 2023-24, which is up 14.3%. About 14.3 hectares have been mined out. The mined-out areas have been rehabilitated with plantation in our bauxite mines. Of course, we also use fog cannons, Nelson sprinklers to suppress dust in our mines, and the ash utilization at our refineries, which is the part we have a small power generating plant over there, is about 100%. It's more than 100%. In fact, at the bauxite mine, we have recently come up with a biodiversity conservation policy, which is one of the first things that we have been doing in terms of biodiversity conservation, and aside from this, we have also set up a wind power plant, which I've already mentioned earlier. In addition to that, we are also setting up rooftop solar. Currently, we have a capacity of 800 kilowatts of rooftop solar, and we plan to add another seven megawatts of rooftop solar in this organization within the next one and a half years. Socially, we have a lot of interventions that are happening in the peripheral villages of the plants. One of some of the flagship programs over here I would like to bring to your attention is an interprofessional program, which basically sponsors kids from the underprivileged areas in the Damanjodi sector. We provide them education in reputed international schools in this area. In fact, close to 800-odd kids are already currently studying in the schools over there. Nalco Ki Ladli is another flagship program that we have, which is aligned with the 20 Point Programme of the Government of India, where we support about 280 meritorious girls to this day from below poverty line families and the Damanjodi sectors. We have eight mobile health units, which deliver services in around 200 peripheral villages. Annually, more than 1 lakh patients benefit from this effort of ours. Apart from these flagship programs, we also have other social projects for constructing roads, repairing them, drainages, development of school infrastructure, community infrastructure, which has, of course, water projects. Finally, on the governance front, we have 10 board-level committees for ESG governance. We have 15 core policies and guidelines for the governance activities. Our self-appraisal for Q3 2024-25 on the adherence to ESG guidelines was excellent. We have a very fair treatment for investors, government policies, and reporting transparency. We have regular risk assessments and evaluations to manage risk within the organization, and we have, of course, a number of ISO certifications, which ensure that our processes are aligned with the best business practices. Thank you. Thank you, sir. So we can now proceed with the Q&A session. We have a lot of participants raising their hands, so I'll take questions one by one. First question comes from the line of Mr. Amit Dixit. So please introduce yourself and then proceed with your question. Yeah, hi. Good morning, everyone. I'm Amit Dixit from ICICI Securities. I have two questions for you, sir. In the slide where you mentioned about the CapEx projects, so just wanted to understand the total CapEx that has been committed for these projects. If you can mention project-wise, that would be good. And the sort of CapEx outlay that we could expect over the next three to four years. Thanks. The CapEx projected for this year was around INR 2,000 crores, and expected expenditure will be around INR 1,500 crores we'll be doing. Major shortfall, some AMR schemes we have taken at the refinery and our smelter plant. In some of the AMR schemes we have taken for sustenance, those AMR schemes, maybe some shortfall will be there. And in our refinery scheme, in our refinery expansion, fifth expansion, we have planned. There are also some shortfalls there. However, as for refinery expansion is concerned, maybe December, September is our target. In between September, December, we'll be finishing it. Therefore, CapEx next year also our plan will be around INR 2,000 crores. Okay. In addition to that, what CapEx lineup is right now, we have fifth stream. Refinery expansion is on. And we are spending about INR 5,677 crores on fifth refinery, fifth stream. And we have expansion of Pottangi mines. There will be spending about INR 1,961 crores. So these two projects will be completing in next one year or so. This is up to January. After that, we are going for smelter expansion at the cost of INR 17,153 crores. The DPR is already approved by the board. And for sourcing the power, we are planning to go with JV with NTPC. For that, again, there will be a project cost of about 13,000. So these are the project lineup in the future. Great, sir. That's very helpful. The second question is on the coal security. So as I understand, we have a couple of blocks with us. So just wanted to understand the current EC limit for these coal blocks. And is there a possibility of getting further enhancement on EC and what kind of coal security we are targeting in the future when the aluminum plant also comes up, the new one? As far as coal requirement for our CPP is concerned, we have a requirement of around 7 million tons. We have got two coal blocks, that is Utkal D & E, both 2 million ton, 2 million ton. 4 million ton will be the total coal which we'll be able to produce at least this financial year. Current financial year will be going up to 3 million ton because for Utkal D and E, some delay was there. We have got clearances for that also. Next financial year, around 4 million ton will be producing. Whatever coal we were taking through E-auction, that will not be required to take E-auction coal. All will be produced through this Utkal D & E. Okay, sir. That's great. Thank you so much for the information. Thank you. Next question is from Sumayya. Yeah, hi. Sir, I hope I'm audible. Yes, you're audible. Yes. Thanks for the opportunity, sir. So first question is on your alumina. If you could just help with the in terms of pricing, so this is M minus one, M minus two, how does the pricing work? How much would we spot? That's one. And also in terms of export markets, which are the markets and what is the regional premium that we have an exposure to? You are talking about spot prices? Alumina spot prices. Alumina realizations, this is more to do with how the pricing works there. So I just want to understand whether it's an M minus one pricing or how does it work? Alumina prices actually, on an average, the trend has been around maybe $400, $430, $450 used to be in the previous years. But this year, in between, in June, some shortfall in alumina production was there in Australia. So the prices shot up of this alumina export prices to around $800 spot prices. Now that plant in Australia has already started. So the demand gap, the supply demand ability, which was around 4 to 5 lakh tons in maybe Q1, Q2, that has come down almost. The demand-supply gap is not there. So current spot price is going to around $530. So maybe further in the coming times, it may come down also. And during third quarter, we have got $641 average price of alumina. And up to nine months of this year, it is $562. Regarding spot and term contract, we decide strategically when to go for spot and when to go for term. Since in this year, the price was in the increasing trend, so most of our sales in our spot basis. Six. Got it, sir. So even if it's a term contract, so this will be based on M minus one or M minus two pricing. That's how it will work, right? Yeah, yeah. Understood. Sir, and also this new project that we are bringing online, the new refinery expansion, in terms of cost or in terms of margin profile, would it be similar to our existing one, or would there be any difference? Either it will be higher or lower in terms of contribution? Cost-wise, whatever alumina will be produced here, that will be almost same to the existing one because the raw material, whatever bauxite we are getting, that will be from the same mines and one more mines, Pottangi mines we have got. We are just nearby. No major transportation cost will be involved. So the cost will be almost same to the existing alumina cost. Sir, one small clarification to the earlier question on CapEx. So you mentioned close to Pottangi mines plus this refinery, somewhere around INR 7,500 crores of CapEx, 5,600 plus 1,900. So of this, how much has been spent so far and how much is remaining? That is one. And second thing, in terms of the smelter capacity expansion that we are talking about, when will the CapEx outflow for this start? And also the NTPC number that you said, if you can just repeat, that should be helpful. As far as this refinery and Pottangi mines is concerned, refinery, our total CapEx plan was around INR 5,700 crores. And out of that, 3,500 already we have spent in that. And till date, around 70% completion of the job, physical progress is there. We are trying to commission this project in September. And mines, Pottangi mines, almost all clearances we have got. And the CapEx there is around INR 2,200 crores. We are going in for tender, maybe this month itself, February end or March, the NIT for MDO appointment. MDO appointment board has given the clearance. We are going to appoint an MDO for operating that mines. We're trying to place order by May, June, so that six months' time will be there for MDO to start the mines. Maybe in between September and December, somewhere we'll try to start the Pottangi mines. As far as our smelter is concerned, that is the expansion of smelter, 0.5-million-ton smelter expansion we are planning in addition to our existing capacities, for which DPR has been made by EIL. DPR is approved by the board. The board has given in-principle clearance. We are going in for technology partner, which EIL has selected, AP Tech, Rio Tinto, Canada. We are into negotiation with them for supply of technology. Almost the negotiations are on the verge of finalization. Once that is over, maybe this month itself, we'll be going for preparation of tender document, technical specification with EIL. Our plan is that so that this tender and all the document within next six months, we should try to float the tender and award the tender maybe next 7-8 months so that the job starts after that. And maybe next four, five years, we should start the smelter plant because the commissioning itself will take three to four years of the plant after ordering. And along with that, one power plant also will be required because smelter will require a captive power plant. For that, we'll be trying to go in a joint venture mode with NTPC for setting up a power plant. Got it, sir. Thank you. Till that time, what we are observing, we have an additional casting facility of aluminum of around 1 lakh tons. We are trying to increase our hot metal production, which is around 4.5 million tons, trying to take some small, small projects so that our hot metal, we can increase the capacity or maybe use some scraps so that this casting facility, whatever extra casting facility we are having to increase the cast metal production. We are going for appointing EIL as a consultant to give some kind of feasibility, whether that is possible or not. The next question is from the line of Divya Agarwal. Divya, please unmute yourself and go ahead with the question. Hi sir, thanks for taking my question. So sir, my question is on the alumina side. So can you throw some light on the alumina and the bauxite pricing and the entire situation right now? Because we are seeing the alumina prices are corrected, but the bauxite prices are not being corrected in the similar tandem. So will this trend continue or how is the situation right now? Just, you can repeat your question. Not audible. It was not clearly audible. Am I audible now, sir? Ha, now it is okay. Yeah. So I just wanted to know about the current scenario on the alumina as well as the bauxite pricing scenario because if we see the alumina prices have reduced, but the bauxite prices have not reduced in the similar tandem. So will this trend continue going forward or how will be the gap going forward in the coming quarters or the coming years? Actually, alumina prices depends on demand-supply, what is the alumina production, and bauxite prices also on the mining cost of the mining is there, so bauxite cost almost remains always constant, but alumina is totally dependent on the production from the smelter. Few of the smelters were closed down due to high alumina price, so when these smelters will start operating, the alumina demand will also increase, but alumina production, which was on the lower side earlier, now there will be an excess of alumina in the coming times, so we are seeing that whatever spot prices are now, around $530 is the spot price as of date. That may go down in the coming time, that may go down to maybe $500 or $500 below. Okay, sir, got it. That's all from mine. Thanks. Thanks. Thank you. Next question is from Sumangal. Sumangal, please unmute yourself and go ahead. Yeah, good afternoon. This is Sumangal Nevatia from Kotak Securities. Firstly, sir, thanks for hosting this call. We hope this practice continues in future. Thank you for spending time with us. First question, on the overall employee cost, so since last few years, it's been steady around INR 2,000-INR 2,100 crores a year. Can you guide us how are we looking at it over the next one to two years? And in terms of annual retirements, etc., how are we positioned? Employee cost will remain at same level, about INR 2,000-2,100 crores. And these nine months, you must have seen that the employee cost has come down by about INR 150 crores. That is because of one-time provision we have made for non-executive PRP. So that's why this 150 crores about expenditure has come down. But our employee cost will remain more or less in the same range of INR 2,100-2,200, even after expansion. Understood. So annually, how many employees, what is the employee count trend in terms of retirement over the next two years? Next two years, about 200 employees will be retiring. Each year? Each year, about 40. Understood. Understood. That's helpful. Sir, on the coal sourcing, just continuing on the previous question, in the first nine months, have we completed this 3 million tons, which we are expecting this year, or it is distributed coming also in the fourth quarter? And so can you give us the mix of the coal sourcing currently in the nine months? Yeah, yeah. Coal sourcing this nine months, just one more time give it to you. Yeah. 49% we have sourced through linkage, 4% through E-auction, and balance 47% is captive. Okay. And sir, next year, if you're doing four million tons, so then out of seven, four million tons would be captive and three would be linkage, right? No, see, it will be 50-50 only because our machinery or our technology wants that mix of 50%-50%. Otherwise, it is creating some problem in the process by using more of a linkage means captive coal because of its quality. So it has to be mixed 50%-50% to have a right mix of. Understood. Sir, what would be so in between? We were hearing that there could be an expansion of capacity from four to, say, five and a half or something, given some automatic approval of EC extension. Is that not now currently on the anvil? 20%. 20% is there if we achieve the target of 4 million tons, then automatic 20% we can increase. That is around maybe 8 lakh. 800,000 tons we will be able to increase. That will be coming in the subsequent year. If next year we'll do 4 million tons, then the subsequent year we'll be able to further go to maybe 4.8 million tons. Understood. Understood. And sir, what would be the cost difference between linkage and captive or is it similar cost? Linkage and Captive, there is a price difference of about INR 400. But Linkage, in any case we are going to use, we should see the price advantage of not using E-auction and using Captive. Yeah, yeah. But that is already behind us, right? I mean, incrementally, we don't expect any further major reduction in cost on the coal front. Is that the right way to understand? Right. Yes, yes, yes. Understood. That's very clear. Sir, on the overall alumina volumes, currently we have 2.1 million tons capacity. So on rated basis, our external sales can be up to 1.3 million tons also. But our current run rate is much lower. So what should we expect for external alumina sales in the fourth quarter and then in FY26 without the new refinery? Actually, for our smelter operation, we require around 0.9. Ha, matlab 0.4. 0.4 ke jagah around 0.91 million ton will be requiring for smelter. So if out of 2.1, 1 million ton goes to smelter, we are left with 1.1. So maybe 1.1 will be the figure which will be going for exports or maybe domestic sales, including major will be exports. Okay, okay. Understood. And sir, just on the CapEx, I mean, for this smelter, we will start spending from FY27. So we are looking at, I think we said 17,000 plus another 13 for the power plant. So what sort of annual CapEx could we see from FY27 onwards? If we see in the initial year of financial year 27, you are talking? Yeah, that's right. When we start spending for the smelter. Hardly, it will be around maybe 10-15% of the total because initially all drawings, approvals, and all that will be there, so maybe 10-15% of the total whatever CapEx will be there, and in the subsequent two, three years, it will be 25, 25% like that, 25-30%, so first year, it will be hardly 15-20%, 15% max. Okay, okay. Smelter plus power would be around INR 30,000 crores, right? Is that the right understanding? Yes, yes, yes. Okay. And just one last question on the new refinery, which is coming up. So we have a substantial amount of CapEx still left. So how confident are we of this commissioning by December, or should we expect some more delays? Because in the past, we've continuously seen delays because of some issues or the other. So what sort of volumes and commissioning should we expect on a conservative basis? Actually, as far as this refinery is concerned, after joining, I visited there two times, and I was there for two, three days dealing with all the parties who are doing the job. And I am very closely monitoring that. And we have found that few packages, some delays are there. We have highlighted also those things. And we are trying to take care that September we were targeting earlier. But by December, at least we should try to finish off. And whatever actions we are taken, we are confident enough by December we will be finishing and starting the trials of the commissioning. Okay. So when do we expect commercial volumes? Is it FY27 then? Commercial volume will start next three, four months when we start the trials and all that. Yeah, maybe FY27, March, April. April onwards, the commercial volumes will start. Okay, okay. And sorry, just last one. In this INR 2,000 crore CapEx, what is our maintenance CapEx for existing capacity? And how much is the growth CapEx for all this future refinery and smelter expansion? 700 crores is for this, and expansion is INR 1,300 crores. Okay, so the INR 800 crores is something which will continue? Yeah. Understood. Okay. Thank you so much for patiently answering all the questions. All the best, sir. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. We'll take the next question from Pranay Khandelwal. Pranay, please go ahead. Hello. Yeah, hi. Am I audible? Yes. Yes, yes. Thank you for the opportunity. Congratulations on a great set of numbers. I think most of my questions have been answered. Just wanted to know, in this quarter, we have seen a higher depreciation than usual and also interest expense. So is that a one-off or should we expect it to be in that range only going forward? Yeah, actually, we have impaired two wind power plants at Rajasthan, for which the impairment is INR 106 crores because we do not have the PPA right now. But we are injecting the power, whatever we are generating into the grid. We have a joint reconciliation also for that. We'll be getting that money in future, but we are not accounting it. So as per the accounting standard, we have impaired both the plants. So that effect is INR 106 crores. Okay. And also, this INR 13,000 crore that we have budgeted for the captive power plant for the new smelter expansion, so that will be of what capacity? Around 1,200 megawatt. 1,200 megawatt. All right. And so we are considering a JV with NTPC. So will it be like a bigger power plant that both the companies will make and 1,200 megawatt will come to us, or will it be like 1,200 megawatt in total and then some part of it will come to us? That will be total 1,200, and that will be for captive use for that smelter only. Whatever expansion we'll be doing, that will be for captive use for that. Okay. So the JV with NTPC will just entail that? Just wanted to understand what will be the role of NTPC in that? JV with NTPC is just in the initial phase of our negotiations with NTPC. We had an MOU earlier. And maybe how much partnership and all that, that will be deciding in the coming times. Just we are starting the negotiations and all that with them. Okay, and this will be a coal-based power plant? It will be a coal-based power plant. But out of 1,200 megawatt, actually, in the JV, we'll be putting one condition because in the new regulatory norms, it is coming that 30% of the total power should be green power. So we have not finalized the capacities and all that. Maybe 25, 30% will be going for green power. If we are able to that NTPC is able to source the green power or maybe some other green power is available somewhere, so we will reduce the coal-based power plant capacity. Maybe it will become around 700 or 800, and just green power we'll be taking. So that will come out after the total final discussions with NTPC. Okay. All right. Yeah, I think that'll be all. Thank you. Thank you. We'll take the next question from Rajesh M. Yeah. Am I audible? Yes, yes. Yes, you're audible. Yeah. Good afternoon, sir. This is Rajesh Majumdar from B&K Securities. So thanks for the opportunity. I had a couple of questions. What is the current cost of production of alumina in dollars per ton, and what is the current cost of production of aluminum, assuming the alumina is transferred at the cost of production in dollars per ton? The cost of production of alumina ranges from INR 21,000-INR 22,000 based on the prices of raw material. Presently, it is hovering around that INR 22,000. And aluminum also, it varies from INR 160,000-INR 165,000. This is based on alumina being transferred at cost, right? 160. Pardon, please? This is based on alumina being transferred at the cost price, right? Yes, at cost price. At cost price. At cost price. Okay. So my question was that, sir, your cost of alumina has gone up over the years. At one stage, it used to be nearly $170-$180. Now, if you look at the conversion, it is now almost close to what? $240-$250 per ton. So with the new, I understand that the Panchpatmali mines are requiring much more consumption of raw materials, etc., to make the same ton of alumina. So with the Pottangi mines in operation, will we see a reduction in the cost of production, hopefully? Because those mines are very old, and these are new mines where the cost of production should be lower. That was the first question, sir. Cost of production of oxide, you are talking? Alumina. Alumina. Alumina. Alumina. Cost of production of alumina, whatever is presently there, it will be almost same because over the years, what you are telling, like earlier, it was $180. Now it is around $240-$250. The increase is due to the increase in the maybe employee cost or some other raw material cost. Whatever bauxite, like cost of bauxite, whatever bauxite cost we are getting is now around INR 1,000, INR 1,000 per ton bauxite cost. There also, in Pottangi, also the cost of bauxite mining will be around INR 1,000 per ton, what we are estimating. It will remain almost same, which is at the present level. Because the mines are new, won't the quantum of cost required per ton of alumina go down in the new mines? Specific requirement of oxide will be slightly less. Will be slightly less because now it is on the higher side because some quality issues. But we'll have to see once we start the mines, actually. Still now, we cannot say. But with the new technology, we'll be saving about six, seven kg of caustic soda. Some cost of Caustic Soda. That will be saving. Will be lower, no? Yes. To say, how much impact will be there? Impact will be about. Because in this new refinery, the existing refinery may, whatever caustic soda consumption is there, that will go down. That may reduce the cost of. Alumina. Maybe overall caustic soda cost, whatever now is there, maybe it will be reduced by. By INR 600, actually. INR 700, INR 6,700. Yes. That alumina cost will come down by around? But the depreciation cost will be added, sir, because we have no depreciation. Depreciation cost will be added, yes. Overall, it will be in the same range. So when you give a cost of 240, you are including the depreciation. This 21, 22K includes depreciation cost, is it? Yes, yes, yes. Even in aluminum, 160-165 includes the depreciation cost. Yeah, yeah. This is the total cost. Okay. Including depreciation. Okay. That's useful. But INR 600-INR 700 per ton will be the saving on the raw material cost, that's what you're saying. That will be saving. And also, there will be substantial saving in employee cost also because employee will not increase proportionately. So there will be major saving will come from employee cost also. Right. So that's useful. And secondly, sir, I was curious about how you would expand the hot metal capacity because I understand we have 960-odd pots, which are now in a configuration with 1,200 megawatt captive power. So how is it possible to increase the capacity there by 1 lakh ton or something? What is the technical possibility of that happening? Actually, that was a thought process when I joined here, and I was going through all the plants and all the details. I thought that hot metal capacity is 0.5 million tons, and our casting capacity is around 0.6 million tons. Hot metal is 0.45, around 1.5 lakh tons gap. So we have requested EIL to make a study. It cannot come as it is. We will have to do some investment, maybe adding some parts and increasing maybe some captive power also. With small investment, we can have this increase in the capacity of the total overall cast metal because for that, our alumina supply and maybe downstream casting facilities are already there. Only number of pots will be required to be added. Of course, we'll have to take some CapEx for that. We have engaged EIL for that to do some study and suggest what can be done. Second option is maybe taking in some scrap. If we get good quality scrap, we'll try to source, and that scrap adding to the casting along with the hot metal, we can increase the casting capacity. These are the two options which we are working. These are just the initial thought process because whatever casting facilities there, we are not able to use that. We are trying to see what way we can go, maybe short term, medium term, long term, so that to maximize the use of existing casting facilities. But whatever expansions we are planning, that will go as it is. That's useful, sir. That's useful. And so my last question is for the smelter and CPP CapEx, will the company be taking on debt? Because historically, we've been zero debts across all our expansions. But alumina refinery is not a small. It's a very small investment. And smelter and CPP is a substantially larger commitment. So will we be changing our capital structure for that? That was my last question. Yeah, yeah. We have to go for leveraging, definitely. We have to go for debt. So do you have any debt equity ratio in mind for the new project? Any ballpark idea of that? No. If you take a ballpark figure, then for this kind of capital-intensive industry, even a gestation period of four years, and with our continuous internal revenue generation, we can afford to have 70-30, no issue with that. And if we are ending the financial year with more than 17,000-17,500 net worth, so company will be in a very good position to finance entire capex of metal and power plant expansion through external financing. Okay, sir. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. We'll take the next question from Ajit Datar. Hello. Yes, Ajit. Yes, good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity. I warmly welcome our new MD and Chairman, sir, to Nalco. We are a long-time shareholder of Nalco, and congratulations on a good set of results, sir. Also, this time. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Very heartening to know that we are coming up with this presentation and investor con call. And I sincerely hope that we will continue this and present a good governance. Sir, my question is regarding the CapEx that you have just mentioned. Firstly, on the captive power plant of 1,200 megawatt, INR 13,000 crore is looking very steep. So how should we understand this? And if we combine the 500,000 capacity of the smelter also, so INR 17,000 crore for smelter, INR 13,000 crore for captive power plant, INR 30,000 crore by investing INR 3,000 crore, how much incrementally we are going to earn per year? That's my first question, sir. That will be adding around five lakh tons of metal production. That will be the main year. The revenue generation will be around. It will be increasing the revenue generation overall by around INR 11,000-12,000 crores. Yes, you continue. Yeah. More importantly, Nalco has been in the primary metal plant till now. With this addition of 5 lakh metric tons, it will give us space and leg to get into extrusion and other value-added products, downstream products, which will be much more immune to LME fluctuation. That is also one of the most important factors because there the margin is well protected from LME cycles. That leverage, we are not having as of now with only 4.6 lakh ton. Really appreciate this clarification, sir. So just wanted to have a more better understanding. What are our internal projections? How much IRR or return we would be generating by investing this INR 30,000 crore over a period of time? So annually INR 5,000-6,000 crore incremental EBITDA? Since the earlier DPR we had prepared in 2019 was with AP 500. Now, our CMD sir will be visiting, and we are going for the latest technology version that is available, which will be still expected to be more cost-efficient, more energy-efficient, and environmental sustainability. So that again has to be revisited. And we are also trying for further coal mines if we are going for this. So that projection will be revisited with all the updates. Any plans to bid for the bauxite ore mines, additional bauxite? Additionally, this bauxite, whatever bauxite mines we are getting, Pottangi mines, actually, that will be sufficient for next 15-20 years because the reserve there is around 120 million tons and 3.5 million tons, which will be feeding to the alumina, whatever alumina refinery we are going for, 1 million ton alumina refinery. So this will be sufficient for feeding to our refineries for next 15-20 years. But whatever options are coming, bauxite, some of the bauxite mines are coming for options, we'll be going in for options. Per ton may increment total company. Hello? Hello. Yes. Yes, yes. Yes, sir. So incremental EBITDA per ton, what would be the EBITDA per ton incremental for the new capacity from the 0.5 million ton, which we are planning? Actually, those financials have not been worked out till now in detail. Initial feasibility report was given by EIL. Once all those technologies and financials will be fixed, then only we'll be able to tell it. Okay. Thank you, sir. Sir, one last question just on the captive power plant. So my understanding was that INR 13,000 crore for a 1,200 megawatt CapEx plan is very steep. And is NTPC also going to invest in our JV? Yes. Yes, yes. When we'll be going for joint venture, they will be also investing in that. And in this INR 13,000 crore, whatever is told was the initial projection, maybe when we'll be going with NTPC and maybe 20%-30% of green power, this will again see some kind of changes in that. Okay, okay. And this whole CapEx of INR 30,000 crore includes our proposed CapEx for the value-added products as well. We won't be investing more for value-added products. No, no, no. This is excluding value-added product. Excluding value-added. Okay, okay. Thank you so much, sir. I'll get back in a few minutes. Okay. Thank you. We'll take the next question from Aditya. Please go ahead. Yeah. Thanks for this opportunity. I'm Aditya from Axis Securities. Most of my questions are answered. Just a couple few. So on the alumina refinery expansion, so from FY27, what kind of run rate in sales volume can we expect? What kind of? Just, you can repeat. The utilization of alumina refinery in FY27, how much sales volume can we expect from that directionally? Next year, कितना produce करेंगे, sir? FY27, if we are going to, our target is December. We'll be trying to start the commissioning process and end up in next two, three months. FY27, we will be targeting maybe 1 million ton capacity, around 70, 60, 70%, around 7 lakh tons. We'll be producing 7 to 8 lakh tons. It all depends on the commissioning, how fast we'll be doing the commissioning. So that means we can operate it at a rated capacity, right, for refinement? Yes, yes, yes. Okay. And we had a joint venture in Argentina for our lithium brine blocks. Any update on that? Anything material which you can share? You are talking about that lithium in Argentina, no? Yeah. KABIL. Yes. KABIL, we have gone in for a joint venture. KABIL has been formed between NALCO, HCL, and MECL. Already, four mines have been allotted there by CAMYEN, which is a mining company of the State of Argentina, and invasive exploration has started there. Non-invasive exploration has started there, wherein the result of that non-invasive exploration will be coming this 25 March. After that, we are going in for appointment. We have already set up an office there also. CEO KABIL and all that have been appointed. And after March, we are going to appoint one PMC consultant for appointment of invasive exploration partner, wherein the timelines are around maybe 26, maybe May, June will be completing the exploration. After that, one pilot plant study has to be done of whatever exploration results are coming. After that pilot plant study, maybe somewhere in mid-2027, we have to take a decision on doing the mining of those blocks, depending on whatever the results of those explorations are coming. अभी जो timeline यही है हमारा कि non-invasive exploration, we are completing March. After that, final exploration will take one year. After that, pilot study, then mining investment. Anything related to CapEx or any financial number or it's slightly premature at this stage for this? Still now, it is very early to state that because just non-invasive exploration is going on. Once the results of some non-invasive exploration come, then only we'll be able to know how much quantity and what grade of lithium and all that is available. So it is very premature to tell anything about that. Okay. Understood. Thanks a lot. That's it from my side. Thank you. Sir, can we take a couple of more questions if time permits? Yes, yes. Yes, yes. We can have two or three questions. Sure. We take the next question from Manav Bhogia. Manav, please go ahead. Yes. Thank you for the opportunity, and I hope I'm audible first of all. Yes, yes, you're audible. Sir, one question I wanted to ask was, can you give me the landed cost of Caustic Soda for the particular quarter? It is 37,000. INR 37,000 per ton, right? Yeah. Okay. And I think we just talked about the reserves and resources at Pottangi mines. That was around 120 million tons. Could you give the latest number for Panchpatmali mines as well? It is about INR 145 million balance. 145 million is the balance. Okay. Sure. I mean, since the rest of the questions have been asked already, so that's all from my end. Thank you so much and all the very best. Thank you. Thank you. Next question is from Saket Kapoor. Saketh, can you go ahead? Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Namaskar, sir, and thank you for the opportunity. Sir, I joined a bit late. Namaskar. Yes, sir. Sir, joined a bit late. Couple of questions. Firstly, with the capitalization of, I think so, of our projects, our depreciation costs have gone up to INR 286 crore for this quarter. So if you could just highlight, this will be the run rate going ahead or how much is still left to be capitalized for the fourth quarter? No, no. Fifth Stream is yet to be capitalized. This depreciation cost has gone up mainly because we have made an impairment provision of INR 106 crores for our wind power plant at Rajasthan. Because we don't have PPA in Rajasthan, so we have made an impairment provision of INR 106 crores. That's why depreciation is showing a higher value. There is no capitalization as such. Major capitalization happened from Fifth Stream. Fifth Stream capitalization will start when the commissioning will start. The commissioning maybe will be starting in December, September, December. After that, the capitalization of Fifth Stream will start. Okay. And sir, what is then the closing balance of capital work in progress as of 31st December? Capital work in progress. Next point is about the current price trends for alumina and the global market scenario. Sir, if you could just outline to us what factors are currently influencing the prices and going ahead with the tariff war issues? I may continue, sir? You're talking about global alumina prices? Yes, global alumina prices and the factors that are affecting the price trends currently, sir? Actually, these global alumina prices totally depend on demand-supply equation. In between, the prices shot up to $800. That was just because there were some supply issues in Australia. Some plant of alumina was stopped, and few supply issues of bauxite from Papua New Guinea were there. And now those plants have already started. So as of now, in quarter one, quarter two, there was a demand-supply gap of around maybe 5, 6 lakh tons. But as of now, if this quarter we see the demand-supply gap is not there, whatever demand requirement is there, the supply is almost matching. So that is why the prices have also started falling down, which has come down to the latest price is around $530. So it totally depends on what is the production and what is the supply, and what is the demand. As far as now U.S. tariffs are concerned, latest U.S. tariffs have been imposed 25%. It can have some impact, maybe some of the aluminum which was going inside the U.S. If that prices goes up and that doesn't go into the U.S., maybe it will be coming to the other market, increasing the aluminum, putting the pressure on the aluminum prices, reducing the aluminum prices. Or maybe some of the smelters, we can see that the smelters, if it's not viable, if the prices are coming down, maybe some of the smelters closing down. And if some of the smelters are closing down, the requirement of alumina will also go down. So that will impact the alumina prices also. So we'll have to just see because whatever tariffs have been imposed, final decision still it awaits what will be the fate of those tariffs. We'll have to see that. But ultimately, alumina, because it cannot be stored for a long time, so whatever production is there, that has to be consumed. So whatever requirement from the smelters are there, whatever number of smelters are operating, demand-supply is matching, so the prices will remain somewhere around, I think, $450-$500, somewhere in between that. The CWIP, what you are asking is about INR 4,500 crores. Okay, and any project you capitalize for the fourth quarter? Fourth quarter, no, no major capitalization will come. Okay. And last point, sir, $530 is what you mentioned was the current prices, and you are expecting prices to trend between $450 and $500 for alumina going ahead. So what was the average realization for us for quarter three in terms of the alumina that we have stored? 641 was the realization in quarter three. $641. Sir, the tonnage? Q3 tonnage and Q4 tonnage? Nine months, it is 562. 562. Tonnage? Tonnage? Tonnage? You are talking about tonnage? Yes, sir, tonnage for the third quarter, and the expected tonnage for Q4 in the trend line, if you could give? Third quarter tonnage was 3.75. 3.75, right? No, no. Yeah, it was. 3.75. We have sold. Alumina export was 3.66 and domestic was 3.09. So total alumina sales was 3.75 million tons in third quarter. Q4 का trend कैसा है, sir? क्या expected? Q4, about 4 lakh will be there. Prices will be? Prices will be around 600, I think. Around 600. Prices will be in Q4 also because अभी जो हम spot booking कर रहे हैं, this will affect after two or three months. Q4 में whatever is going will be the spot prices already booked earlier. So Q4 में भी also we will be getting average realization of around 600 plus. 600 plus. 600 plus. Okay, so we are looking to close the year on a very high note, sir. अगर Q3 का performance हम financially and financially हम अच्छे note पे close करेंगे. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Sir, बहुत धन्यवाद, sir, आपके पूरी टीम का, sir. और आप इसी प्रकार, sir, ये investors के लिए, sir, ये प्रावधान जारी रखें, sir. यही हमारा निवेदन. जरूर, जरूर, आगे भी जारी रहेगा. Thank you so much. Thank you. 653 Q4. Sir, can I take the next question? Let us take last. Okay. Last question from Vikas. Vikas, please go ahead. Thank you for the opportunity. And sir, congratulations on a very good set of numbers. Sir, just one couple of questions. One clarification on the refinery CapEx. We said about roughly about INR 5,700 crore, but we understood that there was a cost escalation and the total cost has already ran closer to INR 7,000 crore. So if you could clarify that. No, there is, after cost escalation, this is the price, INR 5,700. Okay, and INR 7,000, what you are talking, that is inclusive of Pottangi mines. INR 7,500 is the total CapEx. Only refinery, INR 5,700, which is after escalation. Understood. And sir, second question on the employee cost, how should we look at the employee cost because the pay commission is coming? So have you started taking some provision regarding the same or your expectation on the escalation in the employee cost going forward? The pay commission will be coming after 28th May. Bataaya. Pay commission for CPSE has not yet been set up. It is for central government that has been set up. It will set up for January 27 only. January 27 only. So we will. So no provision has been made. No provision has been made for that. Thank you for the clarification. That's all from my side, sir. And all the best for future. Thank you. Thank you so much, sir. Any closing remarks from your side and then? Thank you very much. First of all, I would like to congratulate the whole of the NALCO team and all the shareholders, all the stakeholders who have been supporting the company in all their performances from all our supporters, all our investors, and we would like to ensure that in the coming time, the total priority will be fixed on two areas. That is, how to increase the efficiency of the present operation, putting the focus on the future expansions. As far as our present operations are concerned, two or three areas we are focusing is increasing the volumes. Whatever volumes we are doing this year, we are trying to increase the volume next year maybe by 5%-10%. Smelter, it will not be possible. But of course, refinery will try to increase the volumes by doing some modifications there and reducing the cost. And also, one area we are working that is to increase some value added in maybe alumina, in maybe our aluminum production, some of the value added products to add on as a short term or medium term so that our existing operations, we increase our revenues, increase our profitability so that whatever expansions will be coming in the coming time, we will be able to fund our expansions in an easy manner, and expansions already we have explained whatever as per plan to keep an eye on expansion and put a very active role in completing all this alumina expansion and going in for smelter expansion. Thank you once again, all for all your questions, all your queries, and all your support provided by everyone. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Nalco, we are thrilled to see a large number of participants which at one point of time touched 100. So that shows your keen interest of all these our esteemed analysts and investors in Nalco and its futuristic plans. And we look forward for a similar kind of response in future also. Thanks once again, and particularly to Shweta ma'am and Hinal ma'am to organizing this session. Thank you.