Earnings call transcript

MANAGEMENT

MR. NILESH NARWEKAR – CHIEF EXECUTIVE

MODERATOR

MR. VAIBHAV AGARWAL – PHILLIPCAPITAL INDIA

Moderator

Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to JSW Cement Earnings Call for the quarter ended 30th June 2026, hosted by PhillipCapital. 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 the 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. Vaibhav Agarwal from PhillipCapital India Private

Limited. Thank you and over to you, Mr. Agarwal.

Vaibhav Agarwal

Yeah, thank you Renju. Good morning, everyone. On behalf of Philip Capital India Private

Limited, we welcome you to the Q1 FY27 call of JSW Cement Limited. On the call from JSW

Cement, we have with us Mr. Nilesh Narwekar, Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Narinder Singh

Kahlon, Director Finance and Commercial and Chief Financial Officer; Mr. Hitendra Jariwala,

Chief Marketing Officer; and Mr. Kunal Mukherjee, Head, Investor Relations.

I would like to mention on behalf of JSW Cement Limited and its management that certain statements that may be made or discussed on this conference call may be forward-looking statements based on current management expectations and also something that relates to future expected business development by JSW Cement's management.

Such statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other important factors which may cause the actual developments and results to differ materially from any management projections made on this call. JSW Cement Limited and the management of the company assumes no obligation to publicly update or alter these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of any new business development, information, or future event or otherwise. Also, participants on the call can download a copy of JSW Cement's Q1 FY27 results presentation from the company website or stock exchanges.

I will now hand over the floor to the management of JSW Cement for their opening remarks, to be followed by the Q&A. Thank you and over to you, sir.

Kunal Mukherjee

Yeah, thank you Vaibhav. Good morning to all, and we welcome you to the quarter 1 FY27

Earnings Call of JSW Cement. I hope all of you have had the chance to review our results and investor presentation.

With this, I will hand over the call to Mr. Nilesh Narwekar for his opening remarks. Over to you, sir.

Nilesh Narwekar

Thank you Kunal, and good morning to all. FY27 has started off on a strong note for the company despite the ongoing uncertainty around the West Asia crisis and the impact of state elections held early in the quarter. As per our reading, cement demand in South, West, and

East regions grew approximately 6% Y-o-Y in quarter one FY27.

The North region, where we started sales in this quarter, saw substantially higher demand growth of approximately 11% Y-o-Y. Government capex did much of the heavy lifting in the

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August 14, 2026 quarter. Central capex grew by 24% Y-o-Y, and data indicates that 28% of the FY27 capex budget has already been utilized in quarter one. Similarly, state capex and infra construction goods output continue to grow Y-o-Y.

We are seeing very strong demand outlook on the infra and large project side for the rest of the year, which will support our non-trade cement and the GGBS business. Just to give a few

examples of large projects in our regions

in MMR, we see pace picking up in the bullet train project - the Maharashtra packages, and the Western Coastal Road project at Mumbai will also gather pace post monsoons. Road-related works are expected to pick up speed too.

In Pune, I would like to highlight the Pune Ring Road project and various new elevated road packages. There are also a few new metro projects planned in Pune. In South region,

Amaravati new capital development project at AP is gaining speed. The NPCIL nuclear power plant expansion in North Karnataka and several large road packages in Chennai and Kerala are expected to generate substantial demand.

On the residential front, we are seeing strong residential activity in Pune, Hyderabad, and

Bangalore, and most of you will be aware of the substantial residential redevelopment happening in Mumbai and suburbs. Finally, on the macro front, we continue to monitor the external environment, which remains volatile. As fuel prices remain elevated, we are increasing our share of domestic fuel for the rest of the year.

Moving to the key operational highlights for quarter 1 FY27. Firstly, on volumes, our total sales volume in quarter 1 FY27 increased by 15% Y-o-Y to 3.81 million tons. Taking this product-wise, cement volumes sold was 2.34 million tons, increased 27% Y-o-Y. For ease of comparison, if we exclude the North operations, the volume increase was 8% Y-o-Y. As we had flagged in our quarter four call, demand in April and early parts of May was affected due to labor migration and state elections, but we saw a strong rebound in the month of June. We would also like to touch upon the contribution from the North region. The market reception has been very positive so far, with an average utilization level of 55% in quarter one. The utilization rate touched almost 68% in June ‘26.

GGBS volume growth was relatively muted at 2.6% Y-o-Y. However, we are optimistic on the prospects for GGBS for the rest of the year. We have received approvals for over 29 large infra projects in Q1, and moreover, the project pipeline is also robust as mentioned earlier.

Moving to product ASP, cement realization for quarter one FY27 was INR4,951 per ton, increase of 6% Q-o-Q, with the highest increase in East region followed by South and West.

GGBS realization in quarter one FY27 was INR3,807 per ton, increase of 3.4% quarter-on- quarter. Within cement, trade mix remains stable at 51%. Our clinker to cement factor increased to 55% with the launch of North operations, but remains one of the lowest in the industry. Lead distance remains stable in the quarter too.

I would also like to briefly touch on the capacity expansion program. Substantial progress has been made on installation of the WHRS, the OLBC, and the AFR co-processing system at the

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Nagaur integrated unit, and these are expected to commission in the next few weeks, which is going to bring down our costs significantly. The additional 1 million ton grinding capacity in

Nagaur is also on track and is expected to be commissioned by end of Q2. We added 56 megawatt of wind capacity in Q1 at Dolvi and Vijayanagar, and this took our RE share to 30% in Q1.

Let me now hand over to Narinder to take you through the key financial highlights.

Narinder Singh

Thank you, Nilesh. Good morning to all. I will summarize the performance of Q1 27. At company level, consolidated revenue was INR1,896 crores, that's an increase of 22% year-on- year and flat quarter-on-quarter. Consolidated operating EBITDA was INR299 crores, that's lower by 7.5% year-on-year.

Despite improvement in realizations, EBITDA declined mainly due to cost pressures in fuel and packing, plus the substantial marketing investment of about INR33 crores made in North region during quarter one. Consolidated operating EBITDA per ton was INR784 per ton for the quarter. As already mentioned, we started sales in the North region, and this quarter was the first full quarter for us. Excluding the North operations, revenue grew by approx 10% in quarter, while operating EBITDA increased by 4% to INR336 crores, that's INR979 per ton.

Total EBITDA including other income was INR372 crores. PBT was INR190 crores during the quarter, including positive contribution of about INR13 crores from the Fujairah operations. PAT for the quarter was INR153 crores.

In terms of the trend in main cost elements in Q1, raw material and power and fuel increased on quarter-on-quarter basis, primarily due to higher fuel cost and impact of Nagaur operations.

Blended fuel cost for the quarter increased to INR1.80 per Mcal versus INR1.49 per Mcal in the previous quarter. We are working towards increasing our share of domestic fuel to optimize our costs in the coming quarters. Logistic cost per ton reduced by 2% quarter-on- quarter with a slight reduction in lead of 4 kilometers as well as from efficiency measures.

Other expenses have also increased by 4.5% quarter-on-quarter in absolute terms, and this is largely related to the heavy marketing investment in the North region and higher packing cost during the quarter.

In terms of balance sheet, net debt was INR3,856 crores at the end of June. Net debt to

EBITDA stood at 2.95 times. Average cost of debt for the quarter was stable quarter-on- quarter at 7.63%. During the quarter, the company incurred capex of INR337 crores. We will now be happy to address your questions. Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. The first question comes from the line of Prateek Kumar with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Prateek Kumar

Hello, yeah, good morning. My first question is on North operations. Operating loss of INR40 crores in this quarter, including you said INR33 crores marketing investment. Can you discuss what kind of marketing investments are these? Also, is this INR40 crores loss in line with what

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August 14, 2026 you expected maybe last year during IPO, and what kind of full-year EBITDA you expect from North operation in first year?

Nilesh Narwekar

Yeah, hi Pratik. So this expenditure in terms of marketing of INR33 crores was primarily around the new campaign launch which was undertaken on the back of the launch in the North.

And of course, there were a lot of activation activities which were done on the ground level, like there was a Khel Mahotsav done where we connected with all the 10,000 villages, 10,000 teams participated in a cricket tournament in Rajasthan, similarly Dangal in Haryana, plus all the activation work at the ground level.

So it's a combined effect of all of this which is contributing towards this towards the INR33 crores of marketing expenditure. And as compared to our BP, it was planned in our BP and we are tracking ourselves against that.

Prateek Kumar

Yeah, and what kind of performance you're looking for full year for North? Is it going to turn profitable?

Nilesh Narwekar

Yes, we should be. As we had mentioned, in the first quarter we were close to 55% of capacity utilization, and we are holding ourselves for that. In fact, we should be closer to 60% plus by the end of the year in terms of our North operations. And the real kicker for us that's going to happen now in terms of costs is once the clinker costs start to come down with the commencement of the OLBC, the alternate fuel, the waste heat recovery kicking in, the move from imported coal to lignite.

I was talking about how our costs are likely to come down, specifically the clinker costs are likely to come down in quarter two with the implementation of the overland belt conveyor, the alternate fuel handling systems, the waste heat recovery which has already been commissioned, it's going to get fully in flow, and of course the rotation towards more of domestic coal and increase in lignite in our operations. So, all that has been planned for quarter two, and we expect the benefits to start to kick in thereafter.

Prateek Kumar

Thanks. My other question is on GGBS. Growth has been far slower in this quarter. You said you've got significant contracts in Q1 later part. What kind of growth which you are looking at in this segment going forward?

Nilesh Narwekar

Sure. So first, in Q1 FY27, the demand was affected by a number of topical events, let me explain these. There were RMC closures in the West, there were aggregate availability issues in the South, and the low OPC/slag mix cost was a combination of these effects. Now, guidance for quarter two FY27, despite Q2 being a monsoon season, we are expecting it to be better than Q1, and signs are visible already in the month of July.

Now, as I had already mentioned in the opening remarks, we have received approvals for over

29 large infra projects in quarter one. Moreover, the project pipeline is also fairly robust, and we are also applying for additional approvals across the central bodies, and we expect GGBS to be again in the high single digits in terms of growth for the year.

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Prateek Kumar

Sure, thank you sir. These are my questions.

Nilesh Narwekar

Thank you Prateek.

Moderator

Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Raashi with Citi. Please go ahead.

Raashi

Thank you. So continuing the question on the North, so I think the marketing spend was about

INR33 crores in this quarter, if I remember it was about INR23 crores in the prior quarter.

What are you expecting in terms of marketing spend going forward as Q2, Q3? That's one.

And second is on the overall cement volumes, like 8% was the ex-North growth for this quarter. How are you expecting to do overall going forward?

Nilesh Narwekar

So, the marketing spend in last quarter was I think close to INR17 crores. So, the investment for in terms of marketing have already been done, and we expect to reap the benefit of that in the following quarters. What was the second part of the question, Raashi? Sorry, I missed that.

Raashi

The overall, so the ex-North volume growth you mentioned was about 8% for cement. Correct.

So how are you seeing that trajectory for the rest of the year?

Nilesh Narwekar

So the industry growth, excluding North, was at around 6%, and excluding North, we've done it at 8%. Now, what we've seen is in the East and the West, we've done significantly better than the than the industry, and in the South is where we had a bit of a headwind.

Now that is behind us and again primarily because of topical reasons. And overall, in terms of our growth at a company level, we expect to deliver high teens growth at an overall company basis if I was to include North also as a part of this.

Raashi

Got it. And just on realization, what is the pricing strategy in North? So obviously done very well on realizations. So how are you, like, have you needed to sort of take the market or how are you positioning?

Nilesh Narwekar

This is specifically for cement or GGBS you're asking overall? Because both of them have very different approaches, but let me answer to both of them separately.

Raashi

Both.

Nilesh Narwekar

Yeah, sure. So on cement, there are concerted efforts being made. So, all the investments that we are doing primarily in terms of building up our brand, the ground connect with the decision-making influencers, the ground connect with the network, all of that is fundamentally playing out for us in terms of being able to increase our price or reduce the price gap in the A category band itself. So that's one which is playing out.

And the second thing is there is an effort which is constantly on to try and keep reducing our discount structures and that again boosts the realization. So these are two aspects which are working out on the cement side. And on the GGBS side, I mean, the number that you see is primarily a dispersion effect. There's been no change in our pricing strategy overall. We

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August 14, 2026 continue to maintain our stance, and basically the geographic mix is what is what is reflecting in the numbers that you have seen for quarter one for GGBS.

Raashi

Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Shravan Shah with Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.

Shravan Shah

Hi sir. Couple of things to get a understanding. So for cement, we said that we are looking at a high teens growth including North. Sir, just wanted to get a clarity, you said that we are looking at on the cement front high teens volume growth for FY27 including North?

Nilesh Narwekar

Yes.

Shravan Shah

So I was just doing a math, let's say for FY26 we have done 7.73 on the cement front. If I just take a 18% growth, it comes 9.12 million, and for North if we take a 60% utilization, which is

1.5 million tons, so if I minus that then it comes the 7.62, that means we are looking at a de- growth on the core front excluding the North. So just wanted to get a more clarity on that.

Nilesh Narwekar

Shravan, what we're giving you is an overall guidance including North and GGBS, we will deliver a high teens growth on an overall company basis. So that's what we hold ourselves to.

And I mean, while you've done the math, I think we've also done ours, so I think let's stick to the high teens growth in the overall company basis as the guidance from our side.

Shravan Shah

Okay, because just wanted to get a because on the GGBS we are saying a high single digit growth. So on and then we are saying on the overall high teens, so that means on the cement front including North it has to be a 25%, 30% kind of a growth that we should be looking at.

So that's where I some clarification wanted.

Nilesh Narwekar

Okay, can we take this offline?

Shravan Shah

No issues.

Moderator

Mr. Shah, please rejoin the queue for more questions. Next question comes from the line of

Sanjeev Kumar Singh with Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited. Please go ahead.

Sanjeev Kumar Singh

Thank you for the opportunity, sir. My first question is on the profitability of North plant. So can you give some sense on the profitability difference between North and South plants for cement? So I've whether why I'm coming asking this is because some sort of marketing spend will not be one-off in nature, it will continue over the next few quarters or few years also when you continue the operations. So that's why I wanted to understand some -- I want to get some sense on the profitability difference between North and South plant which you are seeing as of now.

Narinder Singh

Yeah, so we all know North and South are completely different when it comes to profitability, and I'm sure you all have the North performance data available for the for the competition.

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Now for us, it's early days. By the end of September, or I can say in September is when we break even, and then we go in the positive territory.

March is the month probably when we can be with more conviction tell you that what is going to be the profitability for the coming months. South is subdued, we saw the results for South companies. South is bit subdued at the moment, but there is a big difference. The difference can be in the range of probably INR600 to INR700 per ton.

Sanjeev Kumar Singh

And second question is in terms of capex plans over the next two-three years. So when do you when do we want to start the Central region plant, and what is the ideal net debt to EBITDA which we would like to maintain by FY28-29?

Narinder Singh

See, for this year, this financial year, our we are going to spend about INR2,300 odd crores and about INR2,000 crores in the next year. See, as we had indicated earlier, our intention is to move from 24.1 million currently capacity to about 43.5 over the next few years. Now that requires about INR7,500 crores, INR7,600 crores capex. So, we continue on that journey. But yes, this year INR2,300 odd crores, next year INR2,000 crores, and the following years probably some of the balance numbers would be spent. Answering your question on the

Central, Central also is on our on our priority list. We hope to make some announcement in the coming quarters.

Sanjeev Kumar Singh

And ideal net debt to EBITDA?

Narinder Singh

Net debt to EBITDA, see, the internal guidance for us from the board is to keep it below 3.0x.

Sanjeev Kumar Singh

Okay, thank you.

Narinder Singh

Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Navin Sahadeo with ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.

Navin Sahadeo

Yes, good morning sir and congratulations on the much faster volume ramp-up in the North region. I had two questions. One is on the RMC business. Like, if you could talk more about the outlook of this particular business given it is so integral to the cement as well as the GGBS that we that we offer. So, how are we looking at? How many plants do we have? What is the vision there? Are we planning to enter in the North region as well in other regions? That would be my first question, sir.

Nilesh Narwekar

Yes, hi. So yes, we are in terms of RMC plants, currently we've got 15, we are adding 35 more.

And our current approach towards the RMC business has largely been it needs to be symbiotic with the relation to wherever we have a footprint. So wherever we can supply our cement and or cementitious in terms of GGBS that's where we set up the RMC plants. And in the RMC setup, it's largely either commercial, dedicated or captive. Captive is largely for JSW use.

That's how it gets divided. In terms of revenue, for quarter one, we were around INR180 crores

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August 14, 2026 in terms of RMC revenues and we have plans to aggressively scaling this up going ahead.

We've already started operations in the North as well because as I said it's symbiotic to wherever we have our cement operations as well.

Navin Sahadeo

Sure. So of the 15 RMC units, is it safe to assume that most of these are currently in the West and South region which are close to our GGBS sourcing units?

Nilesh Narwekar

Yes, it's safe to assume. In the 15, there are two units in the North also as well.

Navin Sahadeo

And incrementally when you say the target is 30-35, would it be again in West region only or they would be now more in the North and other regions that we are planning?

Nilesh Narwekar

No, it is scattered across. So for example, I mentioned to you our commercial and dedicated operations are primarily mirroring wherever we have synergies or symbiotic arrangement with our cement operations, right? And whenever it comes to captive, which is group companies setting up expansion undertaking expansion, there we try and evaluate whether it makes sense for us to provide GGBS at least.

In all the geographies, be it the North, the West, the South or the Eastern part of India, we are having significant captive RMC operations which is primarily mirroring the expansion that the

JSW group is undertaking as well.

Navin Sahadeo

Thank you. Sir, my second question was about the long-term capacity expansion plans and I thank you for including a vision there in terms of scaling the capacity to 68 million tons. My question was if you have any milestone benchmarks to these expansions because we are talking about, like, a couple of lines in North, additional lines I'm saying in North and in

Central also some new sites altogether in the Northeast region.

So my question was, if there are milestones if we can talk about and within the various locations that you've mentioned, are there any priorities or a priority pipeline that let's say, for example, Northeast would supersede or come up earlier than the line two in North or Central?

That kind of a clarification will help us.

Narinder Singh

So Navin, we are evaluating all the options between our Central and a Northeast and North expansion. We understand all three acquire importance, all three are on the priority list for us.

But we will sequence them and maybe in a couple of months we will be in a better position to take that decision. But yes, the plan, the long-term plans are we finish off with the 43 million first and then go for the balance 25 million maybe in the next three-four years following the completion of 43 million.

Navin Sahadeo

Understood. Thank you sir.

Narinder Singh

Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Amit Murarka with Axis Capital. Please go ahead.

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Amit Murarka

Yes, hi. Good morning and thanks for the opportunity. So on North operations, just wanted to check if you have booking incentive in Q1. So could you confirm that one?

Narinder Singh

No, it's not booked yet.

Amit Murarka

And like by when do you expect or what is stopping you from booking it?

Narinder Singh

No, so as a process, we have submitted the documents, we have we are awaiting eligibility certificate, which should be there very soon. The file has already moved a couple of levels.

And once we have that, we will start recognizing the incentive. So we expect this to come within maybe two months.

Amit Murarka

And it's INR50 crores per annum, right? I mean, in the first five years. So if you get the approval like...

Narinder Singh

No, so a part see the major thing is 23% capital subsidy on the on the eligible capital investment. So that and plus something will add up to about INR50 odd crores which we can receive over 10 years. It's not annual.

Amit Murarka

No, not annual. I said INR50 crores per annum for five years and then INR65 crores for next five years is what I had in mind from the earlier discussions.

Narinder Singh

No, it's INR50 crores for first three years, then INR65 crores and then INR80 crores.

Amit Murarka

Yes, right. So INR50 crores for first three years. So that's what I'm asking. So, will you book the INR50 crores for the -- I mean in let's say Q3 itself if you get the approval or will it have to start from Q3 then? Will the clock start from Q3?

Narinder Singh

No, so when it is about the first INR50 crores, see, this is linked to how much of the capex is completed. Whatever gets capitalized is what I can with conviction say is done. So wait for another quarter because we are finishing with the waste heat, the OLBC, the AFR, etcetera and once that's capitalized, probably I can answer this much better whether INR50 crores or something less would be recognized in the in the current year.

Amit Murarka

Sure. And on GGBS, the slower growth, just wanted to understand like you said that pricing strategy has not changed and that you are not raising pricing basically, but also you said that the Central capex was strong in the quarter. So I'm just getting a bit confused that pricing was not raised and capex was strong, then why was the volume weak?

Nilesh Narwekar

See, as I had mentioned, Amit, there were a lot of RMC closures in the West, okay, because of all the challenges there. Aggregate availability issues in the South and the OPC/mix cost is also becoming, as you say, unviable. So those kind of did it. And because of election, there was a lot of labor migration from the geographies that we that we operate in.

So in terms of GGBS sales, I mean, there's a significant volume that we get from South as compared to West, I think it's a 60-40 split between South and West and hence the numbers

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August 14, 2026 were muted overall. And the growth that we received was primarily in the West. South was impacted. And all that is being corrected for now, and we can already start to see the numbers stack up for the guidance that I had given earlier on the call.

Amit Murarka

Sure, understood. And last question if I may. So fuel cost rose very sharply in the quarter.

What would be your expectation for the second quarter now or let's say the medium-term?

Narinder Singh

So we are switching to domestic coal, in fact we have already started buying domestic coal.

And we don't see any escalation beyond the numbers that we achieved in Q1. In fact, in the coming quarters, we expect see second quarter will be almost same as the first quarter, but going into the third quarter, we expect the cost to come down for us.

Amit Murarka

Sure. And just a very last question on the cost savings program you had earlier guided for a number. Where are you in that journey and how much is left?

Narinder Singh

Amit, I think every quarter it becomes a bit difficult to quantify. I think every two quarters it would make sense. We did guide the street in May itself where we are. So hold on for the next quarter's numbers. Probably, we can give you a better guidance on this. Yes, we are making substantial progress on the renewable power and once the entire thing is up and running in

September, probably we'll have answers to that.

Amit Murarka

Got it. Thanks a lot and best wishes.

Narinder Singh

Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Siddharth Mehrotra with Kotak Securities.

Please go ahead.

Siddharth Mehrotra

Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, you mentioned that we expect to grow somewhere in the high single-digits for the GGBS segment. Now if I recall, we had earlier guided that we expect to grow in perhaps mid-teens in this segment. So perhaps is this a change in our overall outlook for GGBS to a slightly lower level?

Nilesh Narwekar

Yes, see, the Q1 was impacted because of what I explained to you earlier and with Q2, Q3, and

Q4 stacking up favorably, yes, the revised would be what I shared with you, which is the high single-digits for GGBS.

Siddharth Mehrotra

And in say FY '28-'29, do we expect similar numbers or do we expect to go back to double- digit guidance?

Nilesh Narwekar

Honestly, it's strongly correlated with the capex spend and the infra growth. And if that continues to incessantly be there and I think the investment that we've currently made in this specifically in quarter one in terms of getting approvals and getting these large infra projects all listed and registered, as a company we see very positive outlook going forward, which will play out not only in this year, which is FY’27, also in FY’28 onwards.

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Siddharth Mehrotra

Understood, sir. Secondly, we just highlighted that we expect to end the year with around 60% capacity utilization in our Rajasthan plant. So just wanted to understand, even 1Q exit, our capacity utilization is more than 60%, 65% as per our PPT. So, why the subdued sort of expectations for full-year utilization?

Narinder Singh

No, it's not subdued. See, today we are operating 2.5 million capacity and another 1 million is going to come up in September end, early October. So then we are looking at 3.5 million capacity. So this number, 60% plus, though yes, you are right, we did mention that we exited

June with a 68% utilization but it's just that the capacity is going to go up by another 1 million.

Siddharth Mehrotra

Okay, that is the perspective. Got it, sir. And sir, when do we expect this additional line to come up here, this 2.5 MTPA?

Narinder Singh

It should be there in FY’28.

Siddharth Mehrotra

By end of FY’28?

Narinder Singh

Yes.

Siddharth Mehrotra

Okay, sir, understood. Just sir, one last clarification. Sir, in one of your notes to accounts, you've mentioned that the other income has a component of INR55 crores due to some JV deconsolidation. Could you just elaborate a bit on that?

Narinder Singh

No, so we are a JV partner in JSW One and JSW One intends to list within this financial year.

That's their plan. So earlier because JSW One was incurring losses, we had to write down the entire investment over different quarters. Now, they did some fund raise very recently and so their net worth is in positive zone and this INR55 crores is the share of that net worth as per accounting standards.

Siddharth Mehrotra

Understood, sir. Just sir out of curiosity, what was the funding round at, this most recent one?

Narinder Singh

I think that question should be asked to JSW One as and when they list.

Siddharth Mehrotra

Okay, sir, that's all from my end. Thank you.

Narinder Singh

Thank you.

Moderator

Next question comes from the line of Kunal Shah with DAM Capital. Please go ahead.

Kunal Shah

Yes, hi sir. So just one on the North operations now. Excluding the North sort of revenues, how was the base cement realization movement during the quarter on a sequential basis?

Nilesh Narwekar

It was plus 5.5% Q-on-Q.

Kunal Shah

Understood. And so obviously North we have not booked any incentives, but other than that we were booking some, right? So, any other incentives that were booked during the quarter?

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Nilesh Narwekar

Yes, it was about slightly less than INR6 crores.

Kunal Shah

Got it. Now sir, on the Punjab expansion, sort of, we have excluded it from our foreseeable capex plans, and now any issues we are seeing there structurally or just like a timing problem there? And what was the amount that has been invested for Punjab until now?

Narinder Singh

No, we have spent only on the land, that's about probably INR50 crores -INR60 crores. We have the entire land with us, a very small parcel is required to be purchased, which we would be doing it very soon. But most of the land is with us, I mean, I can say the whole of the plant land is with us, it's just the approach road a little bit of it. Now, we are awaiting the EC, the EC can come anytime. A couple of rounds of discussion, hearing, etcetera, have happened in the

PCB. So, once we have that, probably then we will initiate the work on at Punjab.

Kunal Shah

Got it. But sir, the capex that you mentioned about, the absolute amount, this would be including Punjab, right? I mean, you would have accounted for that as well, right?

Narinder Singh

Yes, yes, it includes Punjab. Because Punjab is very integral to our entire North plans.

Kunal Shah

Got it. And just lastly one on the green energy share. Now, the target laid out during the second quarter last year was to achieve 49% by 4Q FY26 and 63% by FY27. Can you just give, are we like sort of behind schedule on this one and what are the reasons for the same?

Narinder Singh

So slight delays that was more related to land, but that's all behind us now. As I mentioned earlier, within September, we'll have the entire whatever capacities we had informed earlier, that would be available to us now in September.

Kunal Shah

Got it. So, we can hit like 60% plus by end of FY27?

Narinder Singh

Implemented, yes. Q3 onwards, yes.

Kunal Shah

Got it. Okay, this is really helpful, sir. Thanks a lot.

Narinder Singh

Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Girija Ray with Nirmal Bang. Please go ahead.

Girija Ray

Hi, thanks for taking my questions. All of my questions are actually answered. Just wanted to check what is the regional-wise capacity utilization, particularly for the cement business?

Kunal Mukherjee

We couldn't hear you, Girija. Could you repeat your question, please?

Girija Ray

Am I audible?

Nilesh Narwekar

Yes, you are.

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JSW Cement Limited

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Girija Ray

Yes, so most of my questions are answered, but I have one small question, that is what is the region-wise capacity utilization for the cement business?

Nilesh Narwekar

So overall for quarter one, we were at 61% for quarter one. And yes, there's no split that we offer on this.

Girija Ray

Okay, okay. Thank you, sir.

Nilesh Narwekar

Yes.

Moderator

Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Rajesh Ravi with HDFC Securities. Please go ahead.

Rajesh Ravi

Hi sir, good morning. Am I audible?

Nilesh Narwekar

Yes, Rajesh, please go ahead.

Rajesh Ravi

Yes, first question, just a clarification, the incentives when you start booking in for the cement

North plant, will it flow through revenue and EBITDA or directly to cash flows, balance sheet?

Narinder Singh

No, it will be routed through P&L.

Rajesh Ravi

Through P&L means through revenue, right? Like GST accrual? Because capital subsidy we understand initially doesn't flow through revenue line item. Yes, so we were talking about the incentive, how it will flow through P&L or through revenue or through other line items?

Narinder Singh

There's a bit complex accounting treatment, I understand, on the capital subsidy. I think this has to be recognized over the life of the asset. I think we'll have a discussion with the auditors and then probably answer this rather than giving a misleading answer.

Rajesh Ravi

Sure, sure. Sir, on the marketing expense, I see for the last three-four years the run rate was around INR80 crores to INR85 crores, and Q4 we had a jump in FY26 Q4, and FY26 number went up because you're seeding for the North operations. And North you have done around

INR30 crores -INR33 crores in Q1.

So, from an annual basis, what would be the incremental marketing expenditure you're looking at INR80 crores -INR85 crores run rate? And second, when you said the North operations will break even and will turn positive, so break even at EBITDA level or at profit PAT level?

Narinder Singh

So, break even at EBITDA level. About the first part of your question, see, today we have done about INR33 crores in North, but overall, at company level, we will be doing about

INR130 crores for the year.

Rajesh Ravi

Okay, understood. And this run rate would continue for next few years is what we can assume?

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Narinder Singh

Yes, because we will be going into newer territories very soon. We should be there in Punjab, we'll be there in Western UP, Central UP, etcetera. So, this number is definitely to go up. Keep in mind these INR130 crores what I mentioned includes technical spends also.

Rajesh Ravi

Okay. And break even, EBITDA break even, when you're what is the target, you're looking at, sir?

Narinder Singh

No, in the second quarter, we should be EBITDA break even.

Rajesh Ravi

Okay, so fair to assume at 55%-60% utilization, you have turned or you will be turning

EBITDA break even, and thereafter profitability will further kick in with the commissioning of the WHR, OLBC, and more of low-cost fuel purchase, lignite and all.

Narinder Singh

See, today we have to transport limestone by road, and we don't have WHRS, etcetera. So probably that explains why our breakeven is at a higher number at 55%-60% utilization. Had these all been in operation, breakeven would have been at much lower levels.

Rajesh Ravi

Correct, correct, I agree. And sir, two small questions follow-up. First on the RMC, what is the full-year number you're looking at and is there any EBITDA number, EBITDA margin number for FY26 and 27 in this RMC segment?

Narinder Singh

See, revenue we are targeting North of INR1,000 crores including this year, including the captive, that's what Nilesh explained earlier, wherever the group projects are coming up. Now, today it's very difficult to speak on the margins because captive always has a different number than a commercial or a dedicated. It all depends how we grow. Initially when we put up and our plans are to move from 15 to 35, so in the first year, in first 12 months, we hardly make any money. RMC don't make money. So, bit difficult to spell out the margins right now.

Rajesh Ravi

Understood. And so, when you say captive, you're not talking within the JSW Cement, within the Group, right?

Narinder Singh

Within the Group.

Rajesh Ravi

Within the group, okay. And lastly on the capex number, Q1 you have done INR337 crores and for full year you're guiding INR2,300 crores. So, is it like chances of a miss because the run rate is slower, and I assume Q2 would be not very strong given a monsoon quarter, so H2 the expectation from the capex could be much higher?

Narinder Singh

No, no, no. The number would be close to INR2,300. So, there isn't going to be any miss.

Rajesh Ravi

Understood, understood. So, this is as per your plans.

Narinder Singh

Yes.

Rajesh Ravi

Great, sir. That's all from my end. We'll come back in queue. Thank you.

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Narinder Singh

Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. Due to time constraints, the last question comes from Raashi with Citi. Please go ahead.

Raashi

Thank you. Just some housekeeping questions. So, you've delayed the Vijayanagar Phase 1 beyond CY28, right? That was supposed to come earlier.

Nilesh Narwekar

Sorry, Raashi, just repeat your question. You're not clear, not audible.

Raashi

The Vijayanagar, the Vijayanagar Phase 1, I think earlier the plan was to have it before CY28, that's now been pushed out, right?

Nilesh Narwekar

Yes, that's right. That's right. And basically utilization...

Raashi

Sorry, utilization?

Nilesh Narwekar

No, no, basically to keep in mind the utilization and be prudent about how we ensure the capacity utilization for the overall company is maintained. With that in mind, that was the intent behind it.

Raashi

Understood. And what are the timelines for the Fujairah and the Dolvi expansion? The 4 million tons, won't they are coming before CY28?

Narinder Singh

Fujairah we have done the groundbreaking last month, so that should be up and running within

12 months. Dolvi we are planning to start the work very soon. So that's 15 months from whenever we start.

Raashi

15 and 12. Okay. And for the Nagaur project, the total capex for the 3.5 is INR3,500 crores, right?

Narinder Singh

Yes.

Raashi

And how much has been spent so far?

Narinder Singh

We have spent close to INR2,400 crores - INR2,500 crores.

Raashi

Okay. And the next 2.5 is for INR30 crores, that's correct?

Narinder Singh

Yes, net of GST, yes.

Raashi

Okay. And just last, what was the clinker utilization in the quarter?

Nilesh Narwekar

Clinker utilization? It's at 61% including Nagaur in India. This between Nandyal, Shiva, and

Nagaur, it's at 61%. I mean, if you want to knock off Nagaur, then the number goes up to 87%.

Raashi

Okay, so that's clinker all, alright. Okay, got it. Thank you.

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Nilesh Narwekar

Yes.

Moderator

Ladies and gentlemen, as there are no further questions, we have reached the end of question- and-answer session. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Vaibhav Agarwal for closing comments.

Vaibhav Agarwal

Yes, thank you. On behalf of Philip Capital India Private Limited, we'd like to thank the management of JSW Cement for the call, and also many thanks to the participants for joining the call. Thank you very much, sir. Renju, you may now conclude the call. Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. On behalf of Philip Capital, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.

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