Electrosteel Castings Limited (NSE: ELECTCAST) Q3 2025 Earnings Call dated Jan. 31, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Madhav Kejriwal — Whole Time Director
Ashutosh Agarwal — Whole Time Director and Chief Financial Officer
Gaurav Somani — General Manager, Finance.
Sunil Katial — Whole Time Director and CEO
Analysts:
Vikash Verma — Moderator
Rajesh Agarwal — Analyst
Gargi Singh — Analyst
Deepak Lalwani — Analyst
Ankur — Analyst
Saket Kapoor — Analyst
Dipesh Agarwal — Analyst
Dheeraj Ram — Analyst
Rajesh Bhandari — Analyst
Kaushal Bengani — Analyst
Vikas Jain — Analyst
Presentation:
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Q3 and Nine-Month FY ’25 Earnings Conference Call of ElectroSteel Castings Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchstone phone. I now hand the conference over to Mr Vikas Varma from EY LLP. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Vikash Verma — Moderator
Thank you,. Good evening, everyone. On behalf of Castings Limited, I welcome you all to the company’s quarter three and Nine-Month FY ’25 earnings call. To discuss the performance of the company and to answer the questions we have with us from the management team, Mr. Kejriwal, Whole-Time Director; Mr Sunil Katyal, Whole-Time Director and CEO; Mr Ashutosh Agarwal, Whole-Time Director and Chief Financial Officer; and Mr Gaurav Somani, General Manager Finance.
Before we proceed with this call, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that today’s discussion may contain forward-looking statements and are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors, which will be beyond management control. We kindly request that you bear in mind there may be uncertainties when interpreting such statements. Please note that this conference is being recorded. We will now start the session with opening remarks from the management team. Afterwards, we will open the floor for an interactive Q&A session. I will now hand over the conference over to Mr Madhar Kjiwal for his opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, Mr Madhar.
Madhav Kejriwal — Whole Time Director
Thank you, Mr Varma. A very good evening to all and a warm welcome to Electro Steel Casting’s Q3 and Nine-Month FY ’25 earnings call. Let me share a glimpse of our financials and industry demand scenario. The company’s total income stood at INR1,816 crores during the 3rd-quarter of FY ’25. This was down 4% compared to Q3 of last financial year, which was mainly on account of a shutdown of the MBF at our South unit. The company’s DI pipe sales volume stood at 1,77,000 — 1,77 lakh tons in Q3 FY ’25 and 5.45 lakh tonnes for the nine months. Export contributed to 14% of the said DFI volumes.
On the ongoing brownfield expansion to reach capacities of 1 million tonnes of DI pipes, out of our plant capex of INR700 crores for Phase-2, we have already spent INR480 crores till 31st of December. There is a minor delay of around two to three months on account of manpower shortage and delays in supply of equipment, and we are hopeful to reach the installed capacity of 9 lakh tons by the end of March 2025. We’re also happy to inform you all that our long-term credit rating has been upgraded by CRISIL from double AA minus to AA.
Coming to the industry demand scenario, the demand for DI 5 and fittings continues to be robust on account of initiatives like river linking, Bharat Vision, Mission and Amrout 2. Although there is a pause for some time from the government on spending which has been seen across all sectors, we are optimistic the government will continue to push towards infrastructure spending from the upcoming Union Budget. I would now like to hand over the floor to my colleague, Mr Ashutosh Agarwal, Whole-Time Director and CFO, for taking you through the financial highlights.
Ashutosh Agarwal — Whole Time Director and Chief Financial Officer
Thank you,. Good evening and a warm welcome to all the investors present in Electroctoral Casting Q3 and nine months 2025 earnings con-call. First of all, I would like to brief you about the consolidated financial results of Q3 2025. Total income stood to INR1,816 crores, partially impacted by the informed by, shutdown of blast furnace of Kala Unit. EBITDA reported to INR294 crores with EBITDA margin of 16.2%, although margins were down year-on-year due to lower-volume on account of shutdown, but saw an improvement from previous quarter. PAT reported to INR150 crores with PAT margin of 8.8%.
On consolidated nine months results, total income to — grew by 2.9% year-on-year to INR5,701 crore. EBITDA increased by 2.7% year-on-year to INR961 crores and EBITDA margin stood to 16.9%. PAT grew by 5.5 year-on-year basis, 5.5% year-on-year basis to INR541 crores in nine months. PAT margin stood to 9.5%. Now I’m talking about standalone results of Q3. Total income stood to INR1,673 crores impacted by shutdown as implemented earlier. EBITDA stood to INR280 crores with EBITDA margin of 15.7% and stood to INR157 crores with a PAT margin of 9.4%.
Highlights of our standalone nine months results. Total income was INR5,236 crores, INR903 crores and EBITDA margin 17.2%. PAT was INR521 crores, PAT margin stood to 10%. About the ongoing capex plan as implemented by, the total plan was for INR900 crore — INR700 crores for Phase-2 and we have spent around INR480 crores till December 2024. We target to enhance our DI pipe manufacturing capacity to-1 million ton by 2026 March. Now I will open the floor for question-answers. Thank you.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask questions may press star and one on their touchstone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and 2. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking questions. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. To ask questions, please press star and the first question is from Gargi Singh from Value Investments. Please go-ahead.
Madhav Kejriwal
Your voice is not clear madam
Operator
Gargi, if you are using a handset, request you to come closer to the mic. We can’t hear you. Hello I’m sorry, missing. We can’t really hear you request you to call us back, maybe from a different number or from a we’ll move to the next question. The next question is from Rajesh Agarwal from. Please go-ahead.
Rajesh Agarwal
Hello. Sir, how much this provision was lost in this quarter? And can you quantify the revenue out of it? And second question is the outlook on the order because other companies pipe companies were saying the order is booked from central government to state government and your outlook on the orders?
Madhav Kejriwal
So we have lost approximately eight days of production which is around 18,000 tons okay in regard to the total revenue got by don’t you?
Gaurav Somani
Yeah. So I think in terms of total revenue, it should be around INR45 crores, INR45 crores. Okay. So see what happened was there was a shutdown of — between December and January, yes, right. And we made it in the stock exchange. So around six to six — approximately six days in December and seven days to eight days in January. Okay. So what would you started total loss.
Rajesh Agarwal
Okay, understood. Up to 7 Jan or it is only for the quarter, December seven days.
Gaurav Somani
So the — with the total loss that was given by jee was for the total 12 to 13 days. Okay. And in December, what we have lost is around INR4,50 — crore — INR49 crores of revenue.
Rajesh Agarwal
Yes, INR45 crores.
Madhav Kejriwal
I apologize. I said eight days, it’s actually INR6.
Rajesh Agarwal
Okay. Understood, sir. And now that blast furnace has stabilized, no.
Madhav Kejriwal
Yes, please. But of course, there is a time lag between firing and stability at the required production level. So now after the restart, it’s taken us around 20 25 days to ramp-up to its capacity, but now we are seeing stability at the blast furn well.
Rajesh Agarwal
And has the efficiency improved, sir?
Madhav Kejriwal
Yes. Yes, definitely.
Rajesh Agarwal
Okay. And now on the order book, sir, order book — outlook on the orders.
Madhav Kejriwal
So we have around 8.5 months of order book at the moment, okay. It’s around 6 lakh tonnes of DI pipes, okay.
Rajesh Agarwal
Hello? And the outlook, any order book is decreasing because we are expecting after the election, some orders will come. So your outlook on that?
Madhav Kejriwal
Well, there has been a momentary slowdown from the government side on the expenditure towards Jaljiv and Mishan which was tantamounting to around 50% of our total order book and most of the total demand in the market. And for this particular quarter, post the budget of for — which is scheduled for tomorrow, we are very optimistic that spending will restart, and starting April, I think things will be back to the way they were earlier in regard to the demand pull. Parallelly, new initiatives by the government on the front of river link irrigation at a state-level and Amrud are seeing good impetus
Rajesh Agarwal
Okay so the bidding our bidding pipeline is strong or we may expect some orders by April?
Madhav Kejriwal
Absolutely. We usually keep an order book of around eight to 10 months, we are at the lower-end of that range, but it’s still within our general — okay,
Rajesh Agarwal
. Okay. And sir, the outlook on the export? Okay.
Madhav Kejriwal
Optimism is there towards growing upcoming economies like the Middle-East, okay. Unfortunately, we have seen a bit of a hit on our business in the US. But Europe continues to be stable, UK is improving, but of course, it’s a smaller part of the entire equation. Okay. We’ve also started exploring more markets in Southeast Asia and Africa, but at the moment, it’s difficult to give you an exact number of the growth over there, but it seems like there’s a lot of potential.
Rajesh Agarwal
And so pricing and the margins will hold-on or there will be improvement in the margins from here.
Madhav Kejriwal
I think historically, if you see, we’ve always hit a margin of 16% 15% to 18%. At the moment, we are at 16.7%. I think these are these are pretty stable numbers, which we should be able to carry-on for the foreseeable future.
Rajesh Agarwal
Okay. And any much fluctuation in the raw-material, no.
Madhav Kejriwal
I’m sorry, I couldn’t quite get you there.
Rajesh Agarwal
Any fluctuation in the raw-material quarter-to-quarter?
Madhav Kejriwal
No. Any fluctuations in the raw materials?
Sunil Katial
Actually on the raw-material front, on the coke front and I mean, coking coals and all that, there has been a downward trend. And the price correction to the tune of some $35, $40 has come down. Okay. But at the same time, as far as the iron-ore is concerned, there has been an upward trend. Okay. So practically on raw-material front, they have neutralized each other, more or less.
Rajesh Agarwal
Thank you. Thank you, sir. I’m through. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Before we take the next question, a reminder to participants that you may press star and one to join the question queue. Next question is from Gargi Singh from Value Investment. Please go-ahead.
Madhav Kejriwal
I’m really sorry, but your voice is breaking and it’s very inaudible.
Gargi Singh
Yes, I’m trying again. So is it better?
Madhav Kejriwal
No, it’s much better.
Gargi Singh
Okay, sir. Okay. So I want — my first question was that in the last quarter con-call, you had alluded that the coking coal benefit will be seen in this quarter, but the number suggests that it is not visible. So the coking coal prices has fallen by 30% in the last one year, yet in the last one year, the gross profit per metric ton is same at INR52 per kg. So this has not even increased by INR1. So what is limiting the expansion in gross profit and why are we unable to see any gross margin expansion?
Madhav Kejriwal
And this — I’ll answer your question in three parts. First, as mentioned by Mr Katyal, we have seen an increase on the iron-ore prices, which has an equal bearing on the costing. The second part of it is that due to our shutdowns, there are some increases in costs that are there. And as mentioned, we were having some instability in the blast furnace, which throws our efficiencies and productivity a little out of WAC. So these elements cause a minor disruption in the costing the operation side and on the cost — on the input material side, iron-ore somewhat made-up for it. Another — the third point here is that we carry stock. So you will see that the impact of the reduction in costs don’t take place immediately. It takes a little time for that impact to come into place. So although we are looking at a much lower-cost on our stock as opposed to the beginning of this financial year, it’s not come down as much as it seems to have on an index.
Gargi Singh
So sir, in response to that, actually historically, if I see the raw-material cost, then as compared to the iron-ore, then the overall cost of production and the coking coal price will at least be 3x of the iron considering the requirement and the prices, how it fares out. So the benefit of coking coal should be significantly higher and I’ve been waiting for this for quarter-on-quarter. But for the last five-quarter it is at this level. So hence this doubt that why aren’t we seeing this number, sir? And when do we expect to see — or do we expect to see this
Madhav Kejriwal
On the 3x part, it might seem so on the absolute term, but it’s also important to understand that the consumption of iron-ore and coke are different. And although you are right, the impact of coking coal is higher on the cost than iron-ore, but it’s not 3 times. No, the usage factors are totally different. Actually, the consumption of coke to iron-ore is in the ratio of one is to 3 roughly. Three times the iron or iron-ore, we consume around 1.7 tonnes for making one ton of iron, and coke we consume I mean around say 500 kgs. So less than one-third of that. So those are on the price index, what you said is absolutely correct that the impact of reduction in the coke pricing is much higher. But because the multiple of that as a usage factor is less — so that is how it is getting mutual.
Sunil Katial
Yes. And the difference in the delta of the cost of coking coal and iron-ore is, unfortunately we’ve lost out on that due to minor changes in our KPIs, which is our key performance indexes because of the disturbance in the blast furnace
Gargi Singh
Okay, how long this is expected to continue because usually the blast furnace shut-down and I thought it would because in your previous call you had alluded that it will not get extended post November. But in the opening remarks, you mentioned that also the previous participant, you mentioned that yes, sir
Madhav Kejriwal
The timeline for the shutdown was only to start in December. So if I have said that, I might have miscommunicated or there’s some sort of a misunderstanding I feel.
Sunil Katial
No, actually, when October we discussed, Madam, the point was that we are having problem in the blast furnace. We are in the process of procuring the material for that. And in all probability in the last week of December or so, after 20th, we should be able to take the shutdown. Actually some small gap has taken place and we will definitely I mean I haven’t looked into that how but that is what actually has been the plan, and we just want to clarify that we took the shutdown in end of December, six days into December and then eight days into January. So after that the blast furnace has come up, there were small teasing issues and now blast furnaces staff has nearly stabilized. It’s working fine now.
Gargi Singh
Okay, sir. Sir, second question was that going-forward, if we see the coking coal prices sustaining at $200, $220 per ton, then there will be a revision in DI prices according to this because of the lower coking coal prices. So a few of the competitors have indicated that there is a correction in DI prices according to the coking coal prices. So at the current level, we are doing INR16 per kg EBITDA. And when we reach 1 million ton volume and if we do — considering the correction in prices, if we do around INR14 per kg in EBITDA, then from a base of FY ’25, the EBITDA growth CAGR is coming in single-digits. So what is your take on this
Madhav Kejriwal
Well, ma’am, at the moment to really be able to quantify what will be the rupee value of EBITDA on our production is difficult because we are going to be reaching 1 million tons, say, end FY ’27. At that moment to clearly know what the raw-material price movement will be will be difficult. It’s not — never been so that for two to three years, there has been stable pricing on raw-material to have a INR14 per ton EBITDA margin. Thus, we’d like to fall-back on percentages. So if we are — I’m very optimistic and I’m very sure that we will be able to maintain an EBITDA margin of 16% to 18%. And considering that our growth will take place as per — as our quantities increase.
Gargi Singh
Understood. The third — third question was on
Operator
I’m really sorry to interrupt, but may we request you to rejoin the queue as there are several participants waiting. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. We take the next question from Deepak Lalwani from Unifi Capital. Please go-ahead.
Deepak Lalwani
Hello, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, first question is that given the weakness in water infrastructure spends, is there any order execution risk that we will probably see in Q4 and going ahead?
Madhav Kejriwal
No. All these projects that we have in our order book, a majority of them are projects which have already broken ground. So the risk of losing out on business is negligible there might be a bit of a stretch in the delivery because of the slower expenditure by the government, which also I feel is momentary.
Deepak Lalwani
Fair enough. Understood. And sir, secondly, a related question. So you know, you said that the outlook is strong, but given that the Jal is almost 80% over the Amrith scheme is fairly small compared to Jal Jiven. So what gives you the confidence for the demand growth for DI pipes? And secondly, the demand-supply scenario, how should it pan-out for the industry? And thirdly, if you’ve looked at and have you witnessed any pricing moderation for our product?
Madhav Kejriwal
And on the pricing moderation front, it’s minor and it’s related to the correction on the raw-material front. Answering the question regarding Amrud being a smaller capex than. Today is around 79% to 80% on the website, but if you see the actual impact on-the-ground, there are many places where the tap connections are there, but there is a death in drinking water available, that’s because those taps are not really connected to a premium source. So there is a lot of work left. The initial outlay for even was actually twice as what was decided to be spent by the government so they will need to spend more money to make this project to make this mission successful. In regard to other demand sources India is very strongly and aggressively moving towards pipes irrigation as against canal. There are many advantages that have been proven in that process. So there is increased spent on the front of the states on that. Another very ambitious project, which seems to have finally picked-up pace is river linking. It was something that was probably started in the early 2000s, but now there’s actual work on-the-ground that is happening. That’s again going to be a good source for demand for us. Going to these three, four reasons, I find that the medium-term situation on the demand front is quite robust.
Deepak Lalwani
Okay. And the supply addition of that you guys are doing and also the other industry players, will it disturb the demand-supply gap or should there be any risk of pricing relating to the supply being more than demand in your opinion
Madhav Kejriwal
I’m not really concerned about demand-supply mismatch where the supply is more at least for the next three years. There might be temporary blips like we’ve seen in the last quarter, but that’s very momentary kind of live orders in the market once the fund flow starts, we go back to a situation where demand is surpassing supply.
Deepak Lalwani
Okay. That’s good to hear. I wanted to clarify one number. So what was the order inflow in terms of tonnage in this quarter versus Q2
Madhav Kejriwal
Can I get back to you on that separately, please, because I don’t have that number ready at this point.
Deepak Lalwani
So last question was on the margin outlook, sir, on a tonnage basis per ton basis, what should we be budgeting in for the next quarter, which is Q4 and the whole year of ’26?
Madhav Kejriwal
Sir, I think it will be difficult for me to give you an exact number in terms of rupees per ton, but as a percentage, I think we’ll be able to hold-on to the performance you had so-far.
Deepak Lalwani
Thank you, sir. Those are my questions. Thanks.
Operator
Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from Ankur, who is an individual investor. Please go-ahead.
Ankur
Yeah, good evening to everyone. Sir, in the opening remarks, said that the expanded capacity will start in the month of March ’25, right? And on the other hand, GM financing, if I’m not wrong, you said that capacity will start in March ’26, sir. So I would like to please correct the statement, sir, if I’m not wrong.
Madhav Kejriwal
I’m sorry, as has been clarity to that. MR. Agarwal, who is the CFO, was mentioning the final capacity, which is around 1 million tonnes. I was highlighting the number of 9 lakh tons, which is our first step towards that.
Ankur
So it will get start, sir. In terms of —
Madhav Kejriwal
FY ’25, we will have an installed capacity of approximately 9 lakh tonnes, is 8.5 laks to 9 lakh tonnes. And then during the course of the financial year, we will put in more capital to take our capacity up to between 9.5 to-1 million tonnes.
Ankur
Okay. My second question is, your forthcoming plan, sir, what is the position as of now, sir, when it will get started? So sir, there is very good progress on the overall due-diligence of this project and I’m hoping that we will have cemented plans to present to the public soon enough. Can we expect that it will get started in financial year ’27? The project itself? Yes, sir, 0.5 million tons, sir.
Madhav Kejriwal
So I think somewhere between 27 to 28 is a bit more realistic.
Ankur
Okay, okay, sir. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Before we take the next question, a reminder to participants that you may press star and 1 to join the question queue. Next question is from Saket Kapoor from Kapoor Company. Please go-ahead. Thank you for the opportunity. Just to — while you were answering to the earlier participant about the Orissa project. So sir, have we outlined the capacity he was mentioning about 0.5 lakh tons yes. Sir, the earlier participant was mentioning about 5 lakh tons. So have we outlined the capacity we will be coming up for the Odisha project?
Madhav Kejriwal
, sir, that is a somewhat approximate figure. There is no — like I mentioned that you have to kind of get into the optimization of capital expenditure to capacity installed. And with the kind of sizes that we have to reach a good level of production and efficiency, somewhere between four laks to 5 lakh tons should be the minimum that the company should be looking at. So basis that’s the genesis of this number.
Saket Kapoor
Okay, sir. Sir, if you could just provide me, firstly with the tonnages for Q3 and last year comparable and also for nine months and nine months comparable.
Madhav Kejriwal
Yes, sure. So for Q3, our production this year has been 177,000 tonnes. Q3 ’24 was 184,000 tons. Our Nine-Month has been 5.5 lakh tonnes for 25 and for ’24 it was approximately the same give or take 2 3,000, it was 547,000 tons now sales this year, we’ve had a sales of 1,77,000 tonnes. It’s matching our production. Last quarter we had more sales than production. It was at 1,95,000 tonnes. Nine-Month sales IS-5 lakh 45,000 tonnes for ’25 and for ’24, it was 5 lakh 50,000. So we are somewhat matching our production to sales. So for nine months, it is 5,25,000. Vis-a-vis 550, 545 please, not 5,000.
Saket Kapoor
So sir, taking into account still the shutdown which have — which was in the month of January and now the revamping of the MBF, what should be an ideal number to-end the year?
Madhav Kejriwal
So we are hoping that we will end at somewhere north of 7.5 lakh tonnes both on production and on-sales, 7.5 yes, a little north of that.
Saket Kapoor
Okay. And last year, what was our sales?
Madhav Kejriwal
Just short of that, it was 7.47
Saket Kapoor
Okay. A small request, sir, if the volume data can also be provided in your presentation or in the press release, which was earlier a norm, so that would suffice and we save lot of time also.
Madhav Kejriwal
We will look into that. Sir
Saket Kapoor
Now coming to the impact of this shutdown, I think so if it’s an absolute number, number you could give us some idea how much have we lost
Madhav Kejriwal
— we lost about revenue of INR45 crores for that — for Kile Japane Bataya. And for the balance seven, eight days, it should be closer to INR60 crore, I think so in that proportionate. But in terms of the expenses that we have incurred, which does not commensurate with the revenue, no other expense line-item make Kipna impacts IS go after so the total expense for the shutdown is around INR7.5 crores.
Saket Kapoor
Okay. This is in — for all the 15 days total 14 days
Madhav Kejriwal
, yes, please.
Saket Kapoor
Okay, sir, then what explains this other expense line-item growing disproportionately if we take the year-on-year comparison also and also for the quarter-on-quarter at the consol level?
Madhav Kejriwal
Saket ji, one factor is ocean freight, which had gone up compared to last year. So that led to increase in other expenses. Also, since the production was low, so you know the fixed-cost absorption took a hit. So that was the second reason which led to a fall in the margins and higher other expenses.
Saket Kapoor
Okay. And sir, for other income, there is also a significant increase. If you take the consol number at INR39 crores versus ’21 or ’22 for previous two quarters. So what has attributed and what should be a sustainable number for the other income?
Madhav Kejriwal
So sir, this is on account of an anti-subsidy refund that we have got from the European Commission. The — there is an anti-subsidy duty that they avail on us, but we keep applying for refunds and we’ve managed to get a refund of INR23 crores in this quarter. Going-forward, I think in the next quarter — in this quarter as well, we will be expecting a similar — we will be expecting some sort of refund. This is an exercise that is ongoing, sir. We do it every year, some days, some years we are able to get a substantial refund, some years it’s lesser. It’s difficult to give you an exact stable number for this.
Saket Kapoor
Okay. Two more points, sir., you mentioned about USA — US business getting a hit. So can you explain the reasons what has led to this and what steps are we taking, exactly what has happened for the US business?
Madhav Kejriwal
So there is an overall slowdown in the US market for our product as a whole. And secondly, because of the impending possibilities of tariffs that to come and you know made in America programs that are there customers are a little apprehensive in buying non-American products right now they’re afraid that those products won’t sell into the market. Unfortunately, sir, this is this is an issue which the solution to which is to go local manufacturing there, but for that we have no immediate solution. We are looking at increasing our market shares in other geographies so that we don’t lose out on our overall export percentages.
Saket Kapoor
And sir, for USA, what percentage attributes to our total export? How much do we — last year business?
Madhav Kejriwal
Sir, Saket, it’s very small amount, maybe 1% of the total export that we do now. Okay. Yes. Now it’s come down to 1%. It was probably at sub 5% levels earlier.
Saket Kapoor
Okay, sir. And lastly, sir, on the coal block part, sir, already we have seen in precident that whenever the party who has acquired the block and starts mining operations and all the — there are payments in packages that are released. So I think so JSW name, which was mentioned in your press — in your notes to accounts, it speaks about the mines being handed over to them. So exactly, sir, where are we in terms of whether the right figure has not been determined or if you could just give some more color to the same?
Madhav Kejriwal
Sir, classification of the assets into the right categories and then its valuations is an exercise that has been ongoing for a little longer than we had expected it to go on for as well. Of course, it’s a very voluminous procedure at the moment, JSW as yes, you’re right, they have been handed over the mine, but within the mine if you look at the orders, it says that under mine infrastructure it says nil, which is the reason why they cannot start operating at a commercial level. So at this junction, we are still awaiting for proper categorization and valuations of all the assets. They managed to do some of it. There is some still left.
Saket Kapoor
So any timeline we are working? Yeah, sir, yeah, I’m joining only Madhav Sir has just communicated, I was just answer. Any timeline we can look-forward, sir or is it a judicial process wherein
Madhav Kejriwal
[Foreign Speech] I would rather just say that things are hit. We are optimistic because we know that it’s in the right stages.
Saket Kapoor
[Foreign Speech]
Operator
Thank you. Next question is from Dipesh Agarwal from ICIC Asset Management. Please go-ahead.
Dipesh Agarwal
Yeah, hello, sir. Good evening. So a couple of questions. The first question was, so we are looking at increasing our capacity to almost 1 million tons by FY ’26 and you just mentioned that we are currently matching like the current demand scenarios are matching our capacity. So do we have any tangible crew for any transient material like crew that by FY ’25, we will actually meet that 1 million tonnes of capacity? Do we really have that demand prospect for the next couple of years?
Sunil Katial
Yes. Well, you see the capital expenditure at the governments and both state and central that was being done up till, say, mid of this year or even maybe a little beginning of this year. Owing to that expenditure, there was a demand-supply gap of almost 25% where the demand was higher. So being optimistic on the fact that we will at least go back to that level of expenditure, it seems obvious that there is good space for growth. Beyond that, there is also new projects that are coming up. As I mentioned earlier, river linking is very big robust project which is seeing light of day now. On — I think there are around eight or nine projects of which three of them have really picked-up pace. And there’s good outlay against them. It will take five to seven years for them to be completed, but every year, there will be a good allocation towards those projects. So keeping that in mind and when you kind of understand the growth trajectory of a developing economy to a developed economy, you try to replicate the growth story of demand for the product in China, in the States and in other similar economies, you will realize that at this particular junction when you’re in the transitionary space, demand just keeps growing and we need to maintain our market-share if not grow it.
Dipesh Agarwal
Right, understood. So can you give me a geographic of our revenue? Right?
Sunil Katial
You mean in terms of country-by-country or
Dipesh Agarwal
Country-by-country. Yes
Sunil Katial
Sir, this is something that fluctuates every quarter, every six months because as you know, it’s a project-based business. Today, we are seeing Middle-East take-up a big chunk of our exports, whereas a year back, it was not much. And say the year previous to that, America was a little bigger than what it is today, Europe also fluctuates. I think for me to give you a particular trend would be incorrect because within six months, that would change. I can give you a breakdown of export and domestic, it’s approximately for this quarter it was 14%, but our general average is around 18% to 20%.
Dipesh Agarwal
I think the reason I asked that question was not just India, the whole world is actually looking to build a clean water infrastructure. So not just India, there is a lot of opportunity that lies in this particular aspect. So I just wanted to understand if the company currently has a good presence to capitalize on that or are we making any such expansion plans to capitalize on this
Madhav Kejriwal
No, of course, while we expand our capacities here in India, we will also be looking at increasing our market shares in different continents. We tend to keep a minimum baseline quantity in each major country that is there. And then based on where the projects come, we expand. We’ve been selling in the Middle-East for many, many years and there was a peak during the Qatar World Cup and now there’s a peak again due to Saudi. Similarly, in Europe, just post-COVID, there was a big peak because the government spent a lot of money to get the economy starting again. So this is something that as you rightly said, every continent, every country is looking at expanding, but they don’t spend money at the same time, fortunately. So we are able to capitalize on different places based on what they’re doing at that moment.
Dipesh Agarwal
Right. Sir, last question, are there any R&D expenditures that we are making that may help us maybe work better on our capacity utilization or help us in executing projects faster? And secondly, are there any new business verticals that we are looking to tap into let the management of the Board believe there are much more better opportunity made in other verticals that the company can explore.
Sunil Katial
No, in fact, in the — I mean, recent past only, we have added some capacities with newer products or new type of coatings and all that. Our major focus on R&D is on the fittings area whereby we are continuously trying to develop new type of fittings. I mean to suit different and applications.
Madhav Kejriwal
Also in regard to different verticals, you see we — look, we see ourselves as a water solutions provider. So we are continuously exploring increasing our product portfolio to satisfy the customers’ needs and move more towards a one-stop solution for our customers both in India and overseas. So that is a continuous exercise. We are improving. In fact, let me highlight the fittings numbers. We’ve already seen an increase of approximately 3,000 tons this financial year, nine months average as opposed to last year. And this is all owing to addition of new product lines. So as such, we are looking at going up to 25,000 odd tonnes over there. So that is all a result of R&D.
On the pipe front, we continuously look at finding ways of giving the customer a solution depending on his requirements on soil pressure, quality of water. So electro Steve today offers one of the widest range of linings and coatings on a pipe that any inductor iron producer gives in the world, not just in India. In India, we are definitely the largest supplier of various combinations, but even in the world, electric steel is probably in the top one or two.
Dipesh Agarwal
All right, sir. That was very, very useful. Thank you so much.
Operator
Thank you. Before we take the next question, a reminder to participants that you may press star and one to join the question queue. Next question is from Diraj Ram from Asheka Institutional Equities. Please go-ahead.
Dheeraj Ram
Hi, thank you for taking my question. My first question is, sir, what can we expect as a volume sales in FY ’26 and how can we see the margins going ahead in FY ’24?
Madhav Kejriwal
Sir, on the margin front, as I mentioned that depending on the — on the overall scenario, it will be between 16% to 18%. On the volume front, we are hoping to hit a figure of somewhere between 8.5 lakh tons to 9 lakh tonnes.
Dheeraj Ram
Got it, sir. Okay. And my second question is, sir, sir, are we seeing a slowdown since the order the tender outflow in is facing some headwinds and even 2.0 is facing some headwinds in terms of tender outflow. So do you see any slowdown at least for the short-term in this particular segment?
Madhav Kejriwal
Definitely, there was a bit of a slowdown in-quarter three and even in-quarter four, as of now, it’s not at the same pace that it was at, say, last quarter three and quarter-four. But as with all other infrastructure spending such as railway and highways. We are pretty sure that come the new financial year and even the last one or two months of this quarter with the budget coming out tomorrow, there will be a good allocation towards water infrastructure because the stage we are at right now, it’s kind of not — you’re not there, so they wish they have to spend to make all that infrastructure complete and successful.
Dheeraj Ram
Got it, sir. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Next question is from Rajesh Bandari from Nakura Engineers. Please go-ahead.
Rajesh Bhandari
Good evening, sir. Sir, I wanted to know what is our total present capacity of DIE pipes, 7.5 lakh tons.
Madhav Kejriwal
So 7.5 lakh tons is what we will achieve. Our installed capacity is close to 8 lakh tons.
Rajesh Bhandari
Okay. And Mr you said 9 lakh by March ’25 or March ’26,
Madhav Kejriwal
Our installed capacity will be close to 9 lakh tons around March ’25 okay. And production — sorry, production? Production for the year, sir, because this is going to get installed and then it takes a little bit of time to start ramping-up to that level. As I mentioned, our capacity — our production will be somewhere between 8.5 lakh to 9 lakh tonnes
Rajesh Bhandari
Right. By March ’26, we will have 8.5 to 9 lakh tons.
Madhav Kejriwal
Yes, please. And similarly, we would have put up an installed capacity of approximately 1 million tons by March ’26. For March ’27, our production will be somewhere in the range of 9.5 million to-1 million.
Rajesh Bhandari
Now in March ’27, we will have that 9.5 to-1 million.
Madhav Kejriwal
Yes, please. Yes, please.
Rajesh Bhandari
Okay. Normally, sir, 1 lakh ton means around approximately INR800 crores.
Madhav Kejriwal
Sir, [Foreign Speech] because that always seems like it’s too small of a number. You can’t really hit economies of scale. No, no.
Rajesh Bhandari
Why? I’m interested in knowing by March ’27, what will be our approximately turnover? [Foreign Speech]
Sunil Katial
Considering that our raw-material price trends remain the same, yeah. It will be around INR9,000 crores. Correct? Around INR9,000 crores. Yes, because the business works a lot on margin percentages rather than absolute numbers. Yeah, yeah, yeah, correct. Raw-material price has become half JG, it will —
Rajesh Bhandari
Naturally the turnover will come down naturally, nature is.
Madhav Kejriwal
Yes, please.
Rajesh Bhandari
[Foreign Speech] to increase the turnover?
Madhav Kejriwal
Yes. Sir, fittings cut production, we are looking at expanding substantially. We are also exploring, as I was mentioning just to the previous statement that we are exploring, adding to our kitty further product lines towards the water infrastructure space.
Rajesh Bhandari
[Foreign Speech]
Madhav Kejriwal
Sir, around INR300 crores to INR500 crores.
Rajesh Bhandari
So, we can come by March ’27, say approximately INR9,000 crores INR10,000 crores
Madhav Kejriwal
Somewhere between that we — a little more towards, I would say between INR9,000 crores to INR9,500 crores,
Rajesh Bhandari
9,000 crores 9.5 crores. Okay, okay, okay. Approximately [Foreign Speech]
Madhav Kejriwal
Yes, please.
Rajesh Bhandari
Yeah. [Foreign Speech]
Madhav Kejriwal
[Foreign Speech] are optimistic majority of this will be realized. To who it will come all to electric steel only. Sorry, but sir, only I have to complete my question. That’s. Yes, yes, yes, please. The answer to your question is yes, please.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question is from Kaushal from Jindal. Please go-ahead.
Kaushal Bengani
Thank you for taking my question. I’ve gone through your results and presentation. It’s a good presentation. Only a couple of points. I think management may consider it favorably because a couple of other participants have also requested
Madhav Kejriwal
These are always open to the inputs of our shareholders.
Kaushal Bengani
I’ve noticed that on quarter-on-quarter basis, the EBITDA margin has increased and PAT has also increased. Now the operational impact is not clear in absence of tonnages because what has happened is despite the production being lower by 10% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, EBITDA margins have still improved. Now that can only be visible if you provide the tonnage data because that impact is not evident to someone who doesn’t participate in the call or doesn’t go through the transcript and only goes through the presentation. So if in the next presentation, maybe management can consider including tonnage data.
Madhav Kejriwal
Sir, I can commit to you from now itself that this will be done. Because if we are good at something, I think other people should also know that we are good at it.
Kaushal Bengani
Most definitely, sir.
Madhav Kejriwal
We generally remain slightly shy organization on that front, but I do completely agree with you and this will — this will be done. We don’t need to — we will not need to rediscuss this.
Kaushal Bengani
Okay. Thank you. In one of the earlier discussions, you have mentioned that you’re getting good orders from the Middle-East. Do you believe that more orders specifically from Saudi Arabia are expected in current quarter and in next quarter?
Madhav Kejriwal
Yeah. So for the current quarter, the dispatches against the orders that will happen orders that are already booked. But yes, we are seeing a steady growth in our order book from the Middle-East, especially from Southeast, mostly Saudi Arabia right now when I say Middle-East,
Kaushal Bengani
Okay. Finally, I’ve noticed that the promoter holding has remained at 44% to 46% levels for quite some time. Is there a view within the promoter group or with the promoter of increasing this stake going-forward?
Madhav Kejriwal
Sir, sir that I would say there is no real discussion on this front at this moment
Kaushal Bengani
Okay so maybe if there is an update on this, we would appreciate if that can be communicated going-forward whenever there is an update.
Madhav Kejriwal
Absolutely, sir.
Kaushal Bengani
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. A follow-up question from Mr Rajesh Mandari from Nakota Engineers. Please go-ahead.
Rajesh Bhandari
Sir, I just wanted to know what is the holding of BlackRock? Just a minute, please yeah, BlackRock Holding, sir in electricity.
Sunil Katial
Hello 0.5% Rajee
Rajesh Bhandari
Okay, okay, 0.5% is the holding. [Foreign Speech] It is all expected to come to the electrosteel casting only.
Madhav Kejriwal
Yes, please.
Rajesh Bhandari
And that will be added in our kind of a reserves or whatever. It will be a money for electrical casting.
Madhav Kejriwal
Yes, the money will be received by electrical casting and only BG. And it will not be — it will not be discredit to the reserve because there is a receivables.
Rajesh Bhandari
I didn’t get you, sir.
Madhav Kejriwal
There is a receivable — receivables outstanding in our balance sheet. It will be adjusted against that, but the cash-flow will be available for electrical casting.
Rajesh Bhandari
No, it is not going to go to electric steel.
Madhav Kejriwal
No, it is not belong electro.
Rajesh Bhandari
Okay, okay, sir. Okay, sir. Okay, sir. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, sir. Thank you, sir.
Operator
Thank you. Thank you. Next question is from Vikas Jain from Urban Steels. Please go-ahead.
Vikas Jain
Paul. Hello. Vikash. Hello, can you all you hear me?
Madhav Kejriwal
Yes, Mr Vikas. Please go-ahead. Yeah, hi. I would just like to have an thought from you all. Your shares have been one of the worst performers in last like three, four months and mutual funds have also more or less exited from your company. So what sort of a thing can we do to win their confidence back? Sir, I think consistent performance, we like we would like the consistent performance sir. I think work and action speak much louder than words so to be able to perform consistently to the commitments that we make and adequate transparency in time communication to our shareholders that’s the best way.
Vikas Jain
Somehow this doesn’t seem to be working with them. They seem to be exiting like whatever the holdings, whatever the minuscule holdings they were having they are still exiting that also it seems.
Madhav Kejriwal
So that is a question that you will have to ask them it will be difficult for me to answer but with due course of time I will not be surprised if there is a re-entry of the same people.
Vikas Jain
Okay, let’s hope so. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you very much. We’ll take that as the last question. I would now like to hand the conference back to the management team for closing comments.
Madhav Kejriwal
Thank you yes. Thank you all for dedicating your valuable time and engaging with us during the con-call. Should you have any questions, please feel free-to reach-out to ENY and our Investor Relations — our Investor Relations consultants. Have a very good evening. Thank you.
Sunil Katial
Thank you, every day.
Operator
Thank you very much. On behalf of Electro Steel Castings Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen, you may now disconnect your lines.