Tube Investments of India Ltd (NSE: TIINDIA) Q1 2026 Earnings Call dated Aug. 04, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Unidentified Speaker
Anupam Gupta — Moderator
Mukesh Ahuja — Managing Director
Analysts:
Unidentified Participant
Gnanasundaram Saminathan — Analyst
Salil Desai — Analyst
Vipulkumar Shah — Analyst
Niket shah — Analyst
Presentation:
operator
Good day and welcome to the Tube Investments Q1FY26 earnings conference call hosted by IIFL Capital Services Ltd. Please note all participants are currently in lesson only mode. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions following the conclusion of the management’s opening remarks. Please note this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Anupam Gupta from IIFL Capital. Over to you sir.
Anupam Gupta — Moderator
Thanks and welcome everyone to the first quarter FY26 results conference call for Tube Investments of India. From the management we have Mr. Arunachalam, Executive Chairman for TI India Mr. Varian Subhaya, Vice Chairman Mr. Mukesh Ahuja, Managing Director for TI. Mr. Miyapan’s Chief Financial Officer Mr. Shivdeep Singh Jammu represented the Division Head for TPI. Mr. Sivakumar, Division Head for Metal Form Product Business. Mr. Raju Gopal, Division head for the cycles business. We have Mr. Jalaj Gupta, CEO for TIC MPL and Mr. Govinda Rajan, CEO for 3X per innovation. To start off, I’ll hand it over to the management for the opening remarks post which we’ll have a Q and A.
Over to you sir.
Mukesh Ahuja — Managing Director
Yeah. Good morning everybody. The board of directors of Cube Investment of India Limited met on Friday and approved the financial results. Four quarter ended 30 June 2025. And just maybe give a glimpse of standard result for the quarter. Revenue in Q1 was at 2007 crores compared with the 1960 crores of same period previous year. PBT was at 222 crores as against 208 crores in the same period previous years. ROIC at 39 for the quarter ended 30 June 2025 compared with the 47% in the previous year for the same period. Free cash flow for the quarter was 82 crore.
And I’ll give it idea about the various businesses. Engineering division revenue for the quarter was 1298 crore compared with the 1 to 65 crores in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Profit before interest and tax for the quarter was 153 crore against 157 crore in the corresponding quarter for the previous year. Metal form products the revenue for the quarter was 366 crore compared with the 358 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Profit before interest and tax for the quarter was 37 crores against 36 crores in corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Coming to the mobility division, revenue for the quarter was 198 crore compared with 181 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Profit before interest and tax for the quarter was 7 crore against the profit of 2 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous years. Others the revenue for the quarter was 236 crore compared with 247 crore in the previous year. Profit before interest and tax for the quarter was at 17 crore against 15 crore in the previous quarter of the previous year. Coming to the consolidated result, TI console revenue for the quarter was 5,309 crore against 4,578 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
The profit before share of profit on associate and joint venture Exceptional item index for the quarter was 449 crore against 470 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. CG Power Industrial Solution, a subsidiary of TI where we hold 58% stake registered a console revenue of 2878 crore during the quarter against 2228 crores in the previous quarter of the previous year. Profit before the tax of the quarter was 364 crore against 336 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Shanti Gas Ltd. A subsidiary in the gas business in which company holds 70.46% stake registered a revenue of 135 crore against the quarter against 139 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Profit before tax for the quarter was at 31 crore as against 29 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Thanks and happy to take questions from the investors community.
Questions and Answers:
operator
Thank you very much, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may click on the raise hand icon from the participant tab on your screen. We will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. We request our participants to please click on raise hand icon. We also request our participants to restrict our questions to two and you may then return to the queue for more questions. To rejoin the queue. You may click on the raise hand icon again. We will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles.
We will take the first question from Rajat Agarwal from Nilgiri Investment managers. Please go ahead. Sagarwal, your audio is muted. Could you please unmute and ask your question?
Unidentified Participant
Yeah. Hi. Good morning. Am I audible?
operator
Yes, sir.
Mukesh Ahuja
Yeah.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah. Hi. I have a few questions related to the E truck and the electric vehicle division. Now if I were to look at the EBIT of electric vehicles it has increased compared to Q1 and Q4 as well. So which Particular division has, has the losses increased and if you can share the volume for three wheelers, SCV and E truck for this quarter.
Mukesh Ahuja
So hey, we don’t give, you know, divisional level.
operator
Hello. Management team, we are unable to hear you. Ladies and gentlemen, we request you to please remain connected. Sorry to interrupt management team, maybe request you to repeat the response because we couldn’t hear you for a few seconds.
Mukesh Ahuja
Yeah, is it clear now?
operator
It’s better. Sir, you may. Could you please repeat the response?
Mukesh Ahuja
So, so we said kind of we don’t give EBIT level broken down into the 4, 4 parts of tip and mobility. So we just give it an aggregate level on the specific numbers. Jalaj is going to give the details. Yeah, the numbers for quarter one were 1791 which included 45 E trucks, 1668 three wheelers, 44 small commercial vehicles and 34 number of E tractors.
Unidentified Participant
Right, thank you sir. Just continuing on the E truck there is a PLI which was announced by the government recently. So do we stand to benefit from it? And if I were to look at the FY25 cost of goods sold for E truck division, the gross margin was almost nil. So what’s the plan here? How do we propose to increase the gross margin especially in light of the increasing competition? And if indigenization is one of the strategies, then do we have internal targets to reach a certain level of indigenization by end of FY26 or FY27? Thank you sir.
Mukesh Ahuja
So on the PME drive which was your first question, the scheme has been announced and it calls for there are various eligibility criteria in terms of, you know, various component which have been prescribed by the government and Indianization at various level of those particular component towards which we are working. And we are very, very confident that in quarter two we will be, you know, applying for the eligibility of the same. And I think by the time we meet for the next investor call we, our application would be underway for the qualification under PME drive. Although the scheme does have its own challenges in terms of certificate of deposits which makes the customer eligible for the same.
So it has its own set of challenges also. But as far as our product qualification is concerned, we are on our way and hopefully in quarter two we will be there. And so in terms of gross margins, obviously kind of the, you know, when we look at the product, the two things that we’re focused on is on cost reduction, some of that is through indigenization, but also on overall cost reduction on the truck. And the second element is that basically as A as our volumes pick up, you know that also helps take cost out of the whole process. So that will help us as well. So those are the two focuses there which will continue.
Unidentified Participant
Right sir, thank you.
Mukesh Ahuja
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. Before we take our next questions, we’d like to remind participants to ask a question. You may click on the raise hand icon from the participant tab. We now take our next question from Ms. Anupam Gupta of IIFL. Please go ahead.
Anupam Gupta
Yes, good morning. So firstly on the core business, what was the sort of volume growth that we saw for the engineering segment and the metal farm product business in this quarter? And let’s say have you seen the entire steel price movement passed on fully or do we still have further downsides from the possible in from the steel prices in the next few quarters?
Mukesh Ahuja
Thanks Anupam. In terms of the volume growth engineering division it is around 10% and in the metal form division it is about 3 to 4%. And coming to your question on the steel prices, as you’re already aware we have mentioned in various calls it takes about 1 or 2/4 lag. So which will be able to recover fully in coming quarter or next quarter, it will be full recovery will happen from the customers. I think your question was whether there be downside from the steel prices. That’s not downside, no. What I refer to as. So basically your revenue growth appears low because steel prices are being passed on. So that’s what I was referring to in terms of downsides on the reported revenue growth. That’s the question.
Anupam Gupta
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And secondly, just following on there. So ideally given that these prices are being paused on, ideally our margins optically should look higher in both the segments. But we are not at least seeing that in the reported numbers. So what’s, what’s keeping the margins not, not, not allowing them to expand effectively.
Mukesh Ahuja
So Anupam, as I said earlier, the steel price increase is already factored in the financials but recovery from the customers is yet to happen which will be happening in current quarter and the next quarter. So after that margins will look like what we used to maintain earlier.
Anupam Gupta
Okay, okay, okay. Understand. So the next question is on the mobility business cycles business. Basically this quarter we saw sort of a revival after a lot of quarters of weak performance both in terms of growth as well as margin. So what, what are you seeing there? And anything that can be, let’s say extrapolated to being sustainable or is it just a spike?
Mukesh Ahuja
So as you are aware with the quarter one is generally when the schools and colleges are opening it it is a good quarter always for mobility division and which we have maybe fully participated in the growth rather growth maybe after long time growth is very, very positive for mobility division. Other ways focus on other like we are into E bike now and which is going full hog and the focus on the fitness as well as spare part business is also contributing to the growth of mobility division.
Anupam Gupta
Okay, okay, understand. And so one last question on the EV business. So what we have seen is clearly a significant competition which has which has come in and we have seen our volumes at least in the three wheeler side of it being very weak in the last 45 months. What sort of levers are there which can help us reverse this sort of decline which we are seeing especially in terms of let’s say a product refresh which you had talked about in the past. So what’s the plan for the three wheeler side of it where competition is very intense.
Mukesh Ahuja
Yeah, thanks Anupam. You are right. There is increased competition coming in in the three wheeler business. There are three, four levers that we are planning to work on. One is as you rightly said, the refresh model which is we are well on our way and quarter two will see the launch of the same. So that is one Second is that one new sub segment seems to have emerged which is on the higher battery pack side of it which is offering higher range to the end customers. So very clearly three sub segments are emerging. One is a lower around 9 kilowatt battery, second is about 1010 to 11 kilowatt battery and third one is about 12 to 13 kilowatt battery.
In the previous call, if you recall, we talked about us evaluating which are the other sub segments we will play. As of now we play in the 10 kilowatt segment. So we are also contemplating getting into some of the other sub segment of the passenger auto. So that’s the second lever and should we decide to do that that will happen somewhere in maybe Q4 or so. So that’s the second lever. Third is that to improve our volumes we are also planning an entry into the other segment which is the L5N which is the cargo segment.
In fact the product at select dealerships has been introduced in the market and Q2 will see those volumes also coming in and we are actively evaluating entry into the Eric segment which is the L3 segment with you know, somewhere in Q3 of this year. So and last but not the least, there is a full fledged front end plan in terms of number of dealerships, our own manpower and how do we scale up so that plan is in place. So These are the 4, 5 levers which will be played to increase our volumes.
Anupam Gupta
Sure. So that’s helpful. I’ll come back in the queue. Thank you.
operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, you may click on the raise hand icon. Again we take the next question from Gyanasundaram S from Avendis Park. Please go ahead.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
Hi. Hello. Thanks for the opportunity. My first question is with regards to the E business again is that we’d indicated that we’re looking for operational break even in the three wheeler passenger segment as well as in terms of HCV by the end of the year. Going with what first quarter is delivered. Are we in line for that particular target?
Mukesh Ahuja
It’s. No, it’s unlikely to happen. The. You know, I think it’s been so. From our perspective, I think kind of we’ve seen.
operator
Management team, we cannot hear you right now. We’ve lost your audio. Management team, are you still connected? Ladies and gentlemen, we request you to please remain connected while we check the connection for the management team.
Mukesh Ahuja
I. I don’t know when we dropped them.
operator
Yes sir. Now we can hear you. So you’ll have to repeat the response again, sir.
Mukesh Ahuja
Yeah. No, so Nana, I said that no, we. It doesn’t look like we will hit operational breakeven this year. And that’s been predominantly based on, you know, our volumes not getting to the estimates that we thought that we could basically deliver. And so at this stage. Right. And I don’t. I mean like this is kind of a fairly dynamic market but at this stage I would say that though we did give that guidance, I don’t believe we will hit it.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
Thank you sir. Just a continuation to that. Do you think there is any macro level trigger that is required for this to really hit the volumes that we’ve been targeting or do you think internally what we are doing should get us to the numbers?
Mukesh Ahuja
No. So there are two things, right. In terms of macro level, obviously kind of one of the things has been that, you know, the, you know, the government policy has not been kind of, you know, I, I would just say that kind of, you know, it’s. We expected that we would have, you know, FAME two or whatever it was you know, kind of after FAME one. And obviously that has not played out right. Which is basically the. So now the thinking is different across how they should be subsidized. That obviously has kind of a big factor from a macro perspective that plays into this.
But otherwise I think the good thing is because now it’s clear that we’re not getting that. It’s just increasing our impetus and all the other actions we need to take, those are internal actions and we need to kind of take them, which is good. That is basically pushing us both on the cost focus and what else we need to do to basically pick up adoption. I mean adoption in trucks and market share in three wheelers. So that’s what our focus is moving to. Now.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
One other one is in terms of my favorite always is what has been or how is your capital allocation strategy now? Has it changed in terms of the opportunity you’re seeing in terms of market, something on the electronic side or last time we briefly hinted that we might invest more into TI Medical. So where are we on that aspect and what are we going to do the cash flow generating over this year, next year?
Mukesh Ahuja
So Nana, the obviously kind of the, the first thing is that we’re doubling down on these kind of three businesses, right? Which is basically TI Clean Mobility, TI Medical and the CDM03 Expert business. Right. So that’s basically the three areas that we’ve basically taken and we have to show that is going to be. Show that we can basically deliver on those. So that is going to be. So if you take in terms of sequencing, we’ve got kind of the requirements of the core business, then we’ve got doubling down on these three businesses and then the next set like we’ve articulated is that if we grow into anything now it will be only on the back of partnerships that basically allow us to have a.
To ensure that, you know, basically there’s a quicker go to market opportunity and a more identified, you know, kind of market to go to. Right. So I’d say these are the three stacks as it were.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
No, but has there been a change in strategy? Because I remember you indicating that ticmpl there wouldn’t be any more funding needed right now. But, but now we’re saying you want to double down on ticmpl. Are we going to fund more of TICMPL going forward?
Mukesh Ahuja
So right now obviously kind of Tic M pill is fine and doesn’t have cash needs. All I’m saying is that we have to. First, if your question is kind of are we going to allocate towards kind of newer areas? I’m saying the newer areas are basically. So first off, I’m saying the first focus is to ensure that we’re successful in these three areas. After that the, the if we look at any areas it will be based on partnerships that basically give us the confidence that There’s a quicker path to profitability in the new segments we get into.
Right.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
Well and perfect. Now one last one is that there have been media news that have been coming up about regarding a family issue within the Murugappa Group. Would you like to say anything to the minority shareholders of TUBE in terms of how this could affect the business?
Mukesh Ahuja
No, I don’t think there’s anything to discuss from that perspective. Right. Which is like, you know, I, I mean, I think broadly the, the point is that, you know, we don’t first anyway discuss any of the family issues in public domain. Whatever comes out in media has come out. Right. When there’s, I don’t think there’s anything more to articulate about that.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
So can we rest me assure that minority shareholders will know will be impacted because the ownership change or anything of that sort of.
Mukesh Ahuja
So Nyana, again, I don’t think that, you know, the group has ever taken action that affects one group of shareholders negatively. It is not in kind of our ethos or the way we work with, with things at all. So I can’t see any issue in kind of. I cannot see a situation where we would take actions that would harm one group of shareholders in a process. Perfect.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
This is something that I’ve also articulated, but I just want the market to hear from you. Thank you. Sure, sir.
operator
Thank you. Our next question is from Salil Desai of Marcellus Investment Managers. Please go ahead.
Salil Desai
Thank you. My question, two of them. So first was on this E rickshaw entry plans. Now, you know, given that want to double down on EVs as one of the three segments. But we’re already kind of struggling with the macro nuts, you know, policy wise, not supportive competition, increasing market share, you know, not growing in three wheeler L5, you know, why distract yourself and get into a space which is more crowded, more competitive, very little product differentiation. So how are you thinking of the Ericsha business? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Mukesh Ahuja
Yeah, so you know, there are, there are certain markets, especially north and east, if you look at where we already have a network in place and we plan to have increase our further network in those particular areas which are very strong markets for E rickshaw. So in terms of our network strategy, we see a clear sync as far as that particular category is concerned. That is number one. Number two, increasingly government is also making the regulations stringent when it comes to that particular product category in terms of safety and some of the other norms where we feel could be, you know, a differentiator between unorganized player versus players like us and some of the other competition that is number two, number three, we are also seeing the migration and the upgradation of the industry happening from a typical lead acid battery upwards.
So that’s the other, so you know, combination of all these three things. We see a market over there. Will we be a absolute mass player in that particular segment? Answer may be no. We will continue to maintain our premium positioning the way we have been doing in terms of three wheeler auto and that’s the plan that it’s going to give us incremental volumes and also will be another line of revenue generation for our dealerships in context of the dealership viability and also very, very applicable for north and east specific as markets.
Salil Desai
I see, thank you. The second question is you know when, when we go out in the market and you know say get some feedback from users then for the three wheeler, you know we consistently are told that it’s a great product.
Mukesh Ahuja
Right.
Salil Desai
And very different from what competition has. But you know, translation of that into market share gains, you know, there seems to be some gap there. So where do you think you might be missing out versus what some of your larger competitors are doing who have been kind of traditionally players for a long time in the ICE side of three pillars.
Mukesh Ahuja
So you are right, the observation is right that from a product acceptance, from a customer point of view, from that perspective we should have, you know the volume should have scaled much higher than as compared to what the volumes have been. So two, three challenges which we are facing in the market of course is a established network of the competition which is the established ICE network versus you know, the network which we are trying to establish. That is number one especially in the. Yeah so, so that’s, that’s number one. But we are, we are planning to you know increase our network and scale up our.
So for example we are now 91 dealers. Our plan is to be about 125 dealerships by the end of this year so that our volumes increase. That is number one. Number two, this particular segment has seen a lot of product evolution. You know, as I was saying in response to the previous question about lower battery pack and a higher battery pack. So we are also planning to you know, spruce up our existing product which was a product, you know, a segment leader when we launched it and over a period of time the competition caught up.
We are now trying to, we will upgrade our product and we’ll be launching the upgraded product in quarter two and also enter into the other sub segments. The third one has been our local tie UPS with the financials, etc, where you know, which again seems to be one area which we have to work upon and which we are working towards to increase the stock sale of our vehicles. So these are two, three things that we are planning. So Salil, you’re right, and so basically what we’re doing is getting much more aggressive in terms of go to market now, right? And so obviously, I mean, and, and I think that I do believe that this is going to start yielding results, right? So that’s what I’m confident. Great, great.
Salil Desai
All the best for that. And you know, last question was this was kind of follow up to, I think one of the first questions asked on gross margins at IP and tech. Now understand that you know, operating margins will improve as volumes increase. But on the gross profit basis, you know, what was F25 all about in the sense that could you not get enough pricing for the cost of raw materials or was it competitive discounted volumes or something like that? What would have been the reasons for low gross margins?
Mukesh Ahuja
Okay, see from the gross margin perspective, you know, I think the two things, right, one is as our volumes go up, our capability to buy, you know, components and aggregates at kind of at better prices is kind of a huge driver for us, right? And so that I think is, is the situation we’re in, Salil, where basically as volumes go up, aggregate costs and component costs will start coming down. And then the second part obviously is that we’re also working on, on the electronic side to bring down the components of each of the. Which is also significant, right, As a portion of the overall buy here of all the components there.
And then the third part of course is battery where as we start packing our batteries here, which will happen towards the end of this year, then that will also bring down prices more, cost more.
Salil Desai
Thank you. Thank you so much. And all the very best.
Mukesh Ahuja
Yeah, thanks Elaine.
operator
Thank you. Our next question is from Vipul Kumar Shah from Sumangal Investments. Please go ahead.
Vipulkumar Shah
Hi, thanks for the opportunity. Sir, would you repeat the all the electric vehicle side figures and can you give the comparative figures for the last quarter as well? And in view of lower volumes, should.
Mukesh Ahuja
We expect a higher, substantially higher losses. In this, in this division this year? Thank you.
Vipulkumar Shah
So in terms of losses. Right. Right now we won’t kind of share whether it’ll be significantly higher or not. But in terms of the numbers, you want the quarterly. Okay, you can just repeat it. It’ll be there in the transcript anyway.
Mukesh Ahuja
Yeah, so the big trucks. So I’ll first state the quarter one number and then state the quarter four of last year. So big trucks were 45 versus 65. Three wheeler were 1668 versus 1662. Small commercial vehicle were 44 versus 4 and tractor were 34 versus 2.
Vipulkumar Shah
Thank you sir. In terms of. Yeah. Sorry. You please continue sir.
Vipulkumar Shah
No, no, that’s fine. In terms of your query, I mean this financial year the volume is targeted and definitely will be will be higher as compared to the previous year.
Vipulkumar Shah
Okay. Thank you sir.
operator
Thank you. Our next question is a follow up from Rajita Garwal of Nilgiri Investment managers. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Good morning sir. Just a clarification. You mentioned the battery packaging plant is. This is the same plant in Manisar, right? Which will operationalize by end of FY26.
Mukesh Ahuja
Yes, that’s correct.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. And if you can provide quick updates on the Nasik plant, has it started to contribute revenues? There was a reference to Ti Medical’s Green fleet plant in Noida. Any other update that you can share on Ti Medical or cdmo? If there are any orders you received during this quarter especially. Sorry, sorry again. Especially on the export side of Ti Medical.
Mukesh Ahuja
So I take one by one. CRSS NASI plant has already started commercial production and Q1 maybe in terms of taking approvals from the customers. I’ll say a majority of the customers has given the approval. And now we are in the ramp up phase. And we expect by same period in the next year we’ll be fully able to utilize the capacity coming to Ti Medical exports order. Happy to share. There is a good maybe because all the CE certification of the majority of the country work is almost over. However, there are few countries which are still awaited to get the CE certification.
But whatever CE certification is over. With that we are Q2. We are fully booked with the export orders and greenfield plant. We have yet to take a decision. We are studying it and we will come back to investor community whenever we decide on that particular piece. Cdmo Govind, you would like to take.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah. On the manufacturing facility we got the environment clearance for the commercial facility. As far as the semi commercial plant. Is concerned at this juncture they are.
Mukesh Ahuja
Doing validation batches for the first DMF which is likely to come up the next two quarters.
Unidentified Participant
Right? Thank you.
operator
Thank you. Our next question is from Abhishek Ghosh from DSP Mutual fund. Please go ahead. Ms. Abhishek Ghosh, please go ahead with your question. There seems to be no response from this connection. If he joins back, we will unmute his connection. In the meanwhile we’ll move to our next participant, that’s Amarkant Kaur of Access Capital. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, hi sir, this is Nishit from Axis Capital. Sir, I have basically one fundamental question on EVs. We are trying to disrupt this segment by entering and trying to take market share away from incumbents.
Mukesh Ahuja
Right.
Unidentified Participant
So just wanted to understand how are you thinking in terms of our right to win in this business? Just to elaborate it a little bit further, initially when we entered the business, incumbents were not present so we had some head start. But now we are seeing incumbents kind of coming into this business and incumbents will have inheritance advantage in terms of cost, distribution, brand.
Mukesh Ahuja
Right.
Unidentified Participant
So ideally we are left with only technology and innovation in terms of disrupting the segment. And here also we have not yet started too much in terms of developing products on our own or even in the three wheeler segment. We are trying to catch up in terms of offering products which others have already offered.
Mukesh Ahuja
Right.
Unidentified Participant
Because obviously incumbents will have more resources which we will always lag. So just wanted to understand top down, how do you think what will customer get if they buy tiev products versus the well established players for which they have been buying for many, many years now.
Mukesh Ahuja
Thank you so much, Nishit. I think kind of, you know, even when people talked about, even on this call, when, I don’t know, you heard it when people talking about the three wheeler, you know, the general, the general view on the product is that the product is far more innovative than, you know, what is there in the market today. Right. Because it’s more spacious, it’s more comfortable, it’s got higher power. Because in a lot of situations what we’re seeing is the incumbent models are the existing ICE model that’s been transformed. I mean, just been kind of electrified, if I were to call it that.
Right. And so we do believe that there is going to be enough room for product differentiation and innovation in all the segments we’re going to. Right. Even if you see the small commercial vehicle, the reviews we’ve got on our product are that it is significantly differentiated and very innovative. Even from a performance perspective, it’s rated much higher than in terms of all of the consumer studies we’ve done this far. It’s rated as a real leader in its space. So I do believe that new entrants have the opportunity to look at is spaced very differently from the incumbents and that’s what gives us the opportunity.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, thank you so much.
Mukesh Ahuja
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. A reminder to our participants, if you wish to ask a question, you May click on the raise hand icon from the participant tab or the reactions tab on your screen. We will wait for a moment while participants join the queue. We take the next question from Anupam Gupta of ifl. Please go ahead.
Anupam Gupta
Yeah, so a couple of questions. So just following up on the previous question on the viability. So you said the product differentiation has been obviously a key strategy. Do you think that it should be augmented by a much faster expansion of the distribution? Because maybe the lag which happens in terms of distribution expansion allows the competition to come in with the similar or product or a better pricing. So do you think that part is lagging and can be worked upon in a much better way than what is happening at this point of time?
Mukesh Ahuja
Yeah, so I mean, I think it’s a good question. So I think the answer, Anupam, will be different for different verticals. This is something we’re contemplating for the, for the three wheeler vertical, how aggressive we go if you take the truck vertical, basically that is not using because that’s all, you know, basically it’s not using distribution channels. So it’s a direct go to market product. And but I think definitely your point is very relevant on three wheelers and it’s something that we’re basically internally discussing. Small commercial vehicle is a mix right now and we’re seeing very good traction on that product.
So, you know, I would say that, but it’s an answer that’s vertical specific.
Anupam Gupta
Sure. Okay. And one more question on the truck side of it. So as of now, given the sort of range which it offers, it is sort of a point to point transportation niche segment which we are seeing traction in. Have you seen, have you seen traction in the fleet side of it for so far? Or is it mostly the corporate side which is driving it and how fast can you, let’s say, launch a product which can target the fleet side of operations for truck users?
Mukesh Ahuja
By the end of this year, definitely we should have battery swapping available on the truck. Right. And I think that that is a solution that will then allow for fleets to also start using this, especially if we can start looking at battery swapping infrastructure as well. So I’d say yes, you know, the target will be by the end of this year that we’re able to kind of go after that segment as well.
Anupam Gupta
Okay. All right, sir, I’m done. Yeah, thank you.
Mukesh Ahuja
Thank you.
operator
The next question is from Kyan Sundaram s from a vendor, Spark. Please go ahead.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
Thank you. Once again, this question is very specific for Mukesh. I just wanted to understand as to what’s the capex that we planned this year for the standalone business.
Mukesh Ahuja
It’S about 350 crores.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
And can you please split it sir, into which division the investments are going. Into it will be a combination of engineering and metal form division.
Mukesh Ahuja
Okay, I’ll take that. And on the metal form side we were talking about the right way revenues last time. Has that been any progress on that front? So like we shared in the previous call, like you’re already aware Hyundai is coming in the western region. So there were plant in the Pune is under commissioning. So we expect that volume to kick in from October.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
Right. So my question was very specific on the railway order that we had spoken about last quarter.
Mukesh Ahuja
So railway like what we shared in the previous call, it is spread of about seven years. And this year particularly we’ll be completing the sample approval and maybe how to sort out the logistics because ultimately supplies are going to be in Latur and next year onwards we will see volumes ramping up for railway.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
Perfect sir. Thank you sir.
operator
Thank you. Our next question is from Niket Shah from Otilal Oswal Asset Management. Please go ahead.
Niket shah
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. I just had one question. So on 1st of July 2025, China has announced an anti involution policy which basically means that a lot of products where there used to be meaningful cut in prices or significant competition intensity within China will be streamlined. In that context if lithium ion prices had to move up would it be possible for us to take a price increase on our final product and yet protect our margins or you think in that kind of situation there would be headwinds on margins?
Anupam Gupta
I think if lithium ion starts. Nikit, thanks for the question. If lithium ion starts moving up, everybody will increase prices, right? Because it is the largest component of everybody’s cost structure. So that would just. I mean the pragmatic response to that will be that everybody will increase prices. I don’t think anybody can be in.
Niket shah
A situation where they don’t got it. Okay, perfect.
Niket shah
Thanks.
Mukesh Ahuja
Thanks.
operator
Thank you. Our next question is a follow up from Rajit Agarwal of Nirgili investment managers. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you again. Sir, just a quick question on the models that are under that were launched for the E Trick E trug business. Currently we only have 55,000 trucks ton truck. Right Sir, There was a plan to launch a 28,000 tipper as well. Is that on road.
Mukesh Ahuja
Good? Yeah. No, the 28 is later in our sequencing. The first was after the 55 ton, you know tractor trailer We’ve now got a that was a 6 by 4 then now we’ve got a 55, 4 by 2 and then the next will be a tipper product. So that is the first three in the sequencing right now because those are the three largest markets.
Unidentified Participant
Right. Thank you sir.
operator
Thank you. Our next question is from Yana Sundaram S from a vendor Spark. Please go ahead.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
Thank you for the follow up. Mukesh, I just want to understand as to what is the kind of growth rate that we assume should assume for the standalone business, excluding the EV and the rest. The kind of macro situation that you see ahead of us and also in addition to that is that with largely the export component will we have an impact because of the tariffs from the US and then what is the outlook on the exports specifically on the standard part of business.
Mukesh Ahuja
So thanks for the question coming to exports piece. Our next immediate quarter maybe orders are intact, but you are aware of that us the way it is becoming uncertain so a longer period of time it is difficult to comment as of now. But coming to the guidance for the future, maybe we have said in the previous calls double digit growth we are confident and if exports becomes a little bit of handwritten, we have to devise a strategy how to mitigate that. That’s how we are working on internally.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
And this double digit growth we are referring from an EBITDA perspective, assuming certain cost efficiencies also kick in.
Mukesh Ahuja
Yes.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
Okay. And just in terms of numbers, what would be the current exposure to the. US market at a TA level it is about 4%.
Mukesh Ahuja
Right. And an exports as a percentage would be roughly about 13, 14%, 15%, 15% and target 25. Are we still sticking to that number? Very difficult to comment as of now given the circumstances. But if things goes well, that is a target we are still checking to, but it is uncertain as of now given the macro environment.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
Right. So got it. So one final one just on the exports again is that you know there’s been a target that we indicated for FY25 also. So looking back at the last two years, if something did not go right in the exports part of the business, what was it?
Mukesh Ahuja
So it was basically we’ve, we have done a product development in one or two categories which were the newer market we’re supposed to participate. So there was a bit of delay on those things from our wind which has given a bit of delay in that. But on top of that this environment in which is everybody is getting protective, whether it is Europe or whether it is US is adding a little bit challenge to that.
Gnanasundaram Saminathan
Perfect, sir. Thank you, sir. Thanks for the opportunity.
operator
Thank you. As there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand over the floor back to the management team for closing comments.
Mukesh Ahuja
So we thank all our investor partners. Nothing to add from ourselves. Thank you very much.
operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of IIFL Capital Services Ltd. That concludes today’s conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now click on the leave icon to exit the meeting. Thank you all for your participation.