Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Neogen Chemicals Q2 FY 2027 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 followed by zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand over the conference to Mr. Nishid Solanki from CDR India. Thank you, and over to you. Thank you. Good evening, everyone, and a warm welcome to Neogen Chemicals Q2 FY 2027 earnings conference call. Joining us today from the senior management team are Mr. Anurag Surana, Non-Executive Chairman, Dr. Harin Kanani, Managing Director, and Mr. Gopik rishnan Sarathy, Chief Financial Officer. We will begin the call with opening remarks from the management team, followed by an interactive question-and-answer session. Before we begin, a standard disclaimer. Certain statements made during today's call may be forward-looking in nature. Actual results may vary from these forward-looking statements, and a detailed disclaimer is available in our Q2 FY 2027 earnings presentation, which has been uploaded on stock exchange websites. With that, I would now like to invite Dr. Harin Kanani to share his opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, sir. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our Q2 and H1 FY 2027 financial performance and business outlook. I hope you had an opportunity to review our investor presentation. I will begin with key performance highlights and strategic developments during the quarter, along with progress on our growth initiatives. Following this, our CFO, Mr. Gopi Sarathy, will cover the financial highlights. To commence, I am pleased to report that we delivered a robust all-round performance during the quarter, with consolidated revenue increasing by 42% year-on-year to INR 296 crore and EBITDA improving by 51% year-on-year to INR 45 crore. Our standalone profitability is even better, as consolidated performance reflects initial fixed cost absorption at Neogen Ionics, while revenue scale-up and capacity utilization continue to ramp up. Overall performance highlights the operational agility, inherent strength, and flexibility of our business model, and we swiftly pivoted towards applications with better demand, visibility, and higher volumes. This momentum was further reinforced by an accelerated ramp-up in our battery chemical business, with Q2 FY 2027 revenue reaching INR 37 crore compared to INR 5 crore in the same quarter in FY 2026. This was in line with our business plan, and we expect substantial scale-up in Q3 and Q4 and beyond, supported by the upcoming ACC battery manufacturing ecosystem being built in India, along with the rapid shift by U.S. electrolyte manufacturers towards sourcing from non-FEOC suppliers in India. Importantly, this performance came on the back of a complex macro environment marked by Middle East geopolitical conflicts and supply chain friction, feedstock cost inflation, and temporary overheads from our Dahej facility rebuild. I will move to key highlights and progress across our strategic growth initiatives. Expansion of organolithium capacity at Patancheru. Anchored by sustained volume improvement and expanding footprint of organolithium into high-growth emerging applications, our board has approved the expansion of manufacturing facility at Patancheru, Telangana. Under this, we will be doubling our organolithium capacity from 300 metric tons per annum - 600 metric tons per annum, with an estimated capital outlay of up to INR 45 crore. This strategic expansion is expected to unlock an additional revenue potential of INR 150 crore- INR 200 crore, depending on prevailing lithium prices, further strengthening our leadership position in specialized lithium chemistries. I would also now like to talk about successful fundraise via our maiden QIP. A major strategic landmark during the quarter was the successful completion of our maiden qualified institutional placement, QIP, raising INR 600 crore. Demonstrating strong institutional faith in our business, the QIP was oversubscribed 6.5 x, with broad-based participation from leading global and domestic investors. The resounding vote of confidence significantly strengthens our capital structure. We are deploying this proceeds strategically to deleverage our balance sheet as we prepare to fund our next phase of growth in the future. Insurance claim status. Regarding the insurance claims, cumulative recoveries to date stand at INR 164 crore, comprising INR 155 crore in on-account payments and including INR 15 crore tranche received in July 2026 and INR 9 crore from salvage realization. Further, on October 29, 2026, the company accepted an additional claim amount of INR 152 crore from the insurance, which will be released in due course. With this, our total on-account claims received and receivable now stands at INR 316 crore, inclusive of accepted claims and scrap sales to date. Consequently, majority of our recognized claim amount has now been secured, and discussions with the insurance for the remaining balance are progressing constructively, and we expect further settlements as the final assessments conclude. On the operational front, I am pleased to update that the trial runs of the rebuilt Dahej plant are currently underway, and we expect to commence commercial production shortly, within this current financial year, so that next quarter we will be able to fully utilize this facility. We would also like to update on the credit rating. Our credit rating was upgraded, reflecting our strengthening balance sheet and improved financial flexibility. CRISIL Rating has revised the outlook of Neogen's long-term bank facility of CRISIL A-/Stable from negative, while reaffirming the short-term rating at CRISIL A2+. This positive rating action underscores the enhanced capital structure resulting from our successful fundraise, ongoing operational ramp-up, and strong balance sheet discipline. Moving to battery chemicals, we are transitioning from capital investment into execution and scale-up phase. Our project mechanical completion timelines remain on track for both electrolyte and electrolyte salt. For electrolytes, mechanical assembly is complete, trial runs have begun, alongside facility validation and active joint trials of recipes with multiple giga factories. Simultaneously, for lithium electrolyte salts, we have secured provisional approvals at our Dahej facility from five major international customers, completed final site audits for three U.S.-based manufacturers, and already commenced commercial supplies with two international customers. Further, Neogen Ionics Limited has executed a business transfer agreement to consolidate the lithium-ion electrolyte salt in solid LiPF6, undertaking under our step-down subsidiary, Neogen Morita New Materials Limited, NML for short, for a cash consideration of INR 245 crores on a going concern basis, which also includes INR 77 crore already infused by Morita through preference allotment recently. Going forward, both our standalone operations and the battery chemical segments are well-positioned for an exciting phase of growth that aligns with India's goal of self-reliance in advanced energy storage and materials. Backed by a strong balance sheet and a disciplined execution strategy, we remain fully on track to meet our consolidated annual guidance as we continue creating long-term value and sustainable growth for our stakeholders. That concludes my initial remarks, and I will now hand over the call to our CFO, Mr. Gopik rishnan Sarathy, to take you through the key financial performance. Thank you, Dr. Kanani. Good evening, everyone. I will now walk you through the consolidated financial performance for Q2 FY 2027. All comparisons are on year-on-year basis unless specified otherwise. Revenue grew by 42% to INR 296 crore, fueled by consistent volume expansion across core segments. Strong growth in organolithium and rapid scaling of Neogen Ionics also helped in. Revenue at Neogen Ionics was at INR 37 crore versus INR 5 crore in last year. This is equal to the full-year sales which we did in last year. Across our base vertical, organic chemicals generated revenue of INR 238 crore, reflecting 29% growth, while inorganic chemical segment delivered 140% growth at INR 58 crore. Consolidated EBITDA grew by 51% to INR 45 crore, while standalone EBITDA delivered strong 54% growth to INR 54 crore with a margin of 18.6%. Consolidated EBITDA reflected the initial fixed cost absorption at Neogen Ionics as the capacity are yet to ramp up, alongside the temporary expenses related to Dahej rebuild, interim tolling arrangement, and elevated input cost. As the capacity utilization scales up at NIL, the operating leverage will improve significantly. Consolidated PAT grew 144% to INR 8 crore, while standalone PAT surged 127% to INR 21 crore. PAT performance reflects the strong operational momentum, though temporarily impacted by higher interest and depreciation charge tied to ongoing CapEx initiatives. Interest costs are expected to trend downwards moving ahead, supported by term debt reduction using the QIP proceeds, lower borrowing costs following our credit rating upgrade, and incoming insurance claim disbursement. As of September 30th, 2026, we maintained a strong liquidity profile of INR 465 crore in liquid investment and fixed deposits, which brings our consolidated net debt to INR 1,095 crore, while standalone net debt stood at INR 378 crore. With an optimized capital structure, improved credit profile, and revenue-generating assets scaling rapidly across both core specialty chemicals and battery materials, Neogen is well-positioned for a sustainable and a profitable growth. That concludes my remarks. I will now request the moderator to open the floor 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 their touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. We will take our first question from the line of Nilesh Ghuge from HDFC Securities. Please go ahead. Yeah, thanks. Am I audible? Your volume is very low, Nilesh. Yes. Can you use your handset mode? Yeah. Am I audible now? Yes, please go ahead. Yeah. My first question is on the organolithium expansion. As Harin mentioned that this INR 45 crore of investment and expected INR 150 crore -INR 200 crore kind of revenue. Can you give us the timeline in terms of a completion of this project and then the revenue taking to INR 150 crore -INR 200 crore? Thank you, Nilesh. We expect the organolithium additional capacity to be targeted to be completed by next September, by H1. Although we have said it will take a full year, we expect to complete it by end of next H1. So next year, it will contribute somewhere between INR 50 crore to, let's say, INR 50 crore- INR 75 crore additional. In the year after, we should be able to fully get INR 150 crore -INR 200 crore revenue from the increased capacity. Okay. In your comment, you mentioned that you are getting different types of end use for this organolithium. Can you elaborate on that? Yeah, so we have seen a very strong increase in approval in the pharma segment, but now we also have received international approval both in pharma as well as we have some application in agro. We are seeing strong demand, and currently the increased capacity is running at a full level. So, like, at a 300 tons kind of a run rate. We would be doing 300 tons, and maybe if we are able to do some incremental increase in capacity even higher by end of this year. In addition to that, internationally, we have also found applications which are in the area of semiconductor, and some specialty polymers. We have already gotten permissions, like approvals in both semiconductor materials as well as for the specialty polymers, where also there is a strong volume demand. Considering the increasing Indian local pharma demand as well as the international pharma demand, and the demand which is going to come from international market in semiconductor business, semiconductor and specialty polymer application business, we are basically increasing the capacity. Okay. Thank you. My second question, on the balance sheet side. You already have a liquid investment, as Gopi mentioned, around more than INR 600 crore, and net debt is about INR 1,000 crore. I hope that this insurance claim amount is yet to come. I mean, it is coming in the Q3, plus the Morita investment will come. How do you see FY 2027, or more precisely, FY 2028 net debt level? Okay. I will refer to Gopi for the FY 2028 net debt level, but would like to confirm that yes, we are still awaiting the final disbursement of the insurance. We are expecting the insurance amount INR 152 crore. We have completed all the procedure, we have given the confirmation to the insurer. In the next few weeks, we are expecting. That will come in Q3. And of course, you will also have Morita second installment also. By, let us say, end of Q3 or early Q4, we are expecting. But basically, the second half, the balanced Morita investment will also kind of come in. I think overall net debt, Gopi, for FY 2028, if you can comment. Nilesh, the overall net debt, we are expecting somewhere in the range of somewhere between INR 1,300 crore-INR 1,500 crore range, depending upon the lithium price as the other prices during that time. FY 2027 or FY 2028 you are referring to? 2028. 2028. Okay. Thanks a lot for answering my question, and wish you a Happy Diwali. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Jason Soans from IDBI Capital. Please go ahead. Yes, sir. Thank you for taking my question. Just wanted to know, wanted to touch upon the battery chemicals guidance which you were giving in the previous call, 2027 and 2028. Any update on that? I mean, you had said INR 300 crore for this year, and 2028, I believe, around INR 1,000 crore, INR 1,100 crore. So any update on that? And just related to that, some commentary on how the EV cell plants are coming on ground, and international demand for lithium salts as well. Sure. Thank you, Jason. So, in terms of the salt demand, international salt demand, I think we are seeing very strong interest there. Our Dahej facility, as we mentioned, is already approved by three out of five. The fourth one also we are expecting quite soon. And the fifth customer already told us he will directly approve the Pakhajan site. Already we have received good POs in hand, where we can see that our Q3 should be even better than Q2. So, as you might recall, our Q1 was around INR 15 crore, INR 17 crore, around INR 17 crore. In Q2, we were already at INR 37 crore. And we can see that Q3 will be significantly better. And Q4 is a year where we will have the non-China requirement kind of start. So, we are expecting even a stronger Q4. You can keep seeing significant increases as we go from Q1 to Q2, Q3 to Q4. If you remember, in the last call, we had given a breakdown that INR 200 crore we are expecting from the salt business and INR 100 crore from electrolyte. In case if we are short, like in electrolyte, because that depends on Indian customer, there we will try to make up with the Pakhajan capacity coming online. Even our Pakhajan capacity for the salt, we expect to get into trial production by December and start producing significant quantities by February, March. Although we do not have a number there. Depending on how much contribution comes from Pakhajan and as to, like, the two of our Indian electrolyte customer, both Ola as well as Exide. With Ola, we already have all the approvals. With Exide, we are undergoing right now some trials. We have already seen some initial data where they see the benefits of using Indian electrolyte, and they are doing further investigation. If that is succeeded and if they also have announced Q4 commercialization. Depending on how their volumes rack up and if at all they are short, how much, we expect still to be in the range of INR 250 crore-INR 300 crore for the current year. I mean, we are still trying for INR 300 crore, but it just depends on the electrolyte volume and how much we are able to make up from Pakhajan based on the approval time it takes. This is for the current financial year. Next year, I think, we would have enough. There is a very strong salt demand and also salt additives as well as even solvents that we are producing. Together, we do not see a challenge in crossing INR 1,000+ crore revenue. As we have said, how much plus, whether it is INR 1,200 crore or INR 1,500 crore, that we will be able to say depending on how the electrolyte business is developing. I think it is a little bit too early for us, but the INR 1,000+ crore kind of remains. Even for this year, we should be INR 250 crore-INR 300 crore. Fortunately, the base business is doing significantly well. At a consol level, we should be maintaining close to around INR 1,350 crore-INR 1,400 crore kind of revenue, more or less in line with our previous guidance, or maybe slightly better. I hope this answers you all well. Sure. Thank you so much, sir. Sir, just had a query on the 5,500 metric tons of lithium salts. Just wanted to know from that quantity, how much are we expected to use captively and how much is for external sales? The way we are looking at today is that depending on there's a very strong external sales. Like I said, technically, let's say we can take 80%-90% utilization in the next year, or let's say around 80% at least utilization, and that can be mostly be sold externally. Depending on local, see, in local we have two options, and that will depend on the customer choice. As many of the customers are now requesting us, that we would like to make sure that even for electrolyte, please use locally made salt. One year ago, they were saying you can import from Morita or somebody in China and just formulate here because the prices were lower. But with the gap reducing between China and India, uncertainty of shipments from China, they are telling us to allocate it for electrolyte. We will see. Whatever our customer requests very strongly that please consume internally, that portion will be allocated locally. My guess is that total gigawatt hour capacity which is coming online by, let's say, end of this financial year, early next financial year is 60 GWh. That is around 60,000 ton of electrolyte demand. I am estimating next year somewhere between 10%-20%. At 10%-20%, that is around 600 ton, so around 6,000 ton-10,000 ton of electrolyte. In that, with around 12% order. Somewhere between 500 ton-1,000 ton is what can get consumed locally. Of course, this depends on the customer choice. Except for whatever is consumed locally, and of course, when we consume locally, there will be electrolyte produced which will be further value add, right? Because if we consume X dollars of salt, the electrolyte will be almost 2X, as salt contributes around 50%, right? Overall, that is the number which we today don't know, whether 500 ton or 750 ton or 1,000 ton, or the customer ask me to import from China or ask me to consume my own. But if we were to just say, let's say, about 80% of 5,500 tons is consumed and sold internationally, then with today's prices, we should be somewhere around INR 800 crore-INR 1,000 crore of revenue already. Then whatever we sell it in the form of electrolyte will be further value add. Whether that value add takes us to INR 1,200 or INR 1,500, we'll be able to inform you as we get more clarity from our customers, maybe by Q4 or Q1. On the salt side, INR 1,000 crore kind of, I mean, close to around INR 1,000 crore revenue for next year seems very strong. Sure, sir. Thank you so much. The base business, sir, as you already mentioned, probably we stick to our original guidance which we gave last time, which was, I think, around INR 1,000 crore-INR 1,050 crore for this year and around INR 1,150 crore odd for next year. Our base business last year guidance or last quarter guidance, we had given INR 950 crore - INR 1,050 crore. With the way the second quarter has gone and Q3, Q4, we feel we would be INR 50 crore -INR 100 crore more as compared to what we guided earlier. But for any shortfall which will happen from the battery business, we feel either that or even more than that will be made up by the base business. Overall, we should be in a stronger position. For the next year also, we can enhance our guidance because we would also have the organolithium capacity which we just announced, which was not taken into consideration. Next year, we would look somewhere closer to around INR 1,200 crore. This year, the way we are, because we are already at INR 550+ crore in the first six months, usually the second six months are stronger. Also, with our Dahej plant coming online during this quarter and then available for next quarter, many of my new CSM projects which were on hold will also start contributing once Dahej comes online. Together, we feel next year also should be stronger than our original idea. We would be somewhere between, let's say, INR 1,200 crore -INR 1,300 crore for next year. This year should be a INR 1,100+ crore kind of revenue is what I'm expecting. Sure. Thank you so much, sir. Those were all my questions. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Abhijit Akella from Kotak Institutional Equities. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi. Good evening. Thank you so much for taking my questions. Just first on the battery revenues that you have booked in 2Q and 1H maybe, would it be possible to just split it out between salts and electrolytes? Most of it is salt. I mean, electrolyte is hardly less than 5%-10% of that. Okay. Harin, if I heard you correctly a few moments ago, you mentioned something like 60 GWh of capacity coming in India, battery side, by early next financial year. How much line of sight do we have at this point? I mean, is this all confirmed that this capacity is on the verge of getting completed, or could there be some slippages to this timeline? See, I think, honestly speaking, we have feedback from our customers, but some of these are confidential in nature. What I can share with you is mostly the public information. What we have seen is Ola is on track to increase capacity. Exide already has installed capacity of 6 GWh. Tata and Reliance both have targeted that, I think, by Q4 current financial year, Q1 next financial year, their capacity should come online. Amara Raja has also guided to starting in Q2, Q1, Q2 of the next financial year. Vapi also, either Q4, by Q4 capacity coming online. I do not think there is a challenge in the capacities coming online. I think the capacities will come online by Q4, Q1, like this year Q4 or next year Q1. It is just the ramp-up and trial production, whether it takes one year. As we said, like historically also, that we feel normally by two years, a battery plant should be fully stabilized. What our expectation is that by FY 2029, even if this is at a 50% utilization level overall, and let us say in the third year, the 60 GWh is at 80%-90% utilization. Therefore, by FY 2029, we feel there is a very strong possibility that our 30,000 metric ton gets fully utilized. Hopefully by FY 2030, we should be already falling short of capacity, for which we have to plan some more CapEx in FY 2029. I think majority of these customers are on track. As we have explained, almost five of the customers, we already have the recipe. We are at different stages where the customer is already convinced. Like two of the customers have already used our electrolyte in their pilot line or commercial line. Three of them are already testing our electrolytes either in their R&D or in an external lab, comparing against the Chinese electrolytes. Those things are also in progress. We have also made good progress with the sixth customer, wherein their international team came and they were very happy to see our Pakhajan site. They were very, very happy. They feel this is of international scale. They gave very positive remarks. Only just for their immediate requirement, we need to just work on how the recipe can be shared with us. Otherwise, all six of them are very keen to work with Neogen. We have a very good line of sight. I think the only question is, in the next two financial years, how fast stabilization happens? Do they take six months? Do they take one year? Do they take two years to stabilize and achieve 50%, 80%? That is the only question which is difficult to answer. Got it. Thank you. Just one clarification on the numbers. The difference between standalone and consol revenues this quarter is only about INR 7 crore or so, INR 295 crore versus INR 288 crore. Yet you have mentioned that the subsidiary did about INR 37 crore of revenues. Exactly how is it being accounted for? Why does it not show up in the full consolidated numbers? Yeah. I think the main reason is that some of the raw materials which is required for the subsidiary actually comes into Neogen Chemicals because that is where we are buying lithium and we have all the permissions. As we ramp up Neogen Ionics, slowly some of the raw materials can come directly in Neogen Ionics, but we need to buy Neogen Chemical and transfer. Therefore, there are some inter-unit transfers between Neogen and Neogen Ionics, which is why this number difference comes. In fact, if you basically account for that, then actually Neogen Chemicals' gross margins also should be significantly better, because the sub-portion around INR 18 crore-INR 20 crore worth of material is just basically bought by Neogen Chemicals and transferred to Neogen Ionics. Okay, got it. The last one I had was just on the inventories situation. It does seem to have increased quite a bit in the first half. What exactly is this due to, and where do you see this heading over the rest of the year? This is a situation where our Dahej plant is coming online. At the same time, it's not fully come online, therefore we still have to continue with our outsourcing or toll manufacturing arrangement. At the same time, the customer demand is also increasing significantly. What we expect, that by end of the current financial year, like Q4, once kind of Dahej starts, we will be improved. We would be somewhere, let's say, around 180 days is what we are targeting by around 180 days by end of the current financial year. By next financial year, where we'll have full utilization at all the sites, we are targeting to go back to historical best, which was around 140 - 160 days in the next financial year, which is FY 2028. This is just for the standalone. Beyond that, some of the CSM business which is coming in and some large molecules which are coming in, we are able to execute those strategies. Organolithium also, as it contributes more, there the working capital cycle requirement is also less. There we can improve and get to a region between 110- 140 days as we go forward in FY 2029, FY 2030. This is our target. Of course, the battery business, we are targeting close to around 90 days of working capital cycle, which we should be able to achieve. This is just Dahej is ramping up, starting, as well as still job work, and still there's a very strong demand. It's kind of combination of all of that. We are confident that by end of the current financial year, at least there's 180 days inventory, and in the future, 140, 160 for next year, and then 110 - 140 in FY 2029, FY 2030. Right. Just one last final thing, if I may just squeeze in. On the use of the QIP proceeds, will those be used to deleverage for the time being, or could we consider some expansion as well in the battery scheme of things? No. As per the end use, we are committed that the main purpose will be to deleverage the balance sheet. We have already, I mean, unfortunately, we had to give certain notices to our term loan lenders as well as for bonds. As you can see, we have completed the task. We have already passed the resolution to repay INR 200 crore of bond. Some of these will be repaid, and we will be deleveraging the balance sheet. For future investment, as we said, if there is no special requirement by Indian customers for us to contribute salt. For our FY 2028 salt and electrolyte, we have enough capacity. What we are watching is FY 2029. I think by Q4 of the current year, as we will see the base business, I mean, the electrolyte salt business will start stabilizing by, let's say, Q4 or Q1 next financial year. We are also expecting some government policy clarity and even Indian electrolyte customer clarity about use of local salt or imported salt by Q4, Q1. That is a time where, if at all, we have to take care of both India and the U.S. And if the demand of both is strong, then FY 2029, we will be short. Sometime in FY 2028, we need to add our salt capacity. That decision will be taken maybe towards end of Q4 or Q1, after taking care of what is happening in the U.S., how the business in the U.S. is developing, how India electrolyte is developing, and policy. The combination of all these. Understood. Thank you so much, and wish you all the best. Thank you. Thank you. We will take our next question from the line of Archit Joshi from Nuvama. Please go ahead. Hi. Good evening, everyone. Thanks a lot for the opportunity. First question, rather a clarification from something that was called out in the last con call, on the non-Chinese demand getting created for salt. That was something that I couldn't really understand, as we had said that in 2027 calendar year, the salt usage which was already, let's say, part of electrolyte formulations, which was coming in from China, will now get displaced by non-Chinese salts. I couldn't really figure out how would that equation work, and who are these players at this point in time who are exporting electrolytes or salts in both separate ways. If you can just clarify how that mechanism can help us in the next calendar year. Sure. As part of One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was passed, there is the tax credit which is distributable by companies which are producing advanced chemistry cells in lithium-ion battery cells in U.S.A. This is called a 45X tax credit, which is as high as, I think, some $35 per kilowatt hour. But to be eligible for this, you have to reduce your dependency on Foreign Entity of Concern, FEOC, and they call it non-FEOC supply. Based on that requirement, 2027, the customers have to shift from FEOC to non-FEOC supplies, which basically includes Neogen and like, you know, few, four or five other salt manufacturers internationally. This is the clarification on your first, and this is the reason why we have said that our salt demand is increasing quarter- on- quarter, and we are confident that our next year full capacity should get, you know, fully utilized for the U.S. market. Because one, we have a non-FEOC or basically 45X compliant supply, as well as we have Morita stable technology, so that combination makes us very strong. At present, today, the majority of this is currently going from China. Electrolyte is already being made in the U.S. It is only the electrolyte salt and additives which are currently mostly being supplied from China, and there is one Japanese and one Korean. Neogen and one more Indian company, two more are getting qualified. These four will be the major suppliers, and there is one more Korean company who is trying to come online maybe sometime next year. These will be the major suppliers for the FEOC compliance. Now, is it that, let us say, there might be Chinese companies who are also exporting the entire formulation, and because they are already backward integrated, the salt usage is captive for them. That salt usage, which is a part of the electrolyte, is not being traced by the U.S. authorities, which also can create an opportunity that the salt part of what is captively consumed in China also comes to Neogen. Is that a possibility, or the whole American ecosystem creates electrolyte formulation by themselves and they do not import any electrolyte formulation? I just wanted to understand that aspect as well. Yeah. As we stand today, historically, there was a little bit of electrolyte getting imported, but those volumes have gone down significantly already, and majority of the electrolyte is produced by five electrolyte producers in the U.S. Earlier in my call, I said to you there are five entities which are making electrolytes in the U.S., and out of that, four of them have already approved our Dahej site. Three of them, as I explained, have already completed all audits also, and two we have started commercial supplies. We are in touch with all the five of them, and the fifth one also, once Pakhajan happens, will come online. Basically by June, we would have access to the entire ecosystem of the U.S. Noted, sir. Got it. Sir, any update on any relationships that you are developing on the energy storage side in the domestic arena? I think in the earlier reference, you know, I talked of all cell manufacturers. So in that, like, you know, Waaree Energies and Reliance, they both are like mostly targeting energy storage. And even Exide and Ola will have some which is basically for energy storage. So all the 60 GWh capacity is coming, has both EV as well as energy storage. In fact, the capacity for energy storage at present, the way it stands is higher than even required for the EV application. Got it. Sir, just one last bit, you know, circling back to the whole China-U.S. story. Just wanted to understand, there are a couple of Chinese companies who are also planning to set up their own manufacturing plants in U.S., so specifically for salt. Do not really understand how that would work out for them, as they will continue to be Chinese companies, incorporation-wise. What is your take on that, sir? I think, you know, as you very correctly said, they will not be like, you know, this FEOC or non-FEOC compliant. Therefore, you know, they are maybe hoping that maybe they will capture some customers for whatever reason who are not able to meet the requirements or who are not so strongly required. But if anybody wants a 45X credit, the way things stand today, they cannot buy. So I think some of these are announcements, but actually very limited things are getting done on the ground in the hope to just tell U.S. policymakers that this is also an option available that we are willing to invest in the U.S. So I think it is more posturing and more hope of a policy change. But the way things stand today, very few customers would be interested in a facility which is owned by Chinese or controlled by Chinese in the U.S. Got it, sir. Very clear. Thank you and wishing you a very Happy Diwali. Thanks. Same to you. Thank you. Happy Diwali. Next question is from the line of Viraj Vajratkar from Kotak AMC. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi. Just two small questions. One is basically the proceeds of the QIP that went for the working capital increase, that is mainly for the U.S. salt shipments, correct? Which was supposed to have started November, December this year. Is that interpretation fair? I think little confusing. I think QIP proceeds are. Many of the QIP proceeding, because by the time we received it, you know, we were not able to fully. Most of them were sitting as cash as on September 30th. Basically, QIP proceeds would be used the way we have originally said, like, for repayment of long-term loan, for some working capital reduction, like working capital dependency reduction, and the third would be for general corporate purposes. Just one last. Basically, the net debt guidance of INR 1,300 crore -INR 1,500 crore for FY 2028 versus the current INR 1,095 crore. I was just trying to see, so INR 45 crore is coming next, I mean, it is coming from organolithium CapEx fresh, and there is INR 150 crore roughly, sorry, not INR 150 crore, around INR 263 crore more coming for the battery CapEx, INR 1,800 crore minus the INR 1,537 crore, that's INR 263 crore. So INR 263 crore and INR 45 crore, so total INR 308 crore of requirement. Any other investments till FY 2028 do you see? We still have some balance investments left to complete the project in our Pakhajan and Dahej, because few capacities are still remaining, right? Also, we will require the working capital as FY 2028 will target a INR 1,000 crore revenue for INR 1,000+ crore revenue for the battery business. Okay. Just if you could help for the cash moment also. Net debt is fine, but the cash moment also, like from this INR 1,095 crore, how much is the current cash, and in FY 2028, how would you end that roughly? I think it'll be very difficult to describe all this over a call right now. Okay, sure. Because there are many more pieces here. Sure. Maybe, if you can just use our existing projections, and after that, if you have some questions, it will be better if you send an email to our investor, and we will try to answer based on whatever guidances we have. Sure. Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we request you to restrict to two questions at a time, please. Next question is from the line of Tejas Arun Sonawane from Asian Markets Securities. Please go ahead. Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity. My first question was on the qualification timelines for the electrolyte formulation plant. You indicated earlier that we are already supplying recipes to multiple domestic cell manufacturers from our Dahej plant. Once our Pakhajan unit with a newer technology comes online, how do we see the qualification timeline for our electrolyte formulations which are produced from the new plant? As we said during trial production, out of the six giga factories or five giga factories, we already have received the recipe. So we will jointly produce this material to our customers, and using this material, they can do the qualification. For some of them, it will be a shift of site. Whoever we have given samples from Dahej, two of them who have already approved and have received material, it will be a kind of a transfer from Dahej to Pakhajan, and that will be relatively shorter, two months, three months. For the rest, it will be, again, either we have given them samples, as I explained, they are already testing samples against the Chinese electrolyte. So they will also just test this, that it gives the same performance as our previous samples from R&D. But overall, what we feel that most of these customers are coming by Q4, Q1. So we feel we have enough time to make sure that by the time they start, they can complete all the approvals, and instead of first importing from China, then changing over, they should be ready to start buying from us from day one, once they have generated sufficient data. So hopefully, for the electrolyte, we should not have approvals as a constraint, because it's coming online, and then it takes between, let's say, for somebody, two months, maximum six months. So by March, it is kind of fully approved. Then it just depends on how the demand develops, depending on their cell production ramp-up. Okay, understood. One more small question. I joined late on the call. Would it be possible to disclose how much of the revenue is from the organolithium business in Q2 and H1 of FY 2027? So because organolithium is a single molecule, it's, as you said earlier, one molecule is a major portion of that. So for competitive reasons, we don't want to break it down of how much revenue came from there. But I can tell you that our capacity of 300 tons, which is 300 tons of active, which was earlier expanded, which is like, monthly capacity of almost 25 tons per month. So we are on track to we are already exceeding or very close to the 25 tons per month kind of utilization or above. So we are fully utilizing the facility, and the demand is very strong there. Okay, got it. That's all from my side, and Happy Diwali to the entire team. Thank you for that. Happy Diwali to you also. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Rohit Nagraj from 360 ONE Capital. Please go ahead. Good evening, and thanks for the opportunity. First question is, beyond FY 2029, you alluded that if our plans go through as per our expectation, we will have to plan for the next leg of CapEx, sometimes towards the end of FY 2028, early 2029. In terms of optimal size of plant for electrolyte salt, what are we looking at? In terms of the timeline or lead time, what could be the lead time to put up additional facility given that most of the infrastructure is ready, but we will have to put up more reactors to it? Thank you. Sure. Yeah. I think the minimum size for the salt is between 3,000 tons- 5,000 tons for the electrolyte salt. For any additive, it is about 1,000 tons. Lead time in an existing setup, I would have to push myself for 12 months, but ideally, if you want to give a safe time, 18 months is a good time for the incremental CapEx. It is not just putting reactor. We have a situation like that for the additive where for another, let us say, 500,000 tons, we just have to put reactor. But it would be, we will have to create a building and then put the reactor. But yes, the common infra, like utilities and everything would already be there. So ideally, I would say 15 - 18 months is a good time for a salt or electrolyte plant. Just one small clarification here. In terms of cash flow availability, do we have decent amount of cash flows to fund the CapEx through a mixture of debt and equity? Yes, we believe, if by FY 2029, if we are already generating like INR 2,500 crore-INR 3,000 crore kind of revenue. So at a 20% ROCE that we have said earlier, we should be getting somewhere around INR 500 crore-INR 600 crore of EBITDA. So at those kind of numbers, we should be able to fund it internally. Perfect. The second question is— We always want to. Because, see, one thing which we have to also think that if I look at a 10-year kind of a picture. So if within 10 years, India reaches where China is today. Today, China is at somewhere around 1,000 GWh-1,200 GWh kind of gigawatt hour. Let's say today, if you look at China's top one or two electrolyte makers, they still able to command around 25%-30% kind of market share. If we think of India reaching and India's own demand also, as per MHI report, is expected to be somewhere around 600 GW-700 GW internally. With some exports, we can imagine India can be 900,000. If, let's say, Neogen also has a 30% kind of a market share based on just looking at a China model, no other logic, that also requires a 300 kt kind of electrolyte capacity and 30 kt salt capacity, approximately 10 times of what we have today. I think, once India's cell production is proven, once India's ability and in the global supply chain we have been accepted, in the next seven or eight years, we have to increase capacity eight, nine times of what we have today. So, the board will have to look at the situation and plan. Yes, the earliest that we see the next capacity increase to happen would be somewhere around FY 2029. Unless, like I said, salt capacity, we may have to take a decision in FY 2028 if both we need for India as well as the U.S. market. And both U.S. market shift from China to non-China is going smoothly, and India electrolyte is also ramping up, so subject to that. Perfect. This is very helpful. Second question, in terms of salt, the three molecules that we require, we have import dependencies. So how are the general contracts structured in terms of pricing in case there is a volatility? Is it quarterly reset or a half-yearly reset or anything on that lines? Thank you. Yes, so I think lithium is like a completely pass-through. And currently what we have is a quarterly reset with our long-term customers, with whom we have a long-term supply agreement. Other than that, we are also nowadays supplying it to people with whom we do not have long-term contracts. And with this customer, either we are going on a monthly reset model or a fixed for a six-month period or something, but with an advance or something which assures the price, and then we also kind of give a back-to-back lithium coverage. So, like a back-to-back lithium coverage at a fixed price for a three-month, six-month, nine-month period with advance kind of a situation or a monthly reset is what we are talking to new customers. With the old customer, what we have, the existing long-term contract, supply contract, that is a quarterly reset. Perfect. Thanks a lot. All the best and Diwali wishes to the entire team. Thank you. Thank you. Diwali to you also. Next question is from the line of Anukool Arora from Sagun Capital. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Anukool, your audio is not clear. Can you use your handset mode, please? Hello, is it better now? Yes, please go ahead. Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity. Most of my questions have been answered. Just wanted to understand, like we are seeing good demand from U.S. for LiPF6. Are there any plans to expand our capacities further going forward? Anukool, yeah, as we said, we are just waiting for this to develop, how it develops in Q4 and Q1 next financial year. We are also hoping that by Q1 next financial year, we would have almost all the U.S. customer would have already approved. Then we are also looking at India government policy, how they are supporting localization and customers approach both from a government policy as well as from security of supply. Based on that, by Q4 current financial year, Q1 next financial year, we would like to take a call on additional capacity of the salt, where we will have more clarity both from U.S. and India point of view. As we discussed that sometime in FY 2029, we would have to again take a call for increasing capacity both for the electrolyte and electrolyte salt. If everything goes well over next seven to eight years, we would have to increase capacity seven times, eight times. Almost next eight to nine years, we will have some breaks in between, but then we would always be constantly undergoing CapEx. Okay. Got it, sir. My other question is, in terms of offtake for battery cells in India, are we still seeing that the ramp-up is still slower, or how is it? No, I think today, the battery requirement this year will even exceed. I think if you look at MHI, Ministry of Heavy Industries has come out with a report wherein they said next year, the demand for the batteries will be almost close to 95 GW- 100 GW. So the demand is very strong. It is just the production and the first initial production which is a struggle, wherein as on today, let us say, for example, 60 GWh capacity is coming online. As we said, it may take one or two years for them to fully get utilized. So they will be fully be available, let us say, by FY 2029 or FY 2030. But the demand for what they can produce in FY 2029, 2030 is already there in 2028. In fact, by FY 2030, the expected India demand is going to be 160 GWh against the 60 GWH, which will be fully be able to use. So I think the demand is very strong. We do not have to worry about the demand in India. Only the ramp-up of cell production is what we need to watch carefully. Okay. Got it, sir. Thank you so much. That is it from my end. Thank you. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Raghav Angra from Money Stories. Please go ahead. Yeah. Hi. Am I audible? Yes, please go ahead. Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity. Could you please clarify how much of the planned electrolyte and lithium salt capacity is backed by confirmed customer demand versus customers still undergoing trials and approvals? Also, what is the expected commercial ramp-up schedule for each product, particularly the time required to move from approval to regular commercial supply and ultimately the full utilization? For the electrolyte salts, as we said earlier, by next year itself, we expect full utilization, because I mean close to around 70%-80% kind of utilization. For the electrolyte salt, our estimate is that by FY 2029, we achieve full utilization. For the electrolyte salt, we have some long-term contracts, and we also have some discussions with non-contracted customers, based on which we are confident that next year we can achieve full utilization. Of course, the long-term contract doesn't have a take-or-pay. That's why we are also discussing with others, and ensure that the demand is quite strong, so that in the salt, we can achieve 70%-80% utilization levels by next year. In terms of electrolyte, we don't have long-term contracts with anyone because, as we discussed earlier, the cell production is coming online, they need to get stabilized. They need to be clear on the volumes only post-stabilization. Therefore, we do not have, but we have had commercial discussions. We have had pricing models which have been agreed upon that this is how we would kind of do the pricing, and that is accepted by the customer. Only thing which sometime changes that use locally produced LiPF6, LiFSI, or additives, or import them depending on the price differential. That is something that the customers will still finalize as the volumes ramp up. But the utilization by FY 2029 is guided by the fact that if the total six plants which come online, they are at 60 GWh, require 50,000 tons, and today 30,000 tons is what we have installed capacity. There is very limited capacity available other than Neogen capacity. Majority of the demand should come to Neogen, and that will ensure full utilization, especially because electrolyte is very difficult to import. Therefore, majority of the customers are likely to purchase this locally. Got it. Thank you for that. Thank you. Raghav, I request you to rejoin the queue, please, as we have participants waiting for their turn. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we request you to restrict to one question at a time, please. Next question is from the line of Akshay Satija from Alpha Invesco. Please go ahead. Hi, thank you so much for the opportunity, and congratulations on great set of numbers. Sir, I wanted to understand on Exide, as we've not been approved yet. How complicated is it for someone like a Balaji Amines who manufactures DMC, could import LiPF6 from China, blend it with their DMC and supply to players like Exide or any other players? I think, for somebody, it's a journey. You have to first make it in your R&D, then you have to set up an at-scale kind of a plant. We feel right now there are very few people who have the ability even to make electrolytes in lab in India. The fact is that, you'd have to first learn that ability, make that. If you set up a plant also, it's minimum two years time. Then, solvent, by value contributes only 15%-20%, right? You also have to secure efficient LiPF6. I'm not saying you can't do it, but I feel very difficult for somebody to do, let's say, within next two years to come up with a new facility, get all the approvals, and get the confidence from the customer, and give a more competitive price as compared to a proven technology which Neogen already has and already established player. Of course, maybe something like that can happen over a 10-year period, and depending on how much of that happens, we discussed earlier the number, that at 30% market share also, Neogen has to grow 10 times. Depending on how successfully the remaining 70% comes, the question is, Neogen has to grow 10 times or more. That depends, and that is something that we have to do. Also, the advantage which you have, a first mover advantage, one is the approvals that you have. Then once it's approved, very rare for customers to change. The second advantage that you have is that when we do the next round of 30,000 ton CapEx, we would be basically doing incremental CapEx, which is 60%-70% as compared to somebody setting up a first 30,000 ton plant. I think these are the advantages which we have, which we have to kind of use over next seven to eight years as we go beyond our existing capacity. Thank you. Okay. Akshay, I request you to rejoin the queue, please. Thank you. Next question is from the line of Darshil Jhaveri from Crown Capital. Please go ahead. Hello. Yeah. Hi. Thank you so much for taking my question. I am sorry, your audio is not clear. Can you use your handset mode, please? Hello, is this better right now? Yes, please go ahead. Yeah. Hi. Thank you so much for taking my question, sir. I just wanted to know in terms of margin, sir, for this year, what would be the outlook for consolidated margins? We had a dip and you also had a higher interest cost, right? Could you just help us guide for that, sir? On the base Neogen Chemicals business, we are at an 18% + kind of EBITDA level. We hope that as Dahej plant comes online and some of the additional cost of working outside improves, then the margin kind of gets better beyond Q4. Definitely next year, we purposefully want to tailor our product, work with a better product mix to improve our margins. I would continue to guide Neogen Chemicals margins at 18%-20%. See, in case of Neogen Ionics, on a quarter-on-quarter, sometimes what happens, capacity comes online, expenses happen, but the utilization happens in the next quarter. It is a little bit difficult to predict exact margins, although we expect that once we have significant volumes coming from Q4, Q1, at least hopefully we are EBITDA positive and, depending on how the expense come, become PBT positive also very soon, sometime in the next financial year. But overall, once we have a full utilization of all, currently the contracts are in a place so that we can have 20% + kind of a return on capital in terms of the investment in the around INR 1,800 crore -INR 2,000 crore investment + 90 days working capital cycle. So roughly around INR 2,500 crore -INR 3,000 crore will be the total investment, which should generate close to around INR 500+ crore EBITDA on full utilization by, let us say, FY 2029. So, this is what we are currently focusing and targeting, and the basis of the guidance that we have given. I know in the beginning, this year and next year, the margins, there will be some volatility, but again, you can focus on that or you can focus on the opportunity that we have for the next 10 years. So as the entire ecosystem and business stabilizes, we request our investors to be a little bit more patient, and then once we achieve full utilization, we will have more clarity, more predictable margins that we can plan. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will take that as the last question for today. I now hand over the call to management for closing comments. Over to you, sir. Thank you all for your time, engaging questions, and ongoing support. For any additional queries, please reach out to our investor relation team, CDR India. We look forward to speaking with all of you next quarter. I wish everybody Happy Diwali. Festival greetings to each one of you. Have a wonderful day ahead. Thank you. Thank you, members of the management team. On behalf of Neogen Chemicals, that concludes this conference. Thank you all for joining us today. You may now disconnect your lines.