Emami Limited (531162) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning. Welcome to the 38th AGM of Emami Limited. This Annual General Meeting is being held through video conferencing or other audiovisual means. [Operator Instructions] Thank you. Now I will hand over the [ speech ] 0:54 to Shri R. S. Goenka.

Respected Board members and our dear shareholders, a very good morning to all of you. I, along with my colleague and co-founder, Shri R. S. Agarwal, welcome you all to the 38th Annual General Meeting of your company, Emami Limited. I hope all of you and your loved ones are safe and keeping well in these tough times. This 38th AGM is being held through video conference via the CDSL platform in accordance with the circulars issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs' applicable provisions of the Companies Act 2013 and the SEBI listing regulations. We have sufficient quorum of members present for the AGM. Participation of members through video conference is being recorded for the purpose of quorum as per the circulars issued by MCA and Section 103 of the Companies Act 2013. I now request Shri R. S. Agarwal, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder; and Shri H. V. Agarwal, Executive Director, to introduce themselves and commence the meeting.

I, Harsha Vardhan Agarwal, Executive Director, along with Shri R. S. Agarwal, Executive Chairman, welcome you all to the 38th AGM of your company. We are attending the meeting from our residence at Kolkata. We request Shri R. S. Goenka ji to conduct the proceedings of the meeting.

Thank you, Shri R. S. Agarwal. Thank you, Harsha. Respected shareholders, let me introduce you to the members of the Board present with us today. Dr. K. N. Memani. Sorry.

Mr. Memani, may we request you to unmute your microphone.

Please introduce, Dr. K. N. Memani. I move to the next [ introduction ].

Yes.

Dr. Y. P. Trivedi.

Mr. Y. P. Trivedi, you may go ahead to introduce.

Dr. Y. P. Trivedi.

Yes, yes. Good morning, everyone.

Mr. Y. P. Trivedi, you may please proceed to introduce yourself.

I am Y. P. Trivedi, Director, taking part in this video conference of the Annual General Meeting from my office in Mumbai at Atlanta, Nariman Point and I could see everybody very clearly. [indiscernible]. There is nobody else in the room.

Thank you. Mr. Goenka, you may proceed with the next member.

Mr. A. K. Deb.

Good morning, everybody. I am Amit Kiran Deb, an independent director of Emami Limited and Chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the company. I'm attending the AGM from Kolkata. Thank you.

Shri S. B. Ganguly.

Sir, Mr. Ganguly's connection has dropped. In the meanwhile, may we request you to please proceed with the next member.

Shri Debabrata Sarkar.

So I'm Debabrata Sarkar, participating in this AGM of Emami Limited from my residence, Mumbai. I'm alone in my room. Thank you to all.

Shri S. K. Goenka.

Good morning. I'm S. K. Goenka, Managing Director and Chairman of the CSR [indiscernible]. I'm attending today's meeting. Thank you.

Shri Mohan Goenka.

Good morning, I'm Mohan Goenka [indiscernible].

Shri Aditya Vardhan Agarwal.

I am Aditya Vardhan Agarwal, Non-Executive Director of the company, and I'm attending the AGM from Kolkata. Thank you.

Shrimati Priti Sureka.

Good morning. I'm Priti Agarwal Sureka, Executive Director of the company, and I'm attending the AGM from Kolkata. Thank you.

Shri Prashant Goenka.

Hi, I am Prashant Goenka, Executive Director. I'm attending the meeting from my residence in Dubai.

Representatives of the statutory auditors and secretarial auditors have also logged in to attend the meeting. Apart from the Board members, we have Shri N. H. Bhansali, CFO; and Shri A. K. Joshi, Company's Secretary, who are also present in this meeting. A. K. Joshi.

Thank you, sir. Good morning. Welcome to the 38th Annual General Meeting of Emami Limited. This 38th Annual General Meeting [indiscernible] and other audiovisual means via the CDSL platform in accordance with the circular issued by Ministry of Corporate Affairs' applicable provisions of the Companies Act 2013 and the SEBI listing regulation. As the AGM is being held through video conference, the facility of appointing proxies by members is not applicable. Registers required under the Act for Inspections are available at the website of CDSL for members to inspect electronically. In accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act under SEBI listing regulations, the members have been provided with the facility to exercise their right to vote by electronic means both through remote e-voting facility and e-voting at the Annual General Meeting. Remote e-voting facility was made available to all members holding shares as on the cut-off date, Wednesday, September 22, 2021, during the period commencing from 9 a.m. IST on Saturday, September 25, 2021, till 5 p.m. IST on Tuesday, September 28, 2021. We have sent the integrated annual report along with the notice of Annual General Meeting to all shareholders who have got their e-mail addresses registered. With the permission of the members, the integrated annual report and the notice are being taken as read. The statutory auditors and secretarial auditors have expressed unqualified opinions in their respective audit reports for the financial year 2020-'21. There were no qualifications, observations or adverse comments on the financial statements and matters which have an immaterial bearing on functioning of the company, so the auditor's report is not required to be read. We have taken all necessary states to ensure that the shareholders are able to attend and vote at the meeting in the seamless manner. Now, I request Shri R. S. Goenka ji to take you through the performance and operations of the company and continue with the proceedings of the meeting. Shri R. S. Goenka ji?

Respected Board members and our dear shareholders, it gives me immense pleasure to welcome you all to the 38th Annual General Meeting of your company, Emami Limited. Our lives have changed somewhat since the last 1.5 years. We miss meeting you in person at the AGM like before. The pandemic protocol makes it necessary to once again hold our AGM virtually to meet our deary shareholder family over video conferencing. We do hope that all is well with you and your families. I would like to welcome our diverse Board and thank them for gracing our AGM. Shri P. K. Khaitan, Independent Director, could not attend the meeting due to some unavoidable circumstances. I would also like to inform you that Mrs. Rama Bijapurkar, one of our highly-coveted independent directors, had to step down from the Board of the company with effect from 2nd of August 2021 due to changes she seeks to make in her position -- portfolio of professional work and time. We thank her for an immense contribution towards the growth of the company in the last 7 years and wish Mrs. Bijapurkar the very best for the future. As we all know, India, along with the rest of the world, has been passing through one of the most volatile periods under the sudden and unprecedented impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Suspension of economic activities due to lockdowns and mounting pressure of health emergencies on the common man severely impacted the economic growth of the country. From June 2020 onwards, as we entered the unlocking phase, economic recovery gradually started to come back, thus validating India's long-term consumption potential. For Emami, the first quarter of last year turned out to be unprecedented for its uncertainty from lengthy lockdowns, pandemic scare and sliding consumer sentiment. It was the kind of quarter that threw up multiple challenges in terms of innovation, manufacturing, logistics, choice of distribution and marketing channels, et cetera, but your company responded to the situation with a certain agility, collaborated its strength effectively, build upon its abilities and transferred the challenges to a successful growth. The successful transformation of the company feels all the more better when we realized that it has been achieved after keeping the health concerns of our employees as one of our top prosperities. Business is important to us, but what is more important to our journey are our human assets, our employees. Since March 2020, a major portion of our workforce has been encouraged to work from home with very minimal need with attendance in office, adhering to the government guidelines. The emergency situation calling for a prompt business continuity plan was made with agility, a strong technology backup and quick decision-making. Today, it gives me immense pride to say that we, as an organization, faced this new normal with a lot of determination, passion and nimbleness, not just to maintain the status quo but to accelerate and excel. With almost 17 months behind us, we as an organization have been continuing our growth story with a hybrid model, having the flexibility of working from home and office, depending on the operational demand. The second wave of the pandemic in India was brutal and had a devastating effect on each and every individual, either directly or indirectly. We also lost a few of our colleagues while some lost their near and dear ones. We took very -- every possible measure to stand by each and every member of Emami family in this hour of personal crisis to the best of our abilities. Your company adopted a multi-pronged response approach towards employee health benefit with primary focus on mass vaccination drive for our employees and their immediate family members at gross locations. To support our employees and their families at the peak of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in the country, your company extended COVID-related medical support through strategic corporate tie-ups with credible health care service providers. A COVID management task force, with senior members of our management, was immediately set up with designated mandate for providing guidance in execution of various planned activities to support employees during this time of distress. Your company's human resource department also ensured that the mental fatigue that employees might have experienced during the pandemic with lack of normal social interaction was kept minimal as much as possible by constantly engaging them on various learning opportunities to promote self-growth and conduct various mental and physical wellness programs. And as we were addressing the unprecedented reality of the pandemic on one hand, Emami was engaged simultaneously in restructuring its business on the other. In face of a challenging environment, your company continued to strengthen its secretarial position through strategic brand investments, timely innovations, targeted distribution and technology enhancement. Your company achieved this growth path by virtue of its positive outlook and aggressive stance instead of playing it safe. In financial year 2021, not withstanding the pandemic-led roadblocks, your company went ahead to launch multiple products, in fact, more than 40 in the domestic market, some truly category-defining innovations, contributing around 4% to the overall revenue. While some of the new launches delivered encouraging performances, all the power brands of Emami continue to successfully retain their market leadership positions and additionally acquire new consumers. Your company continued to stay invested in positioning, relaunching and extension of the power brands amidst a weak consumer sentiment with the condition of it being the best time to capture attention. Your company had been engaged in addressing diverse challenges in the last few years that found collective expression during the first half of the last financial year. The challenges were related to sales and distribution on the one hand and growth of brands like Kesh King, Fair and Handsome and Zandu Pancharishta on the other hand. Your company relaunched Kesh King with a facial comb applicator, coupled with a new formulation and communication. The shampoo was relaunched around new packaging in line with the category to enhance self-space visibility. The brand was marketed directly to consumers with a low dependence on the wholesaler's channel. Kesh King recorded a strong growth of 15% in 2021 and is widely acknowledged as yet another Emami acquisition cum marketing success story. Your company's leading male grooming brand, Fair and Handsome, had not performed well in financial year '20 due to liquidity crunch, lower disposable incomes and increased preference for facial hair moderating surface application area of the consumers. We undertook corrective actions and relaunched the brand in the third quarter of financial year '21 around the new repositioning strategy, comprising re-brand formulation, packaging and communication. The product was renamed as Fair and Handsome Radiance Cream and Fair and Handsome Instant Radiance Face Wash, and a new differentiated packaging design was introduced for Fair and Handsome Face Wash in line with men's face wash category course. The result was that post relaunch, the brand reported attractive growth of 18% in the second half of financial year '21. The company revisited its existing strategy for Zandu Pancharishta and launched a new communication with Superstar Amitabh Bachchan highlighting its digestic impact by working from the roots. We altered the packaging from glass to functionally safer PET bottles, the strengthening [ offtake ]. The new positioning works its magic, with the brand growing by 18% in 2021. In the distribution front, your company decided to have a strong omnichannel presence beyond wholesale with a focused growth in direct retail reach, modern trade, e-commerce and D2C, direct-to-consumer channels. Our direct is increased to 9.4 lakh outlets with the rural coverage strengthened through our van operations. Contribution from modern trade revenues doubled to 8% in 4 years, while e-commerce contribution increased to nearly 3%, a threefold jump since the last financial year. You will be delighted to know that within a very short span of its launch, our exclusive D2C e-commerce platform, Zandu Care, has successfully garnered almost 1 crore unique visitors. We are happy that Zandu Care has been ranked as the #1 portal in India in the Health and Alternative Health and Remedy category by Similarweb. Apart from offering health care products to the consumers, the portal also provides free doctor consultation facility to the consumers. Last year, we improved the offtake of Zandu Healthcare by 45%, a major contribution of which has come from the D2C portal. This encouraging response has strengthened our result to stay aggressive about this new distribution model and keep on launching many more exclusive products on this platform to ensure direct consumer benefit. Further, to augment the current distribution strength, your company outlined a clear strategy to drive growth aggressively in the rural market. Digitalization of rural sales force with launch of Rural SFA was completed successfully during the year, enabling the rural sales team to capture all market orders digitally and manage service-focused inventories. Like every other FMCG company, your international business also faced major disruption with the outbreak of global pandemic. But Emami has taken some strategic measures like introducing hygiene range, launching entire range of Bangladesh, including Navratna, 7 Oils in One, and Kesh King, and extending the international brand, Creme 21, into skin care for all ages, graduating it into a multi-category platform and widening its Asian footprint. Besides, the company localized the supply chain through own manufacturing in Bangladesh and contract manufacturing in Germany, Sri Lanka and Dubai. You would feel happy to note that the company's international revenue grew 12% by value over '19-'20, driven by strong performance across key markets. Further, the strategy of identifying and tapping opportunities in markets that was high oil usage with introduction of brands such as Kesh King and 7 Oils in One, [indiscernible] in those international markets. During the year, 7 Oils in One became one of the largest selling brands in the international markets after the company launched 7 new variants under the brand and initiated a media campaign with Bangladesh's best celebrity, Mrs. Bidya Sinha, popularly known as Mim. As a result, Emami's 7 Oils in One has become another power brand in the company's international portfolio of brands. In the current year, we are deeply committed to drive these efforts with resilience and agility, both in domestic and international sphere, in response to all macroeconomic challenges and deliver an equally good performance or better. During the year, your company [ robbed in ] Bollywood Superstar, Salman Khan to endorse Navratna and Fair and Handsome. The new commercial with Salman Khan generated good consumer traction in the brand. Your company also [ robbed in ] Indian cricketer, Shikhar Dhawan to endorse Emasol range of home hygiene products and Bollywood star, Juhi Chawla and Ayushmann Khurrana to endorse BoroPlus range of hygiene products. While revenues at INR 2,881 crores, grew by 8%, your company significantly improved its potential profitability and margins during the year due to benign raw material cost in the first half of the financial year and the strict cost controls. We strengthen process efficiency through a cost-saving project called WOW, War on Waste, across functions like media, raw material procurement, production, packaging and supply chain. In financial year '21, gross margin at 67.7%, grew by 70 basis points. EBITDA at INR 883 crores, grew by 28% and EBITDA margin, which are at an all-time high of 30.7%, grew by 470 basis points. Profit after tax at INR 455 crores grew by 50% with margins at 15.8%, increasing by 440 basis points and cash profit at INR 822 crores, also grew by 29%, with margins at 28.5%, increasing by 440 basis points. I feel very proud to inform you that your company finished the year 2021 with 6x higher net cash at INR 357 crores on its books despite rewarding shareholders with dividends amounting to INR 356 crores and the share buyback worth INR 221 crores. As you are aware that we, at Emami, have always given prime importance to the interest of our valued shareholders and worked towards it constantly and continuously over the years. As a result, an initial shareholder who invested INR 1000 for 100 shares of Emami and thereafter invested INR 4,000 in the right issue would presently own shares worth INR 9.8 crores. In other words, initial investment attracted a return of 24,570x over years. Shareholders' wealth also increased by 50x following the public issue in March 2005 and by 11x following the QIP in July 2009. In more recent times, Emami's share prices since April 2020 has grown by more than 3x, enhancing shareholders' wealth. Apart from business, the company also made significant contribution to the society through its sustainability and community efforts. As a sustainable manufacturer, Emami took definitely measures to instill processes that moderate consumption of energy and natural resources on one hand and restricting carbon footprints on the other. In the year 2021, your company has successfully increased the usage of renewable energy to 8% of total energy consumption in comparison to 2% in '19-'20. Your company also reduced its specific energy consumption vis-a-vis production by 7% compared to '19-'20. Your company modified manufacturing processes to recycle 70% of water during the year 2021 by reusing of ATP treated water for gardening and toilet usages. The company has successfully turned its factories into 0 dispatch units. Your company also reduced its specific water consumption vis-a-vis production by 8% and affluent generation by 13% compared to '19-'20. Emami is also committed towards maximum optimization of packaging material and prudent plastic waste management. Around 80% of company's packaging supplies are localized, thus reducing scope of transportation, fuel consumption and emissions. During the year, your company reduced the consumption of 110 tonnes of plastic and 145 tonnes of paper through adopting superior design elements in packaging. Under community development, your company has undertaken CSR initiatives like Padho India Padho, Badhte Kadam, Padhenge Hum Padhane Ke Liye, Jankalyan, Swasthya, Suraksha and Sukanya in a systematic way to deliver long-term sustainable benefits to the society across education, health and sanitation, backward society development, hunger eradication, animal welfare, environmental protection and promotion of traditional arts and culture. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Emami CSR wing set up a help line during the lockdown for 75-plus years old senior citizens to access doorstep delivery of essential items, supported 1,500 people in villages of Masat and Dongri area, and provided infrastructure support to 2 hospitals in Kolkata and sanitized more than 20 Emami Foundation-supported schools in post lockdown period. An innovative total health service was also initiated in West Bengal by using mobile and communication technologies or 0 contact prevention, diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. Your company also provided e-learning, online educational services for after-school support program in Kolkata and Haripal, along with financial assistant to underprivileged students for Internet connection and a smartphone required for online education. As a recognition to this, your company received the Star of the Year award for the second year in a row at Tefla's Think CSR 2020 Forum for the highest standards of CSR activities done during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emami also renovated the heritage property of 48B, Muktaram Babu Street to restore its former architectural splendor located in northern part of Kolkata. It was from a rented space in this building that Shri R. S. Agarwal and I started our dream for Emami in the early '70s, thus 48B holds a very special space in our hearts. The restored heritage property is now being used to carry out our group's CSR activities. Having said that, now, I would like to inform you that in the first quarter of the current financial year, your company continued to face market challenges due to second wave of COVID pandemic from mid-April onwards, leading to local lockdowns and restrictions in various states, which severely affected both urban and rural regions. Despite the challenging environment, your company was able to post one of the most profitable performances during the quarter with an overall revenue growth of 37%, while EBITDA grew by 38% and EBITDA margin expansion by 20 basis points. PAT grew by 97% and PAT margins increased by 350 basis points. During the quarter, the company also increased its stake in Helios Lifestyle, the main company, which is in line with Emami's focus on strategic investments in start-ups to incubate new engines of growth. In the current financial year, your company has embarked on various distribution initiatives to drive further growth. We embarked on a focused rural expansion drive under Project Khoj through expansion of rural footprint in the top 4 potential rural contributing stage in financial year '22. We have also created a separate structure and activation program for stand-alone modern trade stores and chemist outlets. Further, we are leveraging an e-commerce channel and building advanced analytical capabilities. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the independent directors on our Board who enriched the organization with their diverse industry experience and rich knowledge and business strategy, financial planning, banking, corporate and commercial laws, operations, IT, marketing and then development, et cetera. They have played a major role not only in setting a strong foothold of corporate governance in the organization, but also add value with their collective wisdom. Emami has benefited immensely from these industry stalwarts and is proud to be associated with them over the years. I would also like to take this opportunity to repose my faith in the second-generation promoters who have well ingrained themselves in the company's operations to charter the future growth of the organization. With their deep understanding of the values, business strategy, culture and heritage of Emami, they bring innovative solutions and competence that will lead your company to greater heights. The second-generation promoters are ably assisted by a team of senior executives and other staff members with appropriate economic backgrounds and wide industry experience. The blend of enterprising spirit and risk-taking ability of the promoter directors who are professionals in their own right are ably aided by the diversity of thinking of other -- of these professional executives, with their in-depth industry experience, had made Emami the powerhouse it is today. I am proud of them to be part of the extended family of Emami. In the coming days, Emami will continuously keep pushing the frontier, keep exploring new categories and territories, keep launching new and innovative products, keep revisiting existing brands' positioning and evolving market landscape and keep scouting for acquisitions and investments in new ways businesses, including start-ups. We are grateful to all our stakeholders for their unstinted support and expect to continue enhancing value in the long term as we enter newer phases of growth by virtue of our strong foundation and forward-looking vision. Now, I request Shri A. K. Joshi to brief the members about summary of the business to be transacted and set out in the notice, general instructions of voting and rules relating members' queries there on.

Thank you, sir. Members may please note that there will be no vote by [ so fans ] as this meeting is being conducted virtually. Now, I am reading out the subject matter on the resolutions proposed to be transacted at this meeting. Resolution #1, adoption of audited financial statements of the company for the financial year ended March 31, 2021, together with the reports of the Board of Directors and Auditors thereon, and the Consolidated Audited Financial Statements of the company for financial year ended March 31, 2021. Resolution #2, confirmation of payment of 2 interim dividends aggregating to INR 8 per equity share for financial year 2021. Resolution #3, to appoint a director in place of Shri H. V. Agarwal, who retires by rotation and being eligible, offers himself for reappointment. Resolution #4, to appoint a director in place of Shri A. V. Agarwal, who retires by rotation and being eligible, offers himself for reappointment. Resolution #5, to appoint a director in place of Shri R.S. Goenka, who retires by rotation and being eligible, offers himself for reappointment. Resolution #6, reappointment of Shri Mohan Goenka as a Whole-Time Director for a period of 5 years. Resolution #7, reappointment of Shri Harsha Vardhan Agarwal as a Whole-Time Director for a period of 5 years. Resolution #8, reappointment of Shri Sushil Kumar Goenka as a Managing Director for a period of 5 years. Resolution #9, ratification of a fee payable to M/S VK Jain & Company, Cost Auditor, for conducting audit of cost records of the company for financial year '21-'22. As the voting on these businesses has already begun, there is no requirement of proposing and seconding the resolution. The objective of the special business of Resolution #6 to #9 are explained in the explanatory statement to the notice. I now request Shri R. S. Goenka ji to continue with the proceedings of the meeting.

Thank you, Mr. Joshi. Now, I invite the shareholders who have registered themselves as the speakers to ask their queries, if any, on the agenda items. Please mention your name, folio number, DP and client ID, location from where you are joining, and the page number of the annual report to which the query relates. Members are requested not to repeat the queries, which have already been asked by other members. All the queries will be answered together by the management at the end. I request the operator to call the speaker shareholders one by one. Operator?

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. We will take a first question from Mr. Gautam Nandi, who is connected over an audio call. Mr. Nandi, please proceed with your question. Mr. Gautam Nandi request you to please proceed with your question, sir. We'll check the connection for Mr. Nandi. In the meanwhile, we take our next question, that's from the connection of Mr. Sarbananda Gattani. Please proceed with your question.

Hello. Am I audible?

Yes, sir, you're audible.

My name is Sarbananda Gattani, [Foreign Language] Thank you very much, sir. I support all the resolutions.

Hello? Can you hear me?

Yes.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, Mr. Manoj.

Respected Chairman, Board of Directors, fellow shareholders. My name is Manoj Gupta, I am equity shareholder of Emami Limited. And thanks to our beloved MD, Shri Sushil, I totally endorse the words of Mr. [ Gattani ] and I totally agree with his view that -- and I feel proud to be a part of Emami. In Kolkata, there is 2 companies like ITC and Emami. They had such highly qualified and very renowned person in the board like Mr. Trivedi, Mr. Ganguly, Mr. Amit Kiran Deb and Mr. P.K. Khaitan, such type of peoples are there in the Board to -- and companies getting benefit from their vast experience. And I pray God for you and your Board of Directors, healthy and prosperous safe long life. And I thanks to the Company Secretary and his team that who has helped us to join this meeting through VC and he always help us any time. And sir, this time, AGMs cover page theme is agility and ability. There is a good thing you have crossed the G&B that agility and ability. It's a good sign. I've got a balance sheet. And sir, I will not say a single word about your CSR. You are the pioneer in the CSR in this region. We have done a lot of things for the community and society. But I request you to try to call the AGM early because on 29th September, you have called the AGM and you have paid that dividend. So please try to call the AGM in August or July so that we can join smoothly. And sir, what's your future plan with CapEx? And sir, try to give a discount coupon to the investor of 40%, at least because in market, we are getting 25% so send that discount coupon to the investors that we can also buy the Emami product which we have launched domestic new launches. And there should be one Zandu Emami store in Kolkata, where we can get all products under that store. A store which all products of Emami and Zandu and how you will face a competition from Dabur, Patanjali and Sri Sri. Patanjali has also plan to bring IPO next year, they are going to file the DRH to the SEBI. So how you will? And try to appoint some brand ambassador from those sportsmen has got the medals in the Olympic and Paralympic and try to help the women hockey team to improve the woman empowerment in the company. Try to help the women hockey team under the CSR. So sir I feel proud that if Amitabh Bachchan will ask a question in the KBC, like has asked about the Cipla from a one participant. He has asked one question, there is a temple in Africa of Cipla and who is the God in tha Cipla. That participant said that [indiscernible] So I think that Bachchan will ask a question, there is a temple in Kolkata of Emami and who is the goddess there? So I -- that -- I think that he will raise such question in KBC. And I think we peoples of Kolkata feel proud on you and your leadership and we feel that we have given a unique thing in North Kolkata Lord Ganesha Temple from your side. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. We'll take a next question from Jaydip Bakshi. Please proceed with your question.

Good afternoon, sir. Myself, Jaydip Bakshi connecting from the city of Kolkata. Good afternoon, Chairman, MD, CFO and Board of Directors. Thanks to our Company Secretary, Mr. Joshi for giving me an opportunity to express my view and also Mr. [indiscernible] for maintaining a [indiscernible] relation with the shareholders. So it's a nice presentation where you depicted about our present status of a company and also the future prospects of our company. It's a nice presentation at the beginning. And myself proud to be part of the [ SMG ] companies with our ayurvedic focus and personal and health care remains as a consumer mine through power brands. So what is the market response as demand for immunity booster products are on the rise. Because now in the pandemic period these immunity products are on a great rise. [indiscernible] unique plans, what is our present capacity and how much business has been affected due to want of raw materials and packaging measures and distribution of products? So what is our stock keeping -- our inventory position? Because we do not know whatever the situation rise after some days. And so kindly highlight on the waste management and also on your water management and energy conservation. So nothing to add more, I hope, sir, under your guidance and with the new blood in our Board of Directors, I hope our company will come out with more positive results and will improve our position and reward the shareholders handsomely. Thank you, and all stay safe, sir. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. We'll take a next question from Mr. Rajesh Ghorawat. Please go ahead with your question. I'm sorry Mr. Ghorawat. We are unable to hear you. We're still unable to you Mr. Ghorawat. Will have our technical person check your connection and rejoin you to the queue. In the meanwhile, we'll move to our next question, that's from the connection of Kaushik Shahukar. Please proceed with your question.

At the offset, let me introduce myself, Kaushik Shahukar from Mumbai. Good afternoon to all. I hope I'm properly audible.

Yes, you are sir.

Yes. So it gives me immense joy to see our beloved Chairman and all our directors in a good health. Well, when I see all the directors, I remember the same also of our grandparents who told us health is wealth and money is immaterial. So I also feel envy of all the directors and pray to Almighty that if I get even 1% of the health it will be wealth for me. Anyways, purposely I'm a charted accountant. Medically, I suffered from dysphrenia. In simple terms, 55% of my body is paralyzed and this impact on my right hand, my right leg and my speech. I have not, however treated this as a hindrance. As I have mentioned before, despite my medical condition, I have successfully completed my Chartered Accountant course as I strongly believe that I am a self-reliant and self-dependent. I remind the virtues of Emami, they share the same principle of making people have relied through your ongoing and continuous philanthropic work. You have made and are making a positive change in our society. So I hope I'm audible.

Sir, yes, your audible. You may proceed, sir.

[indiscernible]

So the members of the management are listening, they're watching you sir.

Okay. Sir you'll appreciate all the -- in spite of my chronical condition I have successfully completed my Chartered Accountant course. I have strongly believe that [indiscernible]. So you appreciate that in spite of my medical chronic condition, I still prefer to work to support me and my family. This shows that I'm a [indiscernible] expectant free money. This shows that I'm a self-reliant person. So I believe supporting especially able person in your CSR activity for our company and our company will be doing such a similar act. I had previously approached our company to work in the certification area. Unfortunately, that does not progressed. I would therefore like to use this forum to reach out to you and extra avenues where we could work together. I'm confident that you would find [indiscernible] a value add to our esteem organization and we will empathize with my condition and the support with the certification work. I would like to thank the Board of Directors for giving opportunity to pick and also patiently ringed me. Before I end my speech, I would like to give a special thanks for entire securitized department, including Mr. A. K. Joshi. It was only the effort, which have made even fulfill for me. Please accept my big thank and it is from the bottom of the heart. I also hopeful that company will empathize with me and will consider me. Can I expect a position for a company as I analyzed and support all the resolutions, and I put it on the [indiscernible]. I have been always will be proud shareholder for our company. I'm so [indiscernible] audible. Thank you.

We'll take a next question from Rahul Harsh. Please proceed with your question.

Am I audible?

Yes, sir, you are.

Yes. Good afternoon, and with all due respect to the Chairman, sir, I would like to inform you that I am a small shareholder joining from Kolkata itself. Today being a rainy day. It is very hardening to see that all the management team is quite active and they all have joined in time in this Annual General Meeting of Emami. Sir, it takes me pleasure to share I being a small shareholder have, as of now, made a good profit out of Emami's equity sales. Last year, during the pandemic, the share prices were quite low. And as of now, what I can see like they have around tripled to their market price, which were last year. I had purchased the shares of around INR 180. And right now, they are trading at around INR 500. It is very much heartening to see that the company is able a good return to the shareholders. And the market capitalization has also increased which let's me confirm that the company is strong both financially and is having -- and is enjoying a good reputation within the -- from the shareholders. Sir, I have certain queries as well as suggestions, which I would like to place before the management. Sir, I was going through the annual report of the company. And I have seen that various brand ambassadors' pictures have been used. But my suggestion is that the company needs to explore the South Indian market also. What we here see that most of the Bollywood celebrities have been used to endorse the products of the company. But I would be very much heartful to see in case the company also get into agreements with the South Indian actors also, not only the actors, but also from the sports field and as suggested by other speakers we need to get into agreement with the Olympians also. My small suggestion would be the international market rating strategy of the company. What we see in the competitors like in the HUL as well as various other Adani Group and others. They have -- they are going into for the international marketing strategy. I would like to know what the management is thinking for going international. Further, what I see the annual report consisted of around 300 pages. And it is good to see that the company is maintaining the transparency and as well as they are providing the most amount of disclosures that are being provided in most of the top listed companies that are not being provided by the top listed companies. Most of the voluntary disclosures have also been maintained. Sir, my other query is, what will be the strategy of the company with regards to the start-ups. Currently, the India is going from a start-up phase, and there are various start-ups that are coming up with the IPOs also. It would be very good to see that the younger generation of Emami comes up with a good start-up plan and thereafter launch an IPO also. Sir, my small suggestion would be that the company should start engaging in an Emami ecosystem. Ecosystem is something like we see in the [indiscernible] products. They are consisting of variable products, which help the company generate good amount of revenue. Since our company is into various forays of business, it would be good to see that all the products are coming under a similar umbrella. Sir there are 2 questions that I would like to ask. Sir, my first question would be what will be the average age of the employee, which we are working in the Emami Limited? My second question would be what is the retrenchment rate of the employee during this pandemic season? Because what we heard in the pandemic season, that various number of persons have lost their jobs [indiscernible] jobs was [indiscernible] by the Emami Limited during this pandemic period. And my last question would be what are the new manufacturing plants that are coming up in the city -- in the state of West Bengal by Emami? Thank you so much for the opportunity. Thanks to the Company Secretary, Mr. A. K. Joshi and as well as his team member, Mr. Ashok Purohitji for giving me an opportunity to speak here in this honorable forum. Thank you so much.

Our next question is from Praful Chaura. Please go ahead with your question, sir. Mr. Praful Chaura? Yes, go ahead, sir.

Hello?

We can hear you, sir.

Chairman, sir, Board of Directors, sir. [Foreign Language] Thank you, sir. Sir Emami [Foreign Language]

We'll take our next question from Shivam Bajaj. Please go ahead.

Am I audible and visible?

Yes. Mr. Shivam Bajaj, we can hear you. Please proceed.

So Chairman sir, [indiscernible] investors and all the Board -- esteem Board members. I have a few suggestions and questions today. But first of all, I'd like to congratulate the entire company for our spectacular performance and not to forget this young shareholders from Delhi. And at this age, I have been attracted to this company Emami and my -- so one of the first FMCG brands to invest in was Emami only. And sir, first of all, whenever I see ads of Salman Khan and other brand ambassadors on TV, they provide such a good brand positioning and brand conversion ratio. I mean the meaning of Navratna tal was associated with Salman Khan as a brand ambassador. So that is the power of celebrity endorsements, congratulations on that. My suggestion comes here. My first suggestion is to open some of the stores related to the brand-specific stores for Dabur. So for Emami and its brand of Zandu specially. And my second suggestion is to issue some coupons to the shareholders. Next, I would like to also ask about the -- how much is the company spending upon R&D, R&D division and how -- what is the scope of upcoming new products? And what is the employee vaccination ratio? Like how many employees have been vaccinated till yet? And also for promotions, I would like to suggest, if brands can also use -- if we can also use augmented reality and VR games outside the malls and kiosks to increase more brand awareness. And also at last, I also like to suggest the secretary to also think about sending the -- physical coppies of annual report books because that provides much more clarity towards what brand has been. Thank you so much. I hope to get a clear answer on all these questions and suggestions. Thank you so much.

We'll take a next question from Santosh Kumar Saraf. Please go ahead with your question.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

We'll take a next question from Vir Prakash Bajaj. Please go ahead with your question.

Respected Shri [indiscernible] and other Board of Directors. [Foreign Language] Thank you very much.

We'll take a next question from Prakashini Shenoy, who's connected over an audio call. Please proceed with your question, Ms. Shenoy.

Yes. I'm Prakashini Shenoy from Bombay. Respected honorable Chairman, other dignitaries from the Board and my fellow shareholders, good morning to all of you. I received the annual report well in time through e-mail with a simple, colorful, transparent and informative -- can you hear me, Madam?

Yes, ma'am. We can hear you.

Informative and contains all the information as for the corporate governance. I thank the company secretary and his team for the same. We are living in the date that everything is unpredictable life and even our existence in such circumstances when you get company like Emami is a great thing. I appreciate Chairmans sir. Sir, I have a few questions. What is the road map for the next 2 years? Number two, what is the CapEx program? Number three, are we going to expand our existing R&D or going to have a new R&D? If yes, please let me know the approximate costs involved. Are we covered under GST? If yes, what are the rates? Whether it is uniform on all products or otherwise? Next question is, is there any change on the company after the interaction of new budgets in the parliament during February? I wish the company good luck for a bright future and pray God that the profit of the company shall reach the peak in due course. Sir, I support all the resolutions put forth in today's meeting. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. We'll take our next question from Asit Kumar Pathak. Please proceed with your question.

Hello?

Please go ahead. We can hear you sir. Please go ahead.

Yes, madam. 1 minute. Our respective Chairman, MD, Board of Directors, CEO, Company Secretary, fellow member joining at AGM of Emami Limited. My name is Asit Kumar Pathak from Dum Dum, Kolkata. At first, my esteemed gratitude to the Company Secretary [indiscernible] and secretarial department [indiscernible] and annual report by e-mail very useful in advance. Also many, many thanks to NSDL CDSL event management [indiscernible] Shareholder '21 was mostly impacted second quarter. Overall, operation reflected every sector. Also pan-India office remain unattended work from home, still financial [indiscernible] with business portfolios. [indiscernible] liquid assets, a debt-free company, also 800 partner distributions financially [indiscernible] return on shareholders in 12 months, also thanks to company management team star of the year award and various awards, accolades, 7 oil, President award [indiscernible] Respected [indiscernible] and Mr. RS Agarwal Sanmarg Lifetime award. My thanks to sir for this [indiscernible] And sir, any future buyback plan, rewarding shareholders, previous rewarding with INR 221 crores buyback? Sir, expected global business, financial year '22, while financial year '21 impacted geopolitical issue mentioned. Also, growth achieved 12% financial year '21. Foreign exchange earning INR 140 crores. Also sir, what positive steps taken to improve wholesale channels, which is the wholesale channel, which [indiscernible] in financial year '21? And strategy is taken to enhance modern trade e-commerce while my company got positive response financial year '21. Also, Mr. Manoj Gupta mentioned CapEx program, my also view that CapEx program next years mentioned INR 674 crores invested last 5 financial years and present overall average market share with our FMCG business ecosystem, if possible. If future plans to proceed manufacturing plant in international segment other than Bangladesh. My view as Singapore is growing emerging market and a good business relation with India and also a good business environment. My view has many company management team taking the initiative to set up a unit at Singapore and third party other than Germany, Sri Lanka and Dubai. Sir present attrition rate? And what strategic and road map taken to cost optimization, certain price hike of raw materials, rising interest rate, volatility in currency, please throw some highlights. Also present capacity of utilization due to present cost control strategies in every segment, what state my company taken cost out on in brand spending? Because financial year '21 brand spending inflation 0.9% of revenue, indicating [indiscernible] Sir, human empowerment. Mr. [indiscernible] what specific taken where 15% of female in our gender mix. So R&D expenditure reduced from 0.8% to 0.7%. Sir, have we associated any [indiscernible] expertise in our research and development team? Government in financial '22 budget session declared INR 50,000 crores support in R&D next 5 year. So my think my company management team give more concentration in research and development tool. Any future plan to domestic position like Zandu, Kesh King and acquisition Creme 21. My view [indiscernible] and Bangladesh, Dhaka [indiscernible] is very old value-added products and immunity booster products also there. Any future plan increased outsourced management or cost control and steps taken cyberattacks or data leakage and protection of sensitive information with increasing mentioned, we have increased our IT investment by 19%. Any future plan to diversification into food items, positive performance, Emami [indiscernible], where financial year '21 revenue nil. Reason for noncommencement of operation, Pharma Derm SAE company. Also positive steps taken Emami RUS LLC, Helios Lifestyle Private Limited and Brillare Science Private Limited. Also, they also lost incurred financial year '21. Both they are potential subsidiaries. CSR nicely achieved INR 8 crores. Sir, inventory is also INR 269 crores against INR 226 crores. Also first quarter result is very nice. Income, INR 608.09 crores. Also profit INR 92.97 crores, [indiscernible] INR 0.27, market cap [ INR 2,700 ] [indiscernible] ratio of 14.64, price earning ratio of 52.22. Nicely achievement from the leadership of our respected Chairman, and I'm praying to God for their good health and expect enhance financial performance [indiscernible] by the leadership of our respective Chairman. Thanking you, sir.

We'll take our next question from Mahesh Kumar Bubna. Please go ahead with your question.

Am I audible?

Yes, sir, we can hear you.

Respected Chairman of the meeting, Board of Directors, other dignities on the dias; Company Secretary; CFO and our colleague shareholders. We are helding this 38th AGM, a long journey of this company, 39 years of journey through video conferencing during this pandemic seasons. So this is a very crucial time that thousands and lakhs of people has already died due to this COVID. So my request from the Board to think for the much more concentration on our this ayurvedic product, which are used as a medicine instead of the other segment of our products. Is there any plan by our Board of Directors to prepare any COVID medicine -- ayurvedic medicine, just like the Patanjali [indiscernible] Coronil? But it was failed. So is there any plan? Sir, one thing that now people are changing their sentiments, they are going to take foods also organic instead of these fertilizers. So people are changing the allopathic medicine to ayurvedic. So our company is a market leader in ayurvedic. One day, we will acquire, like the Zandu and these other companies we had acquired, we will also acquire Dabur and Baidyanath. It will be an ayurvedic [ brand ] company, just like -- this could [indiscernible] under this -- this company will also become the ayurvedic -- where no other company in the ayurvedic medicine company. The name and fame of Emami is very well renowned worldwide. And our -- all the directors are jewels in the company. They're dedicated -- their guidance and support, this company is every time in a growth path. During this pandemic time also, we had done a very good turnover and very good profitability because the name and fame up this company is very well renowned worldwide. And also the promoter, Mr. R. S. Agarwal and Mr. R. S. Goenka is well renowned person and the entire promoter family are very corporately with all the shareholders, investors. They always love to people. You see, I am also a shareholder of Dabur India also, but I requested them by my e-mail to send me the notice of AGM, and I want to become a speaker shareholder in Dabur, but they did not reply -- not even replied, they did not send, which is a legal compliance to send the notice of AGM and annual report. So such type of other companies if we compare to Emami Group, they are -- just I feel whenever I met with any director, promoters. And whenever I go visit to Emami house, I feel I'm not a shareholder, just like a family member. And Mr. Joshi just yesterday also has spoken to me that [ Bubnaji, ] you are coming to our AGM. He sent me the annual report, hardcopy. This hardcopy he has sent me -- and he, again and again, assured me that are you going to join? I will put your name in the first of the list. Then I requested put my name on the last side. So it is a love and affection by all the -- by your Company Secretary and other team member that they are very good cooperative with the shareholders. Sir, as highlighted by a lot of other shareholders, I am partially agree with the other shareholder, Praful [indiscernible] highlighted that we are making huge money for the brand better by the lot of film artists. Instead of that, he has rightly suggested that the advertisement is another thing, but you make the brand ambassador, which will making the advertisement of the -- this actor [indiscernible] of our company. So you change the -- when our products are so nice in the market and the people are using this and our sales is also -- you see [ INR 2,582 ], not a small one. Due to this large number of this consumer, our product consumer. So it is an advertisement. Instead of the brand [ ambassadoring ], we will have to open some retail store in different major cities, and we will provide the consultancy of ayurvedic by some ayurvedic doctor so that the people can understand that which ayurvedic medicine will have to take instead of the allopathic medicine and our sale will also increase. And that is also one of the advertisement aspect. Sir, I see that these 308 pages, including the cover page, 310 pages annual report, a very nice in detail. If you add the notice part of this 18 pages -- 12 pages, it will about 322 pages annual report in detail with the good photograph of our products. And that is also one type of advertisement. If we'll put all the products in one side of the annual report that we will become the catalog. Or we can able to utilize the catalog along with this annual report so that people will keep the catalog and after the purpose will be solved by the shareholders, they can sell the annual report in [indiscernible] paper. So this catalog should be prepared separately. So that shareholder will also keep the catalog or to hand over to other people in the market. Sir, one thing I want to highlight that our [indiscernible] profit is INR 836 crores. Next year, it will cross INR 1,000 crores. So it is a very good sign that the company is growing. One thing I want to suggest to you that our -- this borrowing is about INR 46.52 crores. And we having a sufficient bank and cash balances and other balance sheet in our hand, INR 305 crores and others. So why we are not paying this borrowing and save our finance cost of about INR 12 crores? It will become the debt-free company so nice [ drafting ], so big annual report and so very good [ data ] in the balance sheet and profit and loss account. Due to this small borrowing, this company is not debt-free. So I want to see next year, this company as a debt-free. The category of the debt-free in the market is a different one. But I did not agree with Praful [indiscernible] that he has made a difference between the [ caste ], which is not good on this [indiscernible]. This joint-stock company is for public. All the [ caste ] persons are working in this organization, all the customers are also from the -- all the [ caste ] -- so this [indiscernible] by other shareholder is not good. I having the all faith in this management because these 2 jewel has created this company by resigned from the Birla Group and started this business, Emami business and acquire a lot of companies. And today, this company is about INR 3,000 crore turnover. And very soon, we will have to reach INR 5,000 crores because people are loving to the ayurvedic product instead of the inorganic ayurvedic medicine instead of -- like other companies, we will have to make our product [indiscernible]. I've seen that in Calcutta, one of your showroom, old showroom of Zandu in India [indiscernible]. That is old. Like that some -- this showroom and the consultancy of the ayurvedic doctor should be provided. So that people can able to understand our ayurvedic products and they will utilize. Just one shareholder also told that I am -- for the last 10 years using the [indiscernible] my stomach as now in order. So people must be aware that what is our ayurvedic medicine, what is -- I will not take much more time. I thank you our M.D., Sushil Goenka -- I thank you particularly Mr. Sushil Goenka, he is a key person in this company. With this remark, I thank you all for [ presenting ]. Next year, maybe, I in Calcutta and -- digital meeting will be held, and we will have to meet...

We will take our next question from Gautam Nandi. He's connected on an audio call.

Am I audible clearly?

We can hear you, sir.

Am I audible?

Sir, you may go ahead. Please go ahead, sir.

Respected Chairman, Board of Directors, and my online fellow shareholders, myself Gautam Nandi of Kolkata, very old equity shareholder of Emami Limited. Sir firstly, I'd like to give thanks to your secretarial department for sending me annual report and other necessary relevant papers through e-mail or in advance. So especially thanks to our respected Company Secretary, Mr. A.K. Joshi [indiscernible] and most dynamic person and his assistant, Mr. Ashok Purohit also. He's also very good [indiscernible] for entering very good services to our minority shareholders. Sir, you are organizing your Annual General Meeting through video conference for the second time. And I find it is a grand success, sir. So thanks again. Sir, [Foreign Language] there were some connectivity issues. [Foreign Language] Sir, actually, [Foreign Language] very tough. But in this pandemic and tough and challenging years, you are trying your best. Your company's results is an overall very good, sir, which we must appreciate, sir. Sir, [Foreign Language]. Sir, actually, what is your road map for the next 2 to 3 years? Let's say, [Foreign Language] We hope that you [indiscernible] the same. And another thing, sir, many companies are giving discount coupons of their own product. [Foreign Language] we are expecting 30% discount coupons, if you issue to our minority shareholders, we'll be grateful to you, sir. [Foreign Language] on the door. Then have you launched any new product [Foreign Language]. I'm very proud to be a shareholder of your company, sir, and I am very hopeful towards the prospect of our company. I have full trust with our strong management, sir. And so I wholeheartedly support your all resolutions, and I have already casted it through my e-voting. Sir, I'm very happy with your company. I got [indiscernible] also in your company share. Sir, thank you very much. Nothing to say more, sir, today. Looking forward with the positive outlook towards our company with higher profit margin, handsome dividend, bonus and return. Sir, may God bless you, sir, stay safe, stay healthy. Thank you very much, sir. Gautam Nandi from here, sir.

We'll take our next question from [ Amit Kumar Banerjee ]. Please proceed with your question, Mr. Banerjee.

Respected Chairman of the meeting, other Board members present, myself [ Amit Kumar Banerjee ] from city of Kolkata. Thank you for getting me connected, an opportunity to speak, such a wonderful meeting to be organized by the company, Emami Limited. It is our 38th Annual General Meeting of the company. As regards the performance is concerned, as visible in the balance sheet under review, yes, our company -- no doubt, an excellent company, excellent performance, good growth, strong financial presentation, really, it is commendable. Total revenue achieved during this year improved about INR 2,686 crores. It is higher than in comparison with the last year. Net profit stood with a tune around INR 475 crores. Last year, it was INR 289 crores. EPS also up, [ 10.68 ]. Yes, being a shareholder, I'm really happy that the dividend is very good. Second interim dividend, 2 interim dividends, INR 800 at a face value of INR 1. Another -- the CSR activities, yes, it is also good for the [indiscernible], our company met INR 728.50 lakhs, which is more spent as mandatory. Nice overall improvement, all the segments, in spite COVID situations. High appreciation to shareholders, investors, secretarial services, yes, a very nice secretarial team; our Company Secretary, Mr. A. K. Joshi; Mr. Ashok Purohit, Mr. Balaram Sarkar, all are very sincere, cordial to investors, level best tried to resolve these issues as and when we require. Sir, I like all the products, maybe -- you see the popular products are the Navratna Oil, Fast Relief, Zandu Balm, Fair and Handsome creams, all are introducing health, hygiene and immunity-boosting products. Emami is one of the brand name in the industry now at present. I believe that under the [ able ] leadership of our respective Chairman, Mr. R. S. Agarwal; all-time Director, Mr. R. S. Goenka; our MD, Mr. Sushil Goenka; CFO, Mr. N. H. Bhansali and other management team are definitely maintained such prestigious brands, Emami and to continue better prospects in future also. I thank all the team members for such a wonderful, smooth conducting meeting today through video conferencing. Myself, [ Amit Kumar Banerjee ]. Over to you, Mr. Chairman, sir. Thank you.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. With this, we conclude the question session from the members. Over to you, Mr. Goenka. I'm sorry, Mr. Goenka, we are unable to hear you, sir.

Thank you all for the compliments, questions and suggestions and really the concern of the dear shareholders. While the responses to shareholders' questions are being compiled, we will take you through the company's various campaigns and advertisements for a few minutes. Shri N.H. Bhansali will thereafter answer all the members -- that the -- reply to their queries. [Presentation]

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. We now have Mr. Bhansali connected. Over to you, sir.

Thank you, Goenkaji, for giving me opportunity to respond to the shareholder queries, their compliments and concerns. But before I start, I would like to thank all the shareholders for extending their unstinted support. And also joining this meeting virtually as was done in the last year. I shall try to respond to their queries in terms of their chronology and look and refi them one by one. The first questions -- first question -- set of questions were from Sarbananda Gattaniji. He had all the praises and compliments for the company. He is a 25 years old shareholder. He had compliments for holding AGM virtually, special dividends and especially for R. S. Goenkaji for [indiscernible] through the presentation in a very detailed manner. And also, he also reminded of one of the incidents of our CSR and also appreciated our activities during the COVID period. We are thankful to him for the compliments, which he has showed. The next was from Mr. Manoj Gupta. He endorsed the words of Gattaniji. He had all the appreciation and compliments for the Board, the diverse Board. It was fully appreciable for the CSR activities. He asked about the future CapEx plans. There are no major expansion plans, but there would always be some CapExes, which would be there. And also in terms of the technology, there will be further investments. So we estimate around INR 100 crores kind of -- INR 90 crores to INR 100 crores kind of a CapEx year-on-year. He suggested for the discount coupons and also Zandu-Emami store on -- for a publicity. These are the suggestions which we will forward, and this will be evaluated though, they are being evaluated always by our marketing department. He also suggested to take a brand ambassador from the sports fraternity. That is also very well taken. And we have used the sports ambassadors in the past also. So we continue to do those -- evaluate them based on our needs. And he repose faith on the Emami's leadership. He also appreciated our efforts on Calcutta's CSR activities at Muktaram Babu Street, where the Ganesh Temple is there. We are thankful to Mr. Manoj Gupta as well. Mr. [ Jaydip Bakshi ] was the next. He asked about any business impact due to the COVID disruption there. Though it was there in the last year in the first quarter and also in this current year in the first quarter, but we have been able to manage the impact of the COVID through different ways of working, which you might have seen. And that's why our -- the heading of our annual report also is about the agility and ability to integrate them and to come out with a different business model and to deliver successfully. He asked about the waste management, water conservation. This has been properly and fully covered in our annual reports at the respective pages. So I will also cover in subsequent queries, where Mr. Saraf has also raised his points. And he had also all the appreciation for the secretarial department. We are thankful for that. The next was from Mr. Kaushik [ Shahukar ] from Mumbai. We fully admire his courage for completing his CA course despite the challenges here, he's informed that he was 65% paralyzed. We will see if we can do anything for him. But we fully admire the -- fully admire the courage and perseveration through which he is pursuing his career. The next was from Mr. Rahul Harsh. He had views on South Indian celebrities. He said we should have used the South Indian celebrities. We keep on using them. We have used in the past, Mr. Jr. NTR, Suriya. And the best on our marketing plans and the needs of the business, we keep on using the celebrities, whether it is South, or all India based. He appreciated our good profits in the recent times. We are happy to note that. He was asking about the steps taken for improving the international market. We invest around INR 100 crores on marketing and promotions on the international business also, and it is contributing around 16% of the turnover and has grown by 12% in the previous year. He was wanting to know about our plan for startup companies. We have already invested in a few of the companies, as you might be knowing through the annual report that we have invested in The Man Company, the Brilliare [indiscernible] and also are on the lookout for such companies, which has synergy with our kind of a business. He was asking about the age of -- average age of employees and details about the employees. These are very well covered at Page #51 of the annual report. And around 7 -- more than 75% of the employees are at the -- up to the age of 45. Retrenchment, if any, there is nothing, no retrenchment at all. We have been able to protect all our business on the employees as has been mentioned by Mr. Goenka. Employees' welfare is the first priority for the business. And he was asking about any new manufacturing plant investment in West Bengal. Right now, there is nothing on the annual right now. The next was from Mr. Praful [ Chauda ]. He had the justification -- he was asking for justification for promoting through celebrities and he had expressed his -- a few of the views. We will forward it to our marketing department for taking any views on that. The next was from Mr. Shivam Bajaj from Delhi. He had all the appreciation of -- he had all the appreciation for the association of Salman Khan with Navratna Oil. He requested for discount coupons and was wanting to know the status of employees' vaccination. Currently, around 90% of the employees are fully vaccinated. And we plan to complete the full 100% vaccination by the end of October. And he was asking also for physical copy of the annual reports, which we have, as permitted, we have sent our virtual copies to all the shareholders. However, this can be available if the specific request is made, physical copy can also be provided. And had a suggestion on Emami and Zandu store, it will be -- that is being evaluated always. Then the next was from Mr. Santosh Saraf. In fact, we are grateful to him specifically because he had sent a few of his questions in advance. And so he has not narrated those in detail. We fully appreciate the efforts taken by him in raising those questions and bringing a few of the points to our attention. He wished all the good health and safety and also the condolences for the bereaved families. He had appreciation for secretarial department for good services to the shareholders. He asked for the CapEx plan for the 3 years, as I mentioned, there are no major expansion plans, but would expect around INR 90 crores to INR 100 crores on a year-on-year basis for the next 3 years. He asked for order book position and the new products. We have grown by 20% in the last 9 months -- last year's 9 months. And also in the first quarter, we have grown by 37% in the first quarter. And we launched more than 40 new products, and which has contributed around 3% to 4% of the turnover. He wanted to know the steps taken for -- on Vocal for Local. All our products are based on Ayurveda, so we are more local. And most of our ingredients are also local. Only 2% of our materials are getting imported. Steps taken for enhancing global image. As I've already said that we are spending around INR 100 crore on promotion and marketing expenses and many other initiatives, which are being taken to make the -- take the brands globally. He had a question on steps taken to reduce the use of single-use plastics. We have reduced the usage of plastics by 110 tons by adopting superior designs. Company is also working towards making us MLP neutral by honoring plastic waste management guidelines. On steps for water conservation, we have modified our manufacturing processes to recycle 70% of our water and balance water is being used in the factory itself. So we are completely zero discharge units, all our units are. And these are all covered -- very well covered in our annual report and presentation as well. We have reduced our water consumption by 8% and reduced affluent generation by 13% in the last year. He wanted to know about steps for renewable energy source. Our renewable energy -- it has increased -- our renewable energy consumption has increased from 2% in the previous year to 8%. Steps for increasing the proportion of female employees. We offer equal opportunity to all employees. We do not have gender bias. 14% of our employees are females today. The details about employees he had asked for [indiscernible] gender-wise, all these are available at Page #51 of the annual report. He had asked for the employee count and also status of vaccination, which I already mentioned. And he had a very pertinent question about savings due to virtual -- holding the AGM virtually compared to the physical meeting. No, we do not expect any material savings because of holding the AGM virtually because there are increased costs of using technology and making it seamless. Next, had the questions from Mr. Vir Prakash Bajaj. He mentioned about and his past incident of using Zandu Pancharishta. We are happy to note that. And he asked about the health-related products. We have many health-related products like Giloy juices, Giloys, Amla, Ashwagandha and many more there in the [ stable Chyawanprash ]. So a lot many products. He had all the appreciation. We had then Ms. Prakashini G Shenoy. She appreciated our -- received of annual report on time. It was -- she also appreciated it to be very informative. She asked for the road map for the next 2 years. We are on the good growth path, and this has also been very well articulated in our annual report. We are taking all the steps to promote our business, our businesses on health care and personal care platforms. CapEx plan, I've already mentioned, our expenditure on R&D has been already mentioned in the annual report. Any change post budget? There has not been any significant change in the business model post budget. And we are thankful for our -- as we mentioned, supporting all the resolutions. The next was from [ Asit Kumar Pathak ]. He had all the appreciation for the good performance. He asked whether any future buyback plan. Nothing on the annual as of. Outlook for global business. We have grown by 12% in the previous year, and it is contributing around 16%. He had also asked for steps for improving the wholesale market, modern trade, e-commerce. All these are very well covered in the annual report at the respective places. CapEx program, I've already mentioned, manufacturing plant overseas, we keep on, evaluating various proposals of putting manufacturing plants. And as and when required, we do it either through the third party or our own plant as is there in the Bangladesh. Cost optimization initiatives, we have undertaken a very well-planned cost optimization initiative in the previous year, and it is continuing. Under the project, as was mentioned in the speech of Mr. Goenka also, it is [indiscernible]. And it covers all aspects -- all heads of the expenses, right from media to materials to every administrative and general expense and selling expense as well. R&D, we have already covered. Any plan for acquisitions? We are always on the lookout for value-led acquisitions, and we keep on evaluating the various opportunities. And he had all the appreciations for the performance, Board and the leadership. Thank you for that. Next was from Mr. Mahesh Kumar [ Bubna ]. He suggested to focus on ayurvedic medicines. We are very well focused on them. And so the growth is also very phenomenal from them. We have planned for COVID medicines as he was asking. There are many COVID medicines, which are there, which can help boost your immunity in our [ stable ], right from Giloy to Ashwagandha, to Tulsi, to health juices, Chyawanprash [indiscernible] and many more. He had all the appreciation for good performance despite COVID. We are thankful for his feeling, which has expressed, he feels himself like a family member of the Emami Group, the Emami shareholders. And he suggested by a small borrowing despite a good cash result, it is only -- it is a very low-cost borrowing for export, and the company today -- today and in the last year also, the company is completely debt-free. There is a cash surplus of around INR 360 crores as on 31st March '21, which is increasing month-on-month. The next was from Mr. Gautam Nandi. He had all the appreciation for all the results for holding the AGM virtually. He asked for road map. I've already replied on them. Most of his questions have been replied. Thank you for raising these points, Mr. Nandi. And the last one also from Mr. [ Amit Kumar Banerjee ] for -- his appreciation for excellent company, excellent performance, excellent growth, 2 interim dividends of INR 8 and all the appreciation -- we are thankful to him for all these appreciations. With this, I'm concluding on all the shareholders' queries. While I've concluded with responses on all the queries that were raised, I once again thank all the shareholders for extending their support and joining the AGM virtually. Thank you. Now I request Mr. Goenka to take over the proceedings.

Thank you, Mr. Bhansali. Members joining the meeting through video conferencing facility who have not yet cast their vote by means of the remote e-voting may work through e-voting facility provided during AGM and till 15 minutes post conclusion of AGM. The members who have cast their vote by remote e-voting prior to the meeting [ cannot cast ] their vote once again. The Board of Directors has appointed Mr. Manoj Kumar Banthia, Practicing Company Secretary from M/s. MKB & Associates, Company Secretaries, Kolkata as the scrutinizer for this meeting. Based on the report of the scrutinizer, the combined results of remote e-voting and the e-voting done at the meeting today will be announced and displayed on the website of the company and will also be submitted to the stock exchanges within 2 working days of the conclusion of the meeting as per the requirements under the SEBI Listing Regulations. I thank all the members for attending and cooperating in conducting the meeting through video conference or other audiovisual means. I thank all the directors and members of the management team who have joined the meeting. I wish everyone the best of health and safety in the year ahead. I now conclude the meeting. Thank you.