The Chatter: Anchor & Ambitions
Edition #44
Welcome to the 44rd edition of The Chatter — a weekly newsletter where we dig through what India’s biggest companies are saying and bring you the most interesting bits of insight, whether about the business, its sector, or the wider economy. We read every major Indian earnings call and listen to the interviews so you don’t have to.
We’re always eager to improve—please share your ideas on how else we can innovate “The Chatter” format to better serve your needs.
In this edition, we have covered 17 companies across 8 industries.
Chemicals
Tatva Chintan Pharma Chem
Retail
Bajaj Consumer Care
Vishal Mega Mart
Financial Services
ICICI Bank
HDFC Bank
Kotak Mahindra Bank
Axis Bank
Tata Capital
Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX)
CreditAccess Grameen
IT
IndiaMart InterMesh
Building Materials
UltraTech Cement
Asian Paints
Real Estate
DLF
WeWork India Management
Capital Goods
Premier Energies
Auto Ancillaries
Balkrishna Industries
Chemicals
Tatva Chintan Pharma Chem | Small Cap | Chemicals
Tatva Chintan Pharma Chem Limited is a leading specialty chemicals manufacturer in India, producing structure directing agents, phase transfer catalysts, electrolyte salts for super capacitor batteries, and pharmaceutical and agrochemical intermediates. It is the largest manufacturer of SDAs for zeolites in India and holds the second position globally. The company also ranks among the top global producers of PTCs, providing key ingredients for customers’ industrial processes.
The chemical industry is showing clearer signs of stability and growth, leading to improved customer order predictability.
“Over the past few quarters, we have spoken about early signs of stabilization and recovery within the chemical industry. This quarter, those signs are translating into clearer stability and improved visibility of growth across multiple end-use segments.”
— Ajesh Pillai, Chief Financial Officer
Despite ongoing geopolitical and tariff-related uncertainties, management views them as manageable and not impacting the company’s short-term business.
“We do acknowledge the geopolitical developments and discussions around the reciprocal tariffs, particularly in United States, continue to remain fluid, but we believe these uncertainties are manageable at this stage and do not materially alter our near-term business trajectory.”
— Ajesh Pillai, Chief Financial Officer
Demand for Structured Directing Agents (SDA) is increasing due to automotive sector developments and the upcoming Euro 7 emission standards.
“In Structured Directing Agents, the improvement in demand has become more pronounced. Macro development in the automotive sector, including the recalibration of electrification of vehicles and impending implementation of Euro 7 emission standards are translating into higher customer engagement and increasing volume offtake.”
— Ajesh Pillai, Chief Financial Officer
Commercial traction in agro intermediates has strengthened with successful execution of orders for new products, including photochlorination technology.
“On the agro front, commercial traction has strengthened further during the quarter. Two key agro intermediates were commercialized in the previous quarter, including the product based on photochlorination technology. The customer commitments envisaged for third quarter for these products have now been timely fulfilled with minor delays.”
— Ajesh Pillai, Chief Financial Officer
Pharmaceutical product commercialization is expected to stabilize from Q2 FY27, with intermittent demand until customer validation is complete.
“On the pharmaceutical side, we expect commercialization to consolidate from the second quarter of next financial year. Until then, the demand is likely to remain intermittent as customer validation and ramp-up activities continue.”
— Ajesh Pillai, Chief Financial Officer
The Semiconductor Chemicals segment is advancing with tangible R&D progress, leading to the first plant trial order this quarter, indicating long-term potential.
“Our Semiconductor Chemicals segment continues to move steadily in the right direction. Years of sustained R&D in ultra-high purity chemistry are now yielding tangible progress. During the current quarter, we will execute our first plant trial order. And while the path to full commercialization will be gradual, we remain confident in the long-term significance of this opportunity.”
— Ajesh Pillai, Chief Financial Officer
The company’s focus on innovative catalytic and electrolytic chemistries is providing a competitive advantage and driving growth in the agrochemical sector.
“whatever development that we have brought into this segment has come with lot of innovative technologies. So we have kept ourselves largely away from conventional chemistry and focused largely on catalytic or electrolytic chemistries. And I think that strategy is paying off.”
— Chintan Shah, Managing Director
The agro intermediate demand is expected to remain flat in 2026, with a gradual recovery anticipated from 2027 onwards.
“we feel that 2026, based on the customers’ feedback, is going to be similar to 2025 calendar year. And we expect the 2027 to begin a turnaround for the agro intermediate demand, so a gradual uptick.”
— Chintan Shah, Managing Director
The company expects a 20-30% year-on-year revenue growth for both FY26 and FY27, with the Jolva plant commissioned by September-October 2027 driving larger growth.
“I would definitely say a number between 20% to 30% of growth is definitely achievable. ... Similar, similar. Because by that time, we’ll have a much larger growth potentially if the Jolva plant goes commissioned commercially, right? So the time line for Jolva plant to get commissioned and put to use, potentially, we are looking at September or October of 2027.”
— Chintan Shah, Managing Director
Retail
Bajaj Consumer Care | Small Cap | FMCG
Bajaj Consumer Care Limited, a part of the Bajaj Group, is a leading player in the hair oil category in India. It offers popular brands like Bajaj Almond Drops Hair oil, Bajaj Brahmi Amla Hair Oil, Bajaj Amla Hair Oil, and Bajaj Jasmine Hair oil. The company’s flagship product, Bajaj Almond Drops Hair oil, holds a premium position in the market with the highest unit price. In addition to hair oils, the company also markets oral care products under the brand Bajaj Red/Kala Dant Manjan.
Favorable macroeconomic conditions, including economic growth and low inflation, are creating a positive environment for the hair oil category and the company’s business.
“As you would see, the macroeconomic headwinds have turned into tailwinds, and we are seeing good economic growth along with inflation at one of the historic lows, and this provides great tailwind and environment for the category and for our business as well.”
— Naveen Pandey, Managing Director
The company currently achieves direct coverage of approximately 600,000 outlets across urban and rural areas.
“We broadly do around 6 lakh outlets basically urban plus rural put together as a direct coverage.”
— Naveen Pandey, Managing Director
General trade channel experienced a strong recovery, with volume-led growth across both urban and rural segments, aligning with the company’s overall growth.
“The quarter also saw a strong recovery in our general trade channel, which grew in line with the company. This performance came on the back of volume-led growth both in urban and rural segment.”
— Naveen Pandey, Managing Directo
Challenges in the international business stem from partner selection and go-to-market execution rather than brand relevance, requiring gradual changes in collaboration with distributors.
“I don’t think so the issue is brand relevance or brand. I think the issue is more partner choice go- to-market people on the ground. And those are some of the fundamental corrections... some of these changes have to be done more gradually and you have to work with partners to get the changes done. So that’s where it is going to take a bit more time.”
— Naveen Pandey, Managing Director
The company plans to expand its direct distribution coverage by approximately 10% annually for the next 4-5 years as a core strategic objective.
“See, Naitik, our stated point of view has been that we want to expand around 10% coverage every year and do it year-on-year for the next 4 years to 5 years. I think that’s what our committed strategy is.”
— Naveen Pandey, Managing Director
LLP prices increased 2%, Refined Mustard prices declined 5%, and Copra prices softened significantly with further easing expected, while other raw material prices are projected to remain stable.
“On the front of input prices, we have seen LLP moving upwards over the last couple of quarters as against previous quarter. This quarter, the prices were up by 2%. However, in case of Refined Mustard, we saw a sequential easing of inflation with pricing -- prices declining by around 5% as against previous quarter. On Copra, we have seen significant softening of prices as against quarter 2 and we expect that in the coming months, Copra should ease a bit further. The rest of the basket, except of Copra, is likely to remain range bound.”
— Naveen Pandey, Managing Director
Bajaj Coconut oil saw mid-single-digit growth, as the company adjusted its pricing and discount strategy to a sustainable level against the market leader, temporarily impacting volume but securing margins.
“On front of Coconut Oil, Bajaj Coconut witnessed a growth of mid-single digits in quarter 3. Over the past two quarters, we have taken a correction in our pricing and discount index against the market leader and have got it to a level which is sustainable. While this correction has led to a temporary volume-led impact for us, it has helped us achieve sustainable margins.”
— Naveen Pandey, Managing Director
Vishal Mega Mart | Mid Cap | Retail
Vishal Mega Mart caters to middle and lower-middle income consumers in India by offering a wide range of products through its own brands and third-party brands. It operates across apparel, general merchandise, and fast-moving consumer goods categories via physical stores and online platforms.
[Concall]
Management is optimistic about future consumption growth in India, driven by government initiatives like GST rationalization and direct tax reforms, expecting a positive impact on the business.
“We believe that India is poised for the next wave of consumption growth, aided by initiatives such as GST rate rationalization and reforms in direct taxation, and are very optimistic about the positive impact that these changes could have on our business in the years to come.”
— Gunender Kapoor, MD and CEO
The majority of the company’s growth is driven by an increase in customer transactions, indicating strong footfall and potential market share gains, rather than just higher average bill values.
“Of our total growth, you can assume that about 70% has come because of improvement in transactions and 30% has come from increase in bill value.”
— Gunender Kapoor, MD and CEO
The industry experienced some increased discounting due to external factors like regional shutdowns during peak festive periods and delayed winter, forcing efforts to clear inventory.
“On discounting, there is some evidence that is happening... When you have a shutdown for several days in the very last peak period of Puja, it does impact everyone.”
— Gunender Kapoor, MD and CEO
Private label contribution increased 100 bps to 74.5% of revenue; quick commerce expanded to 723 stores across 485 cities with 12 million registered users.
“Our own brands’ contribution to revenue has further gone up by 100 basis points and now stands at 74.5% for the first nine months of the year. Further, our quick commerce initiative has expanded to 723 stores across 485 cities in the country and our registered users on quick commerce have increased to 12 million people across the country.”
— Gunender Kapoor, MD and CEO
Small format pilot expanded to 10 stores with per-square-foot revenues matching large format; targeting 30-40 more stores for full validation before scaling up.
“We further opened four new format stores. We have a total of 10 small format stores and these are doing quite well. For the small format stores, our goal was for them to be as relevant as our current format stores with similar financial outcomes. Per-square-foot revenue for small format stores is similar to our large format stores. We want to open another 30-40 such stores to get a robust validation of our hypothesis before increasing the pace of the rollout.”
— Gunender Kapoor, MD and CEO
Financial Services
ICICI Bank | Large Cap | Financial Services
ICICI Bank is a leading private sector bank in India providing a wide range of financial products and services to retail, SME, and corporate customers. With a strong presence across urban and rural areas, the bank offers digital banking solutions, international services, and financial solutions to businesses and government entities.
[Concall]
RBI directed ICICI Bank to make a ₹1,283 crore standard asset provision for an agricultural priority sector lending portfolio due to non-compliance with classification terms, impacting total provisions.
“Provisions (excluding provision for tax) were ₹ 2,556 crore in Q3 - 2026. Following its annual supervisory review, RBI has directed the Bank to make a standard asset provision of ₹ 1,283 crore in respect of a portfolio of agricultural priority sector credit facilities wherein the terms of the facilities were found to be not fully compliant with the regulatory requirements for classification as agricultural priority sector lending.”
“First of all, RBI, as you are aware, does an annual inspection as part of the cycle. We have been doing this portfolio since 2012, and RBI has made an assessment that the terms of the facilities were not fully in compliance with the regulatory requirement for PSL. I also want to categorically state there is no change of asset classification, or in terms and conditions applicable to the borrowers, or in repayment behaviour of the borrower as per these terms. So, we are very comfortable with the quality of the book that we have done.”
“I repeat, these loans are standard and secured in nature. And the standard asset provisions will continue until the assets are repaid or renewed in conformity with the PSL guidelines. So, from a customer angle, we are very happy. As you are aware, the provisioning requirement for a PSL portfolio is slightly different from normal. It is about classification thereof; it does not in any way reflect the quality of the borrower.”
— Sandeep Batra, Executive Director
ICICI Bank has assessed its portfolio, including MSME, against US tariff threats and remains confident in the quality and resilience of its domestically-focused book and strong customer balance sheets.
“We continue to assess our portfolio. As you are aware, India is largely a domestically focused economy, and we made an assessment of the impact of US tariffs. Of course, when we are assessing our customers, we prioritise resilience through strong balance sheet from a customer perspective, and we continue to leverage these … we continue to believe that the quality of book that we have built is very comfortable.”
— Sandeep Batra, Executive Director
ICICI Bank anticipates its Net Interest Margins (NIMs) to remain range-bound, influenced by loan and investment repricing and competitive pressures, with some offset from retail term deposit repricing, and overall NIM trajectory dependent on future monetary policy changes.
“Looking ahead, we do expect NIMs to remain more or less range bound, reflecting the repricing of the external benchmarks on loans and investments, as you rightly pointed out. And of course, competition intensity. This would get offset by retail term repricing and we will continue to watch the market conditions, and if there are any further changes in monetary policy, that will impact the NIM trajectory.”
— Sandeep Batra, Executive Director
ICICI Bank observes increased corporate loan demand and continues to grow its corporate portfolio on a 360-degree basis, adapting to client funding options like equity and internal accruals, without targeting specific mix ratios.
“We have seen a bit of an increase on the corporate side in the current quarter. A s you are aware, there has been some significant pickup. We focus on corporate clients and if you are aware, corporate clients have got multiple options including getting money from equity and they also have a very healthy internal accruals. We work with them on a 360 basis and from our point of view, we do not target any particular mix. Wherever we are able to get opportunities, we are happy to grow.”
— Sandeep Batra, Executive Director
ICICI Bank infused capital into ICICI Home Finance to meet regulatory and expansion needs, indicating confidence in the subsidiary’s strong performance, improved NPA provisions, and healthy capital adequacy.
“I think ICICI Home Finance has been doing exceedingly well. We are happy to infuse the capital to meet the regulatory requirement and expansion that is required from their business point of view. So, it is an important subsidiary. They have improved their NPA provisions , a nd just to maintain a healthy capital adequacy ratio over there. We are happy … this, we will continue to invest in this business.”
— Sandeep Batra, Executive Director
ICICI Bank acknowledged that current single-digit PAT growth is suboptimal but explained it as an expected impact of the RBI’s 125 basis point repo rate cuts over the past year affecting its external benchmark-linked loan book.
“Of course, we can do much better. I hope we do much better. So, to that extent, we are never happy with the results that we get. We would like to do more , a nd of course, this year’s growth has to be structurally seen in the context of RBI reprice, the monetary policy which has taken place, as you are aware, over the last year or so, the repo rate has been cut by 125 basis points and a very large book is linked to external benchmarks. I think we have guided this almost a year back that , whenever the interest rate cycle changes — which has changed — there would be an impact, which is sort of playing out.”
— Sandeep Batra, Executive Director
HDFC Bank | Large Cap | Financial Services
HDFC Bank and its subsidiaries offer various banking and financial services such as retail banking, wholesale banking, treasury operations, insurance, and asset management. With overseas branches in multiple countries, the bank operates in segments including Wholesale Banking, Treasury, and Retail Banking.
[Concall]
Favorable interest rate conditions and CRR release have accelerated credit deployment beyond initial expectations.
“The easing rate cycle and the benign credit has provided catalysts for the credit growth. The CRR release enabled credit deployment slightly ahead of our expectations.”
— Sashidhar Jagdishan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
HDFC Bank projects its LDR to be between 90-96% in FY’26 and further reduce to 85-90% by FY’27, driven by natural and accelerated deposit growth.
“We said we will try and be in a range of somewhere between 90% to 96% in the year FY ‘26, which is what we will be is what we are very confident about. And then maybe by FY ‘27, by the natural growth and even with the growth in the way we are expecting in terms of faster growth rate, I think we should land somewhere around the 85% to 90% for FY ‘27.”
— Sashidhar Jagdishan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
HDFC Bank is highly optimistic about achieving loan growth faster than the overall system in FY’27.
“We are very optimistic about outpacing loan growth in the coming year in FY ‘27, as we had sort of mentioned to you all along for the last 18 months.”
“I would also like to reiterate that we shall meet the glide path that we had indicated earlier in terms of the growth, our top line growth, which is in line with the system this financial year and faster than the system in the next financial year.”
— Sashidhar Jagdishan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The bank has absorbed a regulatory provision of approximately INR 5 billion for agri portfolio non-compliance within its Q3 results and will adapt its operating model for future compliance.
“Our regulatory inspection is also complete. And whatever required according to the regulatory requirement, there was about 5 billion or so thereabouts, which have been taken. In the overall context of our book and our results, if you see, they have been absorbed within that, and there is no special and we have had certain other things that were there. And so in future, we need to operate in a model that is acceptable with the regulator.”
— Srinivasan Vaidyanathan, Chief Financial Officer
The INR 8 billion labor code impact is currently a high estimate based on actuarial assumptions, and its ongoing impact cannot be predicted until final rulemaking and more information are available.
“At this time, I would just ask you to take it as a higher estimate based on best available information and through a scientific actuarial process that has come. And as and when the rulemaking evolves, as and when more information is available, this will be evolved. And again, I can’t venture to come out with a forward-looking or what impact on an ongoing basis, cannot do at this time.”
— Srinivasan Vaidyanathan, Chief Financial Officer
Newly opened branches are significantly contributing over 20% to the bank’s incremental deposits, indicating successful expansion.
“Another data point, Sashi was just reminding me because when we reviewed it within, on an incremental basis, when you look at it, these new branches contribute slightly north of 20% of the overall incremental deposits that come, which is very important, right, that these things keep adding accreting as we go along.”
— Srinivasan Vaidyanathan, Chief Financial Officer
Credit card customers demonstrate a strong multiplier effect, maintaining over 5.5 times their outstanding card balance in deposit balances, highlighting cards as a liability enabler.
“For card customers spending on their card account and having 100 outstanding, at the aggregate level in the bank, we see almost north of 5.5x deposit balances from the customers.”
— Srinivasan Vaidyanathan, Chief Financial Officer
HDFC Bank is shifting its credit card strategy from focusing on net receivables to emphasizing transactor behavior, leveraging cards as an enabler for deposit momentum rather than just an asset.
“So the credit card focus today is more not from a net receivable basis, but from a transactor basis. And as I said, I mean, whether it’s a lot of you on the call or people in this room that we are, we all pay on a standing instruction basis on due dates. So this is something that we are very happy with. So this is the kind of a new strategy that we are evolving.”
— Sashidhar Jagdishan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
HDFC Bank acknowledges “irrational pricing” in auto and home loan segments due to competitive intensity but believes such pricing is unsustainable and will normalize within a few quarters.
“We’ve seen it not only in auto, but also in the home loan product. So these are two products where we have certainly seen some amount of, if I may say, a bit of irrational pricing, but irrational pricing has never sustained. It will play itself out and bury itself in a couple of quarters on the outer side, if not earlier.”
— Kaizad Bharucha, Deputy Managing Director
Kotak Mahindra Bank | Large Cap | Financial Services
Kotak Mahindra Bank provides a comprehensive range of financial products and services, including savings and current accounts, loans, credit cards, business banking, private banking, and fastags for a diverse customer base, catering to both personal and corporate clients.
[Concall]
Healthy system credit growth in the banking sector is challenged by pressure on low-cost deposits due to capital market flows and increased liquidity volatility.
“In the banking sector specifically, system credit growth has been healthy, but the flows into commodities and capital markets are putting more pressure on low-cost deposits. There is enhanced volatility seen in the banking sector liquidity. While benchmark rates are reduced, longer-term treasury yields have gone up.”
— Ashok Vaswani, Managing Director and CEO
The Standard Chartered personal loan portfolio acquired last year is performing better than anticipated despite a faster-than-expected rundown in the current quarter.
“The personal loan portfolio acquired from Standard Chartered last year is performing better than expected, although the rundown has been quicker this quarter.”
— Umesh, Head of Consumer Assets
The bank is observing stress in the retail commercial vehicle segment and has responded by tightening underwriting standards and reducing disbursements to mitigate risk.
“We witness some stress in the retail CV segment, so we have tightened underwriting and reduced disbursements to this segment.”
— Manish, Head of Commercial Banking
Credit costs are expected to further decrease in Q4 and Q1, driven by improving performance in unsecured loans (microfinance, personal loans), though commercial vehicles remain under cautious observation.
“The reduction is on expected lines. Unsecured businesses like microfinance and personal loans have started decreasing their credit cost. Credit cards have plateaued. The primary reason for the reduction is the unsecured business credit cost coming down. On commercial vehicles, we are cautiously observing and hope it will plateau in Q4. Pre-COVID, our credit cost was around 0.4-0.45%. As we increase the unsecured mix, credit cost must higher than the historical average, but it brings higher returns. We expect credit cost to gradually go down further in Q4 and continue that trend in Q1.”
— Devang, CFO
Any potential acquisition, such as IDBI, is evaluated based on strategic fit, valuation, and integration feasibility, prioritizing relevance over sheer size and considering management bandwidth for ongoing transformation initiatives.
“Regarding IDBI, we look at three criteria: strategic add, valuation, and integration feasibility. Scale for us is about relevance, not just size. We way the management bandwidth required for integration against our transformation goals like AI and customer centricity.”
— Ashok Vaswani, Managing Director and CEO
Excluding upgraded accounts, absolute fresh slippages decreased quarter-on-quarter, with remaining slippages primarily originating from commercial vehicles and rural advances.
“If you look at fresh slippages upgraded within the same quarter, it is 257 crores. If you exclude the upgraded portion, the absolute number has come down by about 100 crores quarter-on-quarter. The remaining slippages are coming from commercial vehicles and some rural-related advances.”
— Devang, CFO
Axis Bank | Large Cap | Financial Services
Axis Bank provides a wide range of financial services to various customer segments including Large and Mid-Corporates, MSME, Agriculture, and Retail Businesses. Through its integrated business lines, the bank offers customized financial solutions leveraging digital innovation, domain expertise, and a strong physical presence to serve customers across India comprehensively.
[Concall]
Axis Bank is strategically shifting its credit growth towards higher-rated, high-quality clients, ensuring asset quality remains a priority.
“We have reinforced our calibrated shift towards higher-rated segments with growth anchored around high-quality transaction-led and ecosystem-linked flows while holding a stance on quality intact. This is evident from the quality of our incremental sanctions, as growth remains concentrated in A-minus and above-rated clients.”
— Amitabh Chaudhry, MD and CEO
The bank’s secured asset quality is strong, and early indicators for retail unsecured products show stabilization within acceptable limits.
“On asset quality, our secured portfolio across segments continues to remain resilient while the early indicators on retail unsecured products are well within guardrails and stabilizing at lower levels.”
— Amitabh Chaudhry, MD and CEO
The bank aims for an optimal loan book mix of 58-60% retail, 23-25% wholesale, and the remainder SME, which will be adjusted based on market cycles.
“An optimal book balance in the current planning horizon would be 58-60% retail, 23-25% wholesale, and the balance being SME. That calibration will take place depending on the cycle.”
— Puneet Sharma, CFO
Axis Bank anticipates that deposit growth will converge with credit growth within 15-18 months, supported by sustained RBI liquidity infusion.
“I am hoping that in the next 15-18 months, deposit growth will stabilize at similar levels to credit growth. RBI is fully conscious of this. We have seen periods of low liquidity over the last couple of quarters, and only now has the RBI started infusing liquidity. I believe as the regulator continues this, both credit growth and sustained liquidity will lead to deposit growth.”
— Amitabh Chaudhry, MD and CEO
Tata Capital | Large Cap | Financial Services
Tata Capital Ltd, the flagship financial arm of the Tata Group, is a leading diversified NBFC. Its core business includes retail, SME, and corporate lending, along with wealth management, insurance distribution, and private equity services.
The commercial vehicle market is experiencing a strong recovery and improved demand across all segments, partly driven by the recent GST cuts.
“No, clearly we are seeing growth returning. The GST cut was a significant cut, brought down vehicle prices in a big way and that is also brought in viability for a lot of vehicles. We are seeing good demand on both medium, small as well as on the heavy side, the demand has improved.”
— Rajiv Sabharwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The company maintains a disciplined approach, prioritizing margin protection and adherence to spread targets over simply chasing AUM growth across all business segments.
“No, actually what we try to do in every business is to ensure that we don’t chase growth for the sake of margins... we have certain minimum spread targets for each business and average targets for each business, which we ensure are met. So it is not at the expense of margins...”
— Rajiv Sabharwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The company’s core strategy prioritizes risk management over volume growth, with AI and Gen AI adoption expected to drive future benefits in this approach.
“for us risk comes first and that’s embedded clearly in every business leader’s mind as well as how he or she will be evaluated. We will never chase volume at the cost of asset quality... Going forward, I think the bigger benefit to us will come from this early adoption of AI and Gen AI which we have done.”
— Rajiv Sabharwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The company is observing improving asset quality trends and growth momentum in its unsecured businesses, supported by tighter credit policies and better early indicators.
“Q2 was better than Q1, Q3 was better than Q2 plus all early indicators of the new business booked over the last 15 months were showing better metrics which gave us the confidence to again invest in distribution and grow our business... Parallelly, we also have seen slippages go down... So, we are clearly seeing improving trends on quality as far as slippages are concerned or bounce rates are concerned and we have been able to build momentum for growth.”
— Rajiv Sabharwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The company plans to significantly increase its unsecured retail loan exposure as a percentage of AUM, indicating a strategic growth area.
“With unsecured retail exposure currently at 10.4% of AUM, it leaves us with ample runaway to achieve our stated vision of increasing it to 15% of the AUM.”
— Rajiv Sabharwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The company is confident in achieving its guided AUM growth target of 18-20% for FY26, driven by strong Q3 performance.
“Given the strong traction seen in Q3 in book growth and remaining conscious about the prepayment pressure, we are on track to meet our FY ‘26 guidance of 18 % - 20% AUM growth.”
— Rajiv Sabharwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The company anticipates medium-term margin expansion through a strategic shift towards higher-yield product segments and lower funding costs.
“Looking ahead, we see potential for margin expansion over the medium term, supported by further optimization of our product mix, with a rising contribution from higher yield segments such as unsecured retail, affordable housing and secured business loans , as well as growth in fee -based businesses and continued benefits of lower funding costs.”
— Rajiv Sabharwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The Motor Finance business is undergoing a strategic reorientation, prioritizing portfolio quality over near-term AUM growth, leading to a deliberate decline in AUM.
“Our primary focus in the Motor Finance business is on reorienting the portfolio rather than pursuing near -term growth. The integration is progressing as planned across all key dimensions. In Q3, AUM declined by 6%, reflecting this deliberate repositioning.”
— Rajiv Sabharwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Tata Capital’s Housing Finance subsidiary reported strong performance with significant year-on-year growth in both AUM and profit after tax.
“We had another strong quarter for our key subsidiary, Tata Capital Housing Finance Limited, with AUM growing 30% year -on -year and profit after tax increasing 25% year -on -year.”
— Rajiv Sabharwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) | Mid Cap | Financial Services
Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX) is India’s first listed exchange offering online trading of commodity derivatives across segments like bullion, industrial metals, energy, and agriculture. It allows for price discovery and risk management, and is known for introducing innovative products like commodity options, bullion index futures, and base metals index futures. MCX focuses on providing participants in the commodity value chain with secure and transparent trade mechanisms while adhering to regulatory standards.
[Concall]
Bullion contracts dominate MCX’s average daily turnover at 69%, a result of successful new product launches and expanded offerings in this segment.
“Bullion now contributes 69% of the average daily turnover. Its portfolio includes many successful product launches for Gold Mini, Gold 10 futures, silver monthly options expiry, smaller denomination contracts, and monthly options on the MCX iCommdex Bullion Index.”
— Pravina Rai, MD & CEO
Increased participation from new members, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), and domestic financial institutions is a key factor driving MCX’s volume growth.
“New participants by way of new members, FIIs, and domestic financial institutions also contributed to the healthy uptick in our volumes.”
— Pravina Rai, MD & CEO
The significant rise in unique client codes (UCCs) is attributed to enhanced user experience alignment for commodity trading and the onboarding of new exchange members.
“We have two contributing factors at the heart of this growth in UCCs. One is an exercise in exploring and aligning the user experience across members for commodity derivatives trading... Alongside that is the addition of new members who have come into our fold, which has contributed to new UCCs.”
— Pravina Rai, MD & CEO
MCX is diversifying its focus across all commodity segments, with base metals like copper, zinc, and the newly launched nickel showing promising volume and open interest growth.
“To answer your first question on base metals, we are focusing on all four segments: Agri, metals, bullion, and energy. In base metals, we have seen traction in copper futures and options, as well as zinc. Nickel, which we launched this year, is now seeing good volumes and a healthy buildup of open interest (OI).”
— Rishi Nathani, Chief Business Officer
MCX acknowledges that the commodity market may not attract the entire equity investor base, suggesting that client growth could eventually plateau, though that point is not yet reached.
“We don’t believe commodities will necessarily be for everyone or the entire addressable equity audience, so growth may flatten at a certain level of maturity, but we aren’t there yet.”
— Pravina Rai, MD & CEO
MCX acknowledges competition but is confident in maintaining its position as India’s leading commodity derivatives exchange through continued focus on growth and innovation, noting no regulatory plans to split the market.
“Competition risk exists as other exchanges are vying for share. We are cognizant of this and respect the environment. As long as we stay focused on growth and innovation, we are well-positioned as the primary commodity derivatives exchange for India. We have no intimation from SEBI regarding splitting the market pie.”
— Pravina Rai, MD & CEO
Gold and silver delivery volumes increased without incremental costs to MCX; no abnormal short delivery incidents reported in recent months.
“No, there is no additional cost to the company because these are managed as part of warehouse negotiations and what participants pay for the services. We are happy to see this healthy delivery despite global conditions. It was managed actively by the exchange. Regarding the potential impact of short delivery, there are well-established guidelines and rules, including penalties, to manage those circumstances. These are standard processes and we are well-equipped to handle them. Have there been any instances of short deliveries in the last 3 or 4 months? No, nothing abnormal.”
— Management
CreditAccess Grameen | Small Cap | Financial Services
CreditAccess Grameen Limited is a prominent micro-finance institution in India that specializes in providing micro-loans to women customers in rural areas. With a focus on addressing various financial needs like income generation and emergency situations, the company stands out through its tailored products and customer-centric approach, catering to those underserved by traditional banking institutions.
Credit discipline in Karnataka has significantly improved across all lending segments, with trends suggesting a return to normalcy.
“And with respect to credit discipline in Karnataka, I think we have strongly come back. We’ll have to watch the next 2 to 3 months. January is trending with a similar nature. And we are seeing such improvements across microfinance, mortgage as well as unsecured lending. Karnataka is coming back very, very strong to our normal levels.”
— Ganesh Narayanan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The company aims for over 20% overall growth to meet medium-term goals, with retail finance driving stronger momentum compared to the 10-12% expected from microfinance.
“Like I said, when we look at microfinance growth, early days, maybe 10% to 12%, so we’ll have to finalize our business plans in a few months from now. But it does look like retail will have a stronger growth momentum, probably contributing. We should be able to reach something over 20% that we want to grow to meet our medium - term goals.”
— Ganesh Narayanan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Approval rates for new and existing borrowers have decreased significantly since the implementation of MFIN guardrails, necessitating increased effort for customer acquisition.
“Rejection rates, definitely, yes, they have gone up. Our current approval rates for new borrowers, so that is new borrower entering CA Grameen is around 55% to 60%. And our existing renewal rates are around 45% to 50%. Just for comparison, this used to be around 65% before the guardrails, right?”
— Ganesh Narayanan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The company’s diversified funding strategy, with less than 60% dependency on bank term loans, has allowed it to maintain access to funds even during industry credit cycles, unlike other NBFC-MFIs.
“The third point with respect to bank borrowing, I think when the industry is going through a credit cycle, it is natural of the banks to pull off a little. But fortunately, some of us have never had this situation because our diversification strategy has a very important role to play here. I think we are one of the few NBFCs which has a bank term loan borrowing dependency of less than 60%. And we’ve been continuously able to access bank funds. It has not impacted us during the entire credit cycle, right? And we continue to access more funds as we move ahead.”
— Ganesh Narayanan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The Grameen Mahi digital platform is experiencing strong customer adoption, enabling digital loan processes and collections, which is crucial for operational efficiency and customer engagement.
“With close to 1 million downloads, the platform is seeing strong adoption and reflects a meaningful shift in how our customers choose to engage with us. It enables instant digital loan eligibility checks for group loans, generates targeted reach for retail offerings and seamlessly integrates collections into a cashless ecosystem, playing a key role in achieving 20% digital collections at the end of December 2025.”
— Ganesh Narayanan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The implementation of MFIN guardrails has significantly reduced the proportion of highly leveraged borrowers, improving the microfinance ecosystem’s quality.
“The GLP of borrowers with > 3 lenders nearly stood at 4.9% in December 2025 versus 25.3% in August 2024, while the GLP of borrowers > 2 Lakh unsecured indebtedness stood at 7.8% as of December 2025 compared to 19.5% in August 2024. The implementation of MFIN guardrails has meaningfully strengthened the overall quality of the microfinance ecosystem.”
— Ganesh Narayanan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The company is actively acquiring new borrowers, with a significant portion coming from new geographies, supporting future growth.
“Borrower acquisition remains central to our growth strategy as we added 2.1 Lakh borrowers in Q3 FY26 and 6.4 Lakh during the 9 - months FY26 period, of which 50% came outside of the top three states.”
— Ganesh Narayanan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
IT
IndiaMart InterMesh | Small Cap | IT
IndiaMart InterMesh Limited is India’s largest online B2B marketplace for business products and services. Its online marketplace provides a platform for mostly business buyers, to discover products and services and contact the suppliers of such business products and services. It provides a robust two-way discovery marketplace connecting buyers and suppliers.
The company sees significant opportunities for platform upgrades across user interface, user experience, multi-modal, multilingual capabilities, and integrating chatbots over traditional search.
“There’s a huge opportunity today in terms of upgrading the platform in many ways, whether it is user interface, whether it is user experience, whether it is multi-model, whether it is multilingual, whether it is instead of search, a chatbot.”
— Dinesh Chandra Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer
The slight decline in paying suppliers is attributed to a recent price hike in the silver subscription tier and fewer working days during the festive season.
“Total number of paying suppliers declined by 1 thousand to 2 lakh 21 thousand. This decrease can primarily be attributed to moderation in gross addition due to price increase we implemented in the silver subscription tier during the last quarter. Additionally, lesser number of working days due to festival season has also contributed to the decline.”
— Dinesh Chandra Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer
Key high-value Platinum and Gold customers, representing a significant portion of revenue, maintain strong upsell and retention rates.
“Our Platinum and Gold customers, which constitute approximately 50% of our customer base, and more than 75% of the revenue continue to have good upsell and retention rate.”
— Dinesh Chandra Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer
The CEO dismisses market saturation concerns, stating an unlimited demand exists for quality, convertible leads that sellers are willing to pay for.
“Do we feel market is saturated? No. Market has kind of unlimited demand for enough number of quality leads that can be converted by sellers. So there is a number of sellers willing to pay if they get leads, which can be converted by them.”
— Dinesh Chandra Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer
The company will not pivot to a fulfillment model but will remain a software and tech-oriented platform, focusing on embedded enablement like trust, credit, and payment facilitation, citing the unfeasibility of handling vast categories.
“to attract more buyers, do we want to prefer moving to a fulfilment model? No. We would like to remain a software and tech-oriented company, with enablement embedded wherever it can, whether it is trust-related embedding, whether it is any kind of credit-related embedding, any kind of payment facilitation. But we ourselves do not intend to do any sourcing, or delivery, or return because the categories are enormous, and it is not feasible to go that way.”
— Dinesh Chandra Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer
The company incurred a one-time Rs. 8.5 crores impact on P&L due to the new labor code, which was accounted for as a liability and expense.
“Yes. So we have impact of new labour code. We have taken an impact of about Rs. 8.5 crores in P&L. And after that, the net profit and EBITDA number which has come, is there. That is right. This is a one-time impact. As mandated by ICAI, there was a one-time impact which was supposed to be taken in books. So we have created a liability and an expense of Rs. 8.5 crores, which is a one-time impact.”
— Jitin Diwan, Chief Financial Officer
The company ceased reporting total traffic data due to the increasing difficulty of distinguishing human users from various types of AI and search bots.
“I guess I mentioned it last time also because currently, the bot traffic is coming from everywhere. Whether it is ChatGPT bot. And there are hundreds of LLM bots now, search engine bots, new browser bots, agentic bots. So in the traffic, when trying to identify the actual human traffic versus bot traffic, it was years of Google being monopoly, that systems have become stable enough to identify what is a bot traffic and what is not. Nowadays, there is so many new crawlers are coming like this Parallel Web, Exa, those kind of things. So I guess this traffic is moving very radically and that’s why and I told you last time also that we should be removing it, so we removed it.”
— Dinesh Chandra Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer
The CEO believes new AI search technologies will expand the total addressable market (TAM) by increasing overall user engagement with search and discovery, rather than posing a direct threat.
“Two, three things. One, every time a newer technology and more pervasive and more useful technology comes, it overall improves the TAM, it means if earlier, X number of people were only using Google, now the total number of people that will use either Google or Gemini or ChatGPT would be higher than X. So it actually expands the TAM anyway.”
— Dinesh Chandra Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer
While IndiaMART’s content is referenced by AI search engines, the company is focusing on increasing repeat traffic and inquiries, which are currently at an all-time high of 58-59%, to mitigate potential shifts in search behavior.
“Having said that, if you go to a Google Gemini or if you go to a Grok, IndiaMART features well even in those searches. However, currently, those are not giving directly blue links, but they are giving like a reference within the answer, they are giving a reference that this answer has come from here. So we are getting links, but this is a general problem. I think we need to rely more on our repeat traffic. And that’s what we are working towards. Currently, our repeat traffics are running almost all-time high at 58-59%, repeat inquiries.”
— Dinesh Chandra Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer
IndiaMART’s accounting product portfolio (Busy, Vyapar, Livekeeping) serves distinct target segments: Busy for SMEs with inventory needs, Vyapar for micro-businesses requiring mobile billing, and Livekeeping for Tally users seeking browser/app access.
“So if we look at the three major companies within the accounting portfolio that we have. One is Busy, second is Vyapar and third is Livekeeping. Each of these companies essentially have a very different target segments. So Busy, for example, starts to do very well in the small and medium-sized businesses segment... When we come to Vyapar, Vyapar essentially like to focus more on the micro sized businesses... When we look at Livekeeping, Livekeeping exclusively focuses on existing customers of Tally, who would want to have a browser-based and app-based access to the data and work upon that.”
— Brijesh Kumar Agrawal, Whole-Time Director
Building Materials
UltraTech Cement | Large Cap | Building Materials
UltraTech Cement, part of the Aditya Birla Group, is a leading manufacturer of grey cement, ready mix concrete, and white cement in India. It is the third largest cement producer globally, operating in UAE, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, and India. UltraTech’s Building Products business offers innovative solutions for modern construction projects under the brand Birla White.
CFO discussed emerging high-growth demand drivers for cement beyond traditional infrastructure while explaining South India’s growth potential.
“We are witnessing unprecedented growth in new avenues like data centers, GCC, renewable energy projects, you name it, and things are happening.”
— Atul Daga, Chief Financial Officer
Southern India is anticipated to experience substantial demand growth from large institutional projects, potentially making 2026 a strong year for the region.
“More demand. I think demand is opening up, and I stand by my statement South will be new north. That doesn’t mean North is going away anywhere. North is stronger and stronger. South is witnessing large institutional demand... I think ‘26 will be a fabulous year.”
— Atul Daga, Chief Financial Officer
While elaborating on South India’s demand drivers and why “South will be new north”:
“South is witnessing large institutional demand, the Amravati City project, which is going at its breakneck pace, the IT complexes. Complexes which are coming up, data centers which are coming up, which are so cementitious in nature, highways, et cetera, that we have talked about.”
— Atul Daga, Chief Financial Officer
Robust infrastructure-led demand, driven by government focus on new projects nationwide, is the primary driver for the cement business.
“Demand, that is the most important aspect for our business. Everything else becomes secondary and falls in line. And as we see the progress, Government’s focus on infrastructure is translating into a robust pipeline of new projects nationwide with several marquee investments announced across every region, translating into solid demand.”
— Atul Daga, Chief Financial Officer
The company anticipates sustained and strong cement demand due to a robust project pipeline, fueled by a significant wave of infrastructure growth.
“With a strong project pipeline, demand for cement will remain very continuous and as strong as possible. Infrastructure is seeing the next big wave of growth.”
— Atul Daga, Chief Financial Officer
Being in a ‘sold-out’ position provides UltraTech with strong pricing power, enabling it to prioritize and serve its highest-paying customers effectively.
“I think what is happening is, I’m sold out. What do I do? So obviously, if I’m in a sold - out position, I have to service my highest paying customer.”
— Atul Daga, Chief Financial Officer
UltraTech’s higher capacity utilization compared to the overall industry indicates a consistent gain in market share.
“If you see that we have been growing or our capacity utilization has been higher than the industry, then obviously, there is a gain in market share also.”
— Atul Daga, Chief Financial Officer
UltraTech estimates all-India cement demand growth for Q3 FY26 to be in the range of 9% to 10%.
“Don’t hold me to it, but we would expect anywhere between 9% to 10% all - India demand.”
— Atul Daga, Chief Financial Officer
UltraTech expects non-trade cement prices to firm up even with increased infrastructure demand, potentially reducing the historical price gap between trade and non-trade segments.
“Even if infra demand is going, non - trade prices will also harden. So, I don’t see any reason why there should be any problem. In fact, if you go back 2 or 3 quarters, the gap between non - trade and trade prices had narrowed dramatically.”
— Atul Daga, Chief Financial Officer
Strong trade ratios indicate robust and buoyant rural demand, with expectations for continued solid performance in Q4.
“Rural demand, simple way to look at rural demand is look at our trade ratios. If our trade ratios remain strong, rural demand is equally buoyant. We are not witnessing any depression in rural demand. Q4 also will be solid is what my expectation is.”
— Atul Daga, Chief Financial Officer
After a period of price softening, cement prices are improving due to rising demand and increasing input costs, which the industry intends to pass on.
“Last week of September, October, November saw some softening prices. But with growing demand, we are witnessing improvement in prices in all segments across the country. There have been cost increases in the cost of pet coke and coal... All these will have an impact on the cement industry. And obviously, there is reason to pass on these cost escalations into prices.”
— Atul Daga, Chief Financial Officer
Asian Paints | Large Cap | Building Materials
Asian Paints is a company that manufactures and distributes a wide range of paints for decorative and industrial use. They are present in various segments including Interior Wall Finishes, Exterior Wall Finishes, Enamels, and Wood Finishes. They also offer products related to home decor, bath fittings, kitchen, and wardrobe, along with providing services like waterproofing, wall coverings, and adhesives.
[Concall]
The current muted industry growth is attributed to shifts in consumer spending priorities, with discretionary funds reallocated to travel and hospitality, reducing the frequency of home painting.
“Growth has periods of cyclicity. While the CAGR remains strong, we are seeing some changes in consumption trends. The frequency of painting has slowed down. Occasion-led painting has reduced; for example, more people are opting for destination weddings rather than home-based weddings, which leads to a postponement of painting. Since painting is a discretionary spend, people are currently investing more in travel and hospitality.”
— Amit Singhal, MD & CEO
Asian Paints is continuing its backward integration strategy, having already launched a white cement plant and planning further steps next year to gain significant competitive advantages.
“The last area is backward integration. As you know, this is a journey we are on. We have started our white cement plant and are looking at the next level of backward integration starting in the coming year, which will provide us with significant advantages.”
— Amit Singhal, MD & CEO
Rural markets outperformed urban centers in Q3, driven by positive sentiment from good rainfall, despite a compressed festive season and extended monsoon, indicating stronger rural demand.
“For us, despite the shorter festive period and prolonged monsoon, rural parts fared better than urban centers. Good rainfall has augured well and the mood has been positive. November and December trends clearly showed rural areas stepping ahead of urban centers.”
— Amit Singhal, MD & CEO
Real Estate
DLF | Large Cap | Real Estate
DLF Limited is a real estate development company engaged in colonization, land acquisition, planning, construction, and marketing of projects. They also offer leasing, maintenance services, and recreational activities, contributing to the overall development of their business.
Construction activity in Q3 consistently faces delays of 1 to 1.5 months due to pollution-related GRAP measures, affecting project timelines.
“Q3 always gets impacted by a GRAP... between one to one and a half months in the entire year does get lost unfortunately to the entire pollution-related GRAP measures.”
— Ashok Tyagi, Managing Director
The company has a substantial construction pipeline with over 40 million square feet currently under development across its residential and rental businesses.
“Today in the rental business, we have projects in pipeline totalling to about 12 million. So, if you add that and you add the residential side, 40 million square feet... Over 40 million square feet is under construction at this particular point.”
— Sriram Khattar, Vice Chairman and Managing Director (Rental Business)
DLF explicitly prioritizes generating high sales value and margins over merely increasing development volume (million square feet), based on past experiences.
“Million square feet is about the most irrelevant metrics entry in this industry. You have to focus on the sale value we are generating... We are definitely... not going to chase volume for the sake of volume.”
— Ashok Tyagi, Managing Director
DLF aims for an annual sales run rate of approximately Rs. 20,000 crores over the next 3-4 years, supported by a clearly identified land bank.
“Three to four years... So, at Rs. 20,000 crores, I think we achieve all our financial and stakeholder goals... after that 80,000, the next 40,000 is identified clearly.”
— Ashok Tyagi, Managing Director
Gurgaon’s real estate market demonstrates strong demand, with a significant portion of sales originating from NRIs and other Indian regions, making it a preferred investment destination.
“Our sales are about 25% NRI, our top line, and 15% are the rest of India sales coming in for Gurgaon alone... Gurgaon is right now the most favourite investment option for people across the board.”
— Aakash Ohri, Managing Director and Chief Business Officer
A significant portion of the company’s cash is currently restricted by RERA regulations, with substantial unlocking expected from FY27-28.
“A large chunk of it unfortunately still is trapped in RERA and frankly, we will start getting the unlocking of the RERA cycle from fiscal 27, 28 onwards.”
— Ashok Tyagi, Managing Director
The rental business is projected to grow from Rs. 6,400 crores in FY26 to Rs. 7,400-7,500 crores in FY27, driven by new asset commissioning.
“FY ‘26 for the year, it will be about Rs. 6,400 crores for the rental business... Next year, the Rs. 6,400 crores will go to about Rs. 7,400 to Rs. 7,500 crores.”
— Sriram Khattar, Vice Chairman and Managing Director (Rental Business)
The company expects a sustainable annual growth rate of 10-15% in collections, reflecting confidence in its revenue realization.
“We should look at a 10%-15% growth year-over-year versus what we have achieved last year on an overall basis from a collections point of view.”
— Badal Bagri, Group Chief Financial Officer
WeWork India Management | Small Cap | Real Estate
WeWork India, a leading premium flexible workspace operator since 2017, offers Grade A workspaces across key cities with multiple centres and desks, providing flexible, high-quality solutions tailored for enterprises, startups, and professionals seeking modern work environments.
[Concall]
Wework India achieved record occupancy of 84% and significant desk additions, indicating strong demand and operational growth.
“Rework India today serves over 100,000 members across 73 centers in 8 cities... For the last 12 months, we have added 20,000 desks, a 20% year-over-year increase in capacity. More importantly, those occupied desks grew nearly 30% year-over-year. While portfolio occupancy reached close to about 84%, the highest we have seen.”
— Karan Virwani, Managing Director and CEO
A significant portion of future capacity expansion is already secured, outlining a clear growth trajectory to 171,000 seats by FY27 through phased ramp-ups.
“Nearly 40% of the incremental growth is already locked in through signed leases and LOIs. This takes our total planned capacity up to about 11.4 million square feet and roughly 171,000 seats over time, with a phased ramp-up to 8.7 million square feet by March of this financial year and about 10.3 million square feet by March 2027.”
— Karan Virwani, Managing Director and CEO
The improved occupancy is attributed to a robust macro environment, record commercial leasing driven by GCCs and a strong return-to-office trend from global tech businesses, with flex spaces continuing to dominate demand.
“The macro environment has improved meaningfully in the last 12 months. India has reached record highs in commercial leasing driven by GCCs and general business growth. There is a return-to-office trend from large global tech businesses driving demand. Flex continues to dominate.”
— Karan Virwani, Managing Director and CEO
Capital Goods
Premier Energies | Mid Cap | Capital Goods
Premier Energies trades solar modules, cells, wafers, and accessories while also undertaking construction projects. The company is expanding into aluminium frames, inverters, and battery storage systems to enhance its integrated product offerings. This diversification supports its goal of becoming a comprehensive clean technology platform, improving profitability and supply chain resilience.
Despite a volatile input cost environment, the company is confident in maintaining profitability through strategic risk management, including hedging and cost pass-through mechanisms.
“Secondly, the cost environment is becoming more volatile, with some input costs rising sharply over the last few quarters. We are able to manage this risk effectively through various measures like hedging, advanced planning, strong supplier relationships, and passing incremental costs to customers.”
— Chiranjeev Singh Saluja, Managing Director
Premier Energies is investing INR280 crores in a 6 GWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) assembly line but is delaying BESS cell manufacturing until government localization policies are clearer.
“we have already announced that on BESS, we are setting up a cell to pack in a containerized solution line. The land for this also has been acquired and the factory construction started. We have not announced getting into BESS cell manufacturing as of today. We would want to wait for more clarity from Government of India.”
— Chiranjeev Singh Saluja, Managing Director
Total market demand for solar is anticipated to reach over 50 GW by FY26 and further grow to 60-65 GW by FY28, indicating robust long-term sector expansion.
“FY26 should end with a total market demand, including the DCR and the non-DCR components of more than 50 gigawatts annualized. And by FY28 we would expect that demand to grow to about 60 to 65 gigawatts.”
— Vinay Rustagi, Chief Business Officer
India faces a significant deficit in aluminum frame anodizing capacity, meeting only 20% of domestic demand, which currently necessitates substantial imports despite ample aluminum manufacturing.
“the challenge is on the anodizing side. And there is not enough anodizing facilities available in India for supplying aluminium frames... Anodizing capacity in India? ...That would be maybe 20% of India’s demand.”
— Chiranjeev Singh Saluja, Managing Director
Premier Energies is a leading domestic manufacturer of advanced G12R TOPCon cells, with its existing and upcoming 7 GW lines being G12R-compatible, positioning it at the forefront of technology.
“we at Premier were the first ones. And as we speak today, there are only two companies in India which are manufacturing G12R cells, and that is Adani and us. We were, early movers to G12R... And our 7 gigawatt line is a G12R line and even the TOPCon which is operational is G12R.”
— Chiranjeev Singh Saluja, Managing Director
A significant majority (80-85%) of the company’s order book for both cells and modules, across DCR and non-DCR segments, is priced in US dollars, providing a natural hedge against rupee depreciation.
“about majority, about 80%-85% of our order book is dollar-based... Cell and module both, be it DCR, non-DCR or be it cells, is all dollar based.”
— Chiranjeev Singh Saluja, Managing Director
Auto Ancillaries
Balkrishna Industries | Mid Cap | Auto Ancillaries
Balkrishna Industries Limited specializes in the Specialty Off-Highway Tire segment, catering to Agriculture, Industrial, Construction, Earthmoving, Mining, Port, Lawn and Garden, and All-Terrain Vehicle Tires markets. The company operates in a highly technical and capital-intensive sector with a wide range of products. While the agricultural sub-segment is non-cyclical, the industrial, construction, and mining sub-segment is cyclical and tied to the global economic outlook. Their products are primarily targeted at markets in Europe, America, Australasia, and India.
[Concall]
The recently signed FTA between India and the EU is expected to facilitate smoother trade, potentially benefiting Balkrishna Industries’ European operations.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate the Government of India for their remarkable efforts on signing the landmark FTA with the EU. we believe this will allow for further seamless trade between the two geographies.”
— Rajiv Poddar, Joint Managing Director
The strong growth in the Indian business is driven by positive sentiment from government GST reductions and improved demand following good monsoon rains.
“As mentioned in my opening comments, the government’s role in reducing GST has driven sentiments across the entire auto sector, and we are benefiting from that. Better rains during the season have also led to improved demand.”
— Rajiv Poddar, Joint Managing Director
The current import duty into Europe is 4%, but the exact duty reduction from the new trade deal remains unknown pending the agreement’s fine print.
“The current duty is 4%. It is not yet clear what the duty will be until we see the fine print of the agreement.”
— Mr. Bajaj, Senior President and Director Commercial, and CFO
The company has significantly increased its carbon black production capacity, reaching 265,000 metric tons per annum with a new commissioned line.
“During the quarter, we commissioned a new line of carbon black, taking the total capacity to 265,000 metric tons per annum.”
— Rajiv Poddar, Joint Managing Director
The newly commissioned carbon black capacity is fully allocated for external sales to capitalize on market opportunities, with expected margins mirroring industry averages.
“This additional capacity is entirely for external sale because our internal consumption was already covered by the earlier capacity. Margins will be in line with the industry average.”
— Mr. Bajaj, Senior President and Director Commercial, and CFO
That’s it for now! Your feedback will really help shape how The Chatter evolves. Drop it down in the comments below!
Quotes in this newsletter were curated by Meher, Kashish & Vignesh.
Disclaimer: We’ve used AI tools in filtering and cleaning up these quotes so there maybe some mistakes. Now, if you are thinking why we are using AI, please remember that we are just a small team of 5 people running everything you see on Zerodha Markets 😬 So, all the good stuff is human and mistakes are AI.
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