JSW Cement Ltd (NSE: JSWCEMENT) Q3 2026 Earnings Call dated Feb. 05, 2026
Corporate Participants:
Kunal Mukherjee — Head of Investor Relations
Nilesh Narwekar — Whole-time Director and CEO
Narinder Singh Kahlon — Director of Finance and Commercial and Chief Financial Officer
Hitendra Jariwala — Chief Marketing Officer
Analysts:
Unidentified Participant
Dharmesh Shah — Analyst
Rajesh Ravi — Analyst
Raashi Chopra — Analyst
Siddharth Mehrotra — Analyst
Prateek Kumar — Analyst
Shrey Mehta — Analyst
Kunal Shah — Analyst
Shravan Shah — Analyst
Navin Sahadeo — Analyst
Presentation:
operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the JSW Cement Q3FY26 earnings conference call hosted by GM Financial. 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 call, please signal an operator by pressing Star then zero on your touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded.
I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Dharmesh Shah from JM Financial. Thank you. And over to you, sir.
Dharmesh Shah — Analyst
Thank you. Good morning everyone. On behalf of JM Financial, we welcome you to the JSW Cement Q3FY26 result conference call. I will now hand over the floor to the management for their opening remarks which will be followed by interactive Q and A.
Thank you. And over to you, Kunal.
Kunal Mukherjee — Head of Investor Relations
Thank you, Dharmesh and good morning to all. I would like to welcome all of you to the Q3FY26 earnings call of JSW Cement. I trust you have had the chance to review the financial results and investor presentation which have been shared with the Stock exchange and uploaded on our website. We are pleased to have with us today Mr. Nilesh Narwekar, CEO, Mr. Narendra Singh, CFO and Mr. Hitendra Jariwala, Chief Marketing Officer.
With this I will hand over the call to Mr. Nilesh Narwekar for his opening remarks. Over to you, sir.
Nilesh Narwekar — Whole-time Director and CEO
Thank you, Kunal. And good morning everyone.
I’d like to start by reiterating a four key messages about the company versus with the total volume growth of 14% YoY in quarter three of FY26 and a 12% YoY in nine months of FY26, JSW Cement remains among the fastest growing cement companies in India in terms of sales volumes. Now it is our goal, as we have maintained, to continue with this growth trajectory over the next few years as we build and ramp up our new capacities. The second messages are GGBs business continues to deliver exceptional results in terms of volume growth and momentum across all key customer groups.
The third, along with strong volume growth, we are also delivering substantially improved IOV performance in terms of EBITDA per tonne and pac. As we had highlighted to investors during the ipo, our cost saving program are on track to deliver the promised savings. And the fourth message is we are continuing to deliver on an efficient capex program while controlling leverage levers as promised. Let me move on to list out a few key highlights for quarter CFY 26. Our total sales volume in Q3 FY26 increased by 14% to 3.56 million tonnes which is significantly faster than the industry growth in our region which we believe is around 7%.
Taking this product wise, cement volume sold with 1.89 million metric tons increased by 7% YoY and GGBs volume sold was 1.53 million tonnes increased by a robust 17% YoY. Within cement the trade mix was 72% versus 52% the previous quarter. This primarily due to the strong demand from the institutional channel for us. Revenue stood at 1621 crores increased by 13% YoY. Operating EBITDA for the quarter was 285 crores, a 32% YY improvement against last year. In terms of some of our key operational highlights, our Clinker utilization in quarter three was 96% and grinding unit the grinding utilization was at 60, 64%.
Clinker to cement factor was 52% in Q3FY26 a slight increase versus 50% in the previous quarter. With respect to our two main products, cement and GGBs, cement realization for quarter CFY26 was 4,459 per tonne, a decrease of 4% QoQ. As all of you are aware, there was a softening of cement prices particularly in the south and the east regions where we operate. GGBS realization for quarter three FY26 was 3,655 per tonne broadly flat on a QOQ basis with minor variations from market to market rather than any structural change in our pricing strategy. The lead distance reduced by 10km to 273km in quarter three in terms of capacity expansion, just to reiterate, a capacity expansion plan will take the company to a grinding capacity of 41.85 with a clinker of 13.04 million as is outlined in our investor presentation.
Would like to provide a brief update on the north region. A Nagor integrated unit in Rajasthan is being set up in two phases. In the first part, in the first phase we have a 3.3 million ton per annum cleanerization unit along with a 2 and a half million ton grinding is on track to be commissioned in this quarter. In fact we received the CTO as well. In the next phase the Whrs and the additional 1 MPP granting unit will be commissioned on the Punjab Grinding unit. We have progressed significantly on the on the preparatory stream including engineering and ordering of main packages.
We are hopeful of receiving the EC and the CD this quarter and thereafter. Of course we’ll update you on the commissioning timelines on green power. We are happy to Note that we valued 6 megawatt of solar capacity 8 megawatt of solar capacity across Nandyal and Vijayanagar during quarter 3 of FY26 and let me recap our plan for green power capacities. We started in FY26 with 27 megawatt of solar and 21 megawatt waste sheet recovery in our existing plants across Southwest and East. Our plan was to add a further 127 megawatt of RE power of which 8 megawatt was commissioned in quarter CFY 26 and we are on track to commission the remaining RE capacity in the coming quarters.
In addition, we are planning a 60 megawatt of RE power at Nagor plus a 19 megawatt waste sheet recovery which is a total of 79 megawatt. Link to Nagore Operations I’d like to comment briefly on ESG. We continue to have the lowest CO2 emission intensity in the cement industry with scope 1 and scope 2 emission intensity at 270 kg per tonne of cementation material in Q3. Our RE share has increased from 21% in FY25 to 25% in Q3 FY26 and we are making all efforts to increase our AF alternate fuel usage further from the 13% levels we are at in Q3 FY26.
We continue to have a strong focus on health and safety of our employees and continue to pursue community initiatives in the focus areas around our plants. Finally, on the industry context, cement Demand improved in December 25th supported by pickup in infrastructure activity after relatively sluggish environment in October and November, demand is expected to remain healthy in quarter four of FY26. While cement prices were weak in quarter three FY26 we have seen improvement in January. As all of you will also note, we have channel checks pricing in the non trade segment showed meaningful improvement in south zone and marginal improvement in west which is the Mumbai market.
The trend is expected to support the channel price increase in the near term. We expect pricing momentum in Q4 FY26 to remain stable and mildly positive led by non trade segment recovery and the gradual transmission of this increase in price table across the trade segment or the channel segment as we refer to it. The added impetus of course is the CAPEX spend by central and the state government continues and this will of course give us give sustained momentum to the cement institution business and GGPs. We are encouraged by the announcement of the Finance Ministers in the recent budget that the Central CAPEX is moving up to 12.2 trillion in FY27 and increase 11% over the revised estimates for FY26 and we believe strongly that this will support the cement demand in the coming years.
Let me now hand over to Narender Singh our CFO to walk us through the rest of the Narendra. Over to you sir.
Narinder Singh Kahlon — Director of Finance and Commercial and Chief Financial Officer
Good morning everyone.
I will add some points to the financial performance on Q3 as well as nine months for the year. In terms of Q3 FY26 financial performance revenue was 1621 crores. That’s an increase of 13% year on year. Despite weaker pricing in Q3, operating EBITDA improved by 32% year on year to 285 crores. That’s a very healthy 802 rupees per ton for the quarter. Our operating EBITDA include operating EBITDA margin was 17.6% in the quarter which is a jump of 250bps over the last year. Same quarter total EBITDA including other income was 371 crores an increase of 51% year on year.
EBT stands at 184 crores in the quarter including positive contribution of 15 crores from our JV operations in Fujairah. PAT for the quarter is 131 crores. I would like to add two points two points out of the above which are one offs during the quarter. During the quarter we signed an SBA with Nuboco to divest our investment in Vadraj Energy for a consideration of 191crores. This transaction has been completed in this week and we have received the sales proceeds. We have recorded again from this disposal of 53.6 crores which has been shown as part of other income in the quarter and nine months.
Also to be clear, this item is not included in the operating ebitda. An operating EBITDA per ton number as I mentioned earlier is 802 rupees. As a result of the new Labor Code we have recorded an expense in respect of prior financial years of 33.7 crores and this has been shown as an exceptional item in the quarter. Note that we have already recorded 1466 crores of exceptional expense which was the fair value expense arising from the conversions of CCPs. This was recorded in the first quarter of the year. So for the nine months total exception item expense is about 1500 crores.
In terms of the major cost elements during the quarter, raw material and power and fuel increased on quarter on quarter basis by 81 rupees a ton of. Broadly speaking this was due to three higher OPC volumes in the overall sales mix, higher volume of interplant movement of raw material, higher clinker cost in west region. This higher raw material cost was partially offset by lower power and fuel cost due to increased re share which is now 25% as against 21% in the previous quarter. And of course plant operating efficiencies did help in bringing down the park cost.
Blended fuel costs for the quarter was stable at 1 rupee 49 by say per MCAT versus 1 rupee 50 paisa per cal in the previous quarter. Our current fuel inventory is sufficient till March or April 26th and we should see further improvement in power and fuel cost in Q4 logistics. Lead distance reduction by about 10km quarter on quarter. However the logistic cost was stable due to withdrawal of railway busy season surcharge and change in source mix that is Real allocation of volume between plants. In terms of our nine month performance, total sales volumes increased by 12% year on year to 9.98 million with cement and GGBs volume increasing by 8% and 14% respectively.
Revenue is at 4617 crores an increase of 13% year on year. Operating EBITDA is 875 crores a 43% increase which equates to 877 rupees a tonne for nine months. Total EBITDA including other income was 953 crores adjusted PAT which we define as PAT excluding the CCPS non cash payments expense is 306 crores in nine months. In terms of the balance sheet, net debt is 3557 crores. At the end of the day December net debt to EBITDA stands at 2.9 times. Average cost of debt for the quarter is 7.8%. Happy to note that during the quarters crisil upgraded the company’s long term credit rating to AA minus stable from ACE table during Q3 and 9 months of the year the company incurred CapEx including maintenance CapEx of 491 crores that is for the quarter and for 9 months 1455 crores.
We will now be happy to address your questions. Thank you.
Questions and Answers:
operator
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press Star and one on their touchstone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press STAR and two participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will Wait for a moment while the question queue assembles.
Our first question comes from the line of Rajesh Ravi from HDFC Securities. Please go ahead.
Rajesh Ravi
Hi sir, good morning. Am I audible?
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Yes, you are.
Rajesh Ravi
Yeah. Congrats on good set of numbers. So my first question pertains to why the you mentioned non trade prices have improved and expectations of a, you know, trade prices recovery. What is the overall demand traction in Q4 that you are witnessing across your market of operations?
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Hello. Jariwala.
operator
Yes. Yes sir, please go ahead.
Rajesh Ravi
Hello.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Yeah, Jariwala, please.
Nilesh Narwekar
Okay, let me come in. Yeah.
Rajesh Ravi
Yeah. So I wanted to check how is the demand traction stepping up in Q4? How has been January in terms of industry level growth?
Nilesh Narwekar
Yeah, yeah, before Zari comes in. Zari, are you there?
Hitendra Jariwala
Yeah.
Nilesh Narwekar
Yeah, go on.
Hitendra Jariwala
So we are expecting a very healthy growth in terms of the infrastructure and housing demand in the south. The payments from the government departments also have been released in the month of October and November which has given a lot of speed to the kind of projects which are going on. Be it infrastructure projects, be it road projects. All these payments have been released by the government department. And so we are expecting a very healthy demand from all these sectors. In fact, a lot of parts of south were also affected due to this intermittent rains in the month of October and November which had not caught up s peed for the projects. But in the month of December we’ve seen a healthy trend. January has been much better both in terms of prices and demand. And we are expecting this to go on in the quarter four also.
Rajesh Ravi
Great, great, sir. And a few more questions on the GGBs. We have seen steel prices witnessing a sharp recovery December onward. How does that, you know, impact your margins in the GGBs? Positively negatively. What is the thoughts over there?
Hitendra Jariwala
Sorry, we didn’t catch your question, Rajesh. Can you repeat that please?
Rajesh Ravi
Yeah, GGBs with the steel prices shooting up 10 to 14%. You know, in this quarter, fourth quarter, December and January we have seen strong price uptake. What is your thought on the GGBS profitability? How is that? How does that move along with steel prices?
Hitendra Jariwala
No, no. GGBS and steel, I mean we have a long term contract and the pricing is discovered annually. Okay, not a discovery, rather annually. It’s linked to the wholesale price index of Slack Cement. So. So we are not impacted. Steel prices can move wherever. But for us price is locked unless there is a price escalation attributed to wholesale price index.
Rajesh Ravi
Okay, so even your selling price do not change materially with steel prices movement. Right. And given that
Nilesh Narwekar
It’s a good thing.
Rajesh Ravi
Yeah, right. And given the prices, if steel prices were to remain steady at the highest side that we have seen currently, are there a potential of the next year’s prices for slack GGBS going up?
Hitendra Jariwala
No. In fact due to the rising demand in the infrastructure segment and with this recent announcement of a lot of packages of high speed rail coming up, we are seeing a lot of activity in terms of construction in the railway segment w here there is a good demand for. GGBA and PSE cement. So these are the that may in fact help us in marginal improvement of GGBS prices for the coming year.
Rajesh Ravi
Understood. And so in GGBs, until your next expansion, what is the growth opportunity you have available till you reach full utilization?
Hitendra Jariwala
This is likely to continue. This kind of growth is likely to continue. It all depends on the which area. We are seeing a very healthy demand in the west with a huge number of infra projects being announced. In particularly MMR region, we are seeing a healthy demand here. We are also seeing a very healthy demand in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh areas. With this continuation of this Capital region Development Authority project. We are seeing a healthy demand in both AP Telangana as well as in c ase of MMR region.
Rajesh Ravi
And lastly on the cement business, your north plant is, you know, phase one is on the verge of getting a commission. So what sort of market seeding? We are already doing that. And what is the thought process for FY27 in terms of volumes and in terms of trade, non trade mix on the first two years I need direction on the, you know, the same.
Hitendra Jariwala
To answer your first question, we are not doing any kind of seeding over there. Unless and until we get our own clinker, we are not going to product in the marketplace. And trade and non trade demand will depend on the projections will depend on the kind of demand we generate in that area.
Nilesh Narwekar
We have added a significant amount of network already on board at Rajesh. Okay, so they’ve already signed up with us. So there’s a very healthy interest across the. Across the geography. Last count I think we’d already crossed 500 channel partners and close to around 37 people MMC agents in the direct segment. So we’re seeing a good amount of traction in terms of interest for us. And as Dariwala mentioned, only when we get our own clinker which is just around the corner, we make the cement and that’s when we’ll enter the market.
Rajesh Ravi
One last clarification.
operator
We move on to the next participant. That’s Rashi Chopra from Citigroup. Please Go ahead.
Raashi Chopra
Thank you. Just on the point that you mentioned on GGVs that infrastructure demand should help pricing. You know, last time you talked about strategy of trying to keep pricing more stable to get, you know, more favorable demand for GGBs. Is there any change in that strategy?
Hitendra Jariwala
No, there is no change in that strategy. We would maintain that strategy of maintaining healthy realizations for GGBS segment 1.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
The thrust is on improving the increasing the volumes. So we feel unless there is a drastic change in prices of opc, we will continue to maintain the same prices.
Raashi Chopra
Got it. And against that, I know you don’t give the split between cement profitability and GGBS property. But is it safe to assume that given that GGS pricing has more or less been stable and flag prices don’t really change for you, the profitability should also have been mostly stable for GGBS and probably corrected a bit for cement in this quarter sequentially.
Hitendra Jariwala
Yes, you are right.
Raashi Chopra
Got it. And then on the. I think the last time around you had spoken about your cost improvement which was 200 rupees still pending for cement and about 35 odd rupees for GGBs. Any update on that please?
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Yeah, Rashi, we are progressing on all the levers. So as we’ve noted in our presentation, lead has reduced during the quarter. We’ve also commissioned some RE capacity which has increased our RE share as well. Q on Q. So I think it would be best for us to update you in the next quarter. Because we calculate that cost saving on an annualized basis. But we have made progress on the remaining 200 rupees per ton saving as well.
Raashi Chopra
Understood. Okay. And sorry, just one last question. In the nine month, could you share the regional growth trends for your volumes like between Southeast and West. Or for the third quarter.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Just one second. We except. Except for Bihar, South Tamil Nadu and South Kerala from where we have strategically withdrawn from a few markets, all other markets we have grown. We’ve grown in the east, we’ve grown in the south and we’ve been stable in the west. Because we don’t operate in many areas in the west, we are more or less stable in the best.
Raashi Chopra
This is for the nine months.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
This is for the nine months.
Raashi Chopra
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. Participants, please restrict yourselves to two questions. If you have any more questions, kindly rejoin the queue. Our next question comes from the line of Siddharth Mehrotra from Kotak Securities. Please go ahead.
Siddharth Mehrotra
Hi sir. Thanks for the opportunity and congratulations on a good set of results. I wanted to know what sort of volume guidance Are we sort of building in? Given the fact that our major north capacity is sort of slated to come online this quarter. So on a blended basis, perhaps if you could sort of give us some guidance and color on regional volume growth for next year, that would be helpful sir.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
So the target continues to be a volume growth of mid teens, probably high teens. That’s the target and that’s the guidance probably we’ll be giving for the next year also. But let’s wait for the performance for this year. Get over. We are seeing very healthy improvement in volumes and we are hopeful we’ll continue to grow at this pace. And this, when I say mid teens, high teens, I am not factoring in the, the north into this. This is excluding north will be over and above this number.
Siddharth Mehrotra
Okay sir, understood. This is so very helpful. Wanted to understand what is the strategic intent behind us setting up this grinding facility in uae? From what I understand our clinker is in a JV held in that geography. So I mean we were supposed to service Dolby from uae. So with this new capacity coming up, what sort of timelines are we looking at? Number one and number two, why the strategic shift in terms of clinker utilization in within UAE itself? What happens to Dolby Clinker?
Narinder Singh Kahlon
No. So our current capacity in Fujairah, Clinker capacity, we are producing about 2.7 million tons a year and this grinding unit is going to be 1.65 at a let’s say 80, 85% utilization. We are looking at 1.45 to 1.5 million clinker requirement for this grinding unit. So we still have 1 million plus to feed into Dolby and that would continue. Dolby requirement will be around that number only for a couple of years more. Now regarding the rationale behind it, one, this plant will be coming up within 12 months. It’s a very short construction period so it should be up and running by April 27th and today.
As you might be knowing, the market in UAE has been very hot last year or so and the industry expects this to continue for next five to seven years. Just because all the construction activity that is happening in uae, primarily Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait is on a rebuilding phase or building phase after 1991. So there is a very, very active interest from all our current customers if we can feed them cement and most of the large builders out there, without naming any, I have met three of them. They are willing to do a long term agreements with us for cement supplies or concrete supplies. So we feel this is a very attractive business opportunity and hence the rationale behind putting up this unit.
Siddharth Mehrotra
Understood. Just one small clarification. This plant is fully owned. Your clinker plant will continue to be owned in a jv. Is that understanding correct?
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Yes, correct.
Siddharth Mehrotra
Okay, sir, thanks. Thanks for the opportunity.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Pratik Kumar from Jeffrey’s group. Please go ahead.
Prateek Kumar
Hello. Yeah, good morning. Congrats. My first question is on your north operations. When you say that with your channel partners, are some of these channel partners your steel business partners or these are like some of the other competition cement partners who have now come with you and.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
See the majority of the dealers that we have appointed or we are on the process of appointing in the north, be it in Rajasthan or Haryana, they happen to be core cement. Cement and paint dealers. Cement, paint and hardware dealers. But we are surely getting a lot of support from the steel dealers that are there in our system. We are getting a lot of support from them also. But the total number as of now who have been onboarded is very, very low. It is very low. So it is majority of the dealers, like I would like to say close to about 90% of the dealers, 95% of the dealers are core cement dealers who are operating with other brands also.
operator
Does that answer any question?
Prateek Kumar
Yeah, that does also. Now into FY27, what is your expectation for.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Can you repeat, Pratik, please? We couldn’t hear you.
Prateek Kumar
Yeah, I’m saying the exception of volumes the year one from the north operation.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
So we expect about 50, 55% utilization in the first year and this will gradually go up.
Prateek Kumar
Okay, one separate question on GGBs. While we have been saying that the prices are expected to be stable, there is a mild dilution of Q on Q. Again, last quarter you said that there is a change in customer mix and that is reflected in this. What is the specific reason here?
Narinder Singh Kahlon
No, the only reason is, see, we are running short of slag in Dolby today and we even have to move slag from Vijayanagar to Salem. That number is up in the current quarter. So this is a very good position situation to be in wherein we have almost exhausted all the slag that’s available in Dolby and it would continue this way for another year or so till the next blast furnace is up and operational within the next few months. So it’s only the cost which is impacting us because of the way we have started distributing the GGPs. There is basically there is no change in strategy. It is only that
Nilesh Narwekar
It’s a geography mix change.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Yeah, it is only a GEOM exchange, nothing else.
Prateek Kumar
Sure. Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Shreya Mehta from Goldman Sach. Please go ahead.
Shrey Mehta
Hi sir. Thank you so much for taking my question. Congratulations on great set of results. So just a clarification. When we say that we aim for mid to heightened growth excluding the north expansion, is it fair to assume that the cement segment should be growing in tandem with the industry growth? As we understand that DGP will continue to grow in high teens.
Nilesh Narwekar
We are targeting similar growth for cement and GGBs. In fact GGBs we are targeting a much higher growth because of the acceptance in larger market segments. We are expecting a higher growth in GGBs. But yes, cement, we would like to get it in line with whatever we are doing as per the industry. We will definitely outperform the industry.
Shrey Mehta
Sure, sir. And sir, with Nagar expansion coming in Q4 and Punjab branding unit and the phase two coming somewhere in FY27 28, do you see any competitive intensity increasing in the northern region considering that bulk of capacities are lined up in next 12 to 15 months?
Nilesh Narwekar
See if you, if you go through the kind of projects coming up in Rajasthan and Haryana and the NCR region, any kind of capacity coming there will definitely be consumed and absorbed in those markets. Additional capacities will definitely not be sufficient to cater to the kind of demand coming up over the next two, three years.
Shrey Mehta
Got it sir. Thank you so much.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Kunal Shah from Dam Capital. Please go ahead.
Kunal Shah
Yeah, congratulations on the performance. So first question is on the non trade pricing levels in south. Right. The kind of levels we have seen during the third quarter. Now would it be fair to assume that the OPC and GGBS mix during preq was at par or more expensive than the traditional mix at the RMC level?
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Just one second. See people are accepting GGBS at a particular price. Whatever pricing levels we have maintained, people are accepting at that. And we don’t see any kind of threat with the ups and downs in the cement prices in non trade segment though in the beginning of January we’ve seen a little bit of improvement in the non trade prices across all territories in south and marginally in the west. But that normally doesn’t affect us because everywhere it is majority of the places the mixes are prescribed.
Nilesh Narwekar
Kunal, this is Nilesh just to weigh in. Typically as Dariwala mentioned, the customers when they freeze on a design mix, they don’t change it that often because they do the entire testing process all over again in the source team. So with the increase in January, while it would have been a little more favorable in December, but I think it’s back to being more favorable in terms of the design mix than the traditional mixes.
Kunal Shah
Understood? No sir. What was interesting was despite the kind of cement pricing we’ve seen and even if the mix was at par, we’re still able to get a 17% sort of a volume growth. So my question was this more related to the product? Like is it now entering into that stickiness phase wherein customers are even willing to pay that marginal premium or even at par at the RMC level? I mean I was just referring more towards that.
Nilesh Narwekar
We believe so Kunal. We actually believe so. But I would like to see this play out for a couple more quarters. The hard work put in by the technical teams around trying to emphasize the green properties of GGBS and the quality of the concrete that gets made is nevertheless. So we keep doing more and more of it. So we believe that’s what is causing it. I think the proof of the pudding would be once we see the performance in quarter four and thereon I think that’s when we can probably authoritatively say that yes, it’s a stickiness factor which is driving this.
Kunal Shah
Understood. And just a follow up on this, just trying to dissect it further. Now this 17% growth, could you touch upon whether the underlying RMC demand was also this strong or the GDBS penetration within the RMC TAM is improving. I mean I’m just trying to understand on the penetration levels here.
Hitendra Jariwala
Definitely the penetration levels have increased. We have, we have reached much larger number of customers in the last quarter and the quarter before that. We’ve seen a very, very healthy acceptance by both RMC and new infrastructure projects across our operating markets.
Kunal Shah
Understood. This is helpful for that in the queue.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Shravan Shah from Daulat Capital. Please go ahead.
Shravan Shah
Hi sir. Thank you sir. For capex for FY26 so 1455 crore we have done in nine months. Last time we said 2300 crore for 26 and 2000 crore for FY27. So if you can again specify and Even possibly for FY28 also if you can, broader range would be helpful.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
So for next year that is FY27 we would be spending about 2000 odd crores and for FY28 also the number would be somewhat similar. And 26 about 2300 is what we are going to end up spending. So if you remember at the start o f the few months back we had given a guidance that we would be spending about 7,300 odd crores to complete all our projects. So. And we have just one addition into that that the fujairah. That’s about $39 million. So adding up all of these I think the we should be spending about 2300 this year. 2000 and 2000 in the following two years. That should be sufficient to complete all the projects.
Shravan Shah
Okay. So. So for Nagod by March, how much or maybe t much we have already spent. Hello.
operator
Hello sir. Please go ahead.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Just one second. Sir.
Shravan Shah
Yeah.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
2700 odd crores has been spent.
Shravan Shah
I didn’t hear.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Sir, about 2700 crores has been spent till December.
Shravan Shah
Okay. Out of 3350 odd crore.
Nilesh Narwekar
Correct. Because the project is nearing completion. It’s only some payments which are pending.
Shravan Shah
Got it. Got it, sir. So. And sir, in terms of the timeline if you can just specify the remaining 1 million ton when it will come and this Punjab 2.75 when it will start.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
So I think the additional 1 million should be up and running before. Before September current year. That is FY 2627. Sorry. Yeah. So before September 26th it should be up and running. Regarding Punjab, we are just awaiting the ECS and all. Anytime they are there we should be starting the work. Because the land is in control with us. And from then it shouldn’t be more than 18 months. Of course our target would be 15 months.
Shravan Shah
Okay. And then the Vijayanagar and Dolby. 2 million Vijayanakar and 4 million Dolby when it will be coming.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
So we are going to start them both the projects in FY27 by. In the. In the next call we should be updating you.
Shravan Shah
Okay. And lastly sir, is it possible to share the RMC revenue and the clinker revenue for third quarter? Third quarter FY26 YOY QQ and nine months also would be helpful.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
RNC during the quarter we have done about 168 crores revenue.
Shravan Shah
168 crore in third quarter. Yeah. And Clinker revenue, s ir?
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Clinker’s revenue is about 36 crores.
Shravan Shah
And is it possible for poq yoy and 9 months. If you can share the number.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
We’ll. We’ll share it with you Shavan offline.
Shravan Shah
Okay. Okay. That’s it. From my side. Thank you.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Naveen Saadio from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Navin Sahadeo
Yeah, good morning and thank you for the opportunity. Just a couple of clarifications in your opening comments. The management said clinker utilization is almost 95, 96% if I heard that correct. And so is it only for the Indian market or India based clinker capacity that we are talking about? Because you also said that cement volumes without Nagor can continue to grow in double digit rather mid teens as you said. Just wanted to understand that.
Hitendra Jariwala
You are.
Hitendra Jariwala
You are right. The Nandyal and Shiva that’s India operations only is at 96%. As regards Fujairah that operates at more than 100%. But we have not considered in this calculation of 96%.
Navin Sahadeo
Of course. So if it’s already the domestic capacities at 96% are we banking on significant increase in blending for the cement volumes to grow in double digits?
Hitendra Jariwala
It is both. Currently we are selling some clinker. This number of 36 crores revenue which I mentioned. That is the clinker sold to third parties that will go off which we are expecting in this march itself. So that clinker would be available and of course the product mix would change.
Navin Sahadeo
And this purchase of stock in trade which is there in the PNL is this purchase of clinker from Fujairah unit. Hello. Sorry, am I.
Hitendra Jariwala
Well this is more of slack that we purchased recently.
Navin Sahadeo
That is slack that is not clinker purchased from Figara.
Hitendra Jariwala
A very small volume of clinker.
Navin Sahadeo
Understood, Understood, understood. And just one more question if I May. You mentioned two and a half million ton grinding in Nagor coming in Q4. But there is an and Punjab. You said it’s awaiting ECE and 15 to 18 months thereafter. But what about the 1 million ton additional grinding unit in North. What is the. Is that. Is it at the same location? And what is the timeline for that? S
Hitendra Jariwala
Same location? And as I mentioned that would come up by September 26th.
Navin Sahadeo
Helpful. Thank you so much.
operator
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Jain Nayan Bhatia, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Good morning to the team. Congratulations on the good numbers. I hope you are able to hear me.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Yes.
Unidentified Participant
Ask you about Shiva Cement or a separate con call has been scheduled for the same. Hello.
Hitendra Jariwala
No, there is no separate call for Shiva.
Unidentified Participant
So we can ask, right?
Hitendra Jariwala
Yeah, you can go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
All right. Now.
operator
I’m sorry to interrupt. Jen, you’re not audible. Could you please change your location? My voice is breaking. Yes, go ahead. This call is no longer being recorded.
Unidentified Participant
Am I now audible?
operator
Yes. Yes, go ahead. Jen, please. Yeah.
Unidentified Participant
Now I just wanted to ask you a bout the grinding capacity that has come up. What? What is the breakup of the revenue of Clinker and cement in Shiva ce?
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Just one second.
Unidentified Participant
Yes.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Cement. The revenue is about 14 crores.
Unidentified Participant
All right. Okay.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
And clinker is 112 crores.
Unidentified Participant
112 cr now.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Rashi Chopra from Citigroup. Please go ahead.
Raashi Chopra
Thank you. Just a basic follow up. What is your green energy target for next year? 25%.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Yeah. 63 is the overall target and hopefully this should be up and running by March. This March we may slip very small capacities into the next financial. But the target continues to be 63% of the overall in the existing operations. Excluding North. North will be a much higher number.
Raashi Chopra
Understood. And in this quarter what was the percentage of the premium cement?
Hitendra Jariwala
It was 60%.
Raashi Chopra
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Rajesh Ravi from HDFC Securities. Please go ahead.
Rajesh Ravi
I think my questions have been answered. Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Shravanshah from Daulat Capital. Please go ahead.
Shravan Shah
Yeah, so just a couple of clarifications. When we said 7,300 crore is the total capex. So this is still 33.85 mtpa which as per the presentation is by CY28 we are planning to start or if you can specify.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Yes, that’s right. It’s up to calendar year 28.
Shravan Shah
Mtpa. This is the 7,300 crore is the total capex. Hello.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Yeah. So for the first leg as been. Given in our presentation. So it’s about. It’s 33.85 million, right? As per our presentation, it’s up to that.
Shravan Shah
Okay. Okay, got it. And sir, is it possible to break it down the current 21.6 mtpa capacity out of that how much is for DGBs and how much is for cement?
Narinder Singh Kahlon
No, the capacity is fungible. The same grinding unit produces can grind slag and it can grind linker as well. So there is no specific capacity split as such.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Naveen Sadh from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Navin Sahadeo
Yeah, thank you for the follow up. My question was regarding this UAE facility. So you said it operates at 100% utilization but entire volume is sold in that region only. We don’t intend to bring it here because I thought initially maybe that was the plan to have those clinkers imported on the west coast. And utilize it. So is it more remunerative there? And that’s why we are not bringing it or how should one look at it from a volume addition to domestic growth point of view?
Narinder Singh Kahlon
I’ll break this up into how we sell what we sell there and what we bring into India. So our current capacity there Production is about 2.7, 2.75 million. And Dolby requires less than slightly less than 1 million at the moment. So whatever Dolby needs, we bring it here and the balance is sold domestically. Now today we are selling clinker. It is more remunerative to sell cement because we have this surplus capacity. We thought we will put up a grinding unit to sell cement there. So what comes to Dolby will continue to come. Tolby’s requirement would continue to be met from Ujira.
Navin Sahadeo
Understood? Understood. And that that cost is captured in purchase of stock in trade, right? Or in raw material?
Narinder Singh Kahlon
No, no, no, that’s in raw material.
Navin Sahadeo
Understood. Then my second question was on the GCDS front. So I think in the previous call you said because OPC prices were a little soft, that is why VGBS prices were a little under pressure. But in this quarter then we saw a significant like, you know, your numbers itself are like a 4% sort of a decline. But GGBS has not seen a major decline as such. So is it fair to assume that the GGBS price, because there is some improvement now in the March quarter as we speak, as you said. So is it fair to assume that GGB is prices also have bottomed out and you have to stay or is there is more dynamic pricing to it? It competes with other additives. And if that is the case, then is it project based pricing? Is it like, you know, contract, one year contract, three months contract. How does this pricing. It may, if you could just help us understand. Thanks.
Hitendra Jariwala
The way we look at it is we would like to hold on to the present levels of prices. But definitely, as you said, if any project is there of national importance, then we tie up with the respective contractor or the company to give them a long term perspective or commitment on the price. But our strategy holds. We would like to maintain the prices or in fact go up but not go down.
operator
Thank you ladies and gentlemen. That was the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for the closing remarks.
Narinder Singh Kahlon
Thank you everyone for taking time to join our call and we look forward to staying engaged and you can obviously reach out to us if there are any further questions. Thank you and good morning to everyone.
operator
Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of GM Financial, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.