Eveready Industries India Ltd (NSE: EVEREADY) Q3 2025 Earnings Call dated Feb. 06, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Nishid Solanki — Investor Relations, CDR India
Suvamoy Saha — Managing Director
Bibek Agarwala — Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer
Analysts:
Bhargav Buddhadev — Analyst
Vedant Sekhri — Analyst
Unidentified Participant
Chirag Maroo — Analyst
Vipul Shah — Analyst
Mehul Savla — Analyst
Presentation:
Operator
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. You are connected to the Industries Conference Call. Please stay connected. This conference will begin shortly ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Everady Industries India Limited Q3 FY ’25 Conference Call. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference, please signal an operator by pressing star and then zero on your touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded.
I now hand the conference over to Mr Nishid Solanki from CDR India. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Nishid Solanki — Investor Relations, CDR India
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Everady Industries India’s Q3 FY ’25 earnings conference call. Today we are joined by senior members of the management team, including Mr Saha, Managing Director; and Mr Vivek Agarwala, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer.
Before we begin the call, let me first share our standard disclaimer. Some of the statements that may be made on today’s conference call could be forward-looking in nature and the actual results could vary from these forward-looking statements. A detailed statement in this regard is available in the press release document, which has been circulated to you and also uploaded on stock exchange website.
I would now like to invite Mr Saha to share his perspectives with you. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Suvamoy Saha — Managing Director
Thank you. Good day, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our Q3 earnings call. Let me begin by providing some macroeconomic context as it relates to our company. India continues to navigate a high inflation environment with challenges stemming from a depreciating rupee and elevated crude oil and commodity prices. That said, improved agricultural prospects, strengthening rural demand and an anticipated higher consumption by the middle-income segment provide a cautiously optimistic outlook for our operations.
I will now take you through our performance across segments and update you on the progress of key initiatives. But first, a few headlines on the brand, distribution and the business context. The brand has long been synonymous with leadership and innovation. As a consumer-focused company with a beloved brand, we have consistently invested in advertising and promotions. This quarter, our campaigns spanned electronic and print media alongside below-the-line activations. Our brand continues to stand-out and we are committed to sustained investments in A&P.
We are continuously adapting to the evolving market by expanding our presence in modern trade, e-commerce and quick commerce, while maintaining a stronghold in general as we have their discussions, our top-in momentum is gradually picking-up pace as anticipated. While we have experienced some expected cost increases in core raw materials, we have successfully maintained our gross margin within the targeted range. Our focus remains on safeguarding profitability by closely monitoring cost dynamics.
Our trust with the emerging alkaline segment of batteries continues to receive focused attention. We have finalized plans for a greenfield production facility for alkaline batteries with a capital outlay of INR180 crores. This facility located in Jammun is expected to commence commercial production by the end of this calendar year. As the only facility in India dedicated to alkaline batteries, it will deliver operational efficiencies and support the gradual scale-up of our Ultima Pro and Altima ranges. Additionally, we intend to expand this facility into a multi-product site for greater scale and cost.
In terms of recent highlights, I first batteries. The battery segment has delivered robust growth, both in volume and value. Carbon zinc revenue grew by 7.6%, while alkaline batteries saw an impressive 90.8% growth, albeit against the low-base in the previous year. Since our brand refreshed, alkaline batteries have achieved significant momentum with Q3 volumes increasing 110% year-on-year. Our market-share in this category has nearly doubled to 11% at the quarter’s end, driven by strong product propositions, robust distribution and consistent marketing efforts. India’s battery consumption remains below global benchmarks and the rising penetration of alkaline batteries reinforces our confidence in growing this category further. Overall, we maintained a 53% market-share in the total market, spanning both carbon zinc and alkaline segments.
Now on to flashlights. Flashlights have shown positive trends. On a Nine-Month FY ’25 basis, the battery-operated segment saw a mid-single-digit volume decline compared to a 17% decline in FY ’24. Rechargeables continued to gain traction, supported by new product introductions. Overall, flashlights revenues grew by 9.6% with rechargeables more than offsetting the decline in battery-operated models. Our new launches such as the and offerings tailored for Fisher 4 and farmers have emerged as key performers. Additionally, the recently introduced mosquito rackets are seeing substantial growth, simply helping us expand market reach and strengthen our brand’s reputation for quality and value.
Finally, lighting. The lighting segment posted marginal growth with improved volumes offset by continued market-wide price erosion. While this trend persists, the impact is gradually lessening our expanded product portfolio and growing presence in alternative channels such as modern trade, e-commerce and e-commerce are driving value growth, volume growth. We are also building our presence in professional, which though nascent, show promising potential. Our teams remain focused on expanding the electrical outlet channel, critical for showcasing premium products like consumer.
Now I provide some highlights on the financial performance. Revenue for the quarter stood at INR33.3 crore, up from INR304.8 crore in the same-period last year, thus a growth of 9.4%. This growth was driven by batteries and flashlights, while as mentioned, lighting faced pricing pressures. EBITDA margin improved by 18.7% over same quarter last year despite ForEx impacts and higher zinc costs. PAT grew by 56%. The YPD EBITDA and PAT margins stood at 12.1% and 6.9% respectively, both improving over the previous year. A&P expenditures stood at 11% of revenue, reflecting our focus on consistent communication and market activation.
On our outlook, we remain focused on sustaining growth momentum across key categories. For batteries, we anticipate continued robust growth in alkaline industries supported by a reasonable carbon zinc performance. As for flashlight, rechargeables fueled by innovations in our product portfolio are gaining traction. We expect further growth as the BIS certification, which we talked about in our earlier calls is now budgeted and is expected to strike at the very heart of all the unethical practices of the unorganized part of the market.
On lighting, efforts are centered on growing retail and institutional segments while leveraging alternative channels. With a winning product portfolio, a diversalized distribution network and a the strategic focus on cost efficiencies, we are well-positioned for growth in the second-half of this year. Thank you for your attention. Bibek and I now invite your questions.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and 1 on their touchstone telephone. If you wish to withdraw yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to please use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles Ladies and gentlemen, you may press star and 1 to ask a question.
We have the first question from the line of Bhargav from Ambit Asset Management. Please go-ahead.
Bhargav Buddhadev
Yeah, good afternoon, team, and congratulations on a good performance. Sir, my first question is on the rechargeable batteries. So we’ve seen a very strong growth in this segment. Would you want to highlight key drivers for this and also what’s the update on BS for rechargeable batteries?
Suvamoy Saha
Okay. I’ll have to make a correction here. We are talking about rechargeable torches, not rechargeable batteries.
Bhargav Buddhadev
Torches, yeah. Flashlight. Sorry.
Suvamoy Saha
The flashlight. So you know the flashlight has two segments. One is the battery-operated one, which is the normal battery and the other, which is the rechargeable part where you can charge the flashlight for a number of uses. So the rechargeable flashlights have come over the last five years and today occupy about 70% of the market. We are very strong in the battery-operated one where we hold something like 70-odd percent of the market and we are holding a somewhat late entrant to the rechargeable one. We have taken giant strides for the last two years.
We have launched a slew of products and today we are about 30% of the market. The rest of the market is by and large unorganized with all kinds of analytical practices, which I did not go about in this call. The thing is BIS has now come out with a mandatory certification, which has been of course approved by the government, whereby all products — all flashlight products would require mandatory certification, whether these are imported or they are manufactured within the country. We believe that this will read-out bulk of the unorganized so-called unmetical segment and that should turn more towards the organized part of the industry, which frankly speaking is basically us.
I mean, there being some other small players here and there, but all as sort of fringe interest, we remain a strong incumbent player in the space. So that is why we believe that there are two strong growth potentials. The certification requirement has just been. So after a period of six months when the players are allowed to sell-out their products, you know which they have already sort of got in their inventory, then they have to follow all the norms mandated by the government.
Bhargav Buddhadev
Okay. So therefore, you said that maybe in the second-half, rechargeable flashlight should actually see a strong growth. Is that correct?
Suvamoy Saha
Please see possibility of an immediate uptick on this.
Bhargav Buddhadev
Okay. Secondly, sir, your market-share in alkaline batteries has now doubled to almost 11%. So what led to such a market-share swing? Is it that we are entering into some price wars with the market-leader? And secondly, once the Jammu factory gets commissioned, what could be the savings in terms of your manufacturing cost for both Pro and Ultima range of alkaline battery.
Suvamoy Saha
You know, again, we have been a strong incumbent player in the carbon segment. We have something like 60% of the market-share in that segment. And we were again a little hesitant to enter the alkaline segment, which was sort of emerging over-time. But two years back, we took a decision that we would now also become a significant player there.
So we started our journey with the launch of our sub-brands of Ultima Pro and in this alkaline segment. And so almost from a zero market-share, we have now come up to 11%. It is not a big factor of being sort of price-competitive. It is a matter of focus because we have a very large distributor vision network and we have invested in the brand. So it is basically fundamental marketing and distribution job, which has caught us to this 11% market-share and we believe that the market should offer us the potential of overall market-share of percent in due course of time. I mean it is not going to happen overnight, but in due course of time. But towards that, we have taken this somewhat bold step of implement — executing the implementation of a factory to sort of bolster our growth aspirations and that is where we are.
Bhargav Buddhadev
And sir, this factory being in Jammmu, you enjoy some tax benefits as well, right?
Suvamoy Saha
So you also asked the question on the impact on costs and the impact, etc. I request to take on that.
Bibek Agarwala
So of course, let’s two-part divide without any fiscal benefit from the state. So even natural progression also, if we see that in cost optimized savings against the import, definitely, there will be a very substantial cost optimization in the domestic manufacturing because you have heard the import duty your existing resources. So that will give a very substantial and alkaline is in the price as you know that we are — price point is at 22 bucks and where the margins are very. So of course, it will add value to that margin and we expect 8% to 10% margin improvement is possible on alkaline part of these operations through domestic pork manufacturing. Further for the state benefits, as you know that the Jammu has a lot of fiscal benefit they are providing. We have also applied and — but we have yet to get this grant of registrations and certifications in the due course it may come, but we have already applied for that at this point of time.
Bhargav Buddhadev
And what will be the EBITDA margin in the alkaline battery business today?
Bibek Agarwala
Today, this is one of the segment product of the entire battery range. So let’s — we can talk about a better on our gross margin or the net margin because today if you invest more on advertisement of these products, yes, right, because competitions might have spent over a period of time and we are just late entrant in this category as we all know globally that alkaline is going to be the new force while keeping a focus on our green. So I can tell you that the gross margins are very seen because now in the market, 80% market is that which is a very normal palkaline battery and the premium segment is around 20%. So margins are much lower than the carbon and that is why we think that the moment our — this domestic manufacturer come up, that will give some hedge to that margin and of course, we get fiscal, if anything from the government and it will be added to that particular operating margin of the alkaline product.
Bhargav Buddhadev
And lastly, sir, what is the plan for the debt repayment?
Bibek Agarwala
So we are very much on the course of debt repayment. If you see last year, INR80-odd crores we have paid the debt. This year also by this time we have almost paid around INR35 crore INR40 crore debt and in fact, we have funded the purchased from that money. So we are in the course of the similar kind of ECC like-to-like. We’ll be ending the year at the like-to-like of debt payment like last year, we paid around INR85 crores. So maybe year-end we are targeting around — right now we are around INR245 crore debt and year-end, we’ll look for around maybe INR230 crore INR25 type update number we are looking for on a like-to-like basis because now as you know that we have to pay for machineries and all. So project I’m keeping aside because of course, as mentioned, this is INR180 crore project. On that INR20 crore, of course, the land we have already paid. So for lot of payments will be gone, but I think on a like-for-like basis, you could see that the borrowing stands at INR225 crores. But the project cost will be addition to that.
Bhargav Buddhadev
Great, sir, thank you very much and all the very best.
Suvamoy Saha
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vedant Sekri from Artha India Ventures. Please go-ahead.
Vedant Sekhri
Hi, good afternoon, team. First of all, congratulations for the result. I just had a question on the Jammu plant as well. What would be the annual revenues that we can expect? I know you mentioned a INR180 crore CapEx. So if you could just give a revenue estimate for that as well on an annual basis? And is this totally financed through the debt that you had undertaken or is there any other financing that would be required for this as well?
Suvamoy Saha
So of course, some part will be going internally if you — I have already mentioned that like land, we have internally paid money. So maybe it’s 75% 25 type of financing, 25% will be internal things and 75% probably will take from the banks and other financial institutions. So that is the point you are looking for. And the revenue will be — so today, along with as you said is a primary alkaline plant, but there will be some other things to enjoy the better revenues from the plant. To start with at least a minimum INR100 crore revenue and it could go to upload INR400 crore scale-up in that plant.
Vedant Sekhri
Sorry, I think your voice is breaching this in a second. Could you please repeat those?
Suvamoy Saha
So I’m saying that first year we may start with INR100 crore revenue from that plant on an annualized basis and which could go up to the INR400 crore?
Vedant Sekhri
I see. I see. Okay. And my next question was on the battery-operated flashlight segment. You said that there was still de-growth in that segment, but the de-growth had come down. What would be the guidance going-forward in the future on this? Are we looking to sort of — are we looking to expand the rechargeable segment faster and sort of slowly phase this out?
Suvamoy Saha
As I mentioned earlier, the current split of these two segments is 70 to 30. The battery-operated one has now come down to a 30% of the overall flashlight market. And we expect this de-growth to continue, but at — I would say gradually it’s lower rate because there are some incumbent users who are not going to ship to rechargeable. However, rechargeable is the one which will continue to see growth. And so we are sort of putting lot of focus and emphasis on bulking on this segment. As I said, we are already about, say, 70% of the battery-operated market.
Vedant Sekhri
I see. I see. And sir, my next question was just on some unit economics. I know you had mentioned in the last call that the blended consumer price for carbon zinc battery was around INR10 to INR12 rupees and the alkaline battery was around INR22, so a blended price of about INR15 to INR16. Have these numbers changed or will these change going-forward in the future when the Jammu plant comes in as well?
Suvamoy Saha
No. So you are talking of the consumer price, the Jammu factory is going to give us benefits on the cost. As far as the market is concerned, the pricing structure is like this. There is a popular battery, which is more rural oriented, that sells at INR14. There is a premium offering of carbon zinc, which sells in the more city-like markets, which is at INR18 rupees, you have correctly mentioned the value alkaline, the popular alkaline sells at 22 and then there is a premium alkaline selling at INR50. So this is the ease condition today. The Jammu plant is not going to change this market perspective. The Jammu plant is going to add margin to our. But marketing-wise, whether we change the pricing structure from 14% to whatever, 18 to, 2022 to ’25, that is something that we need to take account going-forward.
Vedant Sekhri
I see. And just another question on the demand volume. So I know you mentioned in the last call that there is a 50-50 split between retail and OEMs. And within OEMs, there was a prominent usage in electronic voting machines. Is there any other particular segment that has come up as a prominent user of the carbon batteries?
Suvamoy Saha
No, so OEM as in EVM is sort of even kind of a spiky kind of volume. I mean, it takes place only when elections are there. But there is a very steady throughput of OEMs, which is blood pressure monitor machines and host of medicals and stuff like that. And many other electrical tools like electrical electronic brush, shavers, these are all ongoing. I mean EPMs are, you know when the elections take place, so that times those times the volumes take a spike, but that is as and will. But of course, in India, elections take place every year. So that’s good news for battery manufacturers.
Vedant Sekhri
Understood, sir. Just two final questions. One is on the advertising expenditure.
Suvamoy Saha
I’ll just take one more minute on this. That 50-50 split that you talked about applies only to alkali. Carbon zinc is almost entirely D2C.
Vedant Sekhri
Understood, sir. Understood. Just last two questions. One would be on the advertising expenditure that you had mentioned, the promotion marketing. It was around 11%. Do we expect this to be consistent going-forward as well? That is question number-one. And two, if you could just throw a bit more light on the electrical output division expansion. What are we exactly getting to in terms of numbers when we talk about revenues and margins for this particular division?
Suvamoy Saha
So I’ll request Vivek to answer the A&P part. But as far as the electrical distribution is concerned, even we today work with about 250 odd active distributors. Our aim is to make it at least double in the short-run. That is something where we need to put in a lot of hard work because you know this doesn’t happen just like that. It may appear simple that you go and appoint somebody and he starts you know, taking your staff and selling out to the market, but it’s a little bit of hard part because it requires due-diligence, it requires you know sort of verifying market potentials, etc., etc. So that is where the hard work and if you say the little bit of time in expanding that channel is taking place.
Bibek Agarwala
So with respect to A&P, while we are all looking-forward to a 10% to 11%, but it does not mean that always it will be 10% to 11%. As the revenues scale-up, maybe that we can restrict ourselves to 8% to 9% as well, but it is a matter of time. But at this point of time, I think quite some time we have not advertised. And now since last six to eight quarters, we are building on the TBCs and other digital media more holding and of the advertisement. So at this point of time, 10% is looking-forward for the next couple of quarters at least. But once revenue become a sizable, then at that point of time, we’ll look for — at that point of time, we may restrict to absolute value rather than talking about the percentage.
Vedant Sekhri
Understood, sir. Just a final small question. On the alkaline segment, as you mentioned, you’ve experienced very robust growth in-market share for this quarter. Is there any guidance for next quarter and for end of FY ’25, what we could expect for the market-share for alkaline segment?
Bibek Agarwala
By end of this financial year?
Vedant Sekhri
Yes. So quarter-end and the financial year.
Bibek Agarwala
11%, I would imagine to remain somewhere around this level by in the next two to three months. But we would keep on this journey whereby our next step would be to go to a 20% kind of level. And as I said, the aspiration, realistic or otherwise is to go to the 53% that we hold in the overall market.
Vedant Sekhri
I see. Understood, sir. Those are all the questions I have, sir. Thank you so much for answering those questions.
Suvamoy Saha
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question, you may please press star and 1. The next question is from the line of Chirag from Keynote Capital. Please go-ahead. Yes ladies and gentlemen, the current participant seems to have dropped from the queue. We will proceed to the next question, which will be from the line of Arunav Sakuja from Ambit. Please go-ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Hi, thanks for taking my question. So I just wanted to understand a bit more on the battery segment. So I know that you said that like you mentioned earlier in this call that it was a strong distributorship as well as the brand reputation that has helped us build our market-share to the current level of 11%. But over and above this, do we see a strong growth in the entire alkaline backing market in India itself.
Suvamoy Saha
So as mentioned, actually if you see alkaline is really growing up, like we may be growing to a threat, but as a segment, it is showing at least very strong double-digit growth. And we look-forward this segment to grow up, while the zinc may remain flat or a very marginal volume growth, but this segment has a lot of potential to grow. And that is evident from our initiatives that we have taken to set-up our plant in Jammu that alkaline plant.
Unidentified Participant
So what are some of the growth drivers that are driving the growth of alkaline battery segment as compared to carbon zinc segment.
Suvamoy Saha
So this is you know this is very much accepted for the hydrogen devices. Now as you see the penetration of hydroen devices are coming up whether it’s a toys or the like coming up a lot of housing complexes are coming with automated digital doors. So the usage of the — as you know that alkaline batteries are having four to eight takes depending on the premiumness, whether you are going to value alkaline or premium alkaline, that could be much better-for-you like in a blood pressure machine, you don’t want to change in every three to six months, but if you put the alkaline battery, it could go for a longer period of time. So basically the more, more and longer usage durations and sometimes they are more adaptable to the devices. So this penetration leads to the more usage of the alkaline batteries in India right now.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, thank you. Got that.
Suvamoy Saha
Thank you, Annab.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Chirag from Keynote Capital. Please go-ahead.
Chirag Maroo
Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity. And my apologies joined the call a little late. Is it possible for you to give me revenue bifurcation between battery, flashlight and lighting? Quarter.
Suvamoy Saha
So for the quarter three, right?
Chirag Maroo
Yes.
Suvamoy Saha
So for quarter three, the revenue of the battery is around 65%, flatlight 11% and 23% for lighting.
Chirag Maroo
And what was the EBITDA margins for all three segments?
Suvamoy Saha
Battery holding around at our 14% and flatlight 4% and lighting is almost flat.
Chirag Maroo
Maybe you give the YTD also.
Suvamoy Saha
Yeah. So let’s take the YTD, which will give you a better proposition because sometimes you do spend A&Ps and all. So I’m giving that while the revenue saliency almost remained the same during the year, but at the operating margin level, battery is 16%, flatflight 10% and the lighting is flat, which brings to 12% our operating margin for the YJB.
Chirag Maroo
Thanks. So is it correct to say that because of the increase in mix of alkaline in our battery portfolio, this is one of the reasons fall in GP margin on a Q-o-Q basis?
Suvamoy Saha
No. So if you see our — of course, the alkaline battery has a pressure on the margin because of the price point. But if you see compared to last year, we have negative whether we have grown on the battery operating marginally from the compared to last year. But you were right, it had some pressure on the margin, but because played a very important role in the order material plays a very important role. So we are favorable compared to last year YTD numbers in the battery — consolidated battery operating margin.
Chirag Maroo
Sir, and actually I was just looking at the trend based on last year’s trend where we were improving our gross margin from 42 percentage to — from Q4 to almost 47 percentage in Q2 FY ’25. In Q3 only, we saw that 43.7% is gross margin coming. So zinc prices were up for like 10 percentage in last 1/4 and it has come — it is actually normalizing back to the earlier level. So can I say that going-forward in the next quarter or so, our gross margin will revert back to 45 percentage levels.
Suvamoy Saha
It depends on the mix also, right? So it certainly could improve, but always we don’t consume the material on a real-time basis, right, because you know the battery has manufacturing time lags, you need to have battery age for certain periods. So at least three to two to three months price lag will come in the manufacturing cost. So we look-forward that depending on the battery mix prices, it may improve. But at this point of time, it is very difficult because you know what has happened as I said that these are two to three-month lag period happens. But certainly we’ll try to keep closer to this number.
Chirag Maroo
Fair enough, fair enough. Is it possible for you to give me a revenue breakup of battery between carbon zinc premium alkaline and normal alkaline batteries?
Suvamoy Saha
So quite any basis I’m just giving you the number for that, like you know out-of-the segment around INR600 is zinc and alkaline is around INR41 crore, 15% of that is a premium battery, alkaline. 15 percentage is premium, crores, right?
Chirag Maroo
Yeah. Perfect. And as you said that currently the gross margins in our Alkarine batteries is around 20 percentage and once we start our Jammu plant, it would — it will rise up to — it would rise by-10 percentage more. I’m still able to see that the gross margin of alkaline batteries is far lesser than what we have in carbons and batteries. But overall on an absolute basis, the gross profit what we will earn on alkaline and carbon would be similar, right?
Suvamoy Saha
May not be because if you see my premium in come at 18 rupees and alkaline comes at INR22 rupees so the may not work-in that way if alkaline claims to be a 2x or 3x better performance. But if you see the price parity, it’s too between the premium and the alkaline battery at this point of time.
Chirag Maroo
So the performance of battery improves as someone shifts from carbons into alkalina and the replacement demand of these products would be slower if I’m not wrong, the slower than the carbons and batteries. Plus I am able to see that the margins what we will be earning on this particular project, one at the times the asset turns. I’m trying to understand this mind, what is the reason for us to shift to a lower-margin business with one-time asset turn? Is it just because the market is trending on that side or it is our strategic decision that we have to focus more on alkaline.
Suvamoy Saha
So let me first tell you that our focus remains to remain extremely engaged with the carbon zinc segment. You know, if I were to cannibalize carbon by getting in alkaline I’ll be shooting myself in the food so there is no aspiration on the company’s side to sort of improve on alkaline and sort of dilute our carbon zinc saliency. The only reason we give alkaline and we also have to naturally nurture that part of the market, which typically is the hydrogen market, which is gradually emerging in India. It has — India has primarily been on very low-drain devices like clock and flashlight and remote control. Now we are seeing the emergence and that is where alkaline needs to be put and needs to be used.
And if we stay away from that market, then other players will come and now presently, because India is a very price-sensitive market, there is this concept of value alkaline, which frankly speaking, does not prevail at these prices anywhere else in the world and we expect that this is going to improve over-time, but we would have some advantage being a manufacturer whereas the others who are playing in the Indian market. So I think we should not be ignoring this segment, while we should also not be giving up any position on the carbon zinc side. Have I answered your question?
Chirag Maroo
Yes, sir, it was quite clear to understand the reason for you to take steps as it was — it is well required. Sir, my next question is related to the mix of revenue in. What is our revenue bifurcation towards a battery-operated and rechargeable?
Suvamoy Saha
So it’s see 60% is battery-operated and the 40% is the rechargeable.
Chirag Maroo
Fair enough. And sir, I wanted one update that keeps coming in our quarterly filings that there was a CCI penalty on us for INR170 crores, out of which 10 percentage for which we have already. Any update on the same that how it is going — legal matters are going-in which way?
Bibek Agarwala
So this was — there was a hearing supposed to be on 28, 29th of January, which has now been deferred to the 5th of May. So basically not movement has taken place on this case. We would of course robustly defend our position. Since the start of this case maybe some four or five years back, there has hardly been any hearing. The case lies with and as Vivek has mentioned, the next hearing is only in May.
Chirag Maroo
Right, right. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thanks for the clarity. Sir, last question from my end. It’s a — it’s about the peak debt levels, which we can expect in the coming year as I’m pretty sure because of the plant expansion, there would be debt increase on our books. So currently, as you said that it is around 225, what 225 to 30, what can it be at peak levels?
Bibek Agarwala
Maximum, I think maybe another INR100 odd crores because if you take some, we will also pay-back some, right? So as we have got INR150 odd crore of debt we need for this plant, so maybe if I add that mathematically and INR50-odd crore, I will repay as a part of my maximum, I think around INR325 crores to INR330 odd crores will be the peak and we’ll try to discuss illusion that limit. Yes, sir. Thank you., any other CapEx comes?
Chirag Maroo
Fair enough. Thank you.
Suvamoy Saha
Thank you for the question.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vipul Shah from RW Equity. Please go-ahead.
Vipul Shah
Thank you for the opportunity, sir. Sir, in the recent budget, the Honorable Finance Minister has rationalized or I would say, remove the import duty on zinc. So is that something which is of — will be of direct benefit to us in our COGS in the future?
Suvamoy Saha
The duty removal on the Jink app scrap jink app, not on the jink.
Vipul Shah
Okay so there is no impact on us of this you know fiscal move which the minister has made.
Suvamoy Saha
Yeah. This is for the, not for the core, which material, which you can hear.
Vipul Shah
All right. Secondly, sir, it’s just how should one read into this reappointment of Mr Saha, which is now proposed and which is going to be there for six months, you know, from I believe March to September.
Suvamoy Saha
Yeah, so what would you like to know about this? This is a factual statement that you made.
Vipul Shah
No, no. So I said how should one as an investor, sir, I think company is in very capable hands. So just from that perspective, it’s just a — is there something which one should read into it or it’s just a normal resolution, which will again at that point of time be revised.
Suvamoy Saha
Understood. Understood. Understood. Let me get small. So roughly begin the extension, we have eight months. The objectives for me are two-pronged primary objectives. One is to see a succession plan installed and executed. By the time I leave this position, number two is, we would focus on consolid consolidating on the games that have started accruing to the company. We have gone through somewhat of a difficult journey over the last two years. And for all the hard work, the games have only started coming to us now. It is now — again, it is very easy to fit-out of the games. It will be my endeavor with the team to make sure that these games are sort of consolidated and held on.
Vipul Shah
Got it. So in that respect, sir, you know, is a formal announcement or something in the offering for the succession plan to be in-place, sir?
Suvamoy Saha
So in due course of time, I mean we are still talking of eight months. So obviously there would have to be an announcement at some stage and then the execution of that plan, it will happen in due course.
Vipul Shah
All right, sir, it’s been such a pleasure hearing you on calls every time, sir. So that is the whole purpose. We believe the company was in — or rather is in very capable hands.
Suvamoy Saha
So thank you. Thank you very much. I take that as a huge compliment.
Vipul Shah
Thank you, sir.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mehul from RW Equity. Please go-ahead.
Mehul Savla
Hello. Yeah. Actually, it’s a half question, maybe half suggestion is that, I mean, our battery business is obviously the core and we are doing a lot of the alkaline side. Just wondering, while as investors, we love to get every tiny bit of information, but is it very okay to share the entire breakup of our batteries business between the zinc carbon and alkaline and within alkaline the mix because I’m sure competition has their years glued on to see what we are doing.
Bibek Agarwala
Yeah. Thanks. So I think probably your missed, I was just explaining one general has already asked a similar point. So I think — so as you know that just I’m giving in a value term, around INR615 crores is our zinc batteries, YTT basis YT December and INR41 crore is an alkaline business and out of that is 14%. Hello, can you hear you, sir.
Mehul Savla
Yeah, I can hear you, sir. My only suggestion was that whether it is — whether we should be giving out this level of detail on calls, which are publicly available to even competition from a business point-of-view.
Bibek Agarwala
Okay, points noted, well noted. And so I understand. So you are just saying that segment-wise revenue number is better than if we published.
Mehul Savla
Yeah. I mean the color on the mix is good enough. I think probably instead of getting into very specific numbers between the — specifically on the battery side, alkaline side.
Bibek Agarwala
Sure. Thank you very much.
Mehul Savla
Yeah. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, you may please press star and one if you wish to ask questions. The next question is from the line of Chira from Keynote Capital. Please go-ahead.
Chirag Maroo
Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity again. Sir, I just wanted to know what will be the sustainable gross margins going ahead?
Suvamoy Saha
Can you please repeat the question? There will be some noise in-between?
Chirag Maroo
Yeah. What will be the sustainable gross margin going ahead?
Suvamoy Saha
Sustainable gross margin, sustainable gross margin for any specific business you are asking as a company as a whole.
Chirag Maroo
Company as a whole.
Suvamoy Saha
I think we should look for 40% will be our aspiration to be there in 39% to 40%, but it all depends on our. So as you know, as of now, we have achieved so 38% plus. So if you ask me, our aspiration will be towards the 40%, but it’s a highly commodity-driven business. So, I say the 40%, but we are around 38% plus at this point of time.
Chirag Maroo
If I’m not wrong, we are currently at 40% to 43% is right, 38%.
Suvamoy Saha
So maybe a material margin from the report you are saying, that is a gross margin okay.
Chirag Maroo
So in that case, if you asking, we are 45% actually. 45% is a pretty good gross margin level we are looking for because as I said that material mix are keep changing time-to-time, now price has softened. So 45% 1% plus and minus could be the good enough. Fair enough. And sir, just one position as one of the earlier participant also said that it’s sensitive information related to battery should not be — should not be published to such granular. It’s fair to say that it is internal strategy of — internal strategy of company. But as we already discussed the broad — the broad segment revenues for a quarterly basis for flashlight, lighting and battery, it would be great if you can start giving that in your press release itself because this is something that we track on a quarterly basis.
Suvamoy Saha
So point well noted and it will be considered from the next quarter okay thank you so much for distributions to be done.
Operator
Thank you. Participants you may please press star and 1 if you wish to ask questions as we have no further questions, ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Over to you.
Suvamoy Saha
Thank you everyone for taking time-out to join us on this earnings call today. I hope we have adequately answered all your questions. If you still have more queries, please reach-out to our Investor Relations team and we’ll be only too happy to address those. Thank you once again and look-forward to connecting with you again in the next quarter.
Operator
Thank you. On behalf of Eveready Industries India Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.