Castrol India Limited (500870) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Dear shareholders, [Foreign Language]. A very good afternoon to you. I welcome you all, and thank you for joining this 46th Annual General Meeting of the company. And on behalf of the Board and the management, I sincerely hope that all of you are in good health and cheer. I am advised that the requisite quorum is present, so I declare the meeting to order. This meeting is being held through the audio-visual medium of the Central Depository Services India Limited. In accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2013, and the circular issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Securities and Exchange Board of India. As this meeting is being conducted virtually without the shareholders in person, the proxy facility is not necessitated and accordingly, has not been provided. Castrol Limited U.K. holds 51% of the paid up capital of your company, and has nominated Mr. Sashi Mukundan to attend this meeting pursuant to Section 113 of the Companies Act 2013. It is now my privilege to introduce to you the Directors of your company as well as the Company Secretary. I am R. Gopalakrishnan, I chair the Board and I also chair your company's Stakeholders Relationships Committee. I'm joining this meeting from Dubai. We have Mr. Uday Khanna, who will identify himself on the screen. He is an independent Director and he's Chairman of the Audit Committee. He is joining from Mumbai. We have Mrs. Sangeeta Talwar, Independent Director and Chairperson of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, and she is joining from New Delhi. We have Mr. Rakesh Makhija, who is an Independent Director and also the Chairman of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, and he's joining from Pune. Mr. Sashi Mukundan, who is the Nominee Director, is joining from Mumbai. Mr. Sandeep Sangwan, who is your CEO and Managing Director, he is joining from Mumbai. Mr. Deepesh Baxi, Chief Financial Officer and Wholetime Director, he is also joining from Mumbai. Mr. Mayank Pandey, Wholetime Director, is joining from Mumbai. And Mr. Saugata Basuray, Wholetime Director, he is joining from Mumbai. Your Company Secretary, is very familiar to you, but I'm pleased to introduce her formally, Hemangi Ghag, and she's also the Compliance Officer and she is also joining from Mumbai. We have 2 directors who have not been able to join because they are based overseas and the timing is not very suitable and they seek your forgiveness, Mr. Udayan Sen and Ms. Nicola Buck. Both are Nominee Directors. They are unable to join. And on their behalf, I seek your understanding in excusing them from attending this meeting. We also have representatives of Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP, the Statutory Auditors of the company and the representatives of M/s. S. N. Ananthasubramanian & Co., Secretarial Auditors of the company. They are present at this meeting, and I welcome them also at this meeting. Mr. Mr. K. G. Saraf, from M/s. Saraf & Associates, they are Practicing Company Secretaries. He is the Scrutinizer for remote e-voting and e-voting to be conducted during and the end of this AGM. He is also present at this meeting. I'm going to call out the names of the directors to get their consent that if during this meeting at any stage due to technical reasons, that I am sitting here in Dubai, I get cut off and the link is lost, may I propose that Uday Khanna be appointed as the alternate Chairman of this meeting to maintain the continuity of the meeting, and I will seek the consent of the Directors present, Ms. Sangeeta Talwar?

I consent.

Mr. Rakesh Makhija?

I consent.

Mr. Sashi Mukundan?

I consent.

Mr. Sandeep Sangwan?

I consent.

Mr. Deepesh Baxi?

I consent.

Mr. Mayank Pandey?

I consent, sir.

Mr. Saugata Basuray?

I consent.

Thank you all very much. We now have the notice and the auditor's report as per the procedure. I would like, with the permission of the shareholders present, to take the notice of the AGM along with the explanatory statement as well. All of you may have received the annual report of the company, the Statutory Auditor of the company and the Secretarial Auditor of the company have submitted their respective reports for the financial year ended 31st December 2023, and there are no qualifications, reservations or adverse remarks in their respective reports. With your permission, I will take them as also read. Now as regards to participation in voting at this meeting, I request the Company Secretary to provide the general instructions to shareholders so that it is clear. Hemangi?

Thank you, Chairman. Good afternoon, dear shareholders. The facility to join this meeting through audio-visual medium is being made available to all the shareholders on first-come-first-serve basis only. This is being done pursuant to the circulars issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The speaker shareholders who have joined this meeting are kept on mute and their videos are turned off by the moderator to ensure smooth conduct of this meeting. . Once the question-and-answer session begins, the names of the shareholders who have pre-registered themselves as speakers will be announced. Thereafter, such shareholders will be able to unmute themselves as their names are being called out. The shareholder is then requested to turn on the video functionality and start speaking. After mentioning his or her name and location from where he or she is joining this meeting. If any speaker is unable to join through video for any reason, the speakers may continue speaking without the video functionality. If there is any connectivity problem at the speaker's end, we request the next speaker to join, and once connectivity is restored for the earlier speaker, he or she will be requested to again join the session after all the preregistered speakers have completed their turn. We would request speaker shareholders to keep the speech and questions brief, specific to the business of this meeting so that the other shareholders get a fair chance to speak. Shareholders who need assistance during the meeting or have any queries or issues regarding e-voting are requested to refer the frequently asked questions and e-voting manual available at www.evotingindia.com, under Help section or write an e-mail to helpdesk.evoting at cdslindia.com or call on 1800-225-533. As regards to voting at this meeting, there will be no meeting by -- no voting by show of hands and there is no need to propose or second the resolution set forth in the notice. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 108 of the Companies Act of 2013 and the related rules, all the shareholders of the company have been given an opportunity to cast their votes by way of remote e-voting. The cutoff date for the same was 21st March 2024. And the voting window was opened from 24th March 2024 from 9 a.m. Indian Standard Time to 27 March 2024 up to 5 p.m. Indian Standard Time. The persons who are shareholders as on cutoff date can only cast their votes. Shareholders who have not cast their votes by remote e-voting can cast their votes at the AGM. Those shareholders who have cast vote using remote e-voting can participate at the meeting, but cannot vote again at the AGM. Voting window is open during the meeting and will also be available for another 15 minutes after the closure of this meeting. The statutory registers and documents referred to in the AGM Notice will be made available during the meeting for inspection as per request, if any, made by the shareholders. Thank you. I shall now hand over the proceedings back to the Chairman. Sir, over to you.

Thank you very much, Hemangi. Dear shareholders, although you have been asked to keep your questions brief, I have been given the liberty to speak at a little length, not too long, I assure you. Because this will be my last Annual General Meeting as the Chairman of your Board. It has been a great privilege for me. I've been on this Board for the last nearly quarter of the century and as Chairman of your Board for 10 years. And I thought it might be helpful, if nothing else, for my memories to reminisce a bit about the passage of the last several years and maybe share, if I may, with some satisfaction the collaborative journey that this company and its management has taken along with the shareholders of Castrol India. First, a few words about 2023. 2023 presented a number of challenges as every year is bound to. The raw material prices were very volatile. They were fueled by various global events, which all of us are aware of and it tested the agility of the management. However, though volatile raw materials was a very important aspect of the uncertainty, through proactive management and through a global understanding of the market forces, the company maintained stability, navigating the uncertainty with the dedication that I've come to admire in this management. This was not a cause for nervousness because volatility is now a part of the regular landscape. It is the ability of the management to adapt to it that should be applauded when necessary and exhorted for improvement when and if applicable. Managing a company like ours requires a very, very delicate balance. It encompasses multiple priorities and navigating volatile market shifts in demand, raw materials, seizing transformative opportunities. Inspired by nature's blend of agility and resilience, the management strives to achieve this delicate balance, and I hope, to your satisfaction. I'm not going to talk in much more detail about 2023 because that would be a subject for your questions. And indeed, my excellent colleague, the CEO, Mr. Sangwan, will be very pleased to answer your questions at the appropriate time. But I thought if looked back in the last several years, Castrol India became a public entity in 1983. And even if I say so, though I have not been there since 1983, it is to the credit of the previous Chairman, Directors and Management that they have produced a result, which is -- perhaps it's fair to call it, remarkable. All of you may not agree, but I think it is. We've had the extreme leadership, the Chairman of this Board of [ Mr. Burman, ] followed by Mr. Susim Datta, and we've had several accomplished Managing Directors. I would like to recount their name and their contribution at their times. Mr. Ram Savoor, the late, regret to announce that he did pass away several -- a few months ago. Naveen Kshatriya, Mr. Ravi Kriplani, Mr. Omer Dormen, and now Mr. Sandeep Sangwan. And through all of these, barring the odd up and down, which is inevitable as with life, this company has adapted and thrived. I myself got associated with this company's Board in the 2000 year merger of TATA BP Lubricants with Castrol India. And I must tell you, it has been a great privilege for me to be associated with this company, after being associated professionally with the wonderful companies like Hindustan Lever and TATA Group. From those early IPO years until 2023, so it's a period of about 30 years or there about 35 years, Castrol India has demonstrated a compounded annual growth rate of around 12% of revenue and 16% in profit before tax, year after year for 30 years. If you had invested INR 100 in 1983 in the shares of this company, then it would have been worth today of INR 4 lakhs. Apart from having received INR 1 lakh worth of dividend. That is -- I'm not comparing it to other companies, but I think it's a pretty good track record for the company over the long period. Though you can slice out short period in between when the performance was not so impressive, much like in our lives. When you look at the span of life, you look at the totality, but if you go through little chunks in between, there may be some niggles in the graph. In all my corporate experience, which I'm pleased to say is as much as 57 years, with 37 years on serving on various Boards, I firmly believe that the robust management that Castrol has, which is renewed from time to time through the management development processes of the company and a very diverse Board we have with their multiple perspectives that they bring to the deliberations of the Board, have yielded very good results. I may be forgiven for making this statement myself, but I happen to be a Chairman only for the last 10 years, but I'm an acute and eager observer of how Boards function. And while there are definitely areas for our improvement, which anybody must accept with humility, the resolve of this Board and the Management of this company is unswerved in the face of multiple changes that come to the company. I want to say a few words about resilience because everybody talks about resilience, and I'm not speaking of it from a consultant's point of view or an academic point of view. The ability of a company to remain stable and manage the strategic advancement during calm periods, that's a hallmark of our journey. But over the 2 decades we have also navigated several global challenges, which I don't propose to outline. But I can't help recall in the Iraq war, the 2007 financial crisis in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, which have the potential to disturb the supply line of hydrocarbons. I think these are symptomatic, not proof that this company has resilience. And the revenue has increased from INR 1,171 crores in 2003 to INR 5,075 crores in financial year 2023. And profit before tax has increased from INR 204 crores to INR 1,181 crores over the same period. The dividend outflows have been from INR 102 crores increased to INR 643 crores. So over the past decade, if I just take a slice of the last 10 years, the company has maintained a revenue annual growth of 5%, slightly under 5% and a PBT of slightly under 5% despite the global pandemic. But I think shareholders are free to look at the resilience and the adaptability of a company over whichever slice of time they take, but each one tells a slightly different story. But the fact that in over 30 years, this company has performed quite as well as it has, it does -- and I just want to point out, it does tell a story. The landscape is going to change further in the times to come. There are shifts in vehicle mobility, there are upgraded emission standards. And the rise of electric vehicles remains firmly within our working. In the coming years, anticipate more about our strategic plans. We are not in a position to announce them too much in advance because there is experimentation and learning, which goes along with this apart from the dip into the global library of experiences in other countries. But in the coming years, we will -- we feel confident that we will solidify our position, not only in the Indian lubricant market, but in the broader automotive sector. And this is an important strategic point that have built your attention. In due course, I'm sure Sandeep Sangwan will be able to tell you what we have done so far. But he may not be able to share with you in great detail what might happen in the future other than expressing his general sense of confidence. The first promising investment we made and it's very early days, you may even argue whether I can afford to call it promising, but we are very excited, is the investment of this company to Ki Mobility ventures. I think I have reflected the last 30 years, I have reflected the last 10 years, it now only remains for me to draw this message to a close, and my heartfelt gratitude. Several shareholders whose name I now recognize and I'm going to speak later this afternoon, have been solid pillars of expressing confidence in the Board of Directors, and I am very grateful to the shareholders, to the employees, to the diverse Board for all of them having supported this company even through the very difficult times, when we found it difficult at that time to grow volume or margin. I happen to be apart from chairing the Board, the Chairman of the Stakeholders Relationship Committee, and I'm aware that our primary importance in a shareholders' meeting is what have you done about us, shareholders? Are you making it easy for us? A little easier. And this is a challenging task given all the regulations, but Hemangi has been working very diligently, not just for the last year, but for the last 3 or 4 years in improving the service to investors. I think it's fair to give her a little place in the sun and let her tell you what she and her colleagues, valuable colleagues, have done to try to improve life for the investors in the face of several regulatory constraints and opportunities. So Hemangi, over to you.

Thank you, sir. May I request the moderator to share the slides that I will talk to. Thank you. Dear shareholders, we will -- I'll quickly walk through some of the measures that we have taken over the past few years, and these are mainly keeping the investor in mind and how this can be very helpful to our investors. So the company through its registrar and share transfer agents has provided a few digital services for the investors. Let me quickly cover the 3 digital services, which are going to be very helpful for the shareholders. . To begin with, as you can see on this slide, KPRISM is an online digital platform, which is meant for the shareholders to use by themselves. This is a very self-use and very convenient platform where the shareholders can log in and access all the information that they need to pertaining to their folio and shareholding in the company. As you can see on this slide, there are various options available, which can give information to the shareholders by finding their KYC status or dividend status. Likewise, shareholders can also use this platform to raise any services requests or any complaints or any grievances that they may have. The idea to provide this platform is that the shareholders don't have to separately write down lengthy communications and worry about what is the kind of information that is required to be submitted. So most of the service request forms are available here with a prefilled content. You only have to fill in your relevant details and click the submit button vis-a-vis each request and the request gets submitted to the RTA and the company. The entire portal is meant for shareholders to have everything addressed as a one-stop solution, so we would encourage the shareholders to use this portal if they're not already used. The link to access this portal is available in the annual report. We have printed it on Page #204 under point #15 of the Notes to the AGM Notice. The login process is also very simplified. You just need your PAN number and your mobile number, which is registered, which will help you to log into this portal every time you're using the portal. We are hopeful that shareholders will make use of this portal and feedback if they need any more assistance in this regard. Moving on to the other digital services. There are 2 more digital services, which are in relation to the income tax deducted on the dividends paid to the shareholders. As you are aware, on the dividends that are paid to the shareholders, to the extent tax is applicable, the tax is deducted by the company. Also every time there is a tax declaration, shareholders are required to submit their tax declaration forms and they also require to download their tax deduction certificate at the end of a certain period. So to facilitate the ease of information, whether it's submission or asking the relevant information, there are 2 different portals. One portal is available, which is communicated to all the shareholders whenever there is a dividend declared. This portal facilitates submission of the tax declaration form. So any shareholder who wants to submit their declarations seeking exemption or mentioning lower tax rate applicable to them, they can submit to details online. This portal will also give you the facility to check the status of a declaration so submitted, so whether it has been approved or it has been remarked or rejected, you can find your own status without having to write to the company or the RTA separately. As regards to the other portals in relation to the dividend tax, the shareholder can log onto this portal and download their certificate, again, without having to depend on the company or the RTA, they can simply put in their credentials that are mandated by this portal and download their TDS certificate as and when they so desire. So these are the few digital platforms that we wanted the shareholders to know and make good use of, in future. Apart from the digital platforms, I will now move on to the other investor friendly measures that the company has adopted. Let's go on to the next slide, please. As shareholders are aware, the unclaimed dividends that remain not claimed by the shareholders over a period of 7 years, these are transferred by the company to the Investor Education and Protection Fund as per the requirements of the law. You may be also aware that in addition to the unclaimed dividends, the underlying shares, which are in relation to these unclaimed dividends are also transferred to the IEPF. Now what happens is, since these unclaimed dividends have been moved to the government account, the shareholders are then required to reach out to the IEPF Authority and follow a lengthy process to claim their shares or the dividends. As a proactive investor friendly measure, during the year 2023, the company has given the benefit of the past unclaimed dividend, which are not yet transferred to IEPF account, wherein the company found that some shareholders who haven't claimed the dividends the past year, but they have updated their KYC details and bank account details. So all the shareholders who have recently updated the bank account details and their KYC details, they have been proactively being approached and their past interim dividends have been transferred to them. The amount of these unclaimed dividends that have been passed on to such shareholders is approximately INR 63 lakhs. Moving on to the investor grievance redressal mechanism. As you are aware from the company records in the company website, there are various channels for raising customer request -- investor request or a grievance. So like I mentioned KPRISM is a self-use portal, which will facilitate the ease of raising any investor request. Investors can also reach out to the KFin Tech, which is the RTA and their email ID is also mentioned over here, and the investors can also write to the company. The moment there is a service request or a query, all such requests are instantaneously inputted into the online system of the RTA. And through the online system, the company and the RTA both are able to track the response given by the RTA or the company and the timelines within which the response has been given. So there is a complete transparency and online mechanism available to see that the shareholder grievances or requests are addressed well within time. For those shareholders who do not have access to technology, they can choose to write to the company through postal means and they can write at the registered office address of the company. We also would like to call out that the shareholders are given an opportunity to rate the services of the RTA. So in the communication that they receive from RTA, they can rate the services and they can also share their feedback. We would encourage the shareholders to rate and give their feedback so that we can bring an improvement on the services of the RTA. The shareholders who continue to be dissatisfied or their queries are not resolved, they can reopen a particular query once they have received a response, which is not satisfactory, they can reopen the query and there is a facility available to open the query on the KPRISM portal as well for a speedy resolution. So that was all on the various measures taken by the company. We are hopeful the shareholders will benefit from these measures, and we are also open to receive feedback from the shareholders for any improvement that we can bring in future. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Have you finished Hemangi?

Yes. Yes, sir.

Well, thank you, Hemangi, as shareholders will note Prime Minister says, we've got Digital India and your Board has been very pleased to see the management become Digital Castrol. But even less publicized departments like Company Secretary are becoming Digital Company Secretary. So after some years, we may have a bot representing Company Secretary. I hope that this progress that is being achieved can be improved with its failings, there will be some, with your help. And I certainly cannot become -- can only become a shareholder after I have retired from the Board, so after some time, if at all. And I shall watch the services that the company and Hemangi give to the shareholders as possible [ victim, ] if shareholders look at themselves that way. Thank you very much, Hemangi. Please convey the appreciation of shareholders and the Board to your colleagues who help you.

I think we can now move on to the question-and-answer session. I am going to call out the preregistered shareholders to unmute themselves. One by one, I'll call their names. And I request Sandeep Sangwan, who is going to continue bearing the burden of running this company in the years ahead to answer most of them, and he will take down the questions. If there is something on which I wish to add a comment, I will comment, but otherwise, I will request Sandeep to respond to the questions. Our first speaker is Mr. Sarabjit Singh. Mr. Singh, if you're there, can you turn on your video, unmute yourself and speak.

Chairman sir, first of all, good afternoon to you, all the Board of Directors, all the staff of Castrol India Limited and my co-fellow shareholders. Chairman sir, [Foreign Language]. Thank you, Chairman sir. Thank you for giving me a chance to speak in your AGM. Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Sarabjit Singh Ji. [Foreign Language] Sandeep, would you like to take the questions at the end altogether or one by one?

Sir, I would suggest we take all the questions because some of the things may be common, then we take all the questions at the end and we'll let the shareholders speak first.

[Foreign Language] Thank you very much for your kind words, Sarabjit Singh Ji. Mr. Pravin Kumar, if you're there, please unmute yourself and speak.

Good afternoon, my respected Chairperson, respected MD, well-decorated esteemed Board of Directors, and my co-fellow shareholders joining this meeting online, myself Pravin Kumar, joining this meeting for New Delhi. I have a few observations, which I love to share with the entire house. First of all, a very, very thanks to you from bottom of my heart, respective Chairperson. Your speech, I mean, as a Chairperson, the last speech to the shareholder, it is very, very in depth and very, very emotional speech. I mean that truly moved me. I have the deepest respect for you. I salute your leadership quality, your dedication, devotion, along with the professional team. No matter what the time is, you rightly said in your speech, but we come out with a very, very decent growth in the past decade. I'm with the company for more than a decade, and I have the deepest respect for you, our respected MD, Mr. Sandeep Sangwan Ji. And I supported the agenda, which you set out for the meeting today wholeheartedly. And sir, as far as the question is concerned, I love to give you the compliments, compliment, compliment because you deserve and the management deserve every bit of it. And I love to thank our respected CFO, Mr. Deepesh Baxi, our respected Company Secretary, Hemangi Ji; and [ Soumya Ji, ] their entire team. They're fantabulous people. Very, very professional and the Annual Report, the layout of Annual Report is just very, very transparent, ethnical way, so that a retail investor like me will understand the figures also. So I'm very, very thankful. They are the biggest asset as far as the communication with the retail investor is concerned. Under your leadership, it was always a red carpet welcome with our queries, with our update, and it will be timely reply by an email. So I'm very, very thankful for your company secretary, the investor-centric approach. So that truly boosts morale of a retail investor like me. So I'm very, very thankful to be part of such a legacy and our company is ready to face the EV challenge and the future is very, very bright under the leadership of respected Sandeep Sangwan Ji. I wish him all the very, very best. As my earlier speaker said, due respect to him, yes, sir, it is not about the retirement. Yes, you have to spend lots of time with your loved ones, but it is my humble request as an investor in the company, please connect with the management because your invaluable advice always welcome in our company, and that's truly give us the new direction in the future. And with this, I wish the -- I just pray to the God that he will bless you, the entire Board so that the entire Board, which is headed by respected Sandeep Sangwan Ji, to take our company to the near zenith in the next financial year. And I'm very, very thankful to the management, the secretarial team, our respective CFO for giving me this opportunity to share my compliments, compliment, and compliment. I'm a very, very satisfied shareholder of our company. Thank you very much, sir. Wish you all the luck and all the best.

Thank you, Pravin Kumar Ji. [Foreign Language]. Next is Mr. Sharath Kumar Jivraj Shah.

First thing is good afternoon. And today is a very good day as it is a Shiv Jayanti, so you have selected a proper day for the Annual General Meeting. Sir, if you refer yesterday's Economic Times that is 27 March, hybrid and CNG and [indiscernible] will be future of automobile industry, so Castrol will remain in demand all time. So not to look upward, downward, forward and backward, look at the bright future only. And if you see Page #29, the financial highlights says 2023, best year in last several years. And one thing more sir, apart from our Annual Report, our price is around INR 187, Gulf Oil lubricant is INR 940, so we are sure that our price will also reach to that figure. Now I refer Page # 151. Face value of INR 1 from INR 5, so that it is fine to us, next phase is also reduction of workforce by AI. Now everybody reduced workforce because the AI technology is available. Page #98, serial #5, why Castrol feel it is a risk? Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. So you don't think anything is risk, it is business, you have to take Saath of everybody and progress for Vikas. Page 88, why there are so many categories? Up to 10,000, we must have 1 category and above 10,000, second category, put dividend on present share price. And the Page #71, India and Castrol oil depends on group, so foreign exchange outgoing is not an issue. And if I refer Page #70 on energy conservation, we eat in one go, not every now and then, every year. And Page #51, returns on net worth are lower. So the only solution is to reduce net worth. Then Page #46, INR and USD, there is no much variation, so no problem. And based on variation, if you see in the whole year, it is in advantage to us, it is going lower and lower. Stop, lower and then up, so it is more advantageous so that because of that, I think the company has made good profit in '23 also. And that is all what I want to say Sir. So everything is fine, and I expect that this share price also will go to INR 900. Thank you very much for giving me opportunity.

Sharath Kumar Ji, [Foreign Language] Number four, our next shareholder is Mr. Bimal Kumar Agarwal. If you're there, Mr. Agarwal, please unmute yourself and ask your question.

Sir, Mr. Agarwal has not joined the meeting.

All right. In case he joins later, we can give him an opportunity. The fifth shareholder indicated a desire to ask a question is Mr. Praful Chavda. Mr. Chavda, if you're there, [Foreign Language].

[Foreign Language].

[Foreign Language]. Thank you very much, Mr. Chavda. Mr. Anandu Vithal Nayak, are you there? Please turn on your video or your audio and unmute yourself and ask your question, Mr. Nayak. Has Mr. Nayak come, moderator.

Yes, sir?

Good afternoon to all Board members and the fellow shareholders, and thank you so much for giving this opportunity. I've just gone through the financial statement. So my limited observation. So when I see the sales and the PAT for the last 6 years, so the growth is in single digit. So what is the strategy in place to accelerate this? And I just want to understand what is the market share for each of the product segment? Because when I see other listed players like Tide Water or other companies, their share price is also on the higher side. So I just want to understand what is the strategy in place just to accelerate the top line and the bottom line. . Second, I just want to understand, sir, the company has made almost INR 500 crores investment in Ki Mobility. So what exactly the benefit, which the organization will get in the long run. Sir, third question, I remember in the past, Castrol reduced the face value from INR 10 to INR 5, and INR 5 they returned it to the shareholders. So whether a similar thing can be done now from reducing it from INR 5 to INR 4, so as to make it INR 1. I understand the number of shares will not come down, but at least paid-up value will look somewhere in the INR 100 crores from a INR 500 crore level. And sir, I just want to understand what is the royalty percentage and whether company is facing any problem in the tax assessments because normal trend is that whenever the MNC pay the royalty, normally, the tax people doing an assessment raise an issue saying that from a TP and a corporate deductibility perspective. Sir, I just want to understand what is the difference between sales, promotion fee and advertisement? Sir, when I see the Page #182, which is basically the contingent liability, there I saw that the company had received a favorable order from Maharashtra Sales Tax Tribunal, against which the department filed an appeal in Central Tax Appellate Authority, hearing dates are awaited. Now when the company had received a favorable order, this particular component got reduced from the contingent liability. But when I see the auditor's report -- sorry, sorry, this is for INR 565 crores because there it is return that company has filed an appeal. When company has filed an appeal, why this component is not reflecting in the accounting and liability? And my next question is that there is some favorable order, which company got. And that particular quantum is not reflecting in the contingent, there is a notes. However, in the auditor's report, when I refer the auditor's report, Page #148, there this amount is still continuing as a disputed dues, INR 3,566.27 crores. I just want to understand what is the reason for continuing that as disputed when the company got a favorable order. And similarly, sir, one more reconciliation exercise I did. I just added the indirect tax liability, which is reflecting in the auditor's report. And then I linked the number to the contingent liability number and as well as provision for indirect taxes, somehow the numbers are not matching. Maybe there may be certain contingent liability eliminated from the reporting, maybe probability of, this may not materialize. That may be a reason, but it is not matching. And, yes. And my other point, sir, why the company should not think of buyback of shares because the rates are also quite low. Why company should not seriously revisit on the buyback? And my last question, sir, how the company is planning to face the EV challenges? And before I conclude this, I just want to say something, so we are the original allottees. My father got the shares in 1983. I was just seeing the excel sheet, sir. In between, we sold certain shares at the time of buyback and whatever the shares, whatever the functions, which we did in the family, maybe my thread ceremony, my marriage, my sisters' marriage, and my flat in Goa, all that we bought with -- by selling the shares of Castrol, so we are very happy with the Castrol and thank you so much for making us so rich. Thank you so much, sir.

Thank you. I am happy to welcome you as a son-in-law of Castrol. I didn't know you're a son-in-law, but it's very heartwarming to know that so many good things happened in your life. We hope, with your blessings and good wishes, more good things will happen to more families in the future. Thank you for that, Mr. Nayak. And Mr. Sandeep Sangwan will respond to those questions. Mr. Santosh Kumar Saraf, would you please unmute yourself.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language] Our next speaker is Lekha Satish Shah. If she is present at the meeting, can I request her to unmute herself.

Respected Chairman sir, Board of Directors, and my fellow members, good afternoon to all of you. Myself, Lekha Shah from Mumbai. I'm very much thankful to our company secretary Hemangi ma'am and [ Soumya ] ma'am for sending the AGM notice well in time. I found the AGM notice, it's really useful with lot of information. Chairman sir, I'm totally agree with Mr. Santosh Bhai from Kolkata. Please continue video conference meeting in future. [Foreign Language] I support all the resolutions. Thank you so much, sir.

Thank you, Lekhaji. Thank you for your comments. This factory visit keeps coming up every time. [Foreign Language] No, I'm just being light hearted. I hope you don't mind shareholders. Thank you very much. Next, the speaker is Mr. V. Ravichandran.

Mr. Ravichandran may we request you to go unmute. It seems there is some problem with Mr. Ravichandran, so we can move ahead with the next speaker.

And if he comes, you can please request him later on. We now move to Mr. Pratap Sukhram Gogia.

Very good afternoon, Chairman sir and the Board of Directors, present [indiscernible]. This is Pratap Gogia speaking from Mumbai. Sir, I have nothing much actually whatever I wanted to ask, my dominant concern was about the impact of electrical vehicles on the consumption of oil of the company. And obviously, the impact on the revenues. But so many shareholders have asked and as you also mentioned, so I hope you will be throwing substantial light on this matter. And first with this, I just would like to express [indiscernible]. I would like to express my grateful thanks to Hemangi ma'am and Soumya ma'am for being very, very helpful, courteous in providing whatever assistance we needed and particularly, what I needed. Furthermore sir, now that the pandemic fear is not there, I would like to request to come back to the physical meeting and for outside shareholders, if you can conduct a hybrid meeting also, it will be helpful to all of us. For us, it's really a welcome time to come and meet the shareholders, other fellow shareholders and the management people, because this is once in a year of time where we look forward to meet the management, and have a one-on-one contact. But with this, what I have said, I have already supported all the resolutions through my e-vote. And I express once again my full support to the management and to the company.

Thank you, Pratapji. Very kind of you to make those comments. And I'm sure that the points on EV will be covered by Sandeep when he covers all the questions together. The next speaker is Mr. Raju. Raju bhai, if you're there, you can turn on your mic and unmute yourself.

[Foreign Language]

Thank you, Rajuji. That is a very precise comment, we thank you for your comment. The next is Mr. Jaydeep Bakshi.

Good afternoon, Chairman, MD, and CFO and Directors on the Board. Myself, Jaydeep Bakshi, connecting from the city of Kolkata. Thanks to Hemangi madam for giving me an opportunity to express my views and to the entire secretary department for conducting this video conference in a smooth manner. Sir, thanks for presenting a detailed and informative annual report along with your detailed speech sir, and presentation on digital platform and investor friendly measures from our Secretary madam was also welcome. Sir, thanks once again for the dividend you have passed on to us and congrats for the performance and increase in the PAT. Sir, in this fluctuating crude price, our company made a 6% growth in the revenue. Kindly share the plans for future growth, continuity in this current worldwide scenario and plans to extend our footprint in domestic market also. Sir, with the extended reach to new villages and adding new outlets, kindly share our percentage rise in lubrication sales. Sir, how much do we anticipate growth, the development across different segments that we have, the automative, the mining, and the different sectors which we have. Sir percentage-wise, the top brands contribution to our revenue growth, can we share with this also. And also our R&D CapEx plan for future growth because this EV is coming under new way. Sir, congrats for transforming the lives of the truck drivers through the Castrol Sarathi Mitra and through the safety training and health care support that you have extended to all of them. I think the lives of this truck drivers have really improved. And some market feedback on the new products that we have launched and the e-commerce, how much has been the sales generated. So congrats once again for the company's focus on risk management and renewable energy implementation at our manufacturing units and also in unique pre-operations for continuing for 11 years. Congrats for the CSR activities played across different states, as mentioned in Page 136. Sir, can I get this total amount figure, which is not mentioned for the CSR amount spend? Nothing to add more. I hope our Castrol Global is celebrating this 125 years and 150 years on this Indian soil. Sir, under this directors on the Board and the custom mentioned in Pages 30 and 36 in the annual report and all other associated with our company, our company will certainly gain mileage in the coming years. Thank you, sir, for giving me an opportunity and wish you a very happy retired life in the coming days. Thank you, sir, and continue with this video conference in the future so that we can get connected. Thank you, sir, and all stay safe.

[Foreign Language] And we will answer your questions at the end. Next is Mrs. [indiscernible] Patel.

We can move to the next speaker. .

She is not there, Mrs. [indiscernible] Patel.

Yes, she's unable to join the meeting. We have a message from her.

Mrs. Poonam Dharmesh Vakil. If she is there.

Yes. I'm the only and loving husband of Poonam Vakil. She is my beloved wife. Very warm and cordial good afternoon to all, because it is very hot in Mumbai City. I'm very much thankful to our honorable company's secretary, Hemangi and her entire secretarial team, Soumya and all others for repeated reminders for the today's meeting for the annual report and everything. Our annual report is very, very informative with colorful pictures and all the details. My first and foremost suggestion, why we are holding a video meeting, the COVID is over worldwide since last 3 years, see you people are moving here and there, then why the shareholders are deprived of the physical meeting. You can have a hybrid meeting just now like my other predecessor also told and I've voted in favor of all the resolutions, and I once again reiterate my full support wholeheartedly to our company and the management. And I would like to know, how is the current year working and what is the competition? Please give us the CapEx for the next at least 3 years. See the dividend is taxable to the company and to the shareholders. So you can -- you announce the buyback, buyback is tax free in the hands of the shareholders, we have got a very considerable and very huge cash position, and we have got agreement thus general results also. And just like Mr. Nayak said, I've also got two loving daughters and you [indiscernible] pray that Kanyadan of my both the two loving daughters are done from the Castrol shareholding. And that's all. Jai Shri Krishna to all, and I sum up my speech here only. Thank you all.

Thank you, Vakilji. Very kind of you to give us those comments. Next speaker is Mr. Kaushik Shahukar.

Respected sir and [ digital room ] guests, good afternoon to all. It is my utmost privilege that I stand before this esteemed gathering to share my thoughts. I'm deeply grateful to the Board for granting me this opportunity to be part of such an esteemed event. Today, I pose a pertinent question that I believe our crucial understanding Castrol position in our evolving competitive landscape. How does Castrol maintain its competitive edge in such a dynamic environment? What innovative products has Castrol introduced or planned to introduce in this increasingly competitive electric vehicle market? Given the rapid pace of technological advancement, there is a concern that current products may become obsolete in the phase of EV dominance. Can we still trust in the resilience -- can we still trust the resilience of Castrol business model and how can company ensure that shareholders' value remain intact? Furthermore, I note the absence of significant corporate actions such as bonus distribution, stock split or share buyback aimed at [ analytic ] shareholders wealth. Are there plans for such initiatives in the near future? Before I conclude, I must extend my heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Deepesh Baxi, Mrs. Reena Shah, and esteemed team for the invaluable support and collaboration. I assure you of the utmost dedication and commitment to a task and transit to me. Additionally, I would be honored to directly engage with the company for certification work including Form-15 CB. Finally, I believe that there will be substantial savings due to virtual mode of meeting. I propose savings to be utilized for the shareholders as it belongs to them, company can either arrange the site visit for speaker shareholders. Another possibility could involve distributing token of appreciation such as sweets or small gift to our esteemed speaker shareholders during festivals. Furthermore, I would greatly appreciate your assistance in facilitating an introduction to delight of potential engagement in professional endeavours. Given our professional affiliation, I'm confident that such a collaboration would prove mutually beneficial for both parties involved. Thank you for your attention sir.

Okay. Thank you, Koushikji. Thank you very much for those comments. Manoj Babu [Foreign Language], Manoj Kumar Gupta.

[Foreign Language] I have a great respect in regards to you, sir, and I strongly support all the resolution, and I -- sir, when investor will get return on their investment? Castrol is the one leader in the world for lubricants. Why there is no reflection in the stock market to return to the investors? And sir, do something for Bengal in care for Kolkata under the CSR. There is your big plant in Paharpur in Kolkata. So do something under the CSR policy. And I wish to god for your healthy and prosperous safe, long life. I feel proud to see you sir in the AGM as a Chairman and don't leave us, don't feel that you will retire because Swami Vivekananda says till the heart and mind works, people should work. And, sir [Foreign Language].

Thank you, Manojji. [Foreign Language] Thank you. Mr. Rajendra Jamnadas Seth, next.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]. Next is Mr. Chetan Chadda.

Hello, sir, can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Sir, thank you so much for giving me the chance. I'm really thankful to the secretarial department and you also to give me the chance to speak with you. [Foreign Language]

Chetanji, thank you for your questions. I'm sure Sandeep will cover it. May I request Dinesh Bhatiaji to unmute himself and speak.

[Foreign Language]

Thank you, Dinesh Bhai. That's very nice of you to make those comments. Mr. Ashwin [indiscernible] if you're there, please unmute yourself.

Sir, I'm Ashwin from Bombay. Sir, why no physical AGM? And will a physical and a hybrid meeting, sir, even people from outside Bombay can talk. I think you should take the initiative to start holding physical meeting. And sir you're looking very old, take care of your health, because I'm seeing you after so many years, so I feel you are looking very old.

Thank you. Just now somebody said I'm looking very young and you're saying I'm looking very old. So I'll record this part and give it to my wife. [Foreign Language], but please go ahead.

Sir, how much percentage of our income comes from EV and how much from ICE, sir? Because when ICE reduces, will our income reduce? Or do we have any other source of income? Sir, that is the main worry, because when ICE comes, what will EV do, because we are making mostly engine oil. And how much of our income you expect in future to be from electric vehicle? Sir, thank you very much and all the best for the future.

Thank you, Ashwin bhai. Thank you very much. Arunkumar Mohanraj garu. [Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language] Sir, I would have missed this meeting, but the penny dropped when Soumya called, thanks to Soumya for reminding me. I missed the notice. Then when she called, I said the numbers are too large, I may not speak. But then I downloaded the balance sheet, I saw you pend as the last meeting. Then I said I must give a farewell to Gopal Babu, my dear Gopal Babu.

Thank you very much.

I think, I generally don't ask questions, but if I don't ask question, people think otherwise. So how many EV OEMs did we collaborate till date? What will be the uptake in EV for Castrol in 5 years? What are the innovation to face global challenges and how much did we -- did Castrol contribute electron bonds? Castrol is into lubrication, regardless of the ability of the management, we need some lubrication for the power at the center. And IEPF -- and sir, the IEPF problem with the MCSI doesn't work at all. I hope Hemangi will make a representative MCA. Gopal Babu, as you pinch your final message, and after your retirement, Castrol will continue to transform and gather momentum in the future, and young people will drive it for the onward, upward and forward journey. I wish Castrol all the best. Sir, it's goodbye to you for the prestige attached to your name. It's goodbye to you for walking the talk with integrity. It's goodbye to you for your soft heart, which is as soft as a petal, it's goodbye for your execution which has always been as hard as metal, and it's goodbye with so much of love and affection to you. Sir our more than 2 decades of association is coming to an end now. And you say you're retiring, but your mind works sir, your mind works. And after 57 years when you retire and sit in your Colaba House and look at the Ocean, and if you question yourself, whether all this is worth, and after long silence, your subconscious mind will give you an answer with a resounding, yes. So I'm sure you will enjoy retirement with mind works. So a profound welcome, sir, with the heart brimming with love and affection and it's goodbye with a big salute to Gopal babu, all the best, hope to see you, and I hope to receive your invitation for your book launches in the future. Thank you very much.

[Foreign Language]. Take Care. [Foreign Language] Kamal Kumar Majumdar.

Sir, Mr. Majumdar has not joined our meeting.

Okay. So we will go on next to the next person. Mr. Hariram Choudhary.

Mr. Choudhary also not joined the meeting.

Okay. Then number 24, Mr. Yousuf [indiscernible].

Chairman, good afternoon sir. [Foreign Language] Point number three, sir, when was the factory which is many other pass, sir. [indiscernible] But now the corona has gone. Sir, after the month of, you can say, May, sir, if can you arrange a factory [indiscernible] this is my humble request. [Foreign Language]

Thank you, Yousuf bhai. Very kind comments that you've offered. Can I go to the next person, Mr. Hiranand Kotwani.

Yes, yes. I am here. I am visible?

You are not visible, but you are audible.

Yes, yes. 40 years of company and 54 years experienced gentleman Chairman, respected Chairman, other dignitary attendants meeting. Mr. Chairman, this company started as a marketing company, because our product is the byproduct of crude. We are not buying product and refining the product, but certainly, there was a small company and a huge market and its growth oriented. Now the last so many years, growth is not there. And new products are not coming. That is the reason our -- because of our share market like the double digit growth, for any rampage of bull, double digit growth. This is [Foreign Language]. You said in your speech, we hope, in fact, the new product, the new strategy is coming. I'm very much, since [indiscernible] that what new product and new verticals will come in the future and growth will come. Because unless until the new product and new innovation will come, this company will be just a sleeping company. As you said it lightly that visit because last year, so when your visit was there, I was not interested or so, I'm not invited. But certainly, I am interested with your last year, visit should be there, we'll meet. Because the physical meeting was good, you were the Tata [indiscernible]. I hope that you are more than 54 years of experience. You came in '17 new year and joined the Tata, if I'm correct. And you were humble, your name is well in the corporate. Are you taking this, one number, shareholders very lightly that in Gaza and Ukraine that the visit will be there. I will certainly have a reservation for that. Because you always speak good. I have seen you in so many meeting with Tata. Certainly, your future growth for this company, future vision and mission, management should come out with that. Thank you and good luck.

Thank you, Mr. Kotwani for your comments. Mr. Gundluru Reddeppa.

[Foreign Language] Chairman sir, Gopalakrishnan ji, other all MDs, CEO, and my company secretary, good afternoon, my name is Reddeppa Gundluru from Hyderabad,sir. Sir, you are looking still young. [Foreign Language] That's the reason, I'm proposing my request sir, if it is possible, please do sir, otherwise no. Sir, as a shareholder, I'm very happy and proud about the company performance, sir. I just seen, I witnessed the testimony sir, since 1983, one of the shareholder is [Foreign Language] It's a wonderful testimony sir. All the best. [Foreign Language] Wonderful, sir, wonderful. So, I don't have any questions to ask here, sir. Only appreciation. You are doing fantastic CSR, fantastic corporate grown on this the green energy initiative you have taken. I observed that, that came in all the annual report. So I have few queries, but I will mail you. I don't want -- I don't take any -- much of your time, why because, I appreciate your patience sharing sir, since morning, wonderful, wonderful sir. Our Gopalakrishnan sir from -- he's also our [Foreign Language] wonderful sir. Wonderful President board, I'm rephrasing. Thank you so much for company, Secretariat department for [indiscernible] proceedings also your typical proceedings also the professional [Foreign Language] decision. My special blessings and also our appreciation to all the company secretarial [Foreign Language] Our Chairman sir, our MD sir, yes, we have faith on you, trust on you. Go ahead and take appropriate decision to my company growth. So I wish you the good health to you, happiness to you, sir, nothing more to ask sir, [indiscernible]. I have your observations, I'll send to Hemangi ma'am, no need to discuss over here, why because, I don't want to take your much time. So I'm a very proud shareholder, happy shareholder. Basically, I'm a financial adviser and also market analyst from Hyderabad, sir. So I'm very happy to attend this annual general meeting for -- last year, I also attended, but I'm very proud today, why because I have seen so many testimonials about my company. So all the blessings to you, all hardworking employees and board. Thank you so much for giving this opportunity Chairman, sir.

Thank you very much. That's very kind of you. Mr. K. Bharat Raj, that is the last speaker we have.

Very good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. I'm Bharat Raj attending from Hyderabad. Entire Board of Directors, warm good evening to all. Sir, I'm very happy, sir. I'm very proud. Under your leadership, my company has grown and happy retirement to you, Mr. Chairman. I wish that further good health -- god bless you with good health and prosper [Audio Gap] dividend and CSR programs and our company secretary also is always accessible for us. Thanks for good services of -- company services. Once again, sir, best to you -- all the best to you, sir. Take care, sir. God bless you all. Thank you very much for giving this opportunity.

Thank you, Mr. [ Bharat Raj ]. I think we have finished the question.

We have 2 more shareholders, sir, who registered today. So I just call out their names.

Yes, go ahead.

[ Bharat Shah ]? Mr. Shah, can you go on...

[Foreign Language]. Thank you so much, madam. [Foreign Language] Thank you, sir.

Thank you. Thank you.

[Foreign Language].

[Foreign Language].

[Foreign Language].

Broken. Bharat Shah ji, [Foreign Language] go ahead.

Hello, sir. [Foreign Language]. Thank you very much, sir. [Foreign Language]. Thank you very much. [Foreign Language]. Thank you.

[Foreign Language]. Thank you, Bharat ji. [Foreign Language]. I think -- any others?

So we can check with the moderator, if there are any shareholders who had registered but could not log in earlier. Moderator, do we have anyone else who's yet to speak?

We have Mr. [ Ravichandran ].

Okay.

Hello?

Yes, Mr. Ravichandran, please go ahead.

Yes. Am I audible?

Yes, you are audible.

Yes. Good evening, Chairman sir. First of all, I wish you good health and happiness after your retirement. Before I start my queries, I have one suggestion to make to the Company Secretary. She has made a presentation on the online processes that she has tied up with KFIN. So one suggestion is this form 15G and 15H, you can make a suggestion to the government to file it at the DP level instead of filing it at registrar level or company level. So DP level, all the companies are pulling out data from the DPs, beneficiary details. So this can also come as an input. Otherwise, every shareholder is filing with the registrars and multiple times, if there are interim dividends. And many a time, these companies or registers, they omit the details. So as a result, tax is deducted and at the time of filing the return, it is taken into consideration and refund is sought. So this is one suggestion. I'm not saying you can do it alone. With the industry body, you can make a suggestion to the finance minister, so in the next budget, maybe this can come online. So that is one suggestion. My first point is you have tied up with the Mahindra Insurance Brokers. What is the commercial significance of this? Is the company getting any revenue out of it? Or is it just another service that Castrol is providing to its customers? My second point is PATH360. You've highlighted lots of points. Many of them are good in bringing down the wastage and all, but one main point is omitted, tree planting. See, the climate change can be addressed without much efforts by planting trees. So that is totally missing in this PATH360. So my suggestion is you can take up tree planting as an initiative for climate change. Tree planting does not mean the flame of the forest kind of trees, not those kind of trees. Our ancient trees like pipal tree or neem tree or tamarind trees, they live for hundreds of years. And they withstand the pressure of wind and also avoid soil erosion. Those kind of tree plantations. This is my suggestion. And this sales, many people have addressed, the Chairman himself has said, in 2003, the turnover was INR 1,000 crores, and today, it is INR 5,000 crores. See, in a period of 20 years, what is the growth in vehicle population in India? It is mind-boggling. Is the sales growth in line with the growth in population of vehicles? I don't think so. So there must be some serious thinking on the part of the company to see where the revenue can be increased. See, I don't want to get into the share price or bonus, buyback and all because there are -- the other competitors have very low equity, high promoter stake. So that cannot be compared with the Castrol. So the price issue in the stock market, neither the company has got any control nor it has any connection with the share capital, but I'm sure a serious thought can be given to the revenue growth, and the company is paying a very good dividend. I've been a shareholder since 2006. So I'm happy about the dividend payment. So if the revenue grows, so also the profit grows and shareholders can expect higher dividend. This is a suggestion as well as a recommendation also from the shareholder side. My another point is the selling of lubricants and Castrol Auto Service outlets. So one is selling product. The other one is service. How the company is going to manage the local issue? Because service is done through franchisees, whether they are fully equipped, whether they are giving the kind of service that the company has thought of, so how these issues are managed, some details on this. Because my experience is, I had gone to once to a very famous outlet. And the fellow, the local fellow, he didn't know I wanted the rear lamp to be changed. He didn't know where the screw is to remove the lamp. So those kind of issues are local and at the corporate level, you may not even low, but this may bring down the reputation of the company. So some details on how this is being managed. Then product introduction. Any new products are being introduced? Or you are going to stick to only the lubricant part? The car cleaning or vehicle cleaning part, many companies are coming up in the market. Is there any thought process on this? Then the trade payable and trade receivable ratio. Normally, trade payables are lower than the trade receivables. I don't know how the -- is this particular to this industry, I do not know. Normally, it is -- because there are many inputs other than procurements, which go into the revenue part. So it is normally lower than the trade receivables. But here, I find a change. The ratio is 1.6, which -- that means you are not paying to the suppliers and thereby managing this, I do not know, or may be peculiar to this industry. So some details on this. Then deposits and cash balances. Some shareholders have raised this point also you. The company has about INR 1,200 crores of deposits and cash balances. So what are you going to do? Are you going to dividend it out? Or are you going to use it for some acquisition, or some other purpose? I do not know. Some details can be given on this. Then rebate payable. Revenue increase was 6%, whereas the rebate payable, a substantial increase, nearly INR 60 crores of increase. This is in Page #175 of the Annual Report. INR 60 crores increase, which is more than 30% from the previous year. So some details on -- as to why so much increase has happened. And my last point is on the selling, you have tied up with Jio as part of Jio BP alliance. Is there any proposal to tap into ONDC also? So this is my last point. Thank you and wish the company good future. Thank you.

Thank you, Ravichandran ji. I think we have completed all the questions now. And as we are...

We have 2 more speakers if you can call them up.

Okay.

They've already locked in. So I will quickly call their names and I'll also request them to be very brief in terms of their speech and may ask the questions that they want to ask. Let me call up on Mr. [ Thamal Kumar Agarwal ]?

Hello, is it okay?

Yes.

Yes, Mr. Agarwal, we can hear you. Please go ahead.

Is it okay, ma'am?

Yes, sir, we can hear you. Go ahead, please.

Respected Gopalakrishnan sir, Mr. Sangwan, Mr. Khanna and other directors of the company, myself, Tamal Kumar Agarwal, an equity shareholder from Kolkata. Sir, on 2 days ago, I got a call from your secretariat -- secretarial department to join the meeting and noticing that it's your last meeting, I immediately said, I did my homework and I attend the meeting at from 2:00. But sorry to say when my name announced, it was said by your moderator that I was not present. It incensed me and the person who called me, he was actually training -- giving training to me how to operate Webex and others. Feeling very sad, very bad, very bad. Sir, I have gone through the Annual Report. I have some queries relating to audited accounts and other matters and seek your indulgence as usual. Sir, it is noted from Page 47 that the company has expanded its alliance with key OEM leaders in various segments like Tata Motors in the on-road commercial vehicle space. We also ventured into EV market for EV fluids supply for leading passenger vehicle OEMs. What is its impact and on how much of these activities contributed to our revenue for calendar year 2023? And what is the total contribution of EV fluid for calendar year '23 turnover and your expectation for the next 5 years in this segment? Whether the company expanded its alliance with other OEMs in addition to Tata Motors as on date? Please share your thoughts. And what is the contribution of your e-platform? You talked about e-platform. So what is the contribution of e-platform to our revenue for calendar year '23 and your expectation in this effect in the coming years? Sir, Mr. Sangwan in his Letter to Shareholders Page 8 mentioned that its strategic partnership with key mobility solutions, Mahindra Insurance Brokers Limited and Uber elevate our market influence. How it impacted our revenue during calendar year '23 and your expectation in the coming years? Whether we got -- whether you earned any revenue from Mahindra Insurance Brokers during the year when 0.001% compulsorily convertible preference shares in key mobility will be converted into equity? Whether any further investment is being made in the venture during the current year? Give us details in respect of ki Mobility status as on date. Sir, as per Page 176, sale of products is net of rebates of INR 574.64 crores in comparison to INR 479.7 odd crores during calendar year '22. Whether the company increased rebates during calendar year '23 in order to increase its sale? Would you please share your thoughts in this respect? Whether rebate payable amounting to INR 249.82 crores related to turnover of calendar year '23 alone? It is in page 175, sir. And would you please share with us details in respect of a whopping INR 234.50 crore shown as sales promotion fees during calendar year '23, it is in Page 179, to whom they paid the amount and whether it includes the parent also? On what basis it is being paid? What is the formula for paying the amount? So everybody talked about the bonus. But I want to say that our paid-up company is not in a position to give any bonus because our paid-up capital is INR 494.56 crores against authorized capital of INR 495 crores. So there is no possibility of bonus or rights issue in the coming year, no possibility. You may think of giving bonus, but that is not possible without increasing the equity share capital. So is there any possibility of increasing the authorized capital in the near future? Or whether you are thinking of any buyback? It is noted from Page 165 that there are 8 projects with cost overrun timeline delayed on 31st December 2023. What steps you have taken for its immediate completion as well as non-recurrence of the same in future? Whether the management identified the reason for cost overrun, timeline delayed as well as officials responsible for this miss, whether the delay impacted the revenue in the negative direction, details are to be given in this respect. Sir, it is mentioned in Page 46, that depreciation of Indian rupee by approximately 1.8% in 2023 added challenges to our company's operations by affecting input prices across all procurement categories. What is your expectation in this front during the current year considering turbulent geopolitical situation? And whether the management give a timeline, even after completion of 36 long years for transfer of freehold land in Mehsana, Gujarat in favor of the company, it is in Page 146. This type of [ taught and preach ] policy followed by the statutory auditor must stop immediately. It is going on for more than 36 long years. What is the current value of the land? Please share your thoughts in this regard. Huge disputed Maharashtra sales tax amount as shown in Pages 147 to 148 and 182 for INR 1,000-odd crores is really a disturbing aspect for its shareholders. Time span of the claim relates to 2007, '08 to 2017, '18. Why the company is not taking appropriate steps for hardly hearing for final disclosure? Whether company is also not interested in -- as regards the settlement of the matters are concerned? Did we approach the court for early hearing? Present position in this regard is to be given. And whether the management thinks that they have made appropriate provision in this respect. And company has a massive return earning balance of INR 1534.56 crores as on 31st December 2023. Whether the management is thinking of sharing a part of it with its investors in the near future as dividend? And lastly, sir, our parent, Castrol India UK's (sic) [ Castrol Limited UK's ] earning from our company is increasing every year. It increased from INR 415.21 crore in calendar year '22 to INR 450.31 crore during calendar year '23 on account of dividend and royalty. It is Page 191. Without any further investment made by them, how they contributed to our prosperity during the current year? And sir, it is the last AGM [Technical Difficulty] and I wish you good health and spirit. And sir, after we joined the Tata Group, if I remember correctly, Ratan Tata said, Gopal is joining from an international -- he is joining from international conglomerate to India international company. And I think shareholders may not -- our shareholders or the other members may not be aware that Gopalakrishnan is the only person as Rallis' Chairman, where his father was their Chief Accounts Officer under Ralli Brothers. I think it is one example that is available in the corporate sector, his father was the Chief Accountant in Ralli Brothers, in which Gopalakrishnan became the Chairman -- he became the Chairman. And lastly, I want to say Ratan Tata once told me, the showmanship never pays. At the end of the day, you have to deliver. You may not be Ratan -- you may not be Amitabh Bachchan. We don't want to be Amitabh Bachchan, but you delivered a lot in all your areas, in Hindustan Lever, in Tata Group companies as well as in Castrol. So we are happy with that. And you are more than -- to us, you are more than Amitabh Bachchan. So thank you, sir, and wish you good health and spirit in the coming months. Thank you all. Thank you all.

[Foreign Language]. As we agreed earlier, we will request Sandeep to club questions together and answer them as comprehensively. And if there are still any further questions, Sandeep, if you agree, shareholders can write to you through the Company Secretary for further clarification. But go ahead, it yours.

Yes. Thank you, Chairman sir. [Foreign Language] It's very heart warming when I hear people say that Castrol shares -- shareholding has impacted their life, whether it was their daughter's marriages, whether it was buying a house, [Foreign Language] I'll bucket them in different themes because that will be the most efficient way to answer these questions. So first of all, I think there were quite a few suggestions around [Foreign Language]. So I'll request Hemangi and the secretarial team [Foreign Language] let's do that. [Foreign Language] ICE related will continue growing in India till about 2040 at a growth rate of about 4% to 5%. And I think when we look at our business growth, we should look at this category, which is our core business grows between anywhere 4% to 6% depending on the year that you talked about. So first of all, the core business is very robust till we go to about 2040. And the reason for that is the penetration of cars in India is so low compared to the developed world or compared to other economies like China, that not all demand will be fulfilled by EVs. So there is a lot of play to come on ICE and all the Japanese OEMs [Foreign Language] Maruti Suzuki, India [Foreign Language] share position about 45% [Foreign Language] they're also betting on hybrids as a technology which is going to be become more prevalent, okay? Hybrid [Foreign Language] the company has also launched a range of EV fluids under the brand name of Castrol ON [Foreign Language] ki Mobility covers about [Foreign Language] workshop, plus they cover about 30,000-plus retailers and workshops, but they do not have a lubricant. So we supply lubricants into their network. And we cover almost about 50,000 workshops as Castrol, and we don't have spare parts, and we get access to spare parts for our workshop. So [Foreign Language] they stay more loyal to us. So that was the logic. Other is ki Mobility is digitizing the aftermarket [Foreign Language] consumers can get a trusted service in those workshops. [Foreign Language] Castrol is the sole lubricant supplier. This gives us a very good position in the retail market [Foreign Language] very specific questions, CapEx, buyback, investor returns, I request Deepesh to take those questions, and then I'll come back and answer questions which were around employees and our CSR efforts. Deepesh, over to you.

Thank you, Sandeep. [Foreign Language] we will reward our shareholders going forward in the right way as we have been doing in the past. [Foreign Language] as a good corporate governance practice [Foreign Language]. This is the first thing I would like to say. [Foreign Language] as a good corporate governance practice [Foreign Language] we will spend almost anything between INR 150 crores to INR 200 crores in the next 2 to 3 years. There was a question around other income. Other income is increased also because we have made investments in some new risk free products like overnight market fund [Foreign Language] it has quite a few details, and that has been also disclosed in the P&L statement. This includes the expenses which are related to traveling, it includes expenses related to freight. [Foreign Language]. There is also expenses related to insurance. Insurance [Foreign Language] this is a channel access fee which is being paid to OEMs like Tata and Maruti. And the way it is calculated, it is basically based on volume. So volume [Foreign Language] how is advertisement different than sales promotion fee. Sales promotion [Foreign Language] is paid to the OEM partners. Advertisement is something that you spend in media, digital marketing, [Foreign Language]. It's a normal buy and sell transaction that happens. And if you look at our domestic institutions, then we still have very good marquee both financial and domestic investors in our portfolio, like HDFC, Nippon and many other good funds. [Foreign Language]. Almost 60% of volume comes from our top brands. [Foreign Language] R&D cost is totally about INR 7 crores, and that is on Page 71. So less than a percentage of sales is what is our R&D costs. And the other -- so that is the R&D costs. [Foreign Language] royalty is basically what we paid to parent and [Foreign Language].

So let me, Deepesh, move to some of the questions related to employees and CSR. [Foreign Language] I think this is something which is very close to our heart. We're trying to improve our gender diversity, and that is a key area of focus for us. So [Foreign Language] percent of average profit for the last 3 years. [Foreign Language]. Rakesh, [Foreign Language] if you want to come and please feel free to add?

No, go ahead, Sandeep, you are doing well. Go ahead.

Thank you. I think [Foreign Language] those are our businesses [Foreign Language]. So the company, as Hemangi was saying, shared with you on shareholders, from a business perspective, we are also making a lot of effort on digitization of the business. And I think digitization is a key component of also bringing in more cost efficiencies in the organization. So [Foreign Language]. We're also working on things like chatbots for AI where customers can ask questions. In fact, we just kind of gone live with one pilot where consumers and customers can ask questions to a chat bot around products, around services, around -- queries related to business. So definitely, and we're also looking at how do we work with the India digital stack like one of our shareholders mentioned ONDC. So that's also under consideration, how do we kind of hook up into the India digital stack and leverage those systems. So I think, Chairman sir, hopefully, I've covered most -- between Deepesh and I, we've covered most of the themes or questions that came. And as you have suggested, if there are any very specific questions, we'll be happy to take that through our secretarial services through e-mail and respond to those questions.

Thank you very much, Sandeep. I hope the shareholders feel that the questions have been properly recorded, sorted out and answered. I would now like to go to the last part. We can take up the resolutions. Do we have to read out all the resolutions, Hemangi? Or can I just say resolution number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6?

You can do so because the shareholders do have the notice. So we can call out the resolution numbers and...

So the resolution #1 is an ordinary resolution for adoption of accounts and you have the wording of the resolution. Resolution #2 is an ordinary resolution to declare the final dividend of INR 4.5 per share and you have the wording of that. Item #3 is the ordinary resolution where Mr. Udayan Sen retires and is offering himself for reelection. Item #4 is an ordinary resolution where Saugata Basuray retires and offers himself for reappointment. Resolution #5 is for Mr. (sic) [ M/s. ] Kishore Bhatia & Associates, cost accountants, to ratify the remuneration payable to them. And the last item #6 is a special resolution to approve the reappointment of Rakesh Makhija as an Independent Director for a second term of 5 years. These resolutions shall be deemed to be passed today subject to the receipt of the requisite number of votes. As we mentioned at the beginning, the e-voting facility is available during the meeting and will also be available for 15 minutes after the close of the meeting. After combining the results of both the remote e-voting and the voting at the AGM, the results will be announced within 2 working days from the conclusion of the meeting, which is shortly, and will be shared with the stock exchanges and uploaded on the websites of the company and CDSL. This meeting would stand concluded at the end of 15 minutes from now. And thank you, all shareholders, once again, for joining the meeting. We sincerely hope and pray for your families. And on behalf of the Board and the management, I would like to thank you for your good wishes to the company. [Foreign Language]. Bye.