Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Neogen Chemicals Limited Q4 FY24 earnings conference call. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Nishid Solanki from CDR India. Thank you, and over to you, sir. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Neogen Chemicals Q4 FY 2024 earnings conference call for analysts and investors. Today, we are joined by senior members of the management team, including Dr. Harin Kanani, Managing Director, and Mr. Ketan Vyas, Chief Financial Officer. We will commence the call with opening thoughts from the management team, post which we shall open the forum for Q&A, where the management will be addressing queries of the participants. Before we commence, I would like to share our standard disclaimer. Certain statements made or discussed on the conference call today may be forward-looking in nature. The actual results could vary from these forward-looking statements. A detailed disclaimer in this regard is available in Neogen Chemicals' Q4 FY 2024 earnings presentation, which has been uploaded on stock exchange websites. I would now like to invite Dr. Harin Kanani to share his perspectives. Thank you, and over to you, sir. Thank you, Nishid. Good afternoon, and warm welcome to all participants on the call. We are here to discuss the Q4 FY24 earnings performance of Neogen Chemicals. I would like to commence by sharing my performance, key developments, expansion initiatives, and strategy, while our CFO, Mr. Ketan Vyas, will take you through the financial highlights. Fiscal year 2024 was a landmark period for Neogen Chemicals, marking the initiation of an expedited growth journey, where we laid a strong foundation to energize India's rapidly evolving EV ecosystem. To fuel our future success, we have undertaken several strategic initiatives this year, such as acquiring BuLi Chem, securing a licensing agreement with MUIS, Japan, raising capital through a preferential offering, and enabling Neogen Ionics expansion with a land acquisition. The dedication and focused efforts of the Neogen family team members have been instrumental in achieving these goals, and I would like to thank them for their contribution and being a part of this dynamic journey. Moving to our performance for the year, we traversed through a tough operating environment characterized by cheap imports, inventory corrections, geopolitical tensions, and logistical disruptions. We demonstrated resilience amidst these global challenges by harnessing our agile business model and robust manufacturing expertise. That being, pleased to share that we sustained, increased, or base volumes in certain cases by adding new customers and through cost improvement initiatives. Let me quickly summarize the key financials. For Q4 FY 2024, our consolidated revenues stood at INR 200 crore, while EBITDA came in at INR 36 crore, higher by 10% year-on-year, translating to EBITDA margin of 18%. Profit after tax stood at INR 17 crore is of 18% year-on-year. Mr. Ketan Vyas will share more insights on the financial performance. Turning your attention to our segmental performance, in Q4 FY 2024, organic revenues reported a growth of 22%, while inorganic revenues declined by 53%. Both bromine and lithium raw material prices significantly declined during the year. However, we were able to maintain our performance trajectory due to higher volumes across various product categories. Now, before moving to our expansion initiatives, let me share one important development. Based on the recommendation of our board, we have filed for amalgamation of BuLi Chemicals with Neogen Chemicals, as now most of the customers have registered transfer from BuLi Chemicals to Neogen's ownership. There are additional synergies here due to common exposure to pharma and agrochemical customers, internal use of organolithium in Neogen, and by-product recycling. Further, this will also lead to lower administrative costs and lean and cleaner structure. Coming to our expansion initiative, we are making rapid progress in establishing our greenfield battery materials project. The plant design using MUIS technology is ready, and we have started issuing POs for activities related to construction work of the plant. Construction, including related utilities, is expected to start soon, keeping us on schedule to inaugurate this facility by second half of FY 2026. The CapEx of the total upcoming capacities at all sites around INR 1,500 crores, and I'm glad to inform you that we have already tied up majority of funds through existing bankers to fund this through project finance route. In the interim, our initial commercial capacities of electrolyte and lithium electrolyte salts will cater to immediate needs of our customer. For the 2,000 metric ton electrolyte, chemical works is complete, and the trial production has already commenced. For 400 metric ton lithium salts plant, 200 metric ton per annum is already commissioned, and the first approved material has been shipped to the customers. For remaining 200 metric ton per annum, trial production has already commenced, and we have started already construction work for expanding this capacity to 2,500 metric ton by end of the current financial year. We have started shipping small batches of lithium electrolyte salts to global customers and electrolytes to local customers, and the response with respect to product quality... is awaited. Several domestic as well as international customers have visited and approved the facility, and are now awaiting approval of the commercial products manufactured from the site. The opportunity size for both electrolytes in India and lithium salts in international markets remains promising. In addition to the PLI advantage, there are additional 7-8 non-PLI players who have also announced significant battery capacities to come online over the next 3 years. For salts as well, the demand for non-Chinese lithium salts remains strong and is projected to grow at a healthy pace by 2030. Presently, there are only 2-3 active manufacturers of lithium electrolyte salt outside China. OEMs, battery manufacturers, electrolyte producers want a China-free, China plus one kind of supply chain due to implementation of IRA in U.S. and other regional policy initiatives and security of supply. This represents a potential market for Neogen Ionics, which will drive faster installation of lithium salt capacities ahead of required to support the electrolyte salt demand in India. Our growth going forward ahead will be driven by augmenting the capacities of both organic and inorganic chemicals, higher focus on CSM and advanced intermediate through portfolio expansion, expanding our capabilities in adjacent complex chemistry, including organolithium chemistry and lithiation chemistry, making deep inroads in the battery material segment, and leveraging our strong R&D expertise to introduce innovative offerings. I will now conclude by saying that the ensuing year appears more promising, considering the current pace of recovery. Our objective is to leverage our core strengths across various chemical domains to consistently enhance value for all our stakeholders. That ends my opening remarks. I would now request our CFO, Mr. Ketan Vyas, to share financials for the period under review. Over to you, Ketan. Thank you, Dr. Harin. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Neogen Chemicals Q4 FY 2024 earnings conference call. I'll take you through the financial highlights. Please note that these are on consolidated basis and based on year-on-year comparison. In Q4 FY 2024, revenues stood at INR 200 crore, and for FY 2024, it came in at INR 691 crore. Despite substantial decline in raw material prices, notably bromine and lithium, we managed to sustain increase our base volumes, as mentioned by Dr. Harin. In Q4, our battery materials also contributed to this performance through initial sales of lithium electrolyte salts. Organic chemicals saw revenue growth of 22% to INR 169 crore in Q4 FY 2024, whereas inorganic chemicals reported a decline of 50% to INR 31 crore. In FY 2024, organic chemicals grew by 17% to INR 543 crore, whereas inorganic chemical revenues came in at INR 148 crore. The domestic and export mix for FY 2024 stood at 73% and 27% respectively. EBITDA increased by 10% to INR 36 crore in Q4 FY 2024, and for FY 2024, it stood at INR 110 crore. Employee costs primarily attributed to acquisition of BuLi Chemicals and setup of Neogen Ionics. However, despite this increase we made, we managed to maintain our operating EBITDA for the full year, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 16%. EBITDA margin for Q4 FY 2024 stood at 18%. The profit after tax for Q4 FY 2024 stood at INR 17 crore, higher by 18%, while the same came at INR 36 crore for FY 2024. That performance was lower due to high depreciation and interest expenses linked to ongoing capital expenditure within the battery material divisions. We utilized the proceeds from preferential allotment in Neogen Ionics and to improve working capital and reduce high cost debt. These actions underscore our commitment to prudent financial management and long-term value creation. Our consolidated business net debt, after including current maturities of long-term debt, stood at 2024. The board of directors has recommended a final dividend of INR 2 per share, that is 20% of the face value, for FY 2024, subject to shareholder approval. That concludes my initial remarks. I will now request the moderator to open the forum for Q&A session. 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 your touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. The first question is from the line of Abhijit Akella from Kotak Securities. Please go ahead. Yeah, good afternoon. Thank you so much for taking my questions. So, the first one was actually with regard to the working capital. It seems to have increased quite significantly, you know, one more time at year-end. So, you know, if you could please just help us understand whether what the reason for this is. Is it something to do with unsold inventory at BuLi Chem, or is there some other reason for this? Yeah. So I think, you know, as regards to our inventory situation, as we said, you know, when we started this year, we were basically planning for, like, a full utilization of organic production and, like, for a long period of time. And so, and also we saw a dramatic change in the demand on the agro side. So basically, along with the fact that, you know, we, when we acquired BuLi Chem, there was almost zero inventory, and now BuLi Chem business has also taken up significantly. So the combination of that have basically increased both inventories. And when we think of debtor side, as you saw, that usually our exports are 40%-50% of our revenue, and when we have exports, usually the payment terms are better or we have factoring mechanisms which are available. Whereas when we are doing business domestically, especially generic markets, so since majority of our business in export was agro, which was impacted significantly, as well as there was some impact on the pharma business also in export market, we had to compensate that through more business in generic, which is why, where, you know, the payment terms are a bit longer and the realizations take longer, which is what affected the debtor side. Again, as you said, you know, this was a very challenging year where we started with one objective and then we had to do course correction many times to respond to the market. So over the next two years, as we achieve full utilization levels, as you know, some of the new products which we have made start getting approval, significant improvement, especially in terms of number of days. So the inventory that we have, the debtors we have, can, you know, support even like INR 1,000 crore kind of a revenue, so maybe INR 250 crore kind of a revenue per quarter. So we are basically aiming for that, over, let's say, to achieve by, you know, end of at least next financial year. So that we, we are on track to get INR 1,000 crore+ kind of revenue from just Neogen Chemicals in FY 2026, as we have targeted earlier. Got it. Thank you. That's helpful. The other one was, Dr. Harin, there was this announcement by a small NASDAQ-listed company regarding some licensing deal they have entered into with Neogen with regard to battery separators. So, you know, if you could please just help us understand what the company's thought process is on this front and whether that's an area where we intend to move forward in the future. Also, is there any synergy with our existing lines of chemistry for that? Sure. So, you know, this company has basically developed some technology, which basically for separator, and it's very early stage. So they just have a very small line where they make the separator. That this separator, in combination with a specific type of electrolyte, can give very good performance, at a high temperature. So as you all know, like, you know, in India, like, the temperatures are much larger, and most of the world, the batteries were tested only at 25 degrees Celsius. So of course, the whole world is now getting ready that, you know, these batteries will be used in India, let's say Africa, Latin America, basically Middle East, where the temperatures are going to be higher. So this is a company which shows like, have, like, basically developed a separator, which in combination with electrolyte, can give, improve the battery performance at high temp. So we were very keen that, you know, ultimately, as India starts first-generation technology, where majority of this is basically coming from what has been tested international market. As they get into second-generation India-specific design, this technology, if it works at a commercial scale, along with the electrolyte design that we have for it, together can give, you know, batteries which are most optimized for India. So, you know, so again, so that's the partnership. So we are using some of the trial, small quantities which they have made, we are offering to all the Indian customers. So they recognize that, you know, Neogen has a good reach for all these customers, and we can offer that combination of different separator along with the relevant electrolyte. So that combination, our customers are testing. Most of them will not be used in their first generation of cells, but in the second generation. So if... Like, so right now it's an exclusive distribution agreement, and, like, if, in future, any customers, like the design and want to use it at a commercial scale, then we also can have a potential joint manufacturing activities. But currently there's no revenue guidance which I can give. It's just a technology which can, if it works at a commercial scale in our customer trials well, then it has a potential to have a very unique, offering specifically for India and can solve the high temperature issue of, India. So that's why we entered into that. Got it, sir. Just one last thing, if I may, before I get back into the queue. Two parts to this, actually. One is, now that we've commenced shipments of the salts, the other realizations we are making in line with our, expectations as well, you know, in the range of $20-$30 a kilo, is that still in that ballpark? That is one. The other thing was just on the balance sheet. You know, there's been a significant increase in both other financial liabilities and other non-current assets. If you could please just, help us understand what that might be due to. Thank you so much. Yeah. So I think, the realization that is whatever pricing which we are seeing, you know, is looking into that range. Of course, you know, Neogen has also partly intermediate of that. So again, so some of it is an intermediate sale, some of it is a final product sale. But, yeah, it is in that range, what we are talking, what we are expecting so far. Also the, some of the discussions which we are having with the international customers, which are like, you know, as I said, non-binding MOUs or, let's say, some purchase, agreements or something like that, the pricing formula base. So there also it seems that the realization remains in the range of that $20-$30, depending... So again, and all are basically lithium-linked, kind of lithium-linked, regions.... I'm not sure what you mentioned about the other financial assets, et cetera. Some of these are related to—I don't know if it's in a standalone, then part of it is also related to the investment which we are making, which is happening between Neogen and Neogen Ionics. So as you know, you know, Neogen Ionics was established just last year, and we had to wait for some regulatory clearances before which some of the investments can directly be done by Neogen Ionics. So now, all the future investment directly will be done by Neogen Ionics, but because of that, some of it are associated with that. But maybe subsequently, as we'll get—share our detailed financials with all the details and schedules, you'll get a more clarity around that. Okay, sure. Thank you so much, and all the best. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Manish Gupta from Solidarity. Please go ahead. Thank you for the opportunity, sir. I had four questions. My first question was on the, on Neogen Ionics. You know, the, there's a lot of excitement about the renewable energy opportunity in India and people putting up wind and solar. I wanted to understand, sir, that are we in discussions also with these guys for their storage requirements, and whether these guys are going down the lithium route or the sodium route, and, whether in our business plans, you know, this segment, is also of interest, or will our plans be really for the, EV manufacturers in India? So Manishji, for the 160 GW, our guidance we had given for India's electrolyte demand, roughly around 120 of that, was estimated to be EV, and another 30-40 was basically likely to be the solar and wind energy storage, and just overall, what is called as, grid-level energy storage kind of business. So that's been all, that's been part of our plan and projection from the beginning. And this is one area where, like, you know, if it really picks up, then you can have a positive surprise where... You know, because EVs, you can say, okay, maybe 30% penetration, you have a good amount of estimate of how much, you know, number of EVs which are going to get sold. At a 30% penetration, you can calculate relatively quite accurately, as long as that 30% penetration number holds, the battery requirement of that. But renewable and solar is still developing field. So if, depending on how fast it picks up, and it makes logical sense that it has to pick up, if the renewable energy contribution has to increase, so then, you know, that's where that 30-40 GWh that we estimated can go even higher. Having said that, we don't directly discuss with them. I mean, this is basically an opportunity for battery makers. I do know that some of the battery maker customers, that the cell and the battery producers who we are talking to, that they are also seeing this traction, and they are planning more and more, contribution or like, sales coming from the renewable energy side as well. Finally, your question of sodium. Yes, there are some people who are thinking of sodium for renewable energy as a potential, but so far, most of the renewable energy storage people are also considering lithium as chemistry. And some of the calculations that we have done, or like what we have internally, only if lithium prices remain at a very high level, only then, you know, the sodium will become attractive. Otherwise, most likely, lithium should continue. In my view, like, you know, lithium prices, the level which lithium prices have to be, like, you know, it's very difficult for lithium prices to sustain that level. So I still feel personally that lithium will be the main driving technology. However, in case if it comes to sodium also, Neogen's existing facilities with few modifications, electrolyte salt, and I think we would require almost very limited modification to make the electrolyte formulations, for the sodium ion battery also. So I think, I hope this answers all your questions. Yes. Yes. So this answers my first question, sir. My second question was- Yes. that under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, you know, there is a clause there where they want lots more local manufacturing. Is my understanding right? Mm-hmm. That you can ship the intermediate of the salt, and they will do maybe the last step of that, and that will qualify under the Inflation Reduction Act? Is that understanding correct? Partly correct. Just a little clarification. So there is, there are two criteria on Inflation Reduction Act. One says, how much value addition which you have to do locally, and the second which says, that what is the percentage which you can't do with countries of concern. So basically, whatever we supply, and when they make the final electrolyte there, whatever we supply will be considered as an import. So even if the final formulation is made in U.S., our imports will still be considered as an import at the final cell level calculation. However, as we know, you know, electrolyte is around 10% of the cell cost, and the electrolyte salt will be somewhere around like, you know, 4%-5% of the final cell cost. So at even battery pack level, it would be hardly 3%-4% kind of a level. So because of that, you know, that will remain into the things which you still have to import. So therefore, it is not going to create a big challenge from IRA perspective. If the salt is still getting imported from, let's say, India. However, they need it from India for that non-China and non-foreign countries of concern parts. So that is where basically, Neogen's offering becomes attractive for a IRA compliant. Of course, ideally, they would have wished if US, then it helps them with that, value addition also. But that's a little bit in the future. And still, even if, like, you know, there is some, I think, 15%-20% leeway, which they have. Most of the OEMs or electrolyte producers feel comfortable buying the electrolyte salt from India. Their more requirement is non-China rather than local. But sir, I'm just curious that why would they not buy this thing from, say, Mexico, which is, you know, there's a lot of automotive components that are going into Mexico now? Why would they want to import this thing from a geography so much further away? If Mexico can make at the same price as in, they can get the quality and reliability, they would prefer that. I agree with you there. But, the fact today is that there is no manufacturer there, there is no person with the lithium expertise there. There is only one company which has made just an announcement that they will set up a plant in U.S., but again, no strong headway there. So again, from the timing perspective, from the long-term perspective, like, you know, can they get everything from U.S.? You know, the amount of quantities that they need. So this is a tough chemistry. You require somebody who understands lithium well, do all the purification there, like, understanding, having experience of that, also being able to handle fluorine chemistry. So this combination at a competitive rate, very close to China, kind of a co-combination. If Mexico can offer, somebody can do that, but... That would be preferred over Neogen. But so far, they don't have a credible option, and definitely not an option which can take care of the entire U.S. demand. Okay, so two other small questions. One is, based on now your visibility and all the plans and the samples that you've shipped out- Manish, sorry to interrupt you. We are losing your audio. Can you please speak through the handset? Yeah, sorry. Can you hear me now? It's coming a little muffled. Yeah. Okay, great. So, based on now, your latest visibility, any broad guidance for what the battery chemical business could do in 2025 and 2026 fiscal years? So basically, the capacity that we have, right? So let's say first talk of, let's say, FY 2025. So when we are talking of FY 2025, the capacity that we have can produce, let's say, roughly around, capacity we have and what we are setting up, you know, during the year, in FY 2025 can do around INR 250-INR 300 crores. INR 250-INR 300 crores capacity is basically online. But we think that will have a full utilization level, let's say, in FY 2026. So in FY 2026, we'll have minimum INR 250-300 crores revenue. On top of that, the capacity which is coming online during the year and coming in FY 2026 will also contribute, so it'll be something more than that, but it's a little bit too early for me to say exactly how much it will be. And similarly, for FY 2025 also, we are ready to do a revenue of around INR 200-INR 250 crores in current year also. But you know, the electrolyte demand will take some time, so majority of my customers are saying towards end of Q2 or early Q3, their trial productions would begin for cell production. So that's when you know, the electrolyte demand would pick up. And electrolyte salt also, we're just shipping out or started shipping out some trial production in last quarter. Some will happen in this quarter. So that will start picking up with their approvals, maybe end of Q2, Q3. So you'll really see major contributor, contributions come in at Q2, Q3. So I would guess the number would be like INR 100 crore+ kind of a number, but little bit early for me to give you a more precise number for this year. Yes, sir. My last question, sir, was in our base business, have we signed up any more contracts on more downstream value-added projects? What do you mean downstream value? There are only two things we do here. One is electrolyte salt and another is electrolyte. Sir, I meant the bromine business. Oh, sorry, bromine business. We've not signed up contracts, but yes, we have initiated with maybe four or five companies, like, you know, what we say, early-stage contract manufacturing. So as we said, you know, we wanted to work with bigger customers, so we have started agro- in agrochem space, so we've started projects with them. We've also started other, like, two or three projects in agrochem space, new ones. One of them also is like that, the combination of bromine plus N-Butyl Lithium. So we've signed up for projects where this combination is critical. And we are also signed up with one more pharma, like two more pharma projects, but they're a little bit long-term in nature. Like they are, you know, clinical trials, phase III kind of molecules, so we'll do... But again, all of these, I think, will start contributing in a meaningful way beyond FY 2026. Like, up to FY 2026, our existing pipeline itself is sufficient. All will help us beyond FY 2026 to continue the growth trajectory. Okay. Thank you so much, sir. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from Parth Mehta from Vallum Capital. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi. Can I audible? Yes, sir. Yes. Yeah. Thank you for taking the question. So, first, if you can help me, what would be our capacity utilization numbers for FY 24 and the Q4 quarter? And, for organic chemicals and inorganic chemicals, specifically? So, you know, it is also now include three categories. Like the bromine derivatives, the advanced intermediates, CSM, as well as BuLi chemicals, so the BuLi organolithium compounds. So all four were there. So we are very happy that, like, you know, as we saw in Q3, we had a bit of a challenge because of, you know, the price fluctuation in lithium metal and, like, having lower demand on the BuLi chemicals. So we recovered from that. And, like, you know, the organolithium itself contributed to almost INR 17-INR 18 crores of our revenue, even with the lower lithium price. Again, this was still not yet fully utilization. So I would say at a utilization level, roughly we are at around, in the organic space, we are at around 60%-65%. In the lithium space, we are almost at around 75%-80%, which is very close to the peak utilization levels that we have. Of course, as you saw, that the revenues were lower, but if you look on a volume basis, we were like about 4-5% better in this quarter as compared to last quarter, I mean, previous year, same quarter, just because of the price differential is why you saw the INR 66 crore become INR 35 crore, I mean, around INR 35 crore kind of a number. So I think, inorganic chemicals is close to full utilization levels. Organic chemical is at around 60-65% kind of utilization levels overall. And battery- Ladies and gentlemen, please stay connected. Participants, please stay connected while we rejoin the management back to the call. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the patience. We have the management line reconnected. Sir, go ahead. Hi, sorry, I was able to hear you guys, so I don't know where I got dropped off. I think the question was on utilization levels. I think I gave a long answer. Our inorganic chemical is almost close to 75%-80% utilization levels. At organic chemicals, we are at around 60%-65% kind of utilization levels, and we still have room to grow further there. And, like, again, battery materials, we are just starting. Great. Sir, just if you could help me with volume growth for this quarter and full year. I think for this quarter, you mentioned 4%-5% volume growth. For the full year? Yeah. No, for the inorganic chemical, it was 4%-5%. I think full year was also close to 4%-5%. Again, you know, for us it's very difficult to do metric ton to metric ton levels because of the product mix. But the way we look at it, the way we looked at it, that if the same prices which were there today were given in our last year or last quarter, you know, what is the revenue which would have been different? So, or similarly, vice versa, when we do that. So we see a volume growth of around 4%-5% in the inorganic side, and on the organic side, we are seeing almost 20% for the full year. Sorry, sir, you were inaudible. For the full year, it was 20? 25% on the organic side, volume. Sir, sorry, we are again losing your audio, sir. Okay, let me reconnect. Sorry. Participants, please stay connected while we rejoin the management back to the call. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you one second for your patience. We have the line for the management reconnected, so please go ahead. Yeah. I think, the last question was about volume growth. So what we mentioned that, for the organic production, it was around 25%-30%, and for inorganic, it was around 5%-10% volume. Great, sir. If you can help me, we have, we have set a target of, you know, reaching 40% revenue contribution from CSM business. So where, where do we currently stand? So as last quarter you had mentioned, we are somewhere around 30%, we are still on 30%. So when, when do we see reaching 40% contribution? I think 40% contribution is our CSM and advanced intermediate together. So advanced and CSM together is going to be 40. What we said, 40% is going to be on bromine derivatives, and 20% is going to be inorganic lithium salts on a stable lithium price. So there also, the breakup right now stands 15% and 30%, out of which 15% was CSM and 15% was advanced intermediate. And I think the idea is to have 20, 20%. So I think this is an area where we expect that the future growth as we reach INR 1,000 crore by FY 2026, you will see more contribution coming from advanced intermediates and CSM business. So by FY 2026, we would be at 40% from bromine derivatives, 20% CSM, 20% advanced intermediate, and 20% battery materials. Inorganic lithium salts, non-battery, within Neogen. So that's the breakup which we are targeting. Okay, great, great. And sir, in last quarter, you had mentioned we are facing some challenges in the agro and pharma side. So what is the current situation, and like, is the current situation improved? And if not, then when do we see it improving? So on the pharma side, you know, my view remains same, that the specialty pharma, you know, where which are not very bulk like statins or like, your sartans or antiretrovirals. So those kind of pharma, we have seen normalization, and some of them are even now growing very well. So fortunately, we were part of some of these value chain. So if you might also recall or like, you know, we have signed a long-term agreement with one innovator customer for supplying intermediates to their AP. So that business is also doing very well and growing very fast. That is taking care of, like, you know, some of the business which we are losing out or lower demand from our traditional bulk pharma kind of customers. Agro, we have still not seen. We have seen some increase in April in the bulk pharma, so we started seeing maybe, you know, after March, the inventory correction have happened, and we see the little bit of uptick in even the bulk pharma. So certain kind of a revenue also has started increasing. But it's too early to call out whether it's just for inventory, they are building up inventory after controlling it in March or whether it's going to be long term. So we'll take a view of that. Then agro side, we have still not seen. Again, the interest for non-China remains very strong. As I said, we started working with two or three more customers in last, let's say, three to six months, who want to have an alternate to China. So that interest remains high, but we've not seen really volumes come up. Most of them are saying that 2025 is when they'll have their demands, half of 2024. So like, you know, maybe towards September, October, they might start releasing POs for their '25 requirement. So, like, agro, we are still expecting in the second half to start contributing. Okay, great. So just last one, if you can let me know, what would be the current bromine and lithium prices? We can't give you lithium prices touched their lowest, and they have just started increasing again, but very, and we're still below what I call is a long-term sustainable price of lithium. So I don't know how the industry develops, but my expectation is over, let's say, next two years, you will see a increase in lithium price, and depending on how fast demand growth comes, you might again see crazy lithium prices in 2026 or 2027. So that's on the lithium. And bromine also have reached its bottom price and have started increasing slightly or at least stabilizing. We've not seen further decrease on either bromine or lithium in the last quarter. Great, sir. Thank you so much. That was helpful. I'll get back with you. Thank you. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Archit Joshi from B&K Securities. Please go ahead. Hi, sir. Thanks a lot for the opportunity. So my first question on the expectation of doing somewhere close to INR 300 crore of revenues through battery materials in FY 2026. So obviously, some rough calculations, if I look at it from the realization range that you gave, would it be fair to assume that we would be able to service around 2.5-3 GWh of battery capacity in India versus the INR 300 crore revenue that we are expecting? Yeah. So, Archit, you know, the electrolyte 2000 metric ton can already take care of, like, 2-4 GWh, depending on whether it is LFP chemistry or NMC chemistry. NMC, it can support up to 4 GWh. If it's LFP, like, more closer to around 2 GWh is what on the electrolyte side. So that is something which can happen. And on the electrolyte salt side, we have basically 5500 metric ton, which will be fully be available, let's say, for FY 2026. So that can support, let's say, around 30 GWh of final electrolyte production, and then battery is made out of that. So on electrolyte salt, let's say for FY 2026, we'll have a 30 GWh capacity available, and on the electrolyte, it will be around 2-4 GWh capacity. So roughly, let's say, you can say 80-90% of the salt. Of course, this is just beginning of FY 2026. And then in FY 2026, in the second half, our Pakhajan site also will come online. So then overall electrolyte capacity available for, like, you know, for FY 2026 will be even higher. Because once that comes in, in the second half, I can support 30 GWh more. So if you, if we go to the second half of FY 2026, we'll have a capacity to serve up to 30 GWh on electrolyte side and up to 30-35 GWh on the electrolyte salt side. Sure. Got it. Got it. So lastly, small bits on our expected books. So we have recently the board meeting approved an INR 500 crore infusion through CCDs. Is that expected in FY 2025 immediately? And what will that entail into an incremental debt? Is there any other debt than the CCDs that you are introducing in Neogen Ionics? And if you can kind of give us a peak debt that we might go to in FY 2026 also. Sure. So, you know, in terms of CCDs, this is basically on request, basically, from our bankers. So we are very fortunate that our existing bankers have extended us, like, a 10-year, 12-year term loan, especially for our Pakhajan site, where majority of the CapEx, majority of the CapEx we are doing, we have received like a 12-year term loan with, like, you know, moratorium for two years on interest, then one year on principal, and then a gradual repayment over nine years. So these are very strong preferential terms that we got. And the equity portion, the bank requested that it could be, like, of course, the bank would have requested directly as an equity, but we didn't want to put everything as at par equity. So the CCD was a way for us to basically put of equity or, let's say, quasi-equity into the Ionics. Again, this is an enabling resolution up to INR 500 crore. We will be doing it gradually over three years of time. And even our existing investment, which is either in terms of transfer of some assets or in terms of transfer, like inter-corporate deposits. So even now, so far, we've already invested around 220-odd crore. So out of that INR 500 crore, INR 220 crore would be, you know, the investment which we've already done, which will be converted basically into the CCD form. Shareholder approvals and all the formalities are completed. So that's basically the reason behind that. So, can I just pick that number, let's say in FY 2026, sir, what might be? So FY 2026, so, like, you know, out of that 1,500 crore CapEx, around, around 1,100 crores would be... Sorry, yeah, so CapEx number 1,150 crores would be the debt which will come from outside. Again, you know, this debt not only includes the direct CapEx, but, under the terms, they are also funding, you know, GST, which we can't use, the initial working capital, the interest for the 2 years. So everything together, 1,800 crores, of which around 1,150 crores will be funded by our bankers. And this will be all at Neogen Ionics level, so it will not be on Neogen. At Neogen level, we feel whatever is our current debt will remain stable. As we maybe infuse little bit more, depending on how much we generate versus how much we infuse, you know, there might be a slight increase in, in working capital utilization. Which today, like, you know, we have a working capital limits, which can support up to INR 400 crores, but we are using it under, so maybe some of that, might get eventually used as we put our own money and do infusion into, let's say, Neogen Ionics. So I would say INR 1,150, there, and maybe what we have, another INR 350 here, so maybe another INR 100 odd crore more, so at INR 450. Somewhere around INR 1,500 odd crores over the next three years. Got it, sir. Sir, one last question. I think our net block has increased by around INR 140 crore, and we have close to INR 110 crore in our- Sorry to interrupt you. We are losing your audio. Can you come in a better reception area, please? Sure, sure. Am I audible now? Little bit, yeah. Yes, you're audible to me. Yeah. Sure. Sir, I was speaking of our net block, which has been increased by around INR 140 crore, and we have another CFIP of close to INR 110 crore. And our CapEx numbers, as you mentioned previously, that we are expecting to, with the, with the 30,000 plant that we are expecting to commission and capitalize by FY 2026. The balance seems to be around INR 1,200-INR 1,300 crore of incremental CapEx infusion. So, sir, if you can give us light as to what might be the CapEx we are expecting in FY 2025, and what would be the balance less than FY 2026? That would be my last question, sir. Thank you. I think, we are expecting another INR 400 crore-INR 500 crore in FY 2025, and the balance will be coming in FY 2026. Perfect. Thanks a lot. All the best. Thank you. Thank you. I request all the participants, please restrict to two questions per participant, and kindly join the queue again for a follow-up question. The next question is from Ryan Bhargav from Ambit Asset Management. Please go ahead. Yeah, good afternoon, sir, and thank you. Bhargav, sorry, can you please speak to the handset? Yeah, is it better? No, your voice is still coming muffled. Can you please use the handset? Yeah, I am using the handset. Sir, can you hear me? It's better now. Yes, we can hear you. Yes. Sir, my first question is that on the revenue side of about INR 700 crore, clearly the CapEx of INR 1,500 crore is a sizable sum. So have we sort of decided that we'll go ahead with this entire CapEx, or we'll have some milestones which we will monitor and take a slightly risk-adjusted approach for this CapEx? No, so you are absolutely right, and that's something which, you know, I would have also been happier if I had to do this CapEx over three years, four years' time, instead of, let's say, two years' time. But it's just that the situation demands this way. But we are watchful. As I mentioned, you know, our first facility from where we can supply electrolyte, we can supply electrolytes. We are sending this approval, so let's say next three to six months, we'll start having approvals. And for the electrolyte business also, in next three to six months, as I said, end of Q2 and early Q3, some of the Indian customers are also starting their electrolyte facilities. So we will keep watching both, how the international electrolyte salt approval is progressing-... As well as how Indian electrolyte demand is, like, you know, developing. In India, mostly we feel it's a demand issue, depending on how well the Indian battery industry starts manufacturing cell, and accordingly required, we can slow down and we can, you know, moderate our CapEx accordingly. So we'll be watching it very carefully. Please be rest assured, because again, you know, and there will be milestones there where, let's say, for example, you know, we can delay, we can delay some of the equipment deliveries or, do some of the investment in the electrolyte module, depending on wherever, whether if there's a slowdown in electrolyte salt or electrolyte, so we'll keep watching that. Secondly, sir, this IRA Act in the U.S. is likely to be passed in 2025. But in the event that there is a delay in passing of this act, then how does it impact our exports revenue that we are targeting? Is there a plan B in place? So one is, you know, when you say it, it means IRA Act, so IRA Act is already in place. IRA Act, sorry. Yeah. So that has already been passed and that is already implemented. So this is one clarification I wanted to make. The second thing is, yeah, so the plan B is, so the capacity which... You know, I was just answering Archit's question earlier, where I said the capacity for the electrolyte salt is like 30-35 GWh and the electrolyte capacity is 30 GWh. So if we feel that anything which is happening in the U.S. market, which is adverse, so in such a case, for example, we can go slow on the 3,000 metric ton electrolyte salt facility, which we are going to do in our Pakhajan site, and then we can build it gradually if we are not looking at the international market, and if we are looking only at the India market. Therefore, the plan B is India electrolyte market, where we feel we have the maximum rights to win, being one of the first mover, having Mitsubishi's technology, and already having relationship for, and already having supplied electrolyte for the trial productions of the customers for last 15, 16 months. Is there any government support expected to protect the domestic manufacturers in the event there is any dumping from the foreigners as far as electrolyte or salt is concerned? So there are two levels of protection. One is the people who have bid for the PLI scheme, and today, that is basically Ola and Reliance, and who are already selected and who are active. And there is also a separate follow-on PLI, which has just been concluded, and the application, those are concluded. So these companies have to meet certain value addition criteria if they want a government subsidy, which is very sizable. So that, to meet that value addition, the electrolyte salts, electrolyte have to be all produced locally. So, you know, they are incentivized that if there's a small difference, please buy from India. Otherwise you lose out on subsidy, which is almost 30% of the cost of... 25%-30% of the cost of the cell production. So this is one incentive for the companies which are having PLI. Then, historically, in our interactions with government policymakers, they said that once they see any component being made in India, they are ready to increase, you know, customs duties and have protective customs duties to support the local industry. So currently for cell manufacturing on cell, there is very low custom duty, but once- Sir, we are again losing your audio. Hello? Sir, let me reconnect you. No, no, I'm able to hear them. Yeah. I'm able to hear you, sir, yeah. Yeah, okay. So, like, the cell manufacturing, so as cell manufacturing will come online, you know, the policymakers have said they will put customs duties on that, and similarly, as component manufacturing will start, then they have promised, customs duties. Internationally, such duties are in the range of 15%-25%, U.S. being highest. So on top of the IRA, they have also put 25% duties on imports of the electrolyte and other components from China. So similar protection we are also expecting in India once, you know, the manufacturing here is stabilized and the manufacturing of cell production will also start. And then lastly, if we succeed on utilizing the salt capacity, but we struggle on the electrolyte capacity, then what could be the difference in terms of return on capital employed that we can expect only from the salt utilization vis-à-vis the electrolyte utilization? So you know, I'm just guessing that if the electrolyte utilization... You're saying electrolyte utilization struggle, meaning India not manufacturing enough cells, is your concern? Am I- Yeah. Yeah. Is that your- Yeah. Okay. So in the case where India is not able to make enough, cells and therefore there is less local electrolyte demand, there are two options. One option remains that, you know, there's some cell manufacturing starting in other geographies also, where there is no electrolyte producer or no electrolyte producer is going there very fast. Explore one international market with the permission of Mitsubishi. As long as we are not conflicting with them, you know, we have that option also available with us. The second option, worst case scenario, even that doesn't happen, and if we have, no electrolyte business coming. So if we see that happening, first of all, we would also graduate the investment which we are doing, so we would not do the entire INR 1,500 crore. So some of the paraphernalia, like, you know, our iso tank filling capacity, drum filling capacity, our storage tanks, so these can-- the CapEx of that can be modulated, and we don't have to do everything upfront if the demand doesn't come. So with that, and even if, like, you know, after we have done and then we have a surprise or something like that?... we would have at least 14 or 15% ROC in the battery business. If just the salt happens, then electrolyte is happening, like, you know, at a partial level. Although, the way my customers are making progress, for me, it's a little bit difficult to believe that India will not be able to make 30 GWh of cells by 2028, is what we are targeting. Great, sir. Thank you very much for your answers, and all the very best. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you very much. Participants, please stay connected while we join the management back to the call. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience. We have the line for the management reconnected. Before we proceed to the next participant, please note and kindly restrict to two questions per participant, and join the queue again for a follow-up question. The next question is from the line of Jason from IDBI Capital. Please go ahead. Yeah, thank you so much, sir, for taking my question. So my first question was, just relating to your base business has been soft, Q3 also is pretty weak. Now, you have mentioned that pharma and agro, we are seeing some green shoots there. Now, I just wanted to know in terms of the BuLi Chem acquisition and, you know, the lithium chemistry which you added to our skill set, does that, you know, help us, you know, give a strong boost to this business? So, should we see strong boost to the base business from this acquisition? Yeah. Thank you so much for your question, and again, apologize to everyone because of the reconnection you all had to wait. To answer your question, for me, I'm really excited with the BuLi Chem acquisition that we did and what it can help us in our base business. There are three aspects of this, as I have mentioned earlier. One is this base business, like, it will support us, our advanced intermediate and CSM, because we have a very unique combination, somebody who can make organolithium compound, somebody who can combine it with bromine derivatives. And when we make and do the combination, we have lithium, which comes out as a by-product, which we can again recycle back to our non-battery lithium business. So that's a combination which, like, you know, very unique in the world, and wherever we want to innovate our customers, they simply love this idea. Especially when they know lithium price is going to get fluctuates, is going to fluctuating. So at that time, with the recycling, because we can reduce that, they really like that part. Also, how it is helping us that, you know, there are many customers, there are very few suppliers of n-butyl lithium, like, you know, as a whole. Again, this is a business which is normally done locally, and there are only two or three companies in the world which are basically lithium mining companies, who also are doing organolithium business. So this is the first time, like, we are one of the significant companies who basically has a plant, a proven plant with 17 years of track record, who can basically manufacture these organolithium compounds. So that has allowed us to also enter many, pharma, like, you know, specialty material customers, even semiconductor customers. So it's increased Neogen's visibility also to a larger group of companies in the international market. So I feel over the next 3-5 years, this will play a very big role, just selling n-butyl lithium and the organolithium compounds, as well as doing the combination. So I think both opportunities are very exciting for Neogen. Sure. Thanks. Thanks for that, sir. And sir, in terms of battery chemicals, the margins which we're expecting should be in line with our existing 16%-17%, or do you see scope for more upside on those levels? For the battery materials, what we feel is, you know, it's basically gonna be ROC-driven business. So therefore, a bit like right now, it's, I think of a stable lithium price. At that stable lithium price, we expect that, yes, around 16% kind of margins basically works out based on the ROCs. But like, you know, again, incrementally also, when we will go beyond this capacity, it's something which is going to be driven by ROC. Where we can really get better margins is, if we basically give something which improves the performance of the customer. Now, that we are doing in partnership with Mitsubishi, as you know, we were discussing one more discussion in earlier question, that a combination of a specific kind of electrolyte along with kind of a specialty kind of a separator, can improve the performance of the batteries or the cells for the end user. So when we do that, we earn the right of getting higher EBITDA. Otherwise, again, it's a ROC-driven business, and I think if we do a 20% threshold of our ROC for this kind of scale, I think that would be a very good outcome. EBITDA level, I think it will work out at around 16% also. Sure, sir. And sir, just what I want to ask you in terms of, if you could provide a breakup in terms of end user industry, like, for example, our whole basket, of course, battery chemicals is different. So, in terms of our whole, end user industry, pharma, agro, chem, engineering or something, how would that breakup be? And I was also want... You had shared this earlier, but I sort of missed it. You know, you had mentioned about the bromine compounds, the AI, the CSM, and the organolithium, what breakup is currently, and what you aspire it to be. So I would want both of these breakups if you could provide that. So, you know, for the breakup, based on our category, so it's about- Mm. So what we today are at around 50-55% on bromine derivatives, around 30%-35% on our advanced intermediates, and around 15%-20% on the lithium chemicals. We feel by the time we will reach full utilization levels, we would be around 40% on bromine derivatives, another 20% on advanced intermediates, another 20% on CSM. So together, advanced intermediates and CSM would be 40%, and around 15%-20% would be the non-battery lithium compounds. This is a non-battery business breakup. In terms of industries, the industry usually it is 50%-60% is pharma. Agro is usually around 20-25%, engineering around 10%-15%, and remaining 5%-10% is other industries. That's the normal case. Currently, because agro is low, agro is, like, almost close to 10% or below 10%, and consequently, like, you know, the pharma segment is a little bit higher, where it's around close to around 70-75%. Sure, sir. And just one last follow-up, sir. Just a very short question. You had mentioned the lithium salt is around 4%-5% of the cell cost. Is that right? Yes. Basically, electrolyte is between 8%-10% of the final cell cost. And, electrolyte salt is between, depending on the price of lithium, 40%-60% of the cost of the electrolyte. So at a cell level, it becomes around, around 4-5% kind of, at a cell level. At a battery pack level, it will be somewhere around 3%-4%, or let's say 2.5%-3.5%, something like that. Sure. Sure, sir. That's all from my side. Thank you so much. Thanks. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Rohit Nagraj, from Centrum Broking Limited. Please go ahead. Yeah, good afternoon, and thanks for the opportunity. My first question is on the 2,000 metric ton electrolyte and 400 metric ton lithium salt, electrolyte salt. So for both these, we have mentioned that the electrolyte salt, we have already shipped the material, and on the electrolyte front, the trial production has commenced. So what is your understanding in terms of the approval process and commercial supplies for both these facilities? And when do we expect maybe optimum level of utilization, given that everything goes as per plan in terms of the approvals and the battery manufacturing, maybe from domestic or from the international players? Thank you. Sure. So if we think of electrolyte salts, we feel that in Q1, we will be shipping out basically trial volumes. So like, we just started, and in Q1 also, we will be making trial production, you know, 5 ton, 2 ton, 5 ton kind of supplies, for the electrolyte salts. And with that, we should start seeing permissions come, let's say, by end of Q2. Again, some customers will give little bit higher, some will lower. So by end of Q2, so in the Q3 and Q4, we expect that this 400 metric ton will be used fully. As more capacity will come online, as we go from this journey of 400 to 2,500, in different phases, different sections, capacities will come online, they can start contributing, like, you know, in the second half of the year. This is on the electrolyte salts. On the electrolyte, it is more geared by, like, you know, how our cell manufacturing comes up in India. So our understanding is that initial 1 or 2 customers should start by, let's say, towards end of Q2, and early Q3. And if they start even at a bare minimum, like 1 GWh kind of capacity, depending on how fast they stabilize, Q4 of the current financial year or Q1 of the FY 2026, we should be seeing full utilization level of our electrolyte plant. Fair enough. That's helpful. Second question is just in terms of the INR 1,500 crores of CapEx from 2024-2026, if you can provide a broader breakup across the electrolyte salt, the DEC business, the electrolyte MUIs, and the newer oxygen facility. I'm sorry. Like, there are too many information here, which I'm not able to share, because of confidentiality reasons and several other reasons. But, broadly, if I were to say, like, you know, this is basically... Like, as I said, there are four components of this. There is, one is the investment into land, which is not only for today but future. And when you buy the land, you have to do the initial facilities, wherein you basically also have to, you know, take water connections, pollution permissions, power connection. So basically, it's land, common infrastructure, that is one segment. The second segment is going to be 3,000 tons of salt. Third segment is going to be 30,000 ton of electrolyte. As I explained earlier, based on our request from our bankers, you know, we are also, we are also basically, they've also included in this INR 1,500 crore, the interest during this period, as well as the non-usable GST and our working capital contribution, et cetera. All of that together is the INR 1,500 crores. Sure. That's helpful. Thanks a lot, and all the best. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll take that as the last question. I will now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Thank you everyone for joining the call. I hope, we were able to address your queries. If you have any further questions, please feel free, to reach out to our investor relations team, and we will address them. Thank you once again, and we look forward to connecting with you again in the next quarter. Thank you very much. On behalf of Neogen Chemicals Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.