Ajmera Realty & Infra India Limited (513349) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening, and welcome to Ajmera Realty & Infra India Limited Q3 and 9 Months FY '24 Earnings Conference Call. We have with us today, Mr. Dhaval Ajmera, the Director of the company; Mr. Nitin Bavisi, the Chief Financial Officer; and Ms. Sonia Agarwal, the Senior Manager for Investor Relations. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Sonia Agarwal. Thank you, and over to you.

Thank you. Good evening, everyone, and a warm welcome to you all. On behalf of the company, I would like to thank you all for participating in Ajmera Realty & Infra Limited earnings call for the third quarter of FY '24. The call will commence with the opening remarks by our Director, Mr. Dhaval Ajmera, and will be followed by the business performance discussion by our CFO, Mr. Nitin Bavisi. We have already shared the operations update of the quarter in the second week of January. The investor presentation and the press release based on the financial results adopted by the board have been uploaded on the stock exchange website and can be downloaded from our company website. Please note that some of the statements in today's discussion may be forward-looking in nature, reflecting the company's outlook and may involve certain risks and uncertainties that the company may see. I would now like to hand over the call to our Director, Mr. Dhaval Ajmera. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Thank you. Good evening, and welcome, everyone, for our earnings call. I will begin my discussion with the overall macroeconomics and sector updates and then thereby taking towards our company's growth and forward charts. Just to look at the overall economic cycles, we've witnessed that Indian economy is demonstrating resilience and robustness in spite of this geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the Ukraine, Russia, et cetera. But I think India is just moving in a growth trajectory and it's firm and it's promising, positioning us as the fastest-growing major economy. We are optimistic about the reduction in rate by the global central bank backed by RBI's policy rate adjustments, which should help stimulate further growth and opportunity. This brings me to the key highlights of the interim budget, which was just announced, that the focus is on the infrastructure development and newly introduced housing schemes for the middle class is going to be a game changer in the real estate market. These measures are expected to spark a surge in residential demand and supply. The government's commitment to construct 2 crore homes under the PMAY rural scheme is also inching towards the agenda of housing for all, which is made by our honorable Prime Minister. Furthermore, the tax incentives for homebuyers and a remarkable 11.1% year-on-year growth in the increase in the infrastructure outlay, which is about INR 11,00,000 crores shows a promising runway of opportunities coming towards real estate. Although they were not direct benefits towards real estate, but I think this infrastructure growth is one of the most defining growth for real estate market. And wherever there is a great surge in infrastructure, we've always witnessed a good growth in the real estate market of that particular area. Coming back to MMR, where we primarily operate, the recently opened Mumbai Trans Harbor Link, the Atal Setu Bridge, the construction and opening of the coastal road, which is very near now in these coming months and the metro expansions are just paving way for the growth in the real estate sector in different, different regions. And definitely, we are seeing this also happening in our projects and overall as a real estate market. It gives me immense pleasure to report that our business has steadily maintained a robust performance across key metrics. In this quarter, we registered a decade-high quarterly revenue of INR 209 crores, a record-breaking achievement fueled by significant growth in sales and business development initiatives. We experienced multifold jump in sales value to 2x year-on-year and area sold to 1.5x. This dynamic momentum in sales can be largely attributed to our key projects: Ajmera Manhattan and Ajmera Eden, one in Wadala, and one in Ghatkopar. Diving deep into our project update, our premium residency project, which is Ajmera Eden in Ghatkopar, has recorded yet another successful quarter, with half of its total inventory already being sold out. And just to tell you that we -- as far as construction is concerned, we are steadily advancing towards it, and we are just on the second floor, where we started just about a few months ago, and we are advancing steadily in construction, but we are very happy to say that we have almost -- we have 50% of the inventory sold out in that project. Our completed projects like the Ajmera Greenfinity in Wadala and Ajmera Sikova in Ghatkopar has now very, very minimum inventory left for sale. The Ajmera Prive project in Juhu has reached its construction milestone of 11 floor slab and being the last stage of its RCC completion with -- and also, we are looking at good inventory being sold. And now the demand with almost -- getting -- I mean project getting completed, we are seeing a good inventory also being sold in the coming quarters. Ajmera Manhattan, which offers compact luxury apartments reported more than 60% of the inventory already being sold out. The project is at mid stage of completion with major work in progress happening at both the towers. Moving on from Mumbai to Bangalore, our affordable residential projects, Ajmera Lugaano and Ajmera Florenza, where about 80% of its inventory has been sold and is also under fast track execution. We aim to deliver all our projects well before the committed RERA timelines. In the first half of FY '24, we announced a total of 7 new projects. In continuation with this, we are happy that we are adding 1 more project in Bandra West, a joint development -- redevelopment with Rustomjee. And to deliver this luxury residential project, we have an estimated GDV to our share of INR 380 crores, which is a total of about INR 760 crores, and our share comes to about INR 380 crores. We are progressing steadily towards our INR 1,000 crore sales target and having already achieved INR 730 crores in the first 9 months, and we are very confident that we will surpass this number in the coming quarter. We also have a development potential of about 1,16,00,000 square feet from our own land bank, and these factors coupled with our business development efforts through redevelopment, joint venture and strategic acquisitions will undoubtedly fuel our growth -- future growth. With this, I would like to say that we are inching and very nearly inching towards a 5x growth mark. And very soon, with all these project developments and new projects, which has been announced now, and with our existing portfolio, we will definitely cross our target of 5x very soon than what we had estimated. I would now like to hand over this conference to our CFO, Mr. Nitin Bavisi, who will take you through the performance highlights. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ajmera. Thank you, everybody, and very warm welcome and good evening to you all. Before we move to the Q&A session, allow me to summarize the compelling performance and the financials we have delivered in the third quarter and 9 months FY '24. Starting with our operational performance for the quarter, our sales value lifted by considerable, almost doubling, which is 98% [ precise ] Y-o-Y basis, getting INR 253 crores, and our sales area also witnessed 63% Y-o-Y growth, reaching to 1,03,573 square feet. Our collections did INR 151 crore, a solid increase of 30% Y-o-Y, primarily driven by sustained sales momentum and as well the fast-track execution getting into the next demand and execution-based collections kind of thing. Addressing the financial figures, our total revenue zoomed to 2.5x Y-o-Y to INR 209 crores. It is heartening to share that this represents the highest quarterly revenue in a decade. Our EBITDA stood at INR 62 crores, up by 163% Y-o-Y and 55% quarter-on-quarter, resulting in EBITDA margin of 30%. Our PAT reached at INR 30 crore which zoomed 3x on Y-o-Y comparison with a PAT margin of about 15%. This encouraging sales momentum is mainly attributed to our key projects: Manhattan and Ajmera Eden. The latter became the revenue recognition eligible project in this very quarter. Coming to our performance in the 9-months basis FY '24, our sales value reached INR 730 crore and the sales area touching 3,59,820 square feet. The collection stood at INR 373 crore, and revenue for this particular period, which is the 9-month period, is INR 474 crore, which represents 47% Y-o-Y increase. Our EBITDA registered INR 140 crore -- EBITDA stood at INR 140 crore, up by 41% Y-o-Y with an EBITDA margin of 30%. The PAT amounted to INR 74 crore, an increase of 31% Y-o-Y, resulting in a PAT margin of 16%. Our revenues and PAT already surpassed that of FY '23 full year numbers basis the 9 month -- first 9 month year-to-date numbers. Keeping the financial stability as the cornerstone of our focus, we have successfully managed to sustain our debt levels at INR 785 crores and kept the debt equity ratio well below 1x as we have been aspiring and it is precisely at 0.94:1. The weighted average cost of debt also stood at stable number because of the overall regulatory and the RBI keeping the rate in status quo basis, which is the average -- weighted average cost is 12.3%. As Mr. Dhaval Ajmera mentioned earlier, in his particular commentary, our revenue potential of approximately INR 4,950 crore incorporates both our existing projects as well as upcoming projects [indiscernible]. [indiscernible] projects which are OC received, contributing around INR 157 crore in [indiscernible] timelines of next about couple of quarters. And mid-stage projects portfolio is expected to contribute about INR 1,666 crore, with the revenue visibility in the timespan of about 30 months. Our potential launches stood at INR 3,130 crore in terms of revenue visibility. The estimated net cash flow from our current portfolio is about -- estimated going to be INR 950 crore. With this concise summary, our business highlights and for financial performance, I would like to invite you all for the question and answers and further interactions about our numbers and business performance. Thank you all.

[Operator Instructions] We have our first question from the line of [ Priyam Botha from Value Equity ].

So in the last quarter, Ajmera and Rustomjee, you had come together for one of the projects in Bandra. So can we see such kind of partnerships launching in the coming quarters? And if yes, is there a possibility in the immediate pipeline?

Mr. [ Priyam ], may I request you to self-mute, please. There's some background noise coming from your line.

Okay. Is it now fine?

Yes.

Can you repeat the question, please?

Yes, sure. So what I would like to -- what I was asking is, this quarter, we had made a partnership with Rustomjee for a Bandra project? So can we see such partnerships coming in the next quarter? Or do you have any immediate pipeline for such partnerships again?

Well, we are -- I mean, this is based on project to project and some opportunities, which is coming our way. This was an opportunity which we both were envisaging and looking at, and that's how we came into partnership to bring in a marquee project in that area. Well, we are open for opportunities and partnerships, but nothing in the near quarters coming right now.

Okay. And I just wanted to know how is the Kanjurmarg project panning up? And what is the sales potential for this project? And wanted to know some more details with regards to its launch? And what category you are looking out for this project?

The Kanjurmarg project, we are there. We are looking at all the approvals and everything which is underway. We -- overall, it is a larger project, which will have an overall potential of about 8 million square feet of carpet area, which will come up in the near future, but we want to bring it in an overall holistic scheme of things. Some part of it, which we may launch this financial year. But overall, we are envisaging that to launch this financial year. But overall, we would like to unveil the entire plan once we are completely ready with the entire master plan with the complete details about commercial, residential and other sectors within the master plan.

So basically, sir, it would be a mix match of commercial and residential.

Yes, it will be a mix because it's our largest township. So definitely, it will have everything and not just residential.

We have our next question from the line of [ Faisal Zubair Hawa from H.G. Hawa and Company ].

With so many launches of various developers being bunched together and as you may be noticing, business cycles for most businesses have now become shorter in duration, so what is the company's plan if there is a -- just a deterioration in overall sales volumes? Are we looking at just cutting the -- most of the ongoing bookings at a lower rate, just to be very sure that we are not short of bookings after 2, 3 years when all this supply come together bunched up? Secondly, what is the sustainable initiatives that we are taking so that most residents who will now come in may be very conscious of the sustainability aspect as regards energy and water? So have you taken any kind of consultation from any world-class architects or experts in this field? And third is, sir, any kind of new age prefabs or other improvements we have made in our construction so as to deliver much before competition or earlier?

Okay. So to answer your question #1, over the last 2 years during the COVID, the Mumbai Municipal Corporation had announced a 50% cut in their premiums. And we had seen a splurge of premium being paid by developers, which is where we are seeing a great amount of supply, which is being seen in the market. This has already been 2 years plus when the premium cut was announced and developers like us and many other have paid premium. Overall, we are seeing a good demand in the real estate cycle. With this supply, I really don't see that it will be -- it will at least -- with the way Indian economy is growing and with the kind of Mumbai infrastructure, which is coming up, our take is very clear that Mumbai is becoming and regaining the financial capital strength, which probably, to an extent, was reduced over the last few years. And now with so much of infrastructure coming, I think there has been a great demand all across. And at least we are buoyant about the sales in the coming few years in particularly Mumbai region across. And overall, as I said, the Indian economy is looking very good. People are confident holistically about our country, and that's why every sector is seeing a great growth. So I don't see too much of a dip coming in, in terms of pricing. Yes, there might be a little bit of up and down in demand supply. But overall, it looks positive.

No, with due respect, my question was that the business cycle in almost every business has become short due to communication being so seamless and the world overall also becoming fast. What used to happen in a century is happening in a decade, and what was happening in a decade is happening in a year. So what is our plan B if this splurge doesn't last too much? What you are saying is also correct that for 2 years, you are saying that it will slow down, but it could be that -- I want to know what kind of preventive actions you are taking so that the company doesn't go into a kind of a cash flow trap.

So if you really look at most of our project acquisitions which we have done now and with our current pipeline, if you really look at it, we have a lot of about more than 50% to 60% of our inventory, which is coming from our own land bank. So it is already preowned. Number 2, most of our new projects, which we are doing is either a redevelopment or a JV or a SRA project or something like that where the investments in land has been very, very minuscule or less. So if you really look at our entire cash flows and secondly, most of our projects, which we are currently doing, where we have a faster turnaround time, we are envisaging every project which we take now should be finished or closed within 2 to 3-year cycle. So with that kind of a turnaround time, we are mindful about our cash flows being maintained well and being there. Yes, definitely, if there has been -- tomorrow in the -- if we really see a lot of negative splurge coming in the market and demand definitely has just been becoming very, very low, obviously, everyone will have to take the burn of it. But the advantage stands to us is that our land banks are all our -- already paid for and nothing is there in the -- in like a debt form. So we tend to be more stronger than others, #1. So that is where we probably stand more advantageous to it. So that's what I wanted to answer. Secondly, as far as your -- the sustainability homes are concerned, we at Ajmera are now making every home of ours as green homes. We are very, very mindful of our sustainability. All our projects are going to be and will be certified green homes. So in terms of our -- all our materials, all our block works or whatever construction materials and other materials which we take, are absolutely sustainable as per the sustainable norms. And with the kind of technology and the movements which are happening in the market, and we already have a research team within our group itself, which constantly monitors the latest technology for construction for probably sales value or any technological advancement, which comes up in the real estate cycle, we are trying to update ourselves every quarterly or every yearly to ensure that we are up in the market to ensure for faster delivery and better efficiency because that is where will actually help us with the game. And this is what we have a team which constantly tries towards betterment of the projects.

Sir, about any kind of new age construction methods that we have specifically taken? And if you would just be able to explain what is our management structure at this point of time, who amongst the family is still involved in the business? And have you taken on any kind of high-level professionals in our team also?

So well, as far as technology is concerned, there are a lot many which we do it whether smaller or big but it is too technical for us to answer. We can obviously get on an offline for understanding more technological for construction purposes. As far as management is concerned, in our management, we have a Chairman, Managing Director and a Whole Time Director plus, obviously, you must be seeing our Board of Directors with outside Mr. K.G. Krishnamurthy, Ms. Aarti Ramani and A.C. Patel. The day-to-day operations has been completely managed by the team of professionals, which is from the CFO to the GM to everybody in every different field of construction, finance, planning, human resources, et cetera. So we completely are having a full set of professional team members who are managing the inside and day-to-day show of it. Obviously, there are a few family members also involved within it, but the final say and call is of the professionals.

[Operator Instructions] We'll take our next question from the line of Jeevan Patwa from Sahasrar Capital.

So congratulations for a wonderful set of numbers. So firstly, if I heard right, are you saying we are going to launch a part of Kanjurmarg project in this financial year, so FY '24, you are saying?

So that -- this financial year, not this FY '24, I'm saying next financial year, sorry, that's my mistake. But in the year, '24-'25 is what we envisage to launch some part of Kanjurmarg.

Because I think everybody is eagerly waiting for that launch. So is it going to be in the first half? Or is it in the later half?

Well, we -- as I said earlier, we want to -- this is one of the few pieces of land which are there, which we want to get the right kind of valuation and build the right product for the market while we are doing all the possible steps to finish all the approvals and bring in the market. So we will do this and some part of it will come in the coming -- this coming year.

Okay. So first half -- we can assume it will be in the first half?

I can't presumably say completely, but we are trying [ for that ].

Okay. And secondly, we were working on selling some land parcel since last 2 quarters. So any progress made there?

We are still in discussions. Things are progressing, but nothing has reached a finality for closure or handshake. But we are hopeful for it to happen soon.

Okay. And third is with the Atal Setu project, so our connectivity has actually improved a lot. So from Panvel the connectivity has actually improved a lot because of this. So are you seeing any kind of price rise in Wadala?

So Wadala has been a very strategic location in terms of connectivity because probably this is the only suburb, I would say, of Mumbai, which is connected by every infrastructure or the transport available in city of Mumbai, be it metro, be it monorail, be it freeway, be it now the Atal Setu, the BKC connector and highways and obviously, railway. So the -- and for us, most of -- if you look at this freeway, which is passing by Wadala property of ours, monorail and metro rail are also part of our property, BKC connector is also 10 minutes and now this Atal Setu, which is being now the connector towards Panvel, it is only enhancing the connectivity factors even more, thereby gaining confidence about transportation and overall connectivity for the entire Mumbai and MMR region. So definitely, we are looking at an appreciating value coming in for Wadala more than appreciation with pricing, which will happen, but also a good demand for this region is coming up for which we will see a good volume also coming in this area.

Right. Because we have -- I think we have almost 6 million square feet land parcel in Wadala. So I think the price appreciation should give us a good benefit. So any update you have seen in the pricing in terms of last -- after Atal Setu in last 6 months? Has the prices gone up in this region or they're still there?

No, no, Atal Setu has just started. We are -- definitely, what we have seen is, over the last few months, it's just been about 15, 20 days or a month or so when this bridge has started. But we are seeing a good rise in demand coming in. There is a lot of connectivity factor which has happened and people from even the MMR region are coming over here to look at a flat in Wadala. Just to clarify, we have about 3.6 million square feet of carpet area in Wadala to be sold, not 6 million square feet, 6 million square feet is the salable area. But now we all talk in terms of carpet, so just -- we just wanted to clarify that. And with that, right now over the last 1 month, there has been a good surge in the residential demand at least at Wadala. And although Manhattan, where we have reached 60% of our sales potential being sold out, we are still looking -- usually, when the project is at 50%, 60% level, we usually see that this being now a consistent sale. But with the kind of demand coming in, we are -- it's very -- we're very happy that sales have been at a good number even in -- at 60% project being sold.

Perfect. And is there any plan to launch another project, Manhattan Project 2?

Yes, we are under design and development stage of that, and hopefully, that should also come up soon.

That is not included in our...

No, that's not included in that.

Correct, correct. And secondly, we were actually doing some demerger of our commercial land parcel in Wadala, right? So has any progress made there or we are not going ahead with that?

Yes. In fact, we have made progress and happy to say that [ NCLT ], the final petition, that has been approved. And hopefully, in the next year, we are getting the final order. And in the time span of about next 45 to 60 days, we should be completing the registrar and registering that particular order formality. So by maybe March year-end, we should be closing this particular demerger scheme entirely with regulatory formalities.

We have our next question from the line of Prathamesh Dhiwar from Tiger Assets.

Yes. Firstly, sir, congrats for the good set of numbers. As most of the questions are answered, so I just wanted to know, in Q4, I think we will be doing around INR 5,000 crores of revenue, right?

Sorry?

In Q4, we are planning to do around INR 5,000 crores -- INR 500 crores of revenue, right?

No, no. We have already surpassed our FY '23 number and the quarter -- year-to-date number is INR 474 crore. So basis that and the overall execution of the projects, definitely, we are going to see a significant jump over the FY '23 reported numbers.

Okay. Okay. And sir, I was reading your earlier con call, you told something 5x revenues. So can you please tell me the time line, like till when we can get that thing?

So our entire target is that we want to overall grow 5x from where we were about 2 to 3 years ago. And that is the growth trajectory, which has already happened. We were -- earlier, we were about 1 million square feet of projects in hand, today, we have 2.3 million square feet of projects in hand. We were earlier 7 projects doing about -- now, we are doing about 16. We have about -- earlier, we were INR 1,000 crores of projects with GDV, today, we have INR 3,000 crores of project GDV. So overall, if you see, we are progressing towards the 5x growth and thereby, we are also hopeful that with the kind of projects which we are announcing and we are developing, definitely with our sales numbers and sales realization, we will also have a 5x growth in our revenue.

Okay. Got it, sir. Sir, sorry, if I missed it earlier, have you given any FY '24 guidance for revenue?

No, FY '25 -- you mean FY '25, right?

Yes. Both, sir. In the last quarter -- in Q4, any number you would like to give and for FY '25 also?

As I clarified that the 9-month number already surpassed and almost [indiscernible] only, we should be having the next quarter and the financial year-end numbers as well.

We have our next question from the line of Aditya Sen from RoboCapital.

Fantastic numbers, congratulations on that. Do we have any update on the debt repayment stance for the coming year or for FY '26?

Yes. So as we have mentioned in our commentary that despite the aggressive business development activities, our debt remains stable, and we are investing and putting our operating cash flow on the next 8 projects, which is in the launch pipeline. Having said, let me bring up very pleasant news that the Manhattan project, which is -- we had the opportunity to further take out that particular potential out of that particular project and we announced some time before that structured deal in [indiscernible], that deal has been consummated. And in quarter 4, you will hear exact specifics of that particular deal. And that is going to give us a further acceleration on our prudent debt management. Plus we have some good operating cash flow support from our existing project portfolio, which is also going to help us on the overall debt management.

All right, sir. And with the upcoming launches in FY '25, do we see our EBITDA trending upwards north of 30% or 30% should -- 30% is the number that we should consider going forward?

As you can see that the nature of the project is a mix of society redevelopment, MHADA redevelopment, SRA redevelopment and as well on our own land bank, so with this set of mix in terms of the nature of the project, we should be maintaining this particular trajectory. And definitely, as we move on with more of the -- our own land bank parcel, then this can further inch up towards better number.

[Operator Instructions] We have a question from the line of [ Faisal Zubair Hawa from H.G. Hawa and Company ].

So sir, are we in talks in any -- with any kind of new funds or large funds like Blackstone or -- to sell our projects or -- and are we making any kind of efforts to cut our interest rate which is very high at around 12.5%?

Yes. So first set of the question, I would reserve for Dhaval bhai to give more light. In terms of the cost of debt, definitely, as we are seeing the RBI giving the lift to this RBI repo rate hike, but however, the money market situation and it's being tightened, the cost of [ cement ] in that particular type range, so we are seeing that particular thing. But as I sensitized on very structured deal, which has happened and execution and the documentation part is going on. So we are going to come back with better set of numbers, both in terms of the debt management as well as on the cost of debt.

So coming to your answers of any tie-ups or participation with any PE funds or anything, well, there has been a lot of interest being shown with some funds and everywhere. However, formally, we've not tied up. We are looking at project-level participations or partnerships with them. But as of now, we don't have anything formally closed and/or finalized. But definitely, with our growth opportunities coming way and with the kind of projects we want to do, definitely, see participation would help and add a good feather on our cap and which we are very open to do.

We have our next question from the line of [ Ankit Gupta from Bamboo Capital ].

Can you please talk about what kind of...

Could you please use your handset mode? You're not very clear.

Is it better?

Yes.

Can you please talk about what kind of margins are we looking for in our newly launched projects? Can we see a higher margin compared to 30% kind of EBITDA margin that we are doing currently?

So as I explained that we have ongoing projects, which is the Manhattan and rest of the other projects and launch pipeline, we have the mix of this nature of SRA, MHADA redevelopment and society redevelopment, so typically, in that particular space where we have, the EBITDA margin which is not as better than in terms of our own land bank. So as we are getting into this mix and as we are moving into the next phases of our land bank, then definitely, we will have the better margin numbers coming forward.

But how has been the realization growth in some of our launched projects? Let's say, we launched 1 project in Phase 1 and subsequent for Phase 2, what kind of realization growth are we seeing?

So realization has been steadily moving up. Every project, wherever progress -- where all these projects are happening and when we can -- it is always a cycle. Overall, if you look at it, we have seen a year-on-year -- just to give you an example, we've seen an 8% rise in our realization value in Manhattan. Nucleus project, which was ready or just got ready, we've seen about upwards of 25%, 30% rise in our realization value. Sikova also which was recently ready, we saw on the ready -- almost nearing projects, we saw about 25%, 30% hike in our realization value. So as and how the project progresses and it becomes ready, there has been a rise. So obviously, it's a demand-supply game altogether. And the moment the projects are nearing completion or nearing getting ready, we get a better realization value as compared to under construction, and that's how we are strategically selling all our products in different areas also.

Just to give you the number substantiation, if you refer to our existing portfolio slide, in terms of Manhattan being a very flagship project where we have already achieved sub-INR 30,000 as the average price, as we move forward for the balance of the inventory, definitely, our aspiration is more than INR 31,000 as a price expectation. So there we have already provided our guidance in terms of the better price points.

And we had launched this project at what price?

At about INR 27,000, INR 28,000.

Okay. And now we are selling at INR 31,000, yes.

Yes.

Just what steps are we taking to ensure that in case there is a substantial rise in the raw material prices like steel and cement, our margins don't get impacted for these projects which we are launching?

So sorry, what did you say?

What steps are we taking to ensure that our margins are protected in case there is a significant rise in prices of cement and steel?

Well, if there is a significant rise in the price of steel and cement, definitely, the input cost is going high, thereby our costs will go higher. So definitely, there will be certain -- depends on where and what is the cycle of the project because we need to be mindful about volume as well as price realization. If my project is nearing completion or getting ready, there will be a good demand for people to come and buy probably, which is a little better than an under construction project. So obviously, we can increase the price a bit over there. But if I am at an under construction value, I would do not want to hamper my volume of sales. And I would like to continue doing it may be taking a temporary hit because these are maybe temporary phenomenon and not a prominent hike in the price. So if that is a temporary, we may just absorb it and move on it. But if that continues, obviously, the prices is what will increase and move ahead. But our entire aim is to constantly grow the sales volume along with a good price realization, so which will help the company grow in a better way.

We have our next question from the line of Harmit Desai from Pendulum Investments.

So first, I wanted to ask how many redevelopment opportunities are we looking? And any guidance that you can give towards that?

Well, there are many. To be honest with you, we may be looking more than 20, 30 at a time, but it is not that every redevelopment society click, but we definitely have pitched in to a lot of societies today. A lot of societies are eagerly looking and wanting to discuss with us. But these are all under wraps till we actually sign with them and probably shake hands. We are hopeful and that is one of the sector which we are constantly rising. We started one with Juhu today, we increased to Versova, [ Borivali ], Bandra and slowly and slowly we will even bring more to this table because Mumbai, one of the area for our development is a redevelopment of the societies, and we are striving to grow better in that segment.

Okay. So any particular filters which you are keeping for redevelopment projects?

Any particular what?

Filters. What...

So we usually...

We don't look at societies which are less than 1,000 square meters, unless it is in a very, very prime location, the one like -- the one which we do -- we did in Juhu. Otherwise, our sizes should be upwards of 1,000 or 1,500 square meters because usually the cost of admin and balances are better when we have a little larger project. But we, at the same time, also see that we prefer to do projects, which are 2, 3 lakh square feet of carpet area, which can be a quick turn in a quick in and quick out. So these are our preferences.

Okay. Sir, [indiscernible] the repatriation from international projects, both U.K. and Bahrain. So just if you can give some status on that?

So in this current financial year, U.K. repatriation already started, and that is something going on. And as we see, moving forward, our guidance was for the Bahrain project is about 2, 2.5 years. And we have execution of that particular project going on in full swing. So our inventory entitlement there should give us a good cash flow exit, and we should have the repatriation as well coming from the Bahrain as we move on to the next financial year onwards.

Sure. Sir, any update on Pune project as such?

For Pune, we have still not -- we're still finalizing and closing things over there. We will announce once things are almost ready there.

Sure. Sir, lastly, on the macro front, I wanted to ask. So like what is that -- are you seeing any change in the mindset of Indian customers or which will keep this real estate cycle going up for Indian real estate, sir?

So our take is we are significantly seeing a great jump coming in for the demand for homes and real estate, particularly in India post COVID because people have taken real estate as an asset class of investment very, very seriously and one of their prime investment factor. That is what we've observed. Secondly, overall, the Indian economy is looking very promising. And with the kind of measures the government is taking towards the growth of the India as a country, I think majority of the investment of this growth from the public at large would be invested in real estate as one of their important investment asset class. So overall, I personally see real estate being in a good growth trajectory over the next few years. And definitely, in that, developers who have been part of this business over many years and done good deliveries definitely stand an edge towards -- as compared to others. So we are seeing a promising uprise in the coming few years.

We have our next question from the line of [ Avinash Gupta ], an individual investor.

Congratulations on good numbers. [Foreign Language] from INR 3,000 crores worth of launches in next year, right? What is the confidence level on that, because it's a substantial jump from last year? Last year, I guess, we were around INR 1,200 crores.

So, well, all these projects, what we have announced, [Foreign Language], firstly, those projects have been signed. Those projects have been in our books, either there has been an agreement which is registered or DA, which is MOUs being done or land where some JDAs have also been registered. So most of these properties, what you see in the list, have already been in our acquisition today, #1. Number 2, most of these projects planning have also been almost finalized and they are under different stages of approval. So we are very confident about launching all these projects, which we have announced in this coming financial year.

Great. Because, to be honest, and I guess, you'll be all-time high [indiscernible].

Well, I hope so.

[Operator Instructions] As there are no further questions, I now hand the conference over to Mr. Nitin for closing comments. Over to you, sir.

Thank you, everybody, for taking out time and participating in this earnings call, quarter 3 FY '24. I look forward to further interactions with anybody who has further requirement of any information or update about the company. I'm happy to address that as well with my colleague, Sonia. Till then, I wish everybody a very happy time. Stay safe. Everybody take care of yourself. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. On behalf of Ajmera Realty & Infra India Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.