Ahluwalia Contracts (India) Limited (532811) Q3 FY2026 Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Ahluwalia Contracts India Limited Q3 FY '26 Earnings Conference Call hosted by AMBIT Capital Private Limited. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Sudeep Bora. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of AMBIT Capital, I thank the management of Ahluwalia Contracts India Limited for the opportunity to host the Q3 FY '26 earnings conference call to discuss the results, I'm pleased to welcome Mr. Shobhit Uppal, Deputy Managing Director; Mr. Vikas Ahluwalia, Director; and Mr. Satbeer Singh, Chief Financial Officer. Now I invite management to discuss key highlights of the quarter, post which we'll open up for Q&A. Thank you, and over to you.

Hi. Good afternoon, good evening, everybody. Ahluwalia Contracts (India) Limited has announced its financial results for Q3 FY '26. During Q3 FY '26, the company has achieved a turnover of INR 1,060.72 crores and a PAT of INR 54.02 crores in comparison to a turnover of INR 951.96 crores and a PAT of INR 49.39 crores during Q3 FY '25. The company has registered a growth of 11.43% in turnover and a 9.38% growth in PAT during Q3 FY '26 as in comparison to the corresponding quarter FY '25. EPS of the company for Q3 FY '26 is INR 8.06 compared to INR 7.37 in the corresponding quarter FY '25. During Q3 FY '26, the company's EBITDA margin is 9.05% as compared to 8.86% in Q3 FY '25 and PAT margin is 5.02% as compared to the PAT margin of 5.11% in Q3 FY '25. During the period of 9 months FY '26 of the company, the company has achieved a turnover of INR 3,242.90 crores and a PAT of INR 184.18 crores in comparison to a turnover of INR 2,882.79 crores and a PAT of INR 118.35 crores during the corresponding 9 months of the last financial year FY '25. EPS of the company for the period of 9 months FY '26 is INR 27.49 as compared to EPS of INR 17.67 during the period of 9 months FY '25. During the period of 9 months FY '26, the company's EBITDA margin is 9.59% as compared to 7.57%, PAT margin of 5.6% as compared to 4.05% in the period of 9 months FY '25. Net order book of the company as on 31st December 2025 is INR 18,679.50 crores to be executed in the next 2.5 to 3 years. Total order inflow in FY '26 year-to-date is INR 9,562 crores. Thank you. We are open to take questions now.

[Operator Instructions] The first question is from the line of Vaibhav Shah from JM Financial.

So firstly, given the margins and the execution in 9 months, so how do you see the annual revenue for FY '25 -- for FY '26, you're targeting around 15% to 20% kind of growth.

No, more like anywhere between 10% to 15%. Margin projection is what I had given last time. It will be double digit. But December, January have been impacted by NGT and project closures in Delhi. And as nearly 44% of our order book comes from Delhi, that's impacted the top line a bit. And we are expecting slight disruption in March also this time because Holi is earlier this time. So yes, anywhere between 10% to 15% top line.

Sir, and for next year?

Next year, it will be 15% to 20%...

Okay. Sir, given the very strong order book and you mentioned that the orders are to be executed in roughly 3-odd years. So can the growth be even higher? Are we being conservative for '27?

Vaibhav, you asked me this every time. We are being slightly conservative. Yes, the order book is -- it was healthy last time around. It's healthier now. We've given a projection of about INR 8,000 crores worth of order book in this inflow -- fresh order inflow in this year. We've crossed that. It's at about INR 9,500 crores. So yes, we are being conservative when we are saying 15% to 20%.

Okay. Sir, secondly, on a few key projects. So when do we expect to start the work on Gem & Jewelry Park?

We will start it in Q1 FY '27. I mentioned last time around also in April, I said we'll start -- the drawings -- approvals are coming in now, and the client is in the process of handing over a part of the site to us. There was an overburden of earth, which was to be removed by the client. They have already done that substantially. And 30% to 40% of the area, they are in the process of handing over to us, which should happen in the next month, and we should start the work.

Any target that we look for this project in FY '27 in terms of revenue?

Definitely. Gem and Jewelry Park, definitely. We are -- as I said, Q1 FY '27, the work will start. Actual billing will start.

Can you do this 30%, 35% kind of execution which you are targeting earlier for '27?

Sorry, come again, 30%, 35%, what? Sorry?

For FY '27, what kind of revenue are we targeting from this project?

Of the total value of the project, I think it would be to the tune of about 20% -- 20% to 25%.

Okay. And sir, secondly, on CSMT, we have seen some weakness in execution in Q3 compared to the month -- quarterly run rate of last 4 quarters. So how do you say for the entire year and for next year?

I think totally, we had projected that we will execute in this financial year, we would be executing anywhere between INR 300 crores and INR 350 crores worth of work on CSMT. And we are confident we will be doing that. The work progress has picked up there. And so we should be meeting that target. As far as the next financial year goes, we should be doing a work of about INR 700 crores there.

Okay. And sir, lastly, one data point. So order inflow number is INR 9,562 crores. So of this, what would be the value ex of GST?

Out of this INR 9,562 crores, INR 603 crores.

INR 603 crores GST value?

GST value.

Yes.

The next question is from the line of Lakshminarayanan from Tunga Investment.

See, when we had a call in the third week of November, we were confident of growth of around 15% to 20%. And did you anticipate that this would actually get toned down to 10% to 15%? Or what actually happened in the last 5 to 6 weeks of Q3? That is my first question. The second question is that one of our key accounts, Signature Global, they called out some bit of slowness in their projects, particularly the Sector 37D Sarvam. I don't know whether we are working on the DLX...

We are working. Yes.

Sarvam DLX we are working?

We are working on DXP, Deluxe. Signature 37D, not the new one. New one is the name that you took, we are not working on that.

Okay. Okay. And also...

I think what they -- sorry to interject, but this is Sarvam -- what was the name that you said?

Yes. They talked about the Project Sarvam, which was launched in December 2025.

They are talking about a slowness in sales there. I don't -- so that's why we are not associated with that job nor have we bid for that job.

Got it. And also a larger question because we have -- DLF is also a large important client. And what is your sense of the entire market? I think last time also, you said that we are somehow ring-fenced ourselves from any particular slowdown or any particular cash issues with any of the developers. Can you just elaborate a bit more on that? So these are my 2 questions. One is that what happened between November 17 to December end, which led to seemingly an underwhelming guidance from where you started. Is there something that really happened? And then the second is in terms of the Gurgaon stuff?

Yes. So first question, this -- as I mentioned to Vaibhav in response to the question that he asked, the NGT impact this year has been -- has been more prolonged, so to say. Since 44% of our order book is from NCR, December and January have been impacted. Even the first week of February was impacted as far as the project closure on account of pollution was concerned. And this time, March, the Holi festival is in the first week of March. So generally, what we've seen in the past is that 3 or 4 days before the festival, the labor force starts going back to their hometown, and then it takes about a week for them to come back. So March is also going to be impacted. That's why we have reduced our projection by 2, 3, 4 percentage points as far as the top line is concerned. As regards ring-fencing or our exposure to the slowdown as far as sales of residential buildings or projects is concerned, I had mentioned last time around that we have now slowed down as far as bidding for further residential projects is concerned, we feel that out of our total bouquet of projects, residential is quite a bit. So we are now focusing on institutional projects or airports or hotels or commercial projects. Residential is not a focus area for us, especially in NCR. Having said that, the projects that we are working on, be it with DLF, as you mentioned, we have not seen any sort of issues with payments. DLF being obviously the premier development company in the country. Even with the likes of SmartWorld or Emaar, all the projects that we are executing were launched more than 2 years ago, RERA being in place, I don't see -- we've not felt any financial issues with all the clients that we are working for on these residential projects in NCR.

Got it. So just to understand, so the RERA ensures that the cash flows are restricted to that project and it is not actually taken out for any other things, right? So it...

Yes. In fact, it also puts pressure on the developer to sort of ensure that the projects are delivered in time. So we continue to face those pressures from developers to execute faster and build faster. And as I said, we've not faced any cash flow issues from these developers.

And just on the NGT thing, right? And it seems to be a recurring phenomenon every year, right? So if that is the case, is it that -- how do we build in, in our growth expectations internally? I mean, how do you realign yourself because this is happening maybe consecutively for the second or maybe third year also. And I mean, we have 44%, 45% in NCR region, and that's something which will be there for the next 2, 3 years also. So is it fair to assume that, that's something which is a given -- and I mean, is there any way in which you can address this?

So you're right, it's pretty much become a part of the annual calendar, especially the third quarter of the financial year. But having said that, because it's become a part now all the constituents of the ecosystem has become alive to it. And we are all constructively brainstorming as to how to mitigate the impact of this, how to sort of sensitize the powers that, be it the courts or the government, be it the state governments or the central government, the impact that this is having on the livelihoods of the workers involved with our industry. And we are reasonably hopeful that in the coming years, this impact is going to be mitigated with the measures that we are taking on the projects to ensure that our -- we are not contributing as much to pollution as the popular notion is. We are sensitizing the governments to this fact also. And the most important point is the -- all of us, be it the developer or be it the contractor or be it the bureaucracy, we seem to be getting aligned on this point. So we are hoping that in the coming year or years, the disruptions are not going to be as much as they have been in the last 2, 3 years. And this year has been a little more peculiar in the sense that right from the festive season, onwards, the disruption started. So -- and now wholly, as I said, is also earlier. So this impact starting from Diwali from October till January, January end has impacted our top line performance.

Just one more question. See, sometime back, maybe a year back or maybe 3 quarters back, you mentioned that there's a nonavailability of workers and especially post elections, you couldn't get them assembled, et cetera. Now I mean, how have you taken -- I mean, have any steps have been taken by the industry or by yourself so that we have -- we will have some UP elections coming next year and so on and so forth. So how do you ensure that the labor availability at the right time, at the right amount is actually taken care of? Or it's still that's a lurking issue at your end?

It's actually a full-blown issue. It's not a lurking issue. And -- but again, the slight advantage of this becoming such a large issue is that, again, all of us are aware of this fact now. It's not -- in the day it's gone by, it was only the contractor who used to grapple with this issue. Now everybody is aware. More importantly, the clients are aware of this. The governments are aware of this. And so what is happening is that there is -- this is leading to greater standardization, wherein we can do a lot of work offsite, use more mechanization to reduce the impact on -- or reduce the dependency on labor. And then training is also something that we've started, but that's in a very nascent stage. Have I answered your question?

The next question is from the line of Parvez Qazi from Nuvama.

So first, I mean, on this NGT issue, assuming, let's say, if it had not been there, what kind of execution would we have done in Q3?

What kind of execution -- we would have stayed on course for a 15-plus percent growth in our top line.

Sure. Secondly, on -- I mean, on the payment, et cetera, how do you see things now, especially from the government departments in some of the other segments of infra, we have seen a slowdown in payments in FY '26. So how is the situation in your government-funded projects?

We really -- a lot of our -- or most of our government funded government projects are central government projects. We are not really seeing much of a problem there. Other than in the odd project here and there, like we're doing a central university project in the state of Himachal Pradesh, which is partly funded by the state and partly by the center. So there, we are facing some challenges. That project is nearing completion. We are hoping to complete it in Q1 of FY '27. So there is a bit of a challenge there. We completed another hospital for the center and state government in, again, Himachal. The final payment there has been stuck for a while. So yes, with the state of Himachal, there is a bit of an issue. And we are also seeing some issues with the state of Assam. I think that's also due to the fact that the machinery there has slowed down a bit on account of the impending elections. Otherwise, we don't -- we haven't seen. All our other slow-moving projects, be it for the state of Bihar or other states, they are okay now. We've got our payments.

Sure. And a couple of data points that I needed from Satbeer-ji. What is our current gross debt level, I mean, gross borrowings?

Gross borrowing is INR 22 crores approximately.

What would be the cash level that we have currently?

Cash balance is INR 253 crores and bank balance is INR 587 crores.

What is the CapEx that we have done in...

In 9 months, we have incurred around INR 193 crores.

Okay. And apart from this order book, are we L1 in any other project?

Yes, we are L1 in both projects. This is amounting to INR 2,485 crores approx.

Sure. Last question, what is the status on the Chandigarh station redevelopment project? Has work picked up there? Or I mean what is the status now?

So Chandigarh station is nearing completion. We are targeting to complete it in Q1 FY '27. The 2 stations, Panchkula and Chandigarh have already been completed, and we have offered the client to take them over. And the platform work is also substantially underway. And as I said, in somewhere by May, we should be completing it.

The next question is from the line of Mahesh Patil from ICICI Securities.

Sir, my first question is on the DLF Dahlias project. I think last time we guided for more than INR 100 crores of revenue in this fiscal and around INR 3 billion to INR 3.5 billion next year. So are we on track for that for this year?

No. This year, it will be about 40% of that because new earthquake codes were put in place and DLF has redesigned or is in the process of redesigning or doing the structural design again. So that is why a lot of work had to be redone, obviously, at the client's cost. So that is why our target is going to be -- our turnover is going to be lesser by March end. But we should be -- post Holi, we should be in a position to take up the work in real earnest. The designs are coming in as we speak.

And sir, what is the estimate for FY '27 from this project?

From Dahlias for the next financial year, it remains what we had said last year.

Okay. And sir, this pollution issue, are we facing any challenges in the current month as well or -- because I think the last...

You're not very clearly audible. Repeat that, please?

Sir, I was asking in the last con call in November, we highlighted that till that date, we were around 11% of margins. So apart from this GRAP issue, anything else that impacted our revenue and margins this quarter?

Primarily it was GRAP only, as I said.

Yes. And sir, was there any impact of this issue in the base quarter last year, Q3?

The impact of GRAP you're talking about?

Correct -- in the last year.

It was there, definitely, but it was lesser since our exposure now has increased to the NCR market.

Okay. So you mentioned around 40% of the order book is...

Yes, more than 40% is now from NCR.

And sir, for next year, if I may ask, what would be our revenue estimate from this NCR region for FY '27? Any ballpark number?

We are in the process. It should be about 40%...

40% of revenue estimate -- okay.

The next question is from the line of Shravan Shah from Dolat Capital.

Sir, a couple of questions and clarifications. So in the fourth quarter, how much are we looking to do kind of revenue, INR 1,400-odd crores kind of a revenue that we are looking at in this fourth quarter?

Yes, exactly. It would be 10% to 15%.

Yes, about INR 1,400 crores, yes.

Okay. And next full year, then we should be doing 20% to 25%?

I said 15% to 20% earlier.

But some recoup should be there in the FY '27, given the inflow is also on the higher side, sir?

Yes, it should be. I had also mentioned that this is a conservative estimate that I think the recovery, what we've sort of lost out 3, 4 percentage points should be made up in the next financial year. That's why I said 15% to 20%.

Okay. And the margin for fourth quarter...

In our project -- just to put things in context, more so with the Central Vista project, which has come in, which is a fast -- which is a fast-moving project, will be a fast-moving project. And that is one project which the Central Vista projects are insulated from the GRAP impact. So that should also contribute substantially to our turnover next year.

Yes. So I was about to ask that only. So this out of this...

I know you well. That's why I preempted you.

So roughly, how one can look at -- so the overall time line for Central Vista is 24 months and in FY '27, can we see kind of a 40-odd percent of this INR 2,600 crores?

Yes, that's what -- initially, there is -- time is going to be taken by designing. It's a large project. It's a very complex project. So designing has already started. We are awaiting clearance from the authorities. These are important buildings which are having to be demolished. They have yet not been vacated. So we should be billing at least 30% plus in this year.

Okay. Got it. And in terms of the margin, Q4 and next year, 10% is doable or we can see even...

Definitely doable.

Okay. Okay. But a possibility towards 10.5% is there for next year?

That's 6% to 10%.

Okay. Okay. And just to clarify this INR 9,500 crores plus order inflow, so this is excluding the GST you're saying?

GST is included in that INR 603 crores.

INR 603 crores.

Yes, is included in the figure of INR 9,562 crores.

Okay. Okay. So if you remove that and broadly INR 8,900-odd crores.

Yes.

Okay. And the L1 that we said INR 2,485 crores, so that is also excluding GST or including?

That is also including GST because most of that government projects and that including GST.

Okay. And so these are 3 projects. So last time we were having the 2 projects, Bhubaneswar University and RML Hospital Delhi.

These are 4 projects.

Can you sir name it, all these 4 projects?

One is RML, one is Odisha University, one is Assam Judicial Complex, one is Kota Airport.

Okay. And lastly, sir, balance sheet details, inventory, debtors, trade payable and mobilization retention and unbilled...

Debtors are INR 638 crores and retention INR 431 crores, mobilization INR 729 crores, [indiscernible] INR 738 crores.

Sorry, INR 738 crores is what?

Creditors.

Creditors, INR 738 crores, yes.

And Inventory INR 359 crores, and [indiscernible] revenue INR 639 crores.

INR 639 crores. In terms of the CapEx in the fourth quarter, how much more -- INR 193 crores we have done, how much more we will be doing...

In this quarter, we have incurred INR 55 crores.

INR 55 crores more.

About INR 100 crores. INR 100 crores.

Okay. total. So around INR 300 crores for the entire full year.

Yes.

And next year also similar INR 300 crores?

Yes. Next year also similar. It's similar. It should be lesser actually because the order inflow that we've had now, we more or less -- by the end of March, we would have catered to the CapEx for those projects.

Okay. And sir, this L1 most likely will be converted into LOA by this March, this INR 2,485-odd crores?

I can't say on all these jobs. Really, it's very difficult because as we've seen, sometimes with government projects, especially state government projects, it takes a long time.

Okay. So next year, then apart from this, the prior if I have to look at, can one look at INR 8,000 crores, INR 9,000 crores similar run rate in terms of inflow for FY '27?

As I said, we are picking and choosing our projects. We have focus on -- residential is not there. So I think logically speaking, next year, the inflow will be slightly lesser.

INR 5,000 crores, INR 6,000 crores?

Yes. Because our focus is going to be in increasing our efficiency and increasing our margins and doing delivery on the projects that we have bagged in this year and last year.

The next question is from the line of Sandip Sabharwal from ASK Investment.

I just wanted to find about this new Labor Code provision. So most companies actually put this as an extraordinary expense. You have, I think, included it in the labor salary and wages. So ex of that, if we have to see what would have been the margins in the PAT, have you done some calculations?

INR 1.31 crores that has [indiscernible] during this 9 months due to introduction of Labor Code.

Satbeer is saying the impact till December is INR 13.1 crores.

It's INR 1.31 crores. It's not INR 13 crores.

No, INR 1.31 crores.

The next question is from the line of Vaibhav Shah from JM Financial.

Sir, what would be our bid pipeline as of now?

Bid pipeline as of now is about INR 7,000 crores.

Okay. And sir, in your guidance INR 5,000 crores to INR 6,000 crores of inflow, does it include the L1 orders as well of around INR 2,500 crores?

Yes, it does.

So likely conversion would be in next year?

Yes.

Okay. And sir, secondly, on the Bihar Animal Husbandry project, so when do we target to complete the project?

In FY '27.

The run rate has dropped down in last 2 to 3 quarters.

Yes, because the area -- it's an existing campus. So the new buildings are coming up as and when they are handing over or vacating existing old buildings. They are being demolished and the new ones are being constructed. So in the last 1.5 quarters, the vacation of these buildings has slowed down. But this will definitely complete in FY '27 because part of the complex in this quarter has been inaugurated by the honorable CM and he's announced a date for completion of the entire campus. So we are reasonably confident in the next year, it will be completed.

Okay. And sir, lastly, on Gem & Jewelry. So when do we -- what is the time line of -- what is tenure of construction, and when do we intend to complete the project?

I think the time line -- Vikas is on the call. Vikas, are you there? You want to answer this question?

Sir, Vikas sir, is not online.

Okay. Never mind. The period for this completion of this job is about 3.5 years, if memory serves me right. And as I mentioned earlier, we are going to start billing in Q1 FY '27. The work will start on the ground. Since this is an EPC job, engineering is already happening.

The next question is from the line of Rajat from iThought PMS.

Am I audible?

Yes, you are.

Sir, with regards to CSMT projects, is there any delay relative to the original time line?

Yes, there is a delay. There is a huge delay. And so we've -- as I had been explained in the earlier calls, the entire design of this project had to be redone because the design -- conceptual design, which was given by the tender was not tenable. Certain aspects of that design were not tenable on the ground. That designing is complete, work now moving at a fast clip there. That's why there's a delay.

So can that result in any cost overruns for us, like lower margins in this project for us?

So yes, there has been an impact on the cost. But as we move along, we are hopeful that some of these costs will be mitigated either through extra work or through extra claim.

Okay. And can there be any synergies as well?

No, we've got the extension of time owing to the delays till now, which are not attributable to us has been granted.

That has been amicably agreed upon?

Yes. What happens in all government contracts is that there is a hindrance register, which is maintained and which is jointly signed off, which helps establish the delays, which are not attributable to the contractor. Generally, these are finally quantified towards the end or the last stage of the project. But in this project, since the delays have been quite large and very obviously not attributable to us, up until now, the extension of time has been granted.

Sure. And the margins on this project was same as company level margins going into the project or since it was a marquee project, so we went at a lower margin?

No. These were similar to the company-wide margins that we target. In fact, because the competition on this job was lesser since because of the scale of the job, only the larger players were there. So we had bidding with the same margin that we keep for other projects or other blue-chip projects. I think have I answered your question or something left?

Yes. Yes, sir. And one more related to this. Given it's a very complex project and a lot of traffic at the station, so do you envisage any delays in execution because of that reason in the future?

You are right because while the buildings, the greenfield buildings, the DRM or the node -- the building or the other buildings, they -- we don't envisage any delay, further delay. But platforms or doing them up for the concourses, that depends on the shutdown, which is given to us. So it's very hard to predict. But yes, generally, going by our experience at Chandigarh railway station, there may be some delays there.

Okay. And those delays, I mean, can again cost overruns or that has been budgeted in? Or how is that?

Those have been budgeted in to some extent.

Okay. All right. And sir, you just mentioned that Gem & Jewelry will start from April and the time line original was probably 2.5 years to 3 years. So that time line will begin from April or it has already started from the time...

It will begin from April. It will begin from April.

It will begin from April. Okay. Okay. Understood. And one last one. Given the pollution-related construction ban in Delhi has been happening for the last 2, 3 years, and it is affecting our top line growth and the guidance that we give, we need to revise it downward, now my question relates to the next year where we are seeing -- where we are saying 15% to 20% growth. So do you think that we might have to again revise it downward or we are budgeting in 10 or 9 months of construction activity only in Delhi, while we give this guidance for FY '27?

No, no, we are not budgeting in only 10 or 9 months of this thing. What I had said earlier was while some impact will be there, but we are hopeful that this year or next year, because the entire ecosystem is totally sensitized and much more aware about this issue, every constituent of this ecosystem is working to mitigate its effects. So we are hopeful that this time around, the effects will be lesser, much lesser.

Sure, sure. I hope so. And that's the case because we were hoping that FY '26 will also have much lesser impact, but it turned out to be the opposite. So just...

You're right. And it's not only impacted the top line. It's also impacted our profitability because while we backed a lot of large orders and to execute those large orders, our overhead costs had also gone up. So in the short term, our profitability has been hit. But the silver lining is that now going forward, not only are we well stocked on our order book, but we are also well equipped every which way to ramp up our execution speed. So hopefully, next year, we will make up -- we are very optimistic that we'll make up the shortfall that we've encountered this year.

The next question is from the line of Ankit , an individual investor.

So I just wanted to check on -- while I see the results for this quarter, I see a subcontract work as well as other expenses are substantially high, almost 30% year-on-year, which are very similar to our quarter 2 numbers. So the first question is, is there a substantial reason to it apart from the NGT issue, which has been discussed already?

Just a second, please. Let me take a look at the numbers.

You are asking about in comparison to which quarter?

The same quarter last year, sir, the subcontract work as well as other expenses.

Just if you have to see including cost of material and other expenses subcontract, then you will find that at par because our PAT is also approximately on the similar line, 6.90% was last year and now 6.85%.

Right. So that has...

Basically, you have to include entire thing, subcontract, construction expenses and cost of material, then you will find appropriate answer.

Fair enough. Fair enough. The second question I just had was there have been news of lately on increasing steel prices. Does that impact you on quarter 4 onwards? Or are we -- because in the last call, we discussed that we will use -- or we normally use our cash positions to sort of hedge against the supply chain costs. So is there something which we see as an inflation in terms of raw material costs? Or have we already hedged it?

No, the inflation definitely is there. But in the pricing of cement and steel, this is passed through because in all our contracts or most of our contracts, there are base prices for these materials. But there is an indirect impact on account of increase in steel prices because of the other material or equipment that we buy, be it tower cranes, be it mixers, transit mixers, so on and so forth, scaffolding, aluminum shuttering, there is an impact on account of this pricing.

The next question is from the line of [indiscernible] an individual investor.

Am I audible?

Yes, you are.

Yes. Sir, I just wanted to know why your other employee expenses are as compared to your percentage of revenues is so high this quarter or as compared to last year?

It's just basically provision as per the ECL method has been made around INR 3 crores. That's why there is a slight difference.

Okay. And when do you expect this -- your operating margins to be 10% from which financial year onwards?

Yes, this year would be double digit.

[Operator Instructions] The next question is from the line of Shravan Shah from Dolat Capital.

Sir, how much value of projects that we have already bidded and -- outcome is yet to come?

Shravan, that's a number that we don't have handy at the moment. L1, we've already told you it's INR 2,485 crores. The other value is more on the private sector side. Can we get back to you on that number? It's not going to be substantial. As I said, we are not focusing on the government -- or sorry, on the residential side. So primarily [Foreign Language] I don't have that figure handy. We'll get back to you on that.

[Foreign Language] which is at 68%, which is private. Last time we said that we want it to reduce to 60%.

Actually, [Foreign Language] if you take the Central Vista, which has come in after December. Yes, it will be about 60:40.

So now we will keep it at this level or we want it to 50-50 going forward?

Going forward, 50:50 [Foreign Language] but it can -- it's very difficult to say whether it will be 55: 45, whether it will be 60:40 one way or the other or 40:60, but it will be quite even.

The next question is from the line of Rahul Kumar from Vaikarya Fund.

Just one question, sir. Is there any impact of the new Labor Code on [indiscernible] and if yes, how do you see.

I think we have answered this question.

INR 1.31 crores in absolute numbers up to December.

I understand, sir. This is for our employee base, right? I was just wondering the outsourced labor.

That will include outsourced labor.

Okay.

Outsourced labor is generally we -- for labor rate works, we have petty contractors, right? And there the -- it's rate per unit, which is where the work is contracted out to them. So this impact going forward is in the rates that is agreed with them. So it becomes very difficult to quantify this. Am I -- have I been able to articulate, have you understood?

Yes, sir. Understood. I was just trying to understand from a bidding point of view or pricing point of view for going forward, how does this impact us.

So as far as labor is concerned, due to its scarce availability and diminishing skills, the quarter-on-quarter, the -- when we bid for a job, we see -- we are seeing that the unit rates are on the increase every 3 months or 4 months, and they are far more than what the governments are recognizing. So we are putting -- we are sort of accounting for this increase based on the past data, past 1 year or past 2 years. We are extrapolating that data and using it to sort of hike our bids also.

The next question is from the line of [indiscernible] an individual investor.

In the Q2 presentation, year-to-date order was INR 4,374 crores. And in Q3 presentation, it is INR 9,565 crores. And in the meanwhile, we have just -- we have received 2 orders of INR 3,070 crores and INR 888 crores. Still there is a difference of around INR 1,200 crores. So have we received any other order?

We'll need to -- I don't have that data handy. But Sir, you can reach out to Satbeer. We will provide you that detail.

The next question is from Ankit, an individual investor.

I just wanted to ask a couple of points. One is on quarter 2 presentation, we had mentioned Whiteland Corporation is around -- order value of around INR 1,065 crores, which has in the quarter 3 presentation has come up to be INR 821 crores. So is there a change here? That's the first question.

I think there is a mismatch. The INR 1,060 crores includes GST. The INR 821 crores is without GST.

Okay. Okay. And the second question was that what type of benefits in terms of the operational financial or any other organizational benefits we would like to extract from the action of subsidiaries which are getting merged into the parent company?

No. This is -- these are the subsidiaries which own tract of land in Kolkata, which has been on our books for a long time. As we have been mentioning in our investor interaction, we are now looking to leverage this land. To do that, we are -- we have applied for necessary clearances. And for those clearances to go through amalgamation of this land is required. That is why we have -- we are merging these companies with the parent company.

The next question is from the line of [indiscernible], an individual investor.

So I just wanted to know when do you expect the growth to be in mid 15% or 20% growth annually from the current 10% growth. So from this year onwards or from the next FY '27, you expect this growth to be much better sales growth?

So the sales growth or top line growth, as I said, between 15% to 20%, it will be there in -- we are extremely hopeful it will be there in the next financial year.

Ladies and gentlemen, we take that as the last question of the day. And now I would like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.

Thank you, everybody, for joining in. Hopefully, we've answered all your queries. If there is any more questions, feel free to reach out to Mr. Satbeer Singh, our CFO, and hope to see you again in a few months' time. Thank you. Bye.

On behalf of AMBIT Capital Private Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.