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HeidelbergCement India Limited — Call Transcript 2026
Jun 3, 2026
61726_rns_2026-06-03_85cabaa4-ea19-477c-8abe-147ef82f6226.pdf
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HEIDELBERGCEMENT
HeidelbergCement India Limited
CIN: L26942HR1958FLC042301
Registered Office
2nd Floor, Block B, DLF Cyber Greens,
DLF Cyber City, Phase-III,
Gurugram, Haryana 122002, India
Phone +91-124-4503700
Fax +91-124-4147698
Website: www.mycemco.com
HCIL: SECTL:SE:2026-27
03 June 2026
BSE Ltd.
Listing Department
Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers
Dalal Street, Fort,
Mumbai - 400001
National Stock Exchange of India Ltd
Listing Department,
Exchange Plaza, C/1, Block G,
Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (E)
Mumbai - 400 051
Scrip Code:500292
Trading Symbol: HEIDELBERG
Dear Sir/Madam,
Sub: Transcript of Earnings Call - Regulation 30 of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015
This has reference to our letter dated 25 May 2026 informing about earnings call being organised by PhillipCapital (India) Pvt. Ltd. Further to our aforesaid letter please find attached transcript of earnings call with analysts and investors held on 29 May 2026 on Audited Financial Results of the Company for the quarter and financial year ended 31 March 2026.
The above information will also be available on the website of the Company at Financials.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
For HeidelbergCement India Ltd.
Ravi Arora
Vice President- Corporate Affairs &
Company Secretary
Encl.: a.a
H
GreenTo
TÜV SUD
MATERIAL TO BUILD OUR FUTURE
HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA
PhillipCapital Your Partner In Finance
"HeidelbergCement India Limited Earnings Conference Call"
May 29, 2026
HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA
PhillipCapital
Your Partner In Finance
MANAGEMENT: MR. JOYDEEP MUKHERJEE – MANAGING DIRECTOR – HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA LIMITED
MR. ANIL SHARMA – CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER – HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA LIMITED
MR. AMIT ANGRA – HEAD, INVESTOR RELATIONS AND SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCE – HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA LIMITED
MODERATOR: MR. VAIBHAV AGARWAL – PHILLIPCAPITAL INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED
Page 1 of 15
HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA
PhillipCapital Your Partner In Finance
HeidelbergCement India Limited May 29, 2026
Moderator:
Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon, and welcome to the Earnings Conference Call of HeidelbergCement India Limited for the quarter and year ended 31st March 2026, hosted by PhillipCapital India Private Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will remain 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 telephone. Please note that this conference is being recorded.
I will now hand the conference over to Mr. Vaibhav Agarwal from PhillipCapital India Private Limited for opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you.
Vaibhav Agarwal:
Thank you, Ryan. Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of PhillipCapital India Private Limited, we welcome you to the Earnings Call for the quarter earlier ended 31st March 2026 of HeidelbergCement India Limited.
On the call, we have with us Mr. Joydeep Mukherjee, Managing Director; Mr. Anil Sharma, Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. Amit Angra, Head Investor Relations and Senior Vice President Finance of HeidelbergCement India Limited.
I would like to mention on behalf of HeidelbergCement India Limited and its management that certain statements that may be made or discussed on today's conference call may be forward-looking statements related to future developments and which are based on current management expectations.
These 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 the statements made. HeidelbergCement India Limited and the management of the company assumes no obligation to publicly alter or upgrade these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events or otherwise.
Also HeidelbergCement India Limited has uploaded a copy of the Q4 and FY26 investor presentation on the website and stock exchanges. Participants may download a copy of the presentation on these websites.
I'll now hand over the floor to the management of HeidelbergCement India for their opening remarks, which will be followed by Q&A. Thank you, and over to you, Joydeep, sir.
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Okay. Thank you. Amit will you be operating the slides on our side, please? Thank you. Okay. I'll start off with the key messages. We continue to produce mostly blended cement in our operations. This is in line with our commitments to producing low-carbon cement across our operations.
Our alternative fuel usage also increased by $3\%$ year-on-year, and we are now at $11\%$ at the company level. Our share of non-grid power exceeded $50\%$ during the FY. The EBITDA at
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HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA
PhillipCapital Your Partner In Finance
HeidelbergCement India Limited May 29, 2026
INR584 per ton was up 10% year-on-year. We did repay interest free loan of INR687 million, and the company is now completely debt-free.
We have cash and bank balance of INR4,037 million, and we continue to operate on negative net operating working capital. We have been declared as the preferred bidder or grant of 2 mining leases in Madhya Pradesh. This was a strategic move and a forward-looking move. And we did recommend a dividend of INR7 per share in our Board meeting recently concluded.
The ESG overview. 97% of all the cement that we produce are blended cement. On carbon, we are now less than 500 kg per ton of cement, and this number is going down quickly. And this is also because we have been working on modifying our product portfolio so that it falls in line with our overall strategy of reducing our carbon footprint.
On water positivity, we are at 4.8x water positive. As far as CSR is concerned, we have touched 21,000-plus lives during this financial year and improved the lives. And we are at more than 40% of green power in our overall power portfolio.
As far as our financial results are concerned, it has been already circulated. So broad messages in this are that we are about 19.8% higher on EBITDA as compared to last year. At the PAT level, we are 25.5% higher. Our sales volume increased by 8.8% over the last year. And on EBITDA per ton, too, we are about [10.2% 0:05:29] higher.
On a quarter basis, we had impact on pricing. There was pressure on pricing. So we lost about INR105 at the gross price level. And we had a INR53 impact on raw material and INR25 negative impact on others. And we did have some positives in terms of power and fuel and freight. But overall, Q-o-Q, our decrease in prices were only partially offset by input cost.
On a year basis, our EBITDA increased. This was mainly due to a decrease in input costs. On a year basis too, the impact on price was lesser as compared to the quarter -- quarterly basis. We did lose about INR16 overall on price, and there was an impact of INR11 on raw materials. However, we had positive gains on power and fuel, freight and other expenses. And so on a per ton basis, the EBITDA increased from INR530 to INR584. This is for the complete FY.
On working capital, as I've said before, nothing to add. We continue to operate on negative working capital. In case there are any particular questions on the data already produced, we can address them during the rest of the call. We have been pretty consistent in terms of our dividend, and this is driven by our operational cash flow and on a face value of INR10 per share, we have now proposed a 70% dividend for the FY.
On our share of volume, we can say that about 45% of our total volumes are dispatched through roads. This is up by 1% on a year-on-year basis. AFR, I have already spoken about, about 11%. This is up by 3% on a year-on-year basis.
Premium products portfolio, we are working on this and have been working on this consistently as a strategy for the last 3 years. And I'm very happy to state that we have achieved a number of 52%. So 52% of our total trade volumes come from premium products, which is up by 9% on a year-on-year basis.
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HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA
PhillipCapital Your Partner In Finance
HeidelbergCement India Limited May 29, 2026
And as far as the trade mix is concerned, we are at 81% trade sale number. This is true trade retail sales, and we can say a 19% is our B2B sale of the total mix. So we are consistently and continuously increasing premiumization, and we are optimizing our trade non-trade mix.
On outlook, going forward, I can say the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh is going to provide a lot of impetus to cement demand in Central India. We are, of course, now heading into the monsoon season where naturally the consumption shall be a little low. But post monsoon and carrying on till the elections, in our relevant market, we expect a very good demand.
The geopolitical developments, particularly the West Asia conflict, is continuing to create uncertainty in global markets and commodity prices, where we already had some impact on pet coke and fuel prices. I'm very hopeful and confident that this impact shall be passed on to the market as we have seen across other industries.
Elevated headline inflation and currency depreciation does remain a concern. At the same time, there are tailwinds of increase in cement consumption in the medium term as well as long-term, also because of domestic -- robust domestic consumption as well as the rationalization of the GST rate from 28% to 18%, which was down last year.
So we do not see a problem with demand going forward. But yes, for some time, headline inflation and currency depreciation would remain a matter which needs to be monitored very closely, especially in a company that has significant expenditure on imports.
The El Nino effect that we are seeing, the heat wave sweeping through the northern part of India and the central part of India, would produce -- would pose a significant risk to agricultural output, rural demand and food inflation. But with the advent of monsoon, a large part of this is expected to be mitigated.
And as I've said before, I am confident, even though with a little bit of lag, the increase in input prices, we shall definitely be able to pass on to the customers. I think that's all from my side. And I'll now hand over the floor over to Vaibhav and thank you for this sort of question and answer session.
Moderator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. We take first question from the line of Rajesh Ravi from HDFC Securities. Please go ahead.
Rajesh Ravi: Sir, I just wanted to understand, what is the clinker production in FY26?
Management: You're talking about the full year, for quarter?
Rajesh Ravi: Full year, full year.
Management: So we produce around 3.05 million tons total clinker production during the fiscal year.
Rajesh Ravi: Okay. And did we also buy and sell clinker from outside? And during the year, did we sell clinker also?
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HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA
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HeidelbergCement India Limited May 29, 2026
Management:
We have not bought any clinker. Our own clinker quantity is sufficient for the cement. Yes, we do, sometimes do sell clinker. But there is not so significant.
Rajesh Ravi:
Understood. And sir, if you look at your number, 3.05 million tons, then we operated at almost 95% utilization in FY26. So what sort of volume growth one can look at on existing capacity over the next few years? Our CC ratios also seems to have come down from 1.5 -- 1.6, 1.65, is now down to 1.5. So what is the way ahead?
Management:
Rajesh, if you see our total cement grinding capacity, it is around 6 million tons. And at this moment, we are -- you are right that we are running around 90%, 95% capacity. But at the same time, like Mr. Mukherjee said that we are optimizing our product portfolio. We are also reducing our clinker content so that we can reduce CO2 emission as well as it gives us the further headroom to grind more cement.
So we can say that, okay, at this moment, we have sufficient headroom for next 1 or 2 years. And we expect that our cement volume growth should be similar to what's the cement demand growth in the market, especially in Central India.
Rajesh Ravi:
What would be cement-to-clinker ratio, sir, in Q4 and FY26?
Management:
So our clinker consumption ratio is around 60%, 61% of the cement. And I think we will be able to reduce at least maybe 50 basis point to maybe 100 basis points in cement.
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Yes. I mean just to elaborate an add-on, the launch of a new blended cement where the clinker content is almost 17% low. And we are continuously ramping up production of the same. So we don't think it is going to be an issue [inaudible 0:15:34].
Rajesh Ravi:
What is this product, the 17% lower clinker you're seeing?
Management:
It's the composite cement.
Rajesh Ravi:
Composite cement, okay. And what are the cost levers you're looking at, given that the industry is also reeling under almost INR300 to INR400 cost in inflation -- next -- by Q2? In that scenario, are there any cost levers where you company...
Management:
Are you asking about the next quarter?
Rajesh Ravi:
Yes, yes. For H1, given the industry is looking at INR300 to INR400 cost increase because of the surging fuel costs and the packaging material. In that, obviously, part of it is passed on. But overall, do we have any like green power share going up or any other cost metric, which can save you -- give you a cushion against the cost inflation?
Management:
So look, we have -- we anticipate that in the near term, the next quarter, our costs would be impacted by anywhere between INR100 to INR150 a ton, given our fuel mix and other things. The packaging bag, the impact which was there has now substantially reduced. I think -- so what we are looking at is about anywhere between INR100 to INR160 a ton, which we are confident can be passed on.
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HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA
PhillipCapital Your Partner In Finance
HeidelbergCement India Limited May 29, 2026
Rajesh Ravi:
Understood. And any target on the green power mix? How has that been in FY '26? And how would that be in FY '27, '28?
Management:
Okay, Amit, would you please...
Amit Angra:
Rajesh, we have been working -- if you see the -- our presentation where we talked about the other green power percentage, it has increased to -- exceeded 40%. And we have been working to increase it. Yes, it is a continuous process.
Now if you ask that, okay, there will be significant increase beyond this, the answer is no. But yes, there will be some small improvement is there in the green power. So come down the line 2026-'27, '27-'28; our target to increase beyond 40%.
One lever we talk about, and we also said in the past that we have the good flexibility with respect to fuel mix. We consume petcoke as well as coal. And whenever the petcoke prices or coal prices move in the direction, which is not maybe favorable to us, immediately, we either decrease or increase our petcoke in fuel consumption.
So in the June quarter 2027, if the price of the petcoke will remain at elevated level as today, we will further optimize our fuel mix. That will give us the benefit. And that's why in our case, the impact will not be like INR300 what the industry talks about. Our impact may be around INR150 on account of this petcoke and diesel.
Rajesh Ravi:
And what is the linkage coal share in our fuel basket sir?
Management:
It is sufficient. We did not go to the open market in significant quantity. Our existing ones support us to -- for our clinker production.
Rajesh Ravi:
Yes, that is why your inflationary expectation is lower. Understood. And sir, two things just on the -- one on the Dalmia within the JP Assets now, and they expect to operationalize it fully from Q2 onwards, thereby bringing almost 5 million tons of additional volume pressure in the market.
And what is the thought process on that in terms of you being one of the central and eastern markets being one of your key markets? And second, what are the capex program, which we are looking at? You had talked earlier or plan here. There was plans to expand into Gujarat market, but we haven't heard anything on that front. Any major expenses, which is in the pipeline over the next 2 to 3 years?
Management:
Yes. So we are setting up, and you might have seen in media, a blending unit in Khandwa. This is expected to give us about 35,000 tons of extra cement from the unit. That is immediate, that project is on right now as we speak. And we are investing around INR120 crores, INR130-odd crores -- you can take about INR130 crores in that product.
Rajesh Ravi:
Sorry, 130 what?
Management:
INR130 crores. Other than that, we have -- as I said -- mentioned, we have also been declared as the preferred bidder for grant of mining lease. So we have a limestone block in an area of
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HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA
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HeidelbergCement India Limited May 29, 2026
about 350 hectares in Kuria and Shivpur. This gives us 62 million tons of cement-grade limestone.
And there's another block, over 350 acres, in Shivpur again, which has about 105 million tons of cement-grade limestone. So we are the preferred bidders for that. And obviously, this is all keeping in view the future expansions, but I will not be able to reveal right now on the exact plan. As of today, we are not -- what I'm in a position to reveal and confirm is our blending unit at Khandwa.
Rajesh Ravi: Understood. On the Gujarat plants, which the company had earlier talked about that they would look to...
Management: No, we are still awaiting clearance from the government. It is still...
Rajesh Ravi: Understood.
Management: It's not in our hand right now.
Rajesh Ravi: I'll come back in queue. Thank you.
Moderator: Thank you. We have a question from the line of Vaibhav Agarwal from PhillipCapital India Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Vaibhav Agarwal: Sir, I had a question on -- basically on pricing. So you said in your opening remarks that pricing has not been -- you're not able to pass on the pricing to the extent of cost push in Q1. And even in Q4, pricing has been slightly under pressure.
So sir, in this regard, as far as we gather and North and West have been quite stable or better off in pricing versus Central India and Central India is suffering from low pricing for quite a long time now, so what is the key -- is the commissioning of new clinker lines by competition? What is actually dragging because neighbouring pricing is relatively better off? And what are the key reasons for pricing to be subdued in your geography? That's my first question.
Management: So, Vaibhav, this is pretty normal. If you see wherever companies bring in capacity, for some time, the prices do remain under pressure. So we've had JK expanding in our region. We've had cement operation which has gone online. We got extra material from UltraTech, who are ramping up their capacity utilization in the same area. So right now, Central is no longer...
Vaibhav Agarwal: The question was actually this is -- Central India has been under pricing pressure for quite some time now for maybe last 3, 4 quarters. And this is not going away. So that's the reason that I was...
Management: No, I have not under -- are you...
Vaibhav Agarwal: I'm saying in terms of pricing when you are saying that you will be able to pass on the cost push in Q1, you're confident of it, but then the pricing is under pressure. Then in that context, I was asking the question that why is -- what gives you the confidence that you will be able to pass on the cost push?
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HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA
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HeidelbergCement India Limited May 29, 2026
Management:
So the cost push will be on everyone, right? I mean if this is not passed on, then all the balance sheets are going to start looking pretty bad. And historically, we have seen that if there is a serious cost increase, it always gets passed on, which is why you noticed if you have noted my earlier comment, I said always with a lag because different companies would have different kind of stocks and tie-up of fuel.
But as soon as that cushion is gone, then it will start hurting. And obviously, people at 150 million tons, 180 million tons and 100 million tons, for that, the impact on the balance sheet is significantly higher. So sanity says that this will always happen.
Vaibhav Agarwal:
So structurally from going forward from hereon, maybe say, for the next 1 year or 2 years, how do you see overall Central India pricing, assuming expansions go on? JK Cement, I mean like you mentioned have commissioned now there will be some new plants also coming in. So as far as you all understand, structure, really, how will pricing move in Central India over the next 1 to 2 years? How would you see that?
Management:
I think if you are going to look at the next 1 year, I'm pretty confident that it is going to follow what is happening in North, okay, because most of the northern players are also suppliers to Central. And as you also know, there are no islands of prosperity in cement. There is always spillover from one region to the other region.
So a parity keeping in terms view of where the cement plants are and where the markets are, is going to come in. But I'm going to be cautious enough to say that yes, for maybe the next quarter and before the monsoon ends, the prices will be under a little bit of pressure. But I wouldn't say that, that is going to be a complete killjoy because there is also now the big burden of the cost push.
So, I'm sure to the extent of the cost push the industry would be able to pass it on. But beyond that, if you are asking structurally, is there going to be how much on top of that, that is crystal ball gazing. I'm not able to answer that question.
Vaibhav Agarwal:
All right. Understood, sir. Sir, my second question was on your -- like you said your opening remarks that we are highly dependent on imports. So, from that perspective...
Management:
I didn't say we are...
Vaibhav Agarwal:
Okay. I thought that you said. So as far as [hydro books 26:30] in India grows, so how much is the import component? Or what is our fuel mix as of now, if you can just spell it out?
Management:
I think whether we do not import any...
Vaibhav Agarwal:
That's what I want to -- there's no imported, sir?
Management:
No, no, not at all. Nothing.
Vaibhav Agarwal:
Right. Sir, third was on the merger of...
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HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA
PhillipCapital Your Partner In Finance
HeidelbergCement India Limited May 29, 2026
Management:
But just to add on the pricing, what Mr. Mukherjee said, first of all, one fact that the highest consumption state in India, UP is going to be on election in the next 1 year and for -- predominantly in Central India players, that will support significant on the demand of the cement.
And that should support us with respect to the pricing because we have been selling cement and our target is to increase volume either blended cement or our nearby focus market for home market. So, we are pretty confident and positive that we will be able to pass on the cost increase -- at least cost increase to market.
Vaibhav Agarwal:
So, sir, in that perspective, what is your demand outlook for FY '27, '28 for Central India and for Heidelberg, in case you have any guidance?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
I'm sure that this fiscal in central, the industry will grow at least by 7%, 7.5%.
Vaibhav Agarwal:
Okay. So that is in likely overall plan in the demand?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
And I think by the beginning of the next calendar year as we approach elections, it is going to get ramped up to maybe a little bit more. But I'm thinking on an average, 7%, 7.5% is not too much to expect.
Vaibhav Agarwal:
So that's a given that 7.5% will happen as per you. And okay, sir, you have been indicating about -- in the past, there's no talk of late. But in the past, you have indicated about a possible merger of Zuari and Heidelberg. Any thoughts on that?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Well, again, I said it's a timing issue. If you -- would know, I mean, there have been some publications that have come out in the media also, we are, of course, building 3 million ton integrated cement plant in Karnataka. That is now underway, which, of course, is not part of this company as of now. But depending on the suitable time, yes, there are plans of eventually going in for a merger of all the entities.
Vaibhav Agarwal:
Sir, but any timeline which you can probably think of, maybe 2 years, 3 years?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Right now, I would be hesitant to set out a timeline.
Vaibhav Agarwal:
Understood. And sir, last question was on your blending unit. So, what would be your capex guidance for FY '27, '28 in terms of overall capex for HeidelbergCement India?
Management:
I think we have already -- this will be a split into 2 fiscal years, 2027, '28 [inaudible 0:29:37]. And then '27, '28 is under 34 bps put together in 2 years, we are going to invest in the...
Vaibhav Agarwal:
65 each year, is that a fair or like the first year would be light and second one would be heavier?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Yes. First one would be lighter. It will be more backloaded because first year, we will not need some of the capex.
Vaibhav Agarwal:
And so, this blending out, I'm sure that this will not form part of your capacity, right? The capacity will remain at about 6 million ton in terms of the overall capacity of Heidelberg cement
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HeidelbergCement India Limited May 29, 2026
in India? Would you take it as an additional capacity? Or like would you keep your rated capacity the same?
Management:
Our capacities, like we said, is around 30,000, 35,000 tons per month, the cement capacity will increase.
Vaibhav Agarwal:
So, can we presume that this is a capex -- this would increase your rated capacity to that extent, 31,000 tons per month, which convert to like 0.4 million tons per annum?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Cement output capacity, yes, because as of now, we find it difficult to approach that market because Damoh is quite far from that part of the market.
Vaibhav Agarwal:
And sir, last, your volume guidance, like you have done 1.35 in this quarter, which is the highest ever Heidelberg has done and since you're optimistic on demand. So, can we achieve like a 90% utilization for FY27 or maybe '28? Are you confident of retaining these kinds of volumes for upcoming quarters and obviously, in peak demand periods?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
On a yearly basis, yes. I think quarter-on-quarter, it's a little difficult to predict.
Vaibhav Agarwal:
Understood. Okay. So, we have questions from participants in the queue. I will just hand it over to Ryan.
Moderator:
Thank you. Participants, please press star and 1 to ask a question. We take the next corn from the line of Shravan Shah from Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Shravan Shah:
Hi, sir. Thank you. A couple of questions. Sir, just to clarify, when we are saying the industry in Central India to grow at 7%, 7.5%, so for us, in terms of the official kind of a volume target would be the similar 7%, 7.5%, that's what we are looking at?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
I have not understood your question. Are you saying we -- are we forecasting that we should be also growing by the similar number? Is that what you're asking?
Shravan Shah:
Yes.
Joydeep Mukherjee:
We shall be in line with the industry growth in our region. Obviously, we cannot achieve that because we are, as you know, we are nearing our complete capacity utilization. But this will be in line with the growth.
Shravan Shah:
And just to get a number clear, so in terms of the cement capacity as on today is 5.95 million tons, the Imlai and Jhansi is 2 units. And in terms of the clinker capacity, is it 3.23 because some debottlenecking at Damoh was supposed to happen? So just wanted to confirm the number?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Yes, the debottlenecking has happened, the capacity is going to come. The debottlenecking exercise is over.
Shravan Shah:
So, what's the current clinker capacity? Is it 3.2 million or 3.1 million?
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HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA
PhillipCapital Your Partner In Finance
HeidelbergCement India Limited May 29, 2026
Management:
Our clinker capacity is 3.1 million tons, and cement capacity is not 5.95, it's -- 5.7 is our cement capacity in Central India.
Shravan Shah:
Okay. Got it. And then this -- both the new -- the MP1 whenever we will finalize, let's say, so obviously, they are also like a Gujarat in terms of all the approvals, environment, everything will be there. So just trying to understand, even, let's say, in the next 1 year also, we will start -- this will be kind of a 3, 4 years down the line, the actual plan to start?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
No. We have already received the CT. So, we can expect this project to be completed within 2 years from now, maybe even earlier.
Shravan Shah:
No. So, this is the Khandwa one you are saying?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Yes.
Shravan Shah:
Yes. No, I'm saying apart from this, the Gujarat one, let's say -- do you think that the environment clearance likely to be there in next 6 months, 1 year is possible? And if it -- let's say, it comes post that we start, so will it take another 2.5, 3 years to actually cement product?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Yes, obviously, post the PAP
Shravan Shah:
Okay. And there, in terms of the capacity, the last time, we are talking about 2.5 million, 4 million tons, so -- or still it can change, depends in the time?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Once we receive the EC and we look at the situation, that would be decided. That is not a number which is very firmly finalized as of now.
Shravan Shah:
And then this MP 2 mines that we have won there also, whenever we will add new capacity, that will also be at least 4 years down the line from today?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
No, it will be earlier. There is nothing like that is 4 years down the line. But as I said, as of today, I'm not able to -- I'm not in a position to declare an exact date. But we have plans, very firm plans, and we are definitely going to start working on it.
Shravan Shah:
Okay. And for this Khandwa unit, then we will have to kind of start buying the clinker or the still the current line at a full utilization?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Our existing clinker would do.
Shravan Shah:
Okay. And sir, just to clarify this cost increase, what you mentioned initially INR100 to INR160 odd. Just to clarify, since Q1, we are seeing maybe INR100, INR125 odd kind of a cost increase because of the packing bag, diesel and the fuel. And then overall, in 1H, max INR160 kind of a cost increase that we can see.
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Yes.
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HeidelbergCement India Limited May 29, 2026
Shravan Shah:
Okay. And currently, sir, just 2, 3 data points. The lead distance for fourth quarter FY26 and FY26, and fuel mix for maybe fourth quarter and FY26, so that will help us to understand in terms of the -- what you were highlighting that we can shift from pet coke to coal?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
So, our pet coke to coal earlier, it used to be -- around 60%, 65% was the pet coke, and remaining coal and alternative fuel. Now during last maybe 2, 3 months, we had reduced the pet coke consumption by around 10%. So, the coal consumption increases from earlier 30% to 40%. So that optimization we have already done. And hopefully, that should continue in June quarter. And in terms of your question on lead distance, our lead distance currently is around 370 kilometers, 372 kilometers.
Shravan Shah:
372, this is for the entire FY26? And what was the number for Q4?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
It's more or less the same. Our lead distance has not changed, although during the last maybe 6 months increase around 5 kilometers, but there is no significant increase or decrease in the lead distance.
Shravan Shah:
And the Kcal cost on a combined put together everything for fourth quarter and FY26 is how much?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Kcal, pet coke earlier used to be around -- maybe expensive 10%. Now currently it is really expensive, 30% over coal. On Kcal basis was around 1.5 and pet coke now exceeding 2 to 2.25.
Shravan Shah:
No. But actually, what was the actual blended Kcal cost for fourth quarter FY26 and FY26 full year?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Okay. I'm talking about the current prevailing price, which is after the escalation or elevation of the pet coke prices. But if you talk about March quarter, March quarter, the coal cost was below 1.5, which is more or less similar now as well and the pet coke price was around 1.9, Kcal.
Shravan Shah:
Sir still, I did not get at the blended level for us for fourth quarter and FY26. What was the Kcal cost? Everything put together, what was the blended cost...
Joydeep Mukherjee:
Are you talking about the put together both?
Shravan Shah:
Yes. Put together for fourth quarter FY26 and for entire for '26?
Joydeep Mukherjee:
That I need to recheck it.
Shravan Shah:
Got sir. Thank you.
Moderator:
We take the next question from the line of Rajesh Ravi from HDFC Securities. Please go ahead.
Rajesh Ravi:
Hi sir. Regarding the clinker debottlenecking, in the last call, you have suggested that 1.3 lakh ton clinker debottlenecking would be up and running by June quarter -- last year June quarter. So now are you saying that it is still due from 3.1 to 3.23?
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HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA
PhillipCapital Your Partner In Finance
HeidelbergCement India Limited May 29, 2026
Joydeep Mukherjee: Our debottlenecking project with respect to this cleaner, we have already done. This was more particular in Q3. And we have already submitted our application to increase our capacity. We are working on it.
Rajesh Ravi: Sorry, while the debottlenecking is done, the approval for the capacity approval is spending? Is this what you are implying?
Joydeep Mukherjee: We are talking about two things. One is that the improvement of the kiln by doing the debottlenecking capex that we have done it. But when we talk about the capacity for the government side to get the approval, that we are working on it.
Rajesh Ravi: Okay. And there is -- so there is no grinding expansion or debottlenecking we have done. So, grinding capacity remained 5.75? And while clinker has expanded from 3.1 to 3.23, the official approval is yet pending?
Joydeep Mukherjee: Yes, you're right.
Rajesh Ravi: Understood. And sir, Karnataka, still we run LBTT the unit which you had, which is now defunct and unusable, is there any plan to dispose of the land parcel? Does it have any monetization value with the company would be looking at?
Joydeep Mukherjee: Our Karnataka unit will still we run LBTTs the lower quantity, but we have been operating it.
Rajesh Ravi: Because you don't count it under your capacity of 5.75 which we assume is 2.5 MP and Jhansi as 3.25. That is our...
Joydeep Mukherjee: The capacity of the company is not 5.75. The Karnataka capacity of around 0.5 million is also there.
Rajesh Ravi: So, in that case, we have 6.26. Is this the capacity we have?
Joydeep Mukherjee: Yes.
Rajesh Ravi: Okay. And there is no grinding debottlenecking, which is happening as of now? The only the blending unit that you are setting up in MP, which is 0.4 million tons, which will come up by FY28?
Joydeep Mukherjee: Yes.
Rajesh Ravi: Yes. Understood. Yes, that is all from my end. Thank you.
Moderator: Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Jinesh Kothari from Equirus Securities. Please go ahead. Jinesh if you can please unmute from your end and proceed with your question.
Jinesh Kothari: Hello am I audible?
Management: Yes.
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HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA
PhillipCapital Your Partner In Finance
HeidelbergCement India Limited May 29, 2026
Jinesh Kothari: Yes sir. Can you please provide me with your clinker sale number for FY26 and what was there in last year FY25?
Management: This is part of the total sales volume. Already, we have reported total sales volume, cement and clinker put together.
Jinesh Kothari: I wanted a clinker volume separately.
Management: Difficult to share that number.
Jinesh Kothari: That’s all from my end thank you.
Moderator: Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Nagaraj Pipalli, an Individual Investor. Please go ahead.
Nagaraj Pipalli: Good afternoon all am I audible?
Management: Yes you are.
Nagaraj Pipalli: Sir, my suggestion for the company is instead of going for dividends, very good dividends you are declaring, why don't you go for a share buyback, which will increase the shareholders' value in the long term?
Management: Okay. We have noted down your suggestion. Maybe we will explore in the management committee and will discuss in the Board of Directors meeting, and we'll see. Then we have declared there we have recommended by the Board, and we will submit before the shareholders for their consideration and approval. But at the same time, we'll check the share buyback proposal.
Nagaraj Pipalli: Thank you very much good luck.
Moderator: Thank you. We take the last question from the line of Shravan Shah from Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Shravan Shah: Sir, the total for the company as a whole, total capex for FY27 and for FY28 would be how much?
Management: Total capex, we put into two parts. One will be our, you can say sustainable capex, scale business. It is in the range of around INR45 crores to INR50 crores, and that we do every year, which is more or less 40% of our annual depreciation.
And on top of that, we do some improvement capex. Today we discussed about this Khandwa blending unit. And there, we are going to make it around INR130 crores in 2 years. So first year, if I take the ballpark number of the 40% of 130, so around INR54 another. So for the fiscal year '26, '27; it will be around total INR100 crores. And next year, subsequently, it's really around 120.
Shravan Shah: Okay. Got it. And sir, did you able to get that blended KKL cost?
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HEIDELBERGCEMENT INDIA
PhillipCapital Your Partner In Finance
HeidelbergCement India Limited May 29, 2026
Management: We'll take it and we will let you know.
Joydeep Mukherjee: Are there any other questions?
Shravan Shah: Okay, thanks.
Moderator: Thank you. No sir, there are no questions in the queue. I will hand the conference over to Mr. Vaibhav Agarwal from PhillipCapital India Private Limited for closing comments.
Vaibhav Agarwal: Yes. Thank you. On behalf of PhillipCapital India Private Limited, we thank the management of HeidelbergCement India Limited for the call, and many thanks to the participant for joining the call. Ryan, you may now conclude the call. Thank you very much, sir.
Moderator: Thank you. On behalf of PhillipCapital India Private Limited, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.
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