Nestlé India Limited (500790) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Dear members of Nestlé parivar, good morning, and welcome to the 62nd Annual General Meeting of Nestlé India Limited through videoconferencing or other audiovisual facility. [Operator Instructions] Please note as for the requirements. The proceedings of the Annual General Meeting will be recorded and available on the company's website. Without any delay, I hand it over to Mr. Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director of Nestlé India Limited. Over to you, sir.

Thank you, Inba. Namaste dear members. It is my privilege to welcome you to the 62nd Annual General Meeting conducted through videoconferencing facility. This is my sixth AGM as the Chairman and Managing Director and the second virtual AGM of the company. At the outset, I do hope that you and your families and loved ones are safe and secure in possibly the darkest hour that our country is going through in the pandemic. To begin with, I would like to express my solidarity for those who have lost their loved ones, and I pray for speedy recovery of those who are battling or infected with coronavirus. The Nestlé India family has also not been spared in the pandemic. And as I speak to you, more than half a dozen of my colleagues have been victims of this pandemic. One of the individuals who was involved and who is involved inextricably with the proceedings of the Annual General Meeting, Mr. Rajendra Agrawal, who many of the Delhi-based shareholders know very well for over 2 decades and a quarter, sadly succumbed to COVID less than 48 hours ago. Tragedy has, therefore, hit the Nestlé family, and each one of the family members who have lost is a personal loss to me and to the family. I would request you all to pray for not just all those in our country for being victims of this pandemic, but also to pray for the Nestlé India colleagues, whom we have lost and for their families and for their loved ones. I missed the privilege and pleasure of meeting you in person. So the virtual AGM is a progressive step as it allows members irrespective of where they are physically present anywhere in India or even abroad to participate in the Annual General Meeting. Lots of planning and efforts have gone behind the virtual AGM of the company today with the objective that your participation is smooth. Due to the severity of the COVID pandemic and following the safety protocol and lockdown conditions, myself, all directors, the Company Secretary and company officials are all participating from our residence, and if there is any disturbance in the AGM due to this I seek your liberty in advance due to the unavoidable situation. Let me now have the privilege to introduce the illustrious Board members on the screen. Ms. Rama Bijapurkar, Independent Non-Executive Director, Chairperson of the Stakeholders Relationship Committee and member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. She is participating from Hyderabad. Mr. P R Ramesh, Independent Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee and member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the Risk Management Committee. He is participating from Secunderabad, and I would like to welcome him as this is his first AGM. Mr. Rajya Vardhan Kanoria, Independent Non-Executive Director, Chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and member of the Audit Committee and Stakeholder Relationship Committee. He is participating from Delhi. Mr. Matthias C Lohner, Executive Director, Technical and permanent invitee to the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. He is participating from Gurugram, and I too would like to welcome him as this is his first AGM. Dr. Swati Piramal, Independent Non-Executive Director, Chairperson of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. She is participating from London. Ms. Roopa Kudva, Independent Non-Executive Director, member of the Audit Committee, Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the Risk Management Committee. She is participating from Mumbai. Mr. David Steven McDaniel, Executive Director, Finance and Control and CFO, Member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, Stakeholder Relationship Committee and the Risk Management Committee. He is participating from London. Finally, Mr. B. Murli, General Counsel and Company Secretary. He is participating from Gurugram. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Mr. Martin Roemkens for his contributions to our company during his senior as Executive Director, Technical. Mr. Roemkens has taken up a new assignment in other Nestlé affiliate and has, therefore, ceased to be a whole-time director with effect from 1st November 2020. The company secretary has advised me that the quorum as required under law is fulfilled and I declare the meeting as validly convened. I also formally acknowledge the participation of the partners or authorized representative of the statutory auditors, the cost auditors and secretary auditors. The statutory registers required to be there during the AGM are available for inspection on the NSDL website under the tab AGM documents. The director's report for company's performance during 2020 is already available with you in the annual report. Please allow me to start by sharing a few thoughts on the pandemic we are all living through. The legendary and great leader, Nelson Mandela, once said, a fundamental concern for others in our individual and community life would go a long way in making the world a better place we so passionately dreamt of. 2020 has redefined the way in which we all think and live. The magnitude and volatility of the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped the contours of the new normal where the 5 Ps: purpose, people, partnerships, planet and performance will form the cornerstone of successful organizations. Purpose. Your company's purpose helped it stay strong despite challenges in the external environment. Each of us is strongly committed to the global purpose and I quote, "We unlock the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone today and for generations to come." We operate not just as a company or an entity but as an ecosystem. Your company continues to commit itself to giving every possible support to the communities and to the authorities who continue to fight tirelessly and valiantly against this pandemic. We reached out to the vulnerable communities amidst the pandemic by contributing 3.36 million packs of company products worth INR 162 million and touched over 1.5 million people in 28 states and 6 union territories, providing dry rations and meals, providing health care equipment, PPE and product contributions. During these unprecedented times, the Magic Bus Foundation, the Nestlé Healthy Kids program partner, put to use its learning management system called Magic Bus Academy to offer virtual education and training, positively impacting nearly 60,000 beneficiaries. Under Project Jagriti, your company launched the One Minute Campaign to reach out to the beneficiaries on a regular basis via telephonic calls inquiring about their health and well-being. In addition to educating women on ante-natal care, the campaign also focused on COVID-19 and the importance of hygiene, sanitation and disinfection reaching out to nearly 40,000 beneficiaries. People. Your company invested in ensuring that its people remain safe and secure. It continues to abide by its internal stringent COVID protocols across the operations and adheres to all precautionary measures such as masking, social distancing, temperature screening and sanitizing. Your company also has a global stated policy where it encourages vaccination for all, supporting rapid vaccination against COVID-19 across the globe. It continues to look for ways in which it can play a role. Your company certainly encourages all employees to get vaccinated as early as possible, in line with public health priorities and will support them for this purpose. Further, your company launched a virtual internship program called Nesternships, which offered 1,000 young professionals opportunities to enhance their employability and competence. Partnerships. Your company has also strengthened partnerships during these unprecedented times. It recognized the difficulties that suppliers are encountering and ensured continuity in timely payments, which is inherent to the values. The company accelerated the invoicing platform with paperless invoicing, and nearly 40% of the invoices were managed digitally. It has also ensured that every drop of milk, which was offered was brought -- was bought to ensure that farmers do not lose out. Under the aegis of Nestle's global youth initiative, Nestlé Needs YOUth. The company launched the Nestlé Entrepreneurship for YOUth platform to nurture budding entrepreneurs and create job opportunities through a kiosk business model, helping the youth of the country hope with these challenging times. Planet. Climate change is one of the biggest challenges mankind is currently facing. In the past year, globally, your company has laid out areas within the organization as well as the sourcing operations and its brands where it will take steps to limit its carbon footprint. The company has committed to the planet to the sustainable use of resources. The power to accelerate this change will require a multi-stakeholder approach, bringing industry, government, multilateral agencies and local community to collaborate and monitor progress, laying the foundation for a better word. Your company has been accelerating its actions to reach net 0 greenhouse emissions by 2050, while ensuring high levels of productivity. Your company is walking the talk already. Our greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage have come down across the manufacturing locations by about 50% in the last 15 years. I believe the company has been one of the pioneers in using sustainable logistics as an example, the usage of rail network and waterways. The determination to make a difference in the area of plastic-based management has shown significant results. Last year, your company collected and recycled over 20,000 tonnes of plastic waste. Across all the brands, the company collected plastic equivalent to post consumer plastic waste generated by the brands in 2020, thereby ensuring plastic neutrality. Further, under the HILLDAARI programme, there are projects in Mussoorie, Dalhousie, Mahabaleshwar, beaches of Goa wherein the company is tying up with local stakeholders to develop end-to-end solutions for waste collections, segregation and disposal as well as the basic likelihood of waste management professionals. Responsible sourcing has been an integral part of your company for a long time across 100,000 dairy farmers, 3,500 coffee farmers, 1,200 spice farmers. Today, solar panels are installed in the milk collection centers to reduce the carbon footprint, standardizing water usage for irrigation in coffee fields has resulted in 20% reduction in water consumed and therefore water saved. Performance. In 2020, your company has delivered a strong performance. Three out of the 4 quarters or quarters of double-digit growth for the company. Moving forward, the growth in Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4 towns have been more than twice or thrice than in the large city metros, therefore, expanding the ecosystem of the company, the distribution infrastructure is something constantly being worked upon. In 2019, about 90,000 villages were covered and in the next 2 to 3 years, 120,000 villages are being targeted. Your company is committed to Make in India and Made in India. It is proud of the 108-year long association with the nation and as a vindication of this confidence and trust plans to invest INR 2,600 crores of INR 26 billion over the next 3 to 4 years. Further, resonating with consumer needs during evolving times, your company introduced a range of product and marketing innovations in line with the new normal. Your company is proud of its performance, planet, partnerships and is federated by the purpose and values that keeps them together. The company is successful only and only because of its people. With optimism at its core, your company looks at the pandemic as a lesson, one that teaches everyone to embrace change and continue to cater to the evolving need of the new normal. Before I conclude, I wish to inform that due to COVID restrictions, the operations of the registered office were affected. Also, many of you know that Mr. Rajendra Agrawal, your beloved Investor Relations Manager, who unfortunately succumbed to COVID was unavailable for the past 3 weeks and may not have attended to the calls made to him. This unexpected incident may have hampered the working of the shares department to some extent, but no shareholder mail or query sent to the company has remained unattended. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to especially thank the shareholders for their support and confidence in the company over the years and particularly during these difficult times. Please allow me to leave you with this quote from our beloved Mahatma Gandhi: "Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values and your values become your destiny." I wish all our shareholders who have joined today, their families and their loved ones the best of health. Thank you very much for patiently listening to me. I will now take up the notice of the 62nd Annual General Meeting dated 16 February 2021, which, together with the audited accounts and Board report has been duly sent to the members by e-mail and public notices published in newspapers as stipulated. The auditors report for the year ended 31st December 2020 does not have any qualifications, observations or comments in financial transactions or matters which had any adverse effect on the functioning of the company. In view of the same, there is no need to read the auditor's report. Your company provided members remote e-voting facility on AGM agenda items from 4th May 2021 from 9 a.m. to 6th May 2021 till 5 p.m. E-voting facility is available at the meeting. And as mentioned in the notice at the end of discussion on the resolutions on which voting is to be held, there will be electronic voting using the e-voting platform of NSDL for all those members who are participating in the meeting but have not cast their votes by availing the remote e-voting facility. The icon for e-voting is available on the top of your screen, which will redirect you to the e-voting portal of NSDL. The e-voting facility is active and will be closed along with the closure of the meeting. I will now proceed with the agenda as per Notice of AGM with 3 ordinary business items listed as agenda items 1 to 3 and 1 special business item listed as agenda item 4. Agenda item #1, for the adoption of the audited financial statements of the company for the year 2020, including the balance sheet and as at 31st December 2020, the statement of profit and loss and cash flow statement for the year ended on that date and the reports of the Board of Directors and auditors thereon. Agenda Item #2, for the confirmation of payment of interim dividend of INR 135 per equity share for the year 2020 and declaration of final dividend of INR 65 per equity share of INR 10 each for the final year ended 31st December 2020. Item #3, the appointment of a Director in place of Mr. David Stephen McDaniel, with Director identification number 08662504, who retires by rotation and being eligible, offers himself for reappointment. Now the one special business item, which in the opinion of the Board is considered unavoidable. Agenda item #4, for the ratification of remuneration of M/s Ramanath Iyer & Company, cost auditors, firm registration number, 00019, appointed as the cost auditors by the Board of Directors of the company for the year ended 31st December 2021. This year, also being a virtual AGM, there are 3 ways in which members can ask questions on the AGM agenda items. The first members who have preregistered as a speaker at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting at the designated investor e-mail address of the company as mentioned in note 5D of the Notice of the AGM. Second, members who have submitted their questions 48 hours in advance of the meeting at the designated investor e-mail address of the company as mentioned in Note 5C of the Notice of the AGM. And finally, members can during the meeting post messages on the communication box available on the screen to each member participating in the meeting. So if members have best preregistering as speaker or submitting questions in advance, they can also ask questions by posting messages on the communication box available on the screen. I request Mr. Pramod Rai to collate the questions and share with me after I take up the questions for the speaker and e-mails received by the company. In view of the situation today, I will take the questions one by one, as Mr. Pramod Rai would be reading them up to me. I now request Inba to invite the esteemed members who have preregistered in advance as a speaker. In the interest of time, I would sincerely request all speakers to restrict their questions to a maximum of 3 minutes. This is a personal request. We will respond to the questions asked by the speaker and then take up the question from the next speaker.

Thank you very much, Chairman, sir. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. I now invite our first speaker member. Ms. Hutokshi Sam Patel from Mumbai having client ID #1203710000018446 to speak.

I will straightaway go through the questions. What is the impact of lockdown on the region-wise sales margin of the company? How is the company strengthening and continuing its products -- product supply market in the COVID times? What is the surging demand for the readymade food items? How far Nestlé is ready to capture for the market in this COVID time? So your ninth factory of Nestlé is coming up at Sanand, Gujarat. Is the construction complete? Has the production started? And which production is going to be in this factory? So as far as the foreign exchange goes the earnings INR 6,470 while outgoing is INR 27,914. Sir, may I please know the reason for this high difference? What is the attrition rate in the company in this COVID times? Sir, how many committees -- I mean there are various committees in the company throughout the year, but I find that there are different committees are coming up for different, different times for the year. Like audit committee 4x, [indiscernible] committee is 4x while CSR committee is only 2x. Remuneration committees also only 3x. Could I please know the reason for this difference? Sir, you'll are coming -- you all have this Maggi and Nestle's mainly [indiscernible] for this Maggi, we are very happy with the product. It's very nice product. And I would like to know if you're all coming out with Maggi non-veg noodles in oats, please if you can make that, I would be very happy. Also you'll cannot come out with the [indiscernible] this, but at least you'll come out with the various drinks like you can have honey with ginger. Why doesn't Nestlé not come out with honey with ginger. In this COVID time it is ginger and turmeric are very essential products. Please, if we have Mr. Matthias and Mr. McDaniel, if you can please [indiscernible] to this. I request the management, Mr. Suresh Narayanan on this. Because in this COVID time it will really prove very essential. As a good corporate governance practice, even though law does not permit, I request -- I humbly request the management and the secretarial team especially to provide annual return of management 9, MGT 9 in the annual report. If there is no MGT 9 in the annual report, it becomes very difficult for us. Please, I humbly request as a part product or as a separate one, if you can make it in the annual report, I request the secretarial team. Also I would -- very much important for me is your food seasoning and pasta sauce mixing that you all have come out with, please throw some light on it. Is it available in Bombay. Sir, why was Milo stopped in Bombay. Delhi people don't want it, we Bombay people want it, please come up with Milo, we are very much eager it's a very nice drink it was. What is kiosk? Is it operating in Bombay? If I am interested in doing the kiosk, can I be of any -- will the company help me out? I would like -- if you can throw some light on which department based with kiosk. I ask your people but nobody gave me this information. And who is the person and what is his contact number whom I can get in touch with for kiosk. You all have done excellent CSR activities in this COVID time. I'm extremely very happy for it. I congratulate the company for investing INR 35 million to the exchequer's fund, also investing INR 26 million in the next 3 years in India. I congratulate company for the awards and accolades that the company has got. Especially Mr. Suresh Narayanan has received the best performing leader by CNBC Awaz. Congratulate to you Mr. Narayanan and all the best to you. Under your leadership in India, the company will flourish, I hope we have your full support, and we have full faith in the company and confidence in the company. Mr. Matthias and Mr. McDaniel, your products are very good in India and all the best to you. But please do come out with this Milo and the turmeric and ginger products, which are very essential in COVID times, even maybe in your country also and in all the countries. Nature's product is the best product. I also congratulate the company for all the CSR activities that the company has done in this COVID times. I end my speech over here. All the best to you once again, and I hope my questions are answered.

Firstly, thank you. Thank you, Ms. Patel, for your very, very kind words on the -- for the company and for or whatever we are trying to achieve during this very, very difficult period. The impact of the lockdown, more than on the demand for the core brands of the company has, of course, taken an impact on the out-of-home business which has been quite significant. Unfortunately, it has built up to a good level. And now again, it is sliding back because of the various closures that are taking place. I'm extremely proud of the fact that our factories are operating fully. It's a tremendous tribute to the team and to the tenacity that they've been able to work under very, very difficult circumstances. So we are ensuring that our product supply remains strong across categories during this period. There has been, of course, been an uptick in demand for some of our brands. Ms. Patel it is not just Maggi that we are well known for. We have brands like Nescafe, KitKat, Munch, Milkmaid and a host of other brands Everyday Dairy Whitener and a host of other brands, which also are doing reasonably well at this time. The ninth factory, which is coming up in Sanand is progressing well despite the very difficult circumstances. Once again, it is a great tribute to the team that they've been able to work together to ensure that construction takes place with all the COVID protection and with all the precautions that we are able to take as a consequence of which we do hope that towards the latter part of the year, we will be able to commission this factory. It will be a pride of place for Nestlé. It will be the most diverse factory. More than 50% of people who worked in this factory would be women, and we will be producing Maggi noodles from this factory at the initial state. Our attrition rates have been relatively low. I think Nestlé has always been seen to be a company of choice for young people to work in. And during this period, I think we have ensured that we have protected every single job in the company. So nobody has been deprived of a job, deprived of decency of livelihood of respect. And I think that in its values and culture pays back to the company in terms of loyalty and in terms of dedication of its people. In terms of the committees, the question that you asked, I think the committee frequencies are based on the kind of issues that come up on hand and that need to be addressed at various points in time. And therefore, obviously, the audit committee will have a frequency that is higher than some of the other committees. CSR, I think, under the able leadership of Dr. Swati Piramal, is a committee where we have hired a fairly strong and robust platform for engagement. So we don't keep changing these platforms every single month or every single quarter. So focus on nutrition-led education activities, focus on educating the adolescents on good health, good practices, focusing on sanitation, focusing on COVID-relief activities wherein we have spent almost 30% of the budgets for 2020 behind these activities will continue at full pace. And therefore, I think the frequency of the meeting is basically more reflected on the continuity that we have been able to establish in the operations. As far as our brands are concerned, Milo is concerned, yes, I think during the pandemic, obviously, we are focused on some of our core parts of the portfolio where we have been kind of focusing our energies to try and get them up to speed. So by apologies in case Milo has not been available in full quantities. There has been some disruption at various ends, but we will look at it. And finally, the Nestlé kiosk business is being managed by our Nestlé professional colleagues. And there is a professional -- Nestlé professional team for out-of-home that is based also in Mumbai and I will ensure that you have given the contact of the concerned person who can speak to you and tell you about this most interesting model, we have almost 600 to 700 of these kiosks all over the country. They're also there in Mumbai. It is a good way of generating employment, a good way of generating income and a good way of giving dignity and respect to people at this stage. And we also look at diverse -- increasing the diversity in its participation and also involving wherever possible, differently-abled people to operate the stalls. So it is a cause that is more than a business cause in my view, Ms. Patel. It is also a social cause that we are wanting to pursue at this time. So I thank you. I thank you for your questions, and I do hope that I've been able to answer them. And my apologies once again for having been tripped up as a consequence of the connection issues. Then we go on to the next speaker Inba?

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Santosh Kumar Saraf from Kolkata, having client ID# 10080328 to speak.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language] May we go to the next speaker, please.

I now invite the next speaker member Mr. Yusuf Yunus Rangwal from Mumbai having client ID #1601010000232396 to speak. Over to you.

This year a very excellent annual report I received on e-mail. It was a very excellent, very knowledgeable. You have given the dividend [indiscernible] 62nd Annual Meeting. Sir, as you mentioned we have declared 2 dividends, INR 135, finally INR 65. So this year, [Foreign Language]. This is first time I'm joining you sir and I see dynamic people sitting on the Board. I am very happy to be part of the excellent company [Foreign Language].

Thank you very much, Mr. Rangwal. I will choose to answer you in English for the benefit of all the directors and for everyone, including my 2 colleagues who are from overseas so that they understand. I thank you very much for your very, very kind comments on the company, for your loyalty to the company, for your goodwill to the company, it is because of shareholders like you, Mr. Rangwal, that it gives people like me who are employees of the company and who have worked in the company for a long time, the kind of energy and the kind of inspiration to continue to do well. You asked a question on the bonus shares and also on the splitting of shares, I think at the moment, the total cosmos of equity holdings relative to the size of the business is fairly optimal. But I thank you for your suggestions, and this is always something that remains with us as a suggestion from you, and we will come back to you in due course on what our thinking on the subject is. On Maggi soups, I think we had tried this before, Mr. Rangwal, unfortunately, while the product was excellent, but it did not gain the kind of commercial scale that we wanted to have with this product. And therefore, we have innovated a lot of other products under the Maggi reach, which you will enjoy which you will, I'm sure like. As far as the factory in Sanand is concerned, Mr. Rangwal, you'll be very happy to know that this is our state-of-the-art factory. It will be one of the most modern factories in the Nestlé world, and I want to set an example that in India, it is possible to have a factory of world-class standards with world-class professionals. More than 50% of this factory will be women employees. So it will be the most diverse factory. It will be a paperless factory. It will be a digital factory. Its construction is actively on. Unfortunately, as you know, you are from Gujarat, you know the situation on COVID has not been very good in Gujarat. So we have had temporary kind of stoppages as far as the work is concerned. But I assure you that there is -- towards the end of the year, this factory too will be commissioned. And yes, if you are coming towards that site, once the factory opens, if you are coming towards Sanand site, we don't normally organize for factory visits. But if you are traveling towards Sanand and if you let us know, we will be very happy to welcome you as a shareholder to the factory and to show you the efforts that are being made by your company. I think it's important for you to see it as well. As far as innovative products in chocolates is concerned, chocolates and confectionery is a very important part of the company. It is growing very well. It is one of the categories that is growing at double digit for us. We have constantly a lot of new products that we are looking at, and you will see this also happening, Mr. Rangwal, in the coming months and years. But I thank you very much for your loyalty, for your sincerity and for your commitment to Nestlé for so many years. I'm deeply grateful for it. Thank you very much.

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Sarvjeet Singh from New Delhi having client ID #1201910102090517 to speak.

Chairman, first of all, good morning to you and all the directors who will be sitting or joining this meeting from the homes. [Foreign Language] -- some of the product is giving a good response. And nowadays, you don't having an outlet of our Nestle product in East zone. [Foreign Language] Sir, you will be dependent only on some of the products of our Nestle products, like Milkybar, KitKat, Munch, Nescafe, Maggi and Maggi Pazzta. Nowadays, [Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

Thank you. I now invite our next speaker member, Ms. Poonam Bala from New Delhi having folio number 116065 to speak. Ms. Bala, proceed with your questions. I am sorry Ms. Bala, we are unable to hear you right now. Please proceed now.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

Thank you. We now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Krishan Lal Chadha from New Delhi, having client ID number 1201410000010073 to speak.

[Foreign Language] So the most important point, the most important point is on page numbers -- Page number 68, the experiences we are every year increasing the miscellaneous expenses. And this year, we have reached at INR 1370 million, I don't understand that what is the management committee do on the miscellaneous expenses. [Foreign Language]

Kindly request you, you have a lot of questions. Kindly it will be very happy for us to answer all these questions. There is no problem at all. Kindly put them down in e-mail, we will have them all responded to you at the earliest. I think it is better [Foreign Language] we will not be able to answer all the questions on the same time because you also got other shareholders who are also involved. We will give you the answers, please put it in an email and send it. I will be very happy to answer all the questions that you have asked. Thank you very much.

So may we request -- may we move to the next question, sir?

Yes, please. And we will get the details from Mr. Chadha on all the questions that he has asked. I think we have asked quite a few questions I think it will be impossible to answer all of them in keeping the respect of the time and the attention of all the other shareholders. We will answer it, but he will need to kindly give us the details that he wants to be responded to and answered. Thank you.

Thank you. I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Dipankar Purkayastha from New Delhi having client ID number 1204720009417188.

Can you hear me, please? Okay. Good morning to all of you. Before I begin, I would just like to say that it was an unpleasant shock when the Chairman announced the demise of Mr. Agarwal, the gentleman who worked in the Investor Relations department and being a Delhi based shareholder, I have interacted with him a number of times. So I would request you to please convey our condolences to his bereaved family. It was personally a great shock me. Now coming to my questions. I had already sent in advance by e-mail list of questions so that it could facilitate the collection of data and information. But anyway, I would just recap those questions for the benefit of other shareholders. First question on mind was that this CapEx of INR 2,600 crores, if you can give us the split between the greenfield expenditure at Sanand, the new factory and the brownfield expansion at the existing factory. And if you can give the factory wise breakup, that would be good. And then secondly, I would also like to know, after this CapEx program is completed, what will be the incremental volume in tonnes business-wise? How much will milk products go up by how many tonnes, how much will prepared dishes and cooked things go up, by how much will beverages go up and how much will be confectionery business go up in physical terms. Third question on this CapEx is what is the time line for completing this entire INR 2,600 crores? By what date are you likely to complete it, if you can give us? And are you currently on schedule? Or is there going to be a time overrun? In the annual report, there is a point which mentioned that you have a target that in 2025, you will be having 100% recyclable and reusable packaging. So I would just like to know, currently, where do we stand? What percentage are we at now? Is your target for 2025 is 100%, and I would also like to know what is the bottom line implications of this transitioning to 100%. Is this going to make our packaging more expensive? Is our cost of material going to go up? If so, by how many percentage points if you can throw some light? My third issue is if I come to your Note number 35, 2nd part, where you have given the volume-wise figures of your different businesses, except your prepared dishes and cooking aids, where there has been a substantial growth in volumes. If I look at the other businesses, milk products, beverages and confectionery, in tonnage or in volumes, there is either a negative growth or stagnation. So I did some research. I took out the last 10 years annual reports. And I find that even over 10 years, this position remains unchanged. The 10-year CAGR volume for milk products is minus 0.4%. For beverages, it is minus 2.4%. For confectionery, it is minus 0.6%, prepared dishes and cooking aids is a star performer with 3.8%, which gives you an overall volume growth of 1.6%. No doubt in value terms, your other businesses have grown, but it is very disconcerting to see that consistently over a long period of 10 years, that your volumes in all other businesses are not growing. And your company has become very dependent on these prepared dishes and cooking aids. I'm unable to understand -- I mean your products are excellent in the other verticals also. So why are volumes not moving if you can throw some light on that? Then on your balance sheet, every company -- listed company has to give figures of the dues to the MSME creditors. The reason being that we should not harass them by increasing their dues. But unlike all other listed companies, in Nestle, I find that your use to MSME creditors are increasing at an exponential rate. It was INR 108 million on 31 December 2018, it went up to INR 340 million on 31st December '19, and then it went up to INR 938 million on 31st December '20. Whereas if I look at your dues to the non-MSME creditor, that is the big guys, their dues are fairly steady they are not showing any signs of increase. And this is a pattern which I have not seen in practically any other listed company. So why are we not treating our MSME creditors with sympathy? And finally, your e-commerce volumes have been growing, which is a very nice thing and very welcome thing. But I just wonder, why don't you start your own e-commerce site? Today, even B2B businesses, companies which manufacture ball bearings, electrical machinery have their own e-commerce sites. Apple has, ITC, which is also in the FMCG business has an excellent e-shopping portal, on their website. And from personal experience, I can tell you that in many Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities there is a complete unawareness of your complete product range. For example, you have excellent cold coffees, but hardly anybody outside the network is even aware of this product. So I would feel that having your own shopping site on your Nestle website would definitely boost volumes and would also more important, give you some indication of the patterns which are emerging in consumption in the Tier 2 and 3 cities. Why do you only want to depend on third-party e-commerce sites? You should do your own e-commerce site so that you have first-hand information on how the trends are moving. That's all that I have to say. Thank you for the time and good day.

I thank you very much for all the questions that you asked, I thank you for the goodwill in the company and also your concern as far as the performance of the company is concerned. What I will do is that I will answer all your questions except for the one pertaining to MSME creditors, which I will request my -- the CFO and Finance Director of the company, Mr. David McDaniel to answer right after I have completed the answering of the other questions that you asked. Firstly, I will forward, your condolences to the Agarwal family. It is a rude shock to the Nestle family as indeed it is to his own because he leaves behind 2 very young children. The CapEx of INR 2,600 crores will be implemented over the next 3- to 4-year period. This is primarily more than 50% of this is are going to be spent in augmenting our Maggi noodles rurals manufacturing, and the balance will be divided between investments in the Nutrition business and investments in the coffee business. As a consequence of this, the investment, the capacities in the noodle business will go up by about 20% to 25%. And it will also go up to the extent of 10% to 15% in both the coffee business and also in the confectionary business. So there is a fairly strong capacity buildup that we are seeing. The time line for completion, as I mentioned to you, in the next 3 to 4 years. It is possible that in case we see the need to augment it towards a second phase, we might plan that. But at the moment, the investment of INR 2,600 crores is what is on the cards. The only greenfield site in Sanand which is in Gujarat. The other investments are all in current manufacturing locations as well. Coming to your question as far as the reusable and recyclable is concerned, as of now, in 2020, we are plastic neutral but as far as 3 of the critical brands are concerned, which is Maggi, Nescafe and KitKat, that would roughly be about 50 to 60-odd percent of the total plastics that will be utilized. We will be -- we're working on the rest of it in terms of both the material, which is using mono-layer packaging material at the moment, which is better than the multilayer packaging, but of course, it is not biodegradable. So that is still a project that we are working on with Nestle globally to see how we can improve the quality of that packaging material. You are very right in pointing out that this would be an incremental cost because more bio-friendly packaging is always coming at a higher price. But at the moment, what we have done is to look at material cost advantages, economies of scale and efficiencies in the rest of the value chain to be able to absorb it. So therefore, we have not at the moment looked at any substantive changes in the pricing of the various brands that we have got. Coming to the volume evolution of the company. Yes, Mr. Purkayastha, I think the last year has been rather testing as far as the company itself is concerned. We still get about 50% of our business, 46% of our business from the milk and nutrition business. There, again, the -- both these businesses have been doing reasonably well in value terms, but they do take time in terms of establishing the penetration. The coffee business actually is growing extremely well for the last 4 to 5 years. The impact really has been the out-of-home business, which has taken a beating in 2020 and continues in 2021 because of the constructed opening of the various outlets that we have got. Chocolates and confectionery continues to be a strong growth. Year-on-year, there has been a growth both in volume and in mix terms, we are selling more of better value of products in this. And that is the reason why if you look at the corporate performance of the company in the last 13 to 14 quarters it has been on a relatively strong volume and mix growth. So I'm not here to contest the 10-year data that you've bought, that is the analysis that you have done. But at least if you look at the last 15, 16 quarters, it has been quarters except for the quarter 2 of last year. And overall, last year, where the volume growth was muted and I do admit that the pandemic did take its store on the portfolio. Otherwise, we are enjoying relatively good growth Also, it is instructional to note Mr. Purkayastha that in 8 out of the 9 categories in which we participate, we are market leaders by far. So therefore, there is a strong leadership position that we have that we will continue to maintain as we go forward. And with the opportunities opening up in Bharat, which is really the Tier 2, Tier 3 towns, as you rightly said, the awareness of the brands is probably lower. So our growth rates in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns has been 2x to 3x of the growth that we have enjoyed in the larger cities, especially during the last 2 to 3 years. So that gives us the confidence to be able to build up the infrastructure in the smaller towns, you will see that happening. I talked about it in my speech of covering 90,000 villages so far and extending it to 120,000 villages. All of this should hopefully be positive as far as the company is concerned. On e-commerce, I thank you for your comments. As we speak, we are evaluating the opportunity and the option of having a direct-to-consumer model or indeed a business model there as the company gets directly involved with consumers. It's being evaluated. And I think sooner than later, we'll be able to come up with the proposition. Now I would request David McDaniel to kindly take the question on the MSME creditors and the position there. Over to you, David.

Thank you. And I hope my audio is live. So first of all, I can confirm that we have paid every supplier on time last financial year. We have...

Mr. McDaniel, we're not able to hear you, sir. now. You've lost audio. Yes, we can hear.

Sorry for that. Right. So first of all, I want to confirm that we paid every supplier on time in 2020 financial year. We have a large increase in the payables to MSMEs because the government of India changed the scope on the first of July 2020 and which captured more MSMEs. We did a very extensive exercise contacting all the vendors and confirmed whether they qualified -- and then we are capturing, as I said, a lot more of our vendors in this scope, but we have paid everybody on time within the 45-day limit and very happy to do so. Thank you.

Thank you. I now invite our next speaker member. Chandravati Gattani and Sarbananda Gattani from New Delhi having client ID number 43772046 to speak.

Sir I'm a big fan of your Chairman, so [Foreign Language] I'm a shareholder of more than 25 years. A very loyal shareholder. I'm not allowed to eat KitKat, et cetera. [Foreign Language] Diabetes come second, KitKat comes first. And then, sir, you are doing a lot of good things for shares -- we are taking -- you have taken company to new heights. And now I've got some specific queries sir. We are taking companies. Our new plant is coming and being from Kolkata, in Kolkata, our Mamta has come back. Do you have anything for Kolkata, sir, [Foreign Language] Second, financial capital [Foreign Language], but he is not there. So we don't need to lament anything. You are one of the pioneer in India. I request you to set up something for Kolkata, sir. And I'm looking forward to it. I'm a 30-year old shareholder, of Nestle and you have got a lot of finance power. [Foreign Language]. Don't give us our dividends. Don't send the money to foreign countries, but please help India. Narendra Modi cannot do everything else himself. Mamta cannot do everything herself. They need companies like you and being a shareholder for 30 years, I do have the right, sir. It is the first time I'm meeting you, sir. So I'm a big fan of you. And for Kolkata, i would request you to do something that put some mega projects because Mamta is here for 5 more years. And let us put something, so let us be positive in Kolkata I'm a chartered accountant and all my friends have deserted Kolkata. Why? Because we get 1,000 in Northern in Kolkata, we get [indiscernible] in Mumbai, when I go to Singapore, I get a 35,000, hence this is my humble request -- we are taking company to new heights. So our net property is very good. Our dividend is very good. I would like to quote some figures. Our profit after tax at INR 2082 crores compared to INR 1968 crores. In this pandemic time, you have done an excellent job, 5.8% up. Your total tax come to INR 1,295 crores, increased by 8% and further request. Please send me the sample of what the -- whatever the charges. Can you let me know say to you, to the Company Secretary. [Foreign Language] We have a lot of people. And this second wave of pandemic, I don't know. [Foreign Language]. My last request, I need your visiting card, Chairman, sir. And I need the CFO and Company Secretary's card, my mobile number is with the secretary I hope to see your visiting card. It's up an above in my WhatsApp number. Thank you very much. I support you, and I'm a very big fan of your Chairman. I hope you take the company to new heights. I'm looking forward to the new plant and to visit the plant at your cost, I can bear the cost, but not all the speaker shareholders. And you must be there, sir, to show us the factory, what is going on in your mind. Thank you very much, sir, signing off. [Foreign Language] support the big industries like you [Foreign Language] We are not having any jobs. Qualified people can earn, but not that much like in Bombay when I go to Singapore, China. I earn far more there, [Foreign Language]. Thank you very much. I'm looking forward to your plant in West Bengal. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much for being a loyal shareholder for your goodwill for the company, for your kind words for the company. I think we are going through very, very difficult times. You're absolutely right in what you said. And I think as a company, we are trying to do whatever is the best that we can on CSR. In the year 2020, we did go a little bit beyond what was the original budget of the company. And I think every endeavor, in fact, it was a unique year where almost 30% of what we spent on CSR actually went behind COVID relief. Normally, relief operations is not such a large proportion of the CSR spend of the company, but it was done because of the very difficult situation that the country was going through. But I give you my assurance Mr. Gattani that our hearts and minds and wallets will be open as far as the COVID relief is concerned. We have been blessed as a company in many ways with great shareholders with loyal consumers and with steadfast partners over decades. And I think we will try and rise up to the occasion as best as we can under the pandemic situation. You are very -- with a lot of passion, you've put forward the plea for a factory in the East. Today, we have reached the status of opening our ninth factory, but the footprint of the company is expanding as our portfolio expands, as our reach expands, as our growth expense we will and we constantly keep looking at no opportunities for setting up factories, be it greenfield factories or expanding our current facilities. And I would like to assure you that the East is very much in the radar of the company. I cannot give you a time line, but this is exactly when it will happen. But I can assure you that we will give it a full look as to what the possibilities are in the East because we do have a fairly strong footprint as far as the eastern part of the country is concerned. As far as visiting the factory is concerned, I think I would -- while we don't organize for specific factory visits. We welcome you to, however, post-COVID, post the times when we will be able to hopefully meet as human beings and not be constrained by the virus. We are visiting anywhere closer to our factory, it will be a privilege and pleasure for us to take you around. As far as my own personal involvement is concerned, I really do not know because as of now, I'm not even privy to a post-COVID world and when that will happen. But I do hope Mr. Gattani that you and your family continue to do well, continue to keep safe, continue and you're more than free to get in touch with me. I think it's not very difficult to establish the contacts with either me or with my colleague, Mr. David McDaniel for you to seek any clarification or indeed any information that you need. I think our secretarial department is doing an outstanding job of keeping in touch with you, and they will, I can assure you, come forward and share anything that comes in the nature of a query or in the nature of a clarification or the date of our support that is sought by the shareholders. Thank you very much for your questions. Please keep safe. Thank you.

Thank you. I now invite member Mr. Yashpal Chopra from New Delhi, having client ID number 10592847 to speak. Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Chopra, may we request you to please speak directly into the microphone. Not very clearly. We will have our team speak with you separately and troubleshoot your line, sir. We'll reconnect you back.

Yes, please reconnect to Mr. Chopra after the next speaker.

Thank you. We had a next question from speaker member. Ravi Kumar Nareli from Vidara having client ID number 10275573. However, he is not connected. Hence, we would move to our next speaker member, Celestine Elizabeth Mascarenhas from Mumbai having client ID 12051400009218 to present.

Thank you, Respected Chairman and MD, Suresh Narayan, ED, Mr. David Mc Daniel, other very vulnerable directors and also women directors, many of them in the physical meetings, I would make, especially Rupa and Swati and Vija. So nice to see you all on the screen. And also I greet my fellow shareholders who are attending this virtual meet. My name is Mrs. CE Mascarenhas. Greetings to one and all. First of all, I thank our Company Secretary, B. Murli, and his team for bringing such a good layout of the annual report and sending it by e-mail and also making -- helping me in attending this virtual meet, which becomes very difficult, had -- for us not given the support system because many of the meetings I am finding only that problem of the password. So thank you very much. And I hope we seniors, we find very difficult because of the password. So in CDSL it is easy, not NSDL. Now coming to the annual report. It is very colorful, many pictures, exhaustive, self-explanatory, at the same time adhering to all the norms of corporate governance. I come to the working, revenue up being FMCG, PBT, PAT up and a dividend of INR 200 per share is really very good because we had a big lockdown. I don't know how many days our company was in lockdown during this COVID period. Now we look like earlier shareholder said about bonus, but since you gave some explanation, I will not ask for it because I feel justified because we are debt free and have a good market cap. So if it is given in the future, it is very welcome for shareholders like -- minority shareholders like us. Now I congratulate you and the whole team for all the awards, accolades, recognition received during the year as listed in Page number 25 of the report. Also excellent, good CSR work as shown in the report. Congratulations to all, especially the work done in this COVID times. I mean we cannot think the lay people, the corporates, everybody contributing whatever might to this pandemic is really -- it shows the humanity to mankind and all. Very good. Now my queries, sir we are we are having 3,400 permanent employees, 4,000 contractors. And altogether, including 893 women, and the average age of these people of the employees are 36 years. Sir, I would like to know how many got affected by COVID and how many fatalities, of course, other ones we came to know from you -- and for the attrition, you have answered. But I want to ask you now how many new recruits were taken during this pandemic, like many of the IT companies my hats off to [ HUL ] they recruited really very number of recruits. So if I could just -- if you could just give me some percentage also okay. Now my second question is how much percent of our production is contract manufacturing? And what percent of our total sales or production is spent on R&D where is the R&D situated in which plant or which place? My third question is, what is the CapEx for the next 3 years with COVID in mind. We have already 7 plants at different locations. And now the work of Sanand is going on. Maybe you said just now, at the end of the year, it will be ready. My question is these 7 plans, what is the capacity utilization of the plants are they full 100% or more than 100%? Because that has warranted you to put a plant in Sanand. So if you could share this, I would be very happy. Now number four, promoters holding is about 62.7%. Any intention of the promoters like HUL did to increase their holding because some from foreign is also sitting. So if you could just throw some light and if any case, if the buyback or something because of promoter see that Indian shareholders have given a good value because we are depending now more on the equity than in interest. So this is my request to you. Lastly, this is something like my own, for myself or for shareholders like me. See I have shares in the physical form -- and now we have understood demat is important because your physical certificate has become just like a waste paper -- and when we go to lodge these for dematting, we get endless problems, like signature defers I would -- even in NSE I'm having other companies that have given me a lot of support. So request our secretarial team, especially Mr. B. Murli as and when I -- now I cannot go out to the DP and get it done and all. So when our lockdowns and all will go and we can be right little safe. So I will be doing -- so please, I would request Mr. Murli to assist me I get much stupid like signature defers and whatnot. So please to at least -- I have been shareholder for very long, more than 30 years, but the trouble is I could not attend, I could not come to Delhi or wherever it is. In Bombay meetings, I do attend -- so I'm very happy. This is the first time I could take part in this meeting. I could see all of you all. I said this opportunity, I should not miss because we don't know, next year if it -- if everything comes in order, then we may have the physical meeting. That is some saying that parallel you keep virtual also like our Infosys were doing. And I was watching the virtual from Mumbai from hotel and all, I would watch it. So lastly, I have supported all the reservations. After all this magnitude and violating of the COVID-19 pandemic has shared the contours of a new national where our company has devised 5 teams, namely purpose, planet, partnership, people and performance, which will form the cornerstone of our success. Sir, any more P will you add with this new pandemic, the second pandemic, which is more base and which has got more vibrant, some are 2, some are 3. So do you wish to add some more Ps with this COVID, which all our team, you, and all other Nestle to the good health and praying that COVID will disappear from the face of the earth as early as possible, we are always paying and that is the only way I feel myself. With this, I thank you for giving me a patient hearing. Thanks a lot.

Thank you, Mrs. Mascarenhas. Thank you very much for your very, very kind words. To answer your last question, what are the Ps that I would add. I think it's something that I hope resonates with all of us I would P for prayer and P for peace. I think prayer and peace are the 2 most important elements, far more important than whether company thrives, survive, do well or don't do well. I think as human beings, this is what will keep us together at this time. So my prayers, Mrs. Mascarenhas for the safety of you and your family and I thank you very much for your very, very kind words. On the company. I am privileged to see you all virtually, but as you have been a shareholder of us for many decades, and I do hope that we have served you well. I'll take your questions very quickly. You talked about whether we have created any new jobs. You will be happy to know Mrs. Mascarenhas, during this COVID period, almost 500 new people have joined this company. So therefore, there has been -- we have not retrenched anybody. Nobody has lost their job. Nobody's salary has been cut. Nobody has been, to the best of my knowledge, being made to go through any kind of hardships. We are as compassionate as empathetic as possible under very, very difficult circumstances. But as you would know, Mrs. Mascarenhas this is not under our control. And unfortunately, we have had our losses in the family as well. As I speak to you, we have lost more than 8 people in the pandemic 8 of my colleagues have unfortunately passed away. One of them, of course, Rajendra Agarwal, who I talked about and who is an inexplicable part of shareholders for the last almost 3 decades in this company. Some of them are leaving behind very young families. The youngest is 39 years old. He leaves behind a 1-year old child. And it is a very, very painful time for the company. For me as the head of the family and for all of us as we try and work with this uncertainty and with this the devastating pandemic. So 500 new people, we have recruited. Many of them, Mrs. Mascarenhas, you'll be happy to note are indeed women, in fact, at our plant in Sanand, it is going to be more than 50% women. So we'll have more women in the company to help us on our journey forward. As a company with as we are very much focused on food quality and safety. And therefore, we have a strong bias in favor of our own manufacturing. So unlike many companies who will have 200 co-manufacturers, we are a company that is very, very conservative, and we would rather produce it ourselves because that is the only way we can guarantee the quality and safety at all points in time. However, we do use for some of our brands some co-manufacturing facilities. So roughly more than 90% of what we sell would be produced by us and about 10% would be what we would get through other manufacturers. But these are all people, Mrs. Mascarenhas who have been working with us for a long, long time, and they're all within the quality standards of the company. So Mr. Matthias Lohner, who is the Executive Director on the Board of the company is also the Technical Director of the company. Under his supervision, there is a lot of very, very strong process and very, very strong disciplines that we put in so that nothing that is remotely unsafe can ever come out or of a second wave quality that can come out and be sold to consumers. On R&D, we have an R&D facility in India. close to our head office in Gurgaon. It's a place called Manesar. This is a global R&D facility. So it is not part of Nestlé India. It's a global facility that is put in there by Nestlé from Switzerland, but it tells you the importance of R&D in the context of South Asia. So we are one of the customers as Nestlé India with this R&D center where quite a few new product ideas and new technologies are developed for the company. And I think that is something that I'm extremely proud of. On CapEx, we have decided to, despite the COVID situation, despite the uncertainty, we are committed to investing INR 2,600 crores over the next 3 to 4 years, as I had answered the earlier shareholder, Mr. Purkayastha. I think this is being spent across different parts of the portfolio, the culinary, the foods portfolio, the coffee portfolio, the nutrition portfolio. And we do hope that we will be augmenting. It therefore means Mrs. Mascarenhas, as you rightly said, that we are reaching capacity utilizations in some of our factories, which is why we are putting in this additional CapEx. In some categories, we are running at more than 90%. And therefore, we are putting the facilities very quickly in order to augment the capacities to meet the demand. And our brands, Mrs. Mascarenhas are quite strong at this moment. And therefore, I think the demand being relatively strong, we are trying to serve the consumer as best as we can in the pandemic situation. Not easy, but nevertheless, my people are passionate about what they do, and it is my pride to share their story with you. As far as the current moment is concerned, there is no proposal or there is no thinking on the table to increase the parent stake in the company. There has been no thinking on that account. Of course, this is always an evolving space. So I can't give guarantees for the future. But I can tell you that at the moment, there is no thinking on those lines at all. So I thank you once again, Mrs. Mascarenhas, prayerfully, I hope that you and your family remain safe. And I thank you very much for your good wishes for the company and for its employees. Thank you very much.

We now invite our next speaker member who's reconnected, Mr. Yash Pal Chopra from New Delhi having climbed ID# 10592847 to speak.

Well, I'm deeply depressed Mr. Suresh Narayanan for the demise of my friend, Mr. Rajendra Agarwal. The man was a big bridge between the Delhi shareholders and the Company Secretary. And he was a very, very big protective shield for Mr. B. Murli because he never let us go to Mr. Murli. He said, whatever the problem, just tell me. I'm a shareholder of the company for the last 30 years, and I'm a speaker on this dais for more than 15 years. But I can say that I could not make any kind of interaction with Mr. Murli because Mr. Rajendra Agarwal was there. He was a very, very nice person. I can say for him [Foreign Language]. He was a person who could handle the shareholders in a very, very practical way. So we are -- we have lost a gem of the person, and I don't know how long it will take to get a person like this in front of him. Before I proceed, lest I may forget. I take your permission to offer my special thanks to Dr. Swati Piramal for listening to me in the last AGM. So I may forget it during my discourse. So that is why I just have taken that point. Thank you, madam. Sir, I'm an ex-employee of Indian Oil Corporation retired 24 years ago on 30th April 1997. And I have to just say that my company has a welfare employees' fund. And for that, we are looking after the interest of all the existing as well as the retired employees and every employee is given a cashless medical card and our company is maintaining a contract with almost 30 leading hospitals in NCR and also in other cities like Bombay, Madras and Kolkata and all that. Because they say that the employee is a asset, this asset valuation of an employee that is supreme. So sir, in this case, I just say if you want to give the real condolence for Mr. Rajendra Agarwal to give a chance of placement to his children, I think his son is a qualified CA, so you can very well address him in your company. And before proceeding that, the second more important point for the employees that our Mr. Murli may be getting superannuated in a year early or so. So after his superannuation, please let not allow him to go home. You have him on your Board as a -- even as an independent director, all that because the precious experience he is having it, that will be of very, very, very much useful for the company. So we must keep that thing in mind. So that is the second point. The third very important thing I'm going to tell you, sir, that you have to revamp your PR department. You have given so much sponsorship, even the best program, musical program today is going on that Indian order. And at the end of the show, we just note down when he reads the name of 10, 15 companies, I came to know that even Nestlé is our one of the company. I got paid to find out that Baba Patanjali, he has offered just 1 or 2 hampers and that hamper is on every show, is being shown by the anchor and the anchor is called and they say, this is a hamper from Patanjali containing this thing, this thing, this thing, go and use it, enjoy it. And you must know that program is seen by crores of people. Even I got the call from California from my sister and other call from San Francisco from my brother and the third call from Sydney from my younger brother. They say that, that episode of Ramayana, where Baba was invited, he has stole the show, though he is also sponsored like Nestlé and other companies, but that product and that Patanjali has reached to the minds of crores of people, where we are also sponsor, why could not be also make some hamper and just put it for those actors who are doing the fantastic job. But please keep it, the hamper must not contain only those promotional INR 5 or INR 10 munch because that quality of hamper, which I have seen last year, that was the most ridiculous and I think that is that such hamper should be discarded. And because our company is not a small company, when you give something as a respect to somebody, so that should look that the company has really respect for you. Sir, to proceed further, sometime it was said that charity begins at home. That is a wrong concept. But I say now that charity must begin from home. And our company, which has been giving crores of rupees to the NGOs and all that, they should give some amount to all these hospitals, and they should have the Nestlé ward for at least 10% in almost all the hospitals and whenever person goes there and sees Nestlé ward, so automatically, that will be publicity. God forbid, if any of our employee is in need of such a problem, he will definitely get a better treatment than the common people. So you have to think that in the name of CSR, you have to choose the important hospital with a big long chain and give them handsome amount to have a ward by the caption Nestlé Ward, so that all our employees, all our -- even our distributors, anybody connected with the company and may in the hour of need, they use that. Otherwise, let the people enjoy that, that is a very good cause. So sir, mainly these are 2 points. But the very, very important thing I would like to say. The other day when I got registered as a speaker, I just got the call the next day, sir, in all your speeches, you are using 3 words: excellent management, excellent governance and investor-friendly. Please justify that thing before going over there. I said, I'm a shareholder of the company for the last 30 years and for the 30 years, the company has not seen that. Every year, the company is coming with the growth, better turnover, better profits, better EPS, better ROCE, better dividend. So why should not I say excellent? He is saying, sir, but you have also said that share price is the barometer of the strength of the company. Now just compare that the share price of the competitor of the company where they have gone and our company is just in the circle of INR 15,000 crores to INR 17,000 crores; INR 15,000 crores in the export level, INR 17,000 crores in the resistance level. Sir, it is not crossing the resistance level. And every year, you say in your meeting that it will touch INR 20,000 crores, it will touch INR 20,000 crores. Where is that INR 20,000 crores. I just told him this is the COVID time, the company is not in position to make the full production capacity. The company's marketing staff has to take all kind of precaution just to reach all the far of corners and all that. So that is the thing and they replied, is this COVID 2020, which was the best year for the food products? Is it only for Nestlé? Why it is not for Jubilant Food? Why it is not for Hindustan Lever? Why it is not for Dabur? Why it is not for Patanjali? Why it is not for the Egrotech? So I said anyhow, it's difficult for me to reply to your query. I will forward the same to the management, led the management speak and let you listen. The second thing was your objection was investor friendly. They say how it is investor friendly. Do you remember any year when the company has declared the bonus? Do you remember that the company is any time offering those right offers or the company is just giving any buyback offers? [Foreign Language] you see it is investor friendly because it is just giving dividend without any -- has a very solid dividend track record and that also they are giving in the installment so that we have not to wait for 360 days to get the dividend. They said that dividend policy is the penny for us or for their parents, so that is made for their parents and not for us. So please convey to them that we want something, they must show us friendliness rather than [indiscernible] suggestion. They say those shareholders who were enjoying this AGM as a festival, they have been debarred. There are so many people who is earning on for the full year, when they would go there and they would buy it and all that and so sir, just request them to offer at least a discount of 20% below the dealer price for the maximum purchase of INR 5,000 to all the employees, to all the shareholders. So that was the request they had made. So I said, okay, I will commit to it. Sir, before I wind up, I have not spoken much on the statistical data of the company. The reason behind is that I'm a person in the super senior category, and I cannot read out your balance sheet, which is in the digital form. I would request you to please send me a copy of the company's balance sheet just on the paper form so that I can study that, I can read it, I can view it, I can understand where the company is going. So sir, in the end, I wish you best of luck and to all my employees, to all my directors, to all the person concerned with the company. So I wish [Foreign Language] because if this time you ask me, what I will say [Foreign Language]. And, sir, this is probably not going to end so soon. Even yesterday, the doctors have said that the third wave is just coming. So second wave has taken so many we do not know that how strong the third wave will be will be. So, sir, [Foreign Language]. So that will be a very, very big important act of CSR and for that, you have to help with those hospitals and also get your best result for them. So, sir, with all the best wishes for you and your members. I pray God to bestow positivity on you. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

It's always a privilege and honor for me to hear you. You are a very old, very respected shareholder. I've had the privilege of interacting with you in person. So that's just to be virtual. I thank you very much for the words that you have expressed and heartfelt words that you expressed for Mr. Rajendra Agarwal. Indeed, he was a pillar of Investor Relations. There is -- it's very difficult Mr. Chopra to replace a person like him. 27 years, he knew all of you by name. He knew your families. He knew your likes, your dislikes, he knew everything. And he had an elephantine memory. He remembered everything about everybody. So I think for Mr. Murli and for the Secretarial Department, it's a huge loss. We will have to make amends with it, but we will never be able to replace him. I can only tell you that Mr. Murli is also a pillar of the company, and we will not let go of pillars of this company. So you have my assurance that his services and whatever he is doing for the company will be honored, will be respected, will be taken care of. I thank you for your suggestions. This is when help and support to the families of our employees is most important. I'm very happy to tell you Mr. Chopra in our own small way, we have now started the provision of providing oxygen concentrators to [Technical Difficulty] hospitals, we suffered. We suffered because we were unable to find hospital oxygen and ICUs for people. And not because we don't have the relationship, but it is that the whole country was helpless at this time. And I think it is very, very sad to see what has happened. But we have done both in terms of tying up with a global company for helping us with infrastructure. Also for oxygen concentrators, we have tied up with Apollo Hospital to provide beds for our people in the case of an emergency. So you can hear Mr. Chopra that as the Head of the Nestlé family, I'm trying to do my very best under the circumstances to see that we are able to support our people because you're absolutely right, [Foreign Language]. All the -- we can have all the wealth in the world, but if you don't have a life, there is no point in doing this to any extent. I thank you for your feedback on the sponsorship. I will definitely take this forward with [Technical Difficulty] how best we can involve ourselves so that we are able to get a more -- rather than depending on it being just an involvement for the company. I really believe that we will enhance. I think the management of the company is committed. If that continues, I will not say that we have achieved excellence. We are on that journey, and I have to be humble enough to understand that this is a process of continuous improvement. Where we were in 2015 and where we are in 2021 is very, very, is very different. Now I know that the expectations are there from all of you, on [indiscernible] me and my team can only do a good performance. And beyond a good performance, how it is perceived and how it is seen is not under our control. So I cannot promise you a rose garden when there is no rose garden. It is still a difficult context. But all I can assure you, Mr. Chopra, is that the heart, the mind and the head of the company is very much towards trying to do our best and to be resilient because when you are resilient, you don't so [Technical Difficulty] and I want to have an organization where our hands are steady, where our hearts are strong and where we are compassionate. And I believe that, that's really the message that I have received from an elder shareholder like you. I thank you for your blessings. I thank you for your good wishes, and I hope and pray that [Technical Difficulty] at this time. We don't know how much loss this pandemic will take. People are talking about a third wave as well. So you and I can only pray and keep ourselves safe and hope that nothing happens to the families that are dependent on us on and that we are part of. Thank you very much, Mr. Chopra. Please take care and remain safe. Thank you.

Our next speaker member who had preregistered Mr. Muralidhar Talreja from Delhi having client ID# 10578802 has not connected. Hence, we would move to our next speaker member, Mr. K. Raja Venkata Subaramaniam from Chennai, having client ID# 1301240005401893 to speak.

Good afternoon, Chairman and the Board of Directors. My first appreciation is for the team, which has given the product -- the new product, Nescafe Sunrise Decoction. This is an excellent product. The product is -- the aroma is so good that it is even better than a filter coffee. Being a South Indian, I'm narrating about this. Just any launch plan of Nestomalt because again, I have grown up on Nestomalt. So is there any launch plan of Nestomalt? That's my second question. The third one is how do we ensure that inputs received in our manufacturing locations are free from COVID-related viral infection? I'm sure we have put the checks in the place. But how do we ensure that these inputs -- because it is coming from various locations, how do we ensure that it is free from infection before it is taken up for processing? Are we doing some quarantining of these inputs or something like that?

Thank you, very nice to see you and very, very happy to have your questions. I hope you and your family are safe. I think I will take on your question on Nestomalt, but I would like to also take your compliments for Nescafe Sunrise Decoction. I will pass it on to the product team. They will be very, very enthused by your comment and coming from a deserving South Indian filter coffee drinker, I think it's the ultimate kudos that we can get to have a product that is comparable. I would like to request -- because you must hear it from the most competent authority within the company, will request my colleague, Matthias Lohner to kindly answer your query, which is also a concern on inputs that are being received from outside, how do we ensure that these do not have any infection in them. So over to you, Matthias, if you can kindly very quickly answer this question, and then I will take the question one.

Yes. Thank you very much, Suresh, and thank you very much for the question, Mr. Subaramaniam. Indeed, these are unprecedented times, and we have taken all the preventive steps in all our manufacturing sites to ensure not only the safety of our employees and their families, but of course, also of the products that we manufacture there. The safety and the health of our people is paramount for us. And right now, the entire focus of the organization is on to handle the situation in a way to minimize the exposure, to minimize the casualties and of course, to ensure the well-being of our employees and their families. Broadly, we have taken preventive steps in the following categories. We do temperature screening in all units, all people that enter our employees, the contractors and as well the very, very few visitors that we still do allow to enter, they undergo temperature screening so that we do find all the symptomatic cases. We ensure social distancing. All office workstations have been revalidated and have a distance of around 2 meters to ensure that we have no contamination or contraction from one to the other. In addition, special provisions have been made in canteen and social blocks to respect the new norms, and respiratory hygiene. All staff has been provided with appropriate PPEs such as masks and adequate provisions of sanitizers as well as hand washing provisions. This infection and sanitation is also important that infection and sanitation of the entire premises before start of work and thereafter at regular intervals takes place with the appropriate cleaning materials and technologies. Last but not least, also training and awareness. Extensive training has been carried out for all personnel to raise the awareness levels to ensure that practices are implemented in all earnest. The suitable HR policies, provision of special leave for quarantine personnel where it is required in interest of their safety and that of their fellow colleagues. This is a pace that is over and above the regular leave allowance of the employees. We are convinced that with the above, we have a very, very comprehensive plan that protects our people and ensures also the safety and the quality of all the products that you manufacture day in and day out. I hope I have answered your question, Mr. Subaramaniam.

Thank you, Matthias. I will briefly take the question on Nestomalt. As you know, Raja, the company, we are global in the malted food drinks category. It is something that you want to opt. At the moment, we have got Milo in the market. But constantly, we keep evaluating the space area -- in the children's nutrition area. We have brands like Nangrow and Lactogrow, and Ceregrow that are also participating in this space. And also now we have got Milo. We will look at this space attentively and since the company has got enormous strengths in terms of product and nutrition and R&D capabilities, including an R&D facility in India, this is an area that we will be exercising our minds. And hopefully, sooner than later, you will see initiatives coming. So thank you. Thank you, Raja, for your questions, and please keep safe and [Technical Difficulty] in Chennai. Thank you.

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. K. Sadanand Shastri from Bengaluru, having Client ID# 11702201 to speak. Over to you, Mr. Shastri.

Okay. Good morning, sir. Because I'm waiting from 10:00, that's why I'm saying, sir, good morning. I'm Sadanand Shastri from Bangalore. First of all, this virtual meeting does not serve any purpose sir. It is spoiling the cream of the physical meeting, that is AGM. I'm minimizing my comments and views. There is no lengthy appreciation or depreciation. I will stick to this one as per our auditor report, your report only. Sir, according to Page 7, your ambition to start reusable recycling packaging. Of course, it is the need of the hour to minimize garbage and polluted atmosphere. Wrappers and covers packaging materials are seen everywhere on the streets and roads, try to achieve soluble in soil and dissolvable in water that materials. And now the Page #19, except 2015, sales are increased constantly but growth of operating profit has no corresponding increase. Why? During 2017, '18, there is a growth of 3%, but in 2020, hardly 0.06%. Gross profit drastically reduced compared to 2018. What are the factors I want to know. Page #22. You have said that you are going to invest INR 26 billion for new project to augment the capacity to new height, whether it is expansion of existing project or a new project. I'm very much interested in this Sanand Project because it resembles my name, Sadanand. Sir, actually, milk production in the country is increasing. There is a problem to know how to use the over production. Why can't company can take this as a priority and increase the milk products, the manufacture in the milk products, variety products also. Page #27. You have said company's priority, quality and safety. Why can't you add hygienic also. Page #43, your balance sheet. Other equity is showing a drastic reduction of INR 16,000 million. What is the difference? You have not sent me the previous report to know it. And also your AGM you are conducting at Delhi, we are not -- you are not in a position to attend direct. So which will not reach us also. Sir, company's plant and machinery reduced by INR 15,000 million, but the status quo is maintained in depreciation expenses that to similar amount to the last year, that is INR 3,703 million. Why it is so? Sir, the company is maintaining a heavy cash balance. That is cash equivalents also. This time, INR 5,000 million more even. Why and what is the reason for your investment in bank deposits that amount for a cheaper rate of interest? Why can't you deploy this fund for -- as commercial? Page #61. Age-wise classification has not been given in case of trade receivables. Many funds that is many receivables may go doubtful and bad also. Provision has not been made so far. So how you will compile and consider in the next course of your accounting purpose. Sir, one more request from me. Please give due priority to shareholders from South India also. And please send me that a copy of the physical annual report for my reference. Thank you very much, sir. See you in the next physical meeting at your Delhi. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Sadanand Shastri. Thank you very much for your questions. What I will do is I will be requesting my colleague, Mr. David McDaniel to take the questions on other equity, on the plant and machinery and the depreciation charges on the cash balance and on the investment strategy of the company and also [Technical Difficulty] together on whether there is a [indiscernible] of a risky nature in this. He would take on these 4 areas, and then I will answer your other question on quality [indiscernible] on the -- so over to you, David.

Okay. Thank you very much. So taking them in perhaps in reverse order, the trade receivables balance is increased in line with the company's business and the evolution of the customers between certain channels. So we have slightly different trading terms sometimes depending on where we sell our products. There is a small credit risk provision there. We have reviewed it very carefully. We have no overdues in our general trade business whatsoever. It's a cash business, and we're very comfortable that we are collecting very efficiently and on time. And again, this is regularly reviewed. If I take the cash balance, cash balances are function of the profit of the company and how much we are spending on inventories and on the capital expenditure, for example, i.e., nonprofit and loss items or not immediately profit and loss items and also how much we are disbursing as dividends and the timing of those disbursements. So we have a lower average liquidity in 2020 than in 2019, approximately INR 7 billion lower, but the timing of that moves during the year. Also, we've seen a very large drop in the yields that are coming from different financial instruments. So we have an average yield of 6% in 2019, and I believe 4.7% in 2020. So these 2 factors, lower average liquidity and lower yields are dropping our financial income. That wasn't exactly your question. Your question was about the cash balances. Cash balance will arise depending on the timing of those other expenditures that I mentioned earlier. And where we put that cash is a subject of continuous review by our treasury team. And of course, our strategy is approved by the Board as well from time to time. If I can take the fixed assets and depreciation, our fixed assets are very well utilized now, as Mr. Narayanan has said, and that's the cause or the happy reason why we're now embarking on a new capital investment program to expand our production capacity because those assets are well utilized, well, they are rather old in some cases, and they are fairly well depreciated. And the depreciation is -- some of those assets are dropping off depreciation lives right now, so depreciation is dropping to some extent as those assets are being fully depreciated. But we have in 2020, seen an increase of capital expenditure quite significantly over 2021. And so those fixed asset balances will be coming up again. I hope I have answered your question. And what was the fourth area again, Suresh?

Other equity.

Other equity. Where is that in the annual report? Sorry, I'm looking for that. Let me -- can I come back to you on other equity? I would like to write to you in more detail afterwards, if that's possible, please. I don't have an answer with me to hand.

Okay. So I think we can respond to Mr. Shastri on a query on other equity. As far as the other queries are concerned, Mr. Shastri, as far as capital investment is concerned, we have announced [indiscernible] 3 to 4 years. This is going primarily into one major greenfield site, which is Sanand, which is going to be augmenting our capacity for noodles. And also, it is going behind coffee to a certain extent, chocolates and confectionery and also nutrition. All of these are in the stage of augmentation of capacities. That's because capacity utilizations that [Technical Difficulty] greenfield site. And there are 2 or 3 other brownfield sites in some sense that are being the beneficiaries of this capital investment. Your query on safety and why we don't include the word hygiene. At Nestlé [indiscernible] hygiene is part of both quality and safety. If a food company of our size and scale is not hygienic in its operations, there is no way in which we can ensure quality. And that's why to an earlier shareholders' response, I said we manufacture a lot of this because of the concern for quality is an essential element of it, both process, infrastructure and hygiene. And therefore, we have chosen highlight hygiene separately because hygiene is part of both quality and safety, [Technical Difficulty] brands have the kind of reputation because whatever you eat or drink of us is fundamentally a brand that is both of the highest quality and also the highest hygiene. On milk products, I think you have got a very good suggestion. We are trying to expand the nutrition products, health sector involve milk and also ready-to-drink products. So these are the 3 areas where we are expanding. Again, during the pandemic, we have had mixed results. It has not been that aggressive or active because the focus has been to really ensure that the core of the company, the core of the business activities happen. But this is an area that we will be working on aggressively for the future. I thank you, Mr. Shastri, for your suggestions. On sustainability, I think reusability, recyclability and also the journey of sustainability is a continuous journey for us. We mandate in '25 [Technical Difficulty] either fully recyclable, reusable and I think that is the journey we are on. We have already achieved for 3 of our major brands, plastic neutrality in 2020, and we will be aggressively [Technical Difficulty] strategy just for an end in itself, but as you very rightly said, because of the state of hygiene and pollution in our cities, whatever we can do and we are conducting different programs, especially in the hill stations of the country to ensure that we bring about in cooperation and in conjunction with the local authorities and with the garbage collectors a greater awareness and a greater process as far as recycling collection and disposal is concerned. As you rightly said, this is a huge area that is even more important sometimes than just replacement of plastics. So this is a journey that we'll be on. [Technical Difficulty] equity would be answered through a correspondence with Mr. David McDaniel will have with you to clarify your questions fully. Thank you very much.

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Jasmeet Singh from Delhi having client ID# 11054740 to speak.

Chairman, CFO, Head-Stakeholder Committee, Head-CSR Committee and my co-shareholders. Good afternoon to everyone. I am currently representing and speaking on behalf of other shareholders, Manmohan, Preetham, Simran, Raghu as we share the common sentiments and support the management for the resolutions. I may take a couple of minutes more than the suggested time by the Chairman to read out our common note. Reading the annual report, I felt proud of what our company has achieved even while sailing through the pandemic. As an investor, I'm happy to see my investment growing. Also, I'm satisfied to see my company's contribution to various sections of the society in these harsh and hard times, and this deserves applauds. Happy to listen and to know the growth triggers on which the company is working, which will eventually grow our investments. I confirm that I don't have any questions on the audited balance sheet, though I have some points to make for the company to note and adopt. First point, while we have grown in terms of revenue, thanks to the linear increase in prices, but the falling curve line for volume and mix growth is a cause of concern. Second point, our company did a lot of community services during the year under review. And I belong to the faith, which is known for its passion to feed anyone who is hungry. While reading out the annual report, I got to know that our company has spent so much through various NGOs to feed the poor, and I admit here that I failed to get an access to the CSR committee so as to get a contribution even a smaller one as we thought to start Maggi Ka Langar. Now in this open forum, I being the volunteer of my Gurgoan, NGO, I seek your contribution to start this Maggi Ka Langar for the poor in our region. For this, I request CSR head, Madam, Swati Piramal to assign her teammate to connect me to take this forward and other opportunities for upliftment of the society. Third point, just in line of our -- just in line of following COVID safety measures, I would like to recommend the company to propose a couple of million face masks with Nestlé or Maggi branding and then include or bundle 1 mask each into the family pack of 8 and 10 Maggi's pack, those which are being sold. Imagine the outcome that not only we will help contribute our bit towards the people safety, but at the same time, we will get 1 million children or adults in India becoming our brand ambassadors once they step out of their homes wearing Nestlé branded masks. [Foreign Language] Fourth point. On corporate governance, there is a further scope of improvement as conducting AGM year after year, shareholders ask several questions, which are replied by you happily. Now capturing the question and answers and reporting with the action taken and progress achieved in the annual report will reflect a better corporate governance. So I recommend that the question and answers of last 3 AGMs should be mentioned in the annual reports, along with the name of the shareholders who ask. In fact, for innovative questions that add value to the company, a gift hamper should be given to such shareholders. Fifth point, on share split, every year, shareholders make their requests. While I'm not in favor of any bonus split. However, a face value split must be done from existing INR 10 to INR 1 to bring it at par with other FMC measures in our India, such as Hindustan Unilever, Britannia, Colgate-Palmolive, Dabur, et cetera. All of these companies have INR 1 face value shares. By the way, what is the hitch in the mind of the management of not considering to split the face value of our share, a demand for which is made year after year in the AGMs by the shareholders and more so as this will not have any impact on our balance sheet. Lastly, I'm looking at far more cordial relationship between the company stakeholder team headed by Madam, Rama Bijapurkar and shareholders. While the annual report may report anything, but fact of the matter is that I went through the agony and pain of not being able to get a small internship for my daughter despite making a request to the secretarial team. It was projected to me so difficult that as if I have made a request for getting an IAS seat. Even the key person number from HR were not shared, what to talk about the transparency. Finally, I humbly request that the way you take care of the society, which includes all strata of people similarly bring the smaller shareholders, especially those who have lost their jobs or their business are impacted due to COVID and urgently need economic help, bring them within the scope of your CSR and help them in these unusual times so that they don't feel left out or resort to selling their golden eggs that is their holding of Nestlé shares. While offering them ration from the company, maybe is the simplest thing for you, instead announce to offer 10 or 20 scholarships pan-India of INR 25,000 each to the meritorious children of those very small shareholders holding not more than 2 or 3 shares, which will be a far effective way to take care of the Nestlé family. Now I pray the Chairman and the management to take note of these points and adopt them. While we miss Rajendra Ji today and me more so as last year, my request to register as a speaker shareholder would not be entertained. And Rajendra Ji told me that this year, I will get a chance to speak and he will listen to my note. I miss you, Rajendra Ji. May your soul rest in peace. Now I want to recommend the management to give a bigger role to Prasad's deputy, who is doing fairly well. Thank you, Nestlé, for allowing me to speak without any prejudice. I appreciate your patience to continue to listen to the shareholders and reply them. We'll appreciate your inputs on my shared notes as well. Thank you once again and Jai Hind.

Thank you. Thank you, Jasmeet Ji. Thank you very much for your very, very positive, very constructive and very, very transparent communication. I sincerely appreciate all that you have said. Let me quickly answer some of the questions and some more probably we'll engage in a more detailed [Technical Difficulty] volume and mix growth, I think the fact of the matter is that the track record of the company has been very, very steady until 2020. You will notice that even in 2020, the 8.5% re-growth had a 4.5% to 5% volume growth behind it. Yes, we will -- we are in the direction of accelerating it. But I think we have also been hit in 2020 by a couple of businesses, especially our out-of-home business that has taken impact as far as the volumes are concerned. Hope whenever the pandemic relents, we will be able to come back strongly. Your second question, I'm a great admirer Jasmeet, of the role that Sikhs have played in reaching out to society in the most trouble moments. There is no question about it. You should all be extremely proud of what you have done. I know that my colleague on the Board, Dr [indiscernible] approve of it. But I'll be happy if you can connect through Mr [indiscernible], he will be happy to put you in touch with the [Technical Difficulty] I will be happy to work with you on the concept of Maggi Ka Langar and see how we can make this happen. I think we are reaching out to numerous NGOs and to numerous people who can help in feeding programs. And I think we will be very happy to support a cause that a person like you represents because it can be -- it is only in the interest of society that Maggi should be involved in it. I think you've got a very good idea there. I don't know the technical feasibility of it. We'll still have to examine it of putting in face masks with our family packs. Is that a possibility with the current packaging that we do. But certainly, as an idea to promote the usage of face masks, especially since our brands are very popular, and we do have a certain credibility as a company. It's a very good idea. We will have this examined and to see how we can implement it in some of our brands. You've got a very good suggestion there on corporate governance, which is really to have a compendium of the key questions that have been asked in couple of shareholder meetings have been answered and who have been the shareholders asking it. I'm requesting my colleague, Mr. Murli, to examine it and to see how this can be put within the framework of the law as an addition that we can have to making our governance, which we take a great deal of pride in even more stronger and even more resolute. On your suggestion on the share being taken on board, I think it is something that we would need to debate and once again establish the reason and whether it makes sense at this time. But your sentiment on the overall industry and the industry norms are taken. And I think we will think through this and see how best we can respond on this. I think you have made some very good points on trying to see how we can reach out to smaller shareholders. At the moment, Mr. Jasmeet, the focus that the company had was to reach out to our employees and to reach out to our partners and to our suppliers and stakeholders because there is a lot of work that needs to be done in that area itself. We are engaged with number of our suppliers in order to get them back on their feet to help them with a lot of initiatives on training, on managing the business, running the business during COVID times. And we strongly believe that we have important dealing with other segments of the society. So we will take a look at it. I think there is a certain -- we must be able to cut our quote depending on the size of the clock. So we don't want to get into areas where we will involve ourselves and not be able to make an impact. and therefore, protecting the employees, the stakeholders, protecting the suppliers, protecting the farmers. As you might be aware, Jasmeet, in Punjab, we are involved with 100,000 farmers whom we have been dealing with for the last 60 years. My first priority as a company is to protect this 100,000 farmers. There's no way I can allow them to go with their milk being thrown and if Nestlé doesn't pick it up. So these are the areas that we are focusing on. But with all humility, I accept your suggestion, and we will see how best we can implement it. Once again, Jasmeet, I thank you for your very constructive, very positive comments. I see not only you, yourself, but orchestrating the other shareholders for all [Technical Difficulty] of the company. I see a lot of a lot of positivity, a lot of good suggestions that you have given, and we will try and work on them, and [Technical Difficulty] see how we can in due course. Thank you once again, Jasmeet. Please keep safe, and I do hope that your family and your loved ones are also safe. Thank you.

Thank you. I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Bijnan Singh Srimal from Kolkata having client ID# 1304140000779144 to speak.

Thank you, very much. Mr. Chairperson, member of the Board, and my fellow shareholders. I am Bijnan Singh Srimal from Kolkata. I am a chartered accountant by profession. I am extremely grateful to you, sir, for providing me this opportunity to share my views and thoughts at this stage here. I am the shareholder of your company since the days of IPO, when it came as a [Technical Difficulty] if I'm not wrong. So having said that I'm also extremely appreciate your views and thoughts, and the way you are conducting meeting is a most wonderful thing. And, which is a marathon meeting for the last 3 hours, and [Technical Difficulty] answer all the questions of the shareholder. It is a very rarity. I joined many, many meetings in Kolkata, but I hardly find this sort of wonderful response from the Chairman irrespective of the time and plenty of things. Having said so, I have few wonderful suggestions sent for your consideration. [Technical Difficulty] I believe that if you can hold the meeting in the mid-afternoon it will be better. It is very difficult for a person who is working or involved in stock exchange to attend 10:00 and continue for 3, 4 hours. #2, having your accounts for the month of December ending, we could hold the meeting still earlier because now [Technical Difficulty] balance sheet part, I would like say if you could put the figure in crores that will be more friendly for the Indian shareholders instead of giving the figures in million. So friends, I would like to know how many shareholders have joined these meetings regularly. And the cost of virtual meeting is much less than what it used to be in the physical meeting. Hence, my request would be that you should continue this virtual meeting, which will be beneficial for the shareholder all over India and [Technical Difficulty]. And if you can also use our discount coupon at this time, so that it will augment yourself and also healthy shareholder. I also heard about your CSR activities, I'm really [indiscernible] the way you are conducting these CSR activities. And I would just want to add something that I have -- that if you can also come to the rescue of the shareholders in this present situation. In you will be happy to learn that I have got this all from a company, top Bombay company, Mahindra & Mahindra just 2 days back asking me how am I, and whether they could be of any help to me. I was really wondering the way the things have moved. It is a questionable [Technical Difficulty] as well as this is a great help to the shareholders at this time of pandemic. As we are aware even the help from the friends and relative is [Technical Difficulty] at this moment. [Technical Difficulty]. This allowed dividend, its good that you have parted way with 200% -- INR 200 by way of dividend, which is worth on this previous year. But, I believe you could distribute more dividend in the current year and also by way of your interim dividend. I was suggesting these interim dividend [Technical Difficulty] Companies and I'm very happy to report that there is a raise of interim dividend this year. [Technical Difficulty] 20 years to declare interim dividends fully, but has done this year. So, please give interim dividend, which is also be helpful for a cash flow of the shareholders. As you are aware many of these shareholders have retired and they solely depend from the dividend as well.

Sir, I have many questions, but I don't like to burden you at this juncture for a management meeting which you have conducted [indiscernible] writing for my other queries, which will be helpful for both the parties. I have few questions about the balance sheet. Could you kindly tell me what is the CapEx plan for the current year? And how do you view that, will it be for a brownfield expansion or a greenfield expansion. And what would be the increase in profitability as well as the sales of product due to your large CapEx, which has been about INR 4,000-odd million [indiscernible] balance sheet of our current year. And lastly, I would like to say that if you give us some idea of the situation of the '21 financial year due to this pandemic situation. I still remember, sir, when you took over as MD and Chairman a few years back, you gave such a confident speech. At that time, the company was suffering from some Maggi problem. And that gives me idea that you are a man who can achieve highest goal from crisis. And I hope that this crisis will also give you that channel [indiscernible] right for the company. With this, I'd like to conclude and thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. I pray to God for your well-being and well-being of the company and well-being of the total population of the universe. Thank you very much. Namaskar.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Srimal. It's always a pleasure to interact with you. We had the privilege last year also virtually. And there's no greater blessing in the Indian culture than to receive it from elders and from seniors. So I'm deeply grateful for your good wishes and deeply grateful for all the confidence and the very kind words that you have mentioned about the company. I think it is this kind of decent, respectful and wise relationship that is a blessing for me, and I'm truly grateful to you, Mr. Srimal, for your very kind words. I'll quickly respond to some of your queries. I think on the timing of the meeting and on having it a bit earlier, I take your suggestions on Board. We will incorporate it and to see how best we can. I take your point on the involvement on a working day with the stock market and therefore, the need to take out time for attending an AGM. I promise that we'll come back to you in due course on how best we are able to adjust to your request. Putting the figures in crores, I think crores is a very unique Indian denomination. But I guess if it is permissible as per the laws of the land, I think it's something that we can certainly look at. How many shareholders have joined virtually? At the end of my answer, I will request Inba from Chorus to give you a number as to how many people have joined. On the CSR initiatives, I thank you, Mr. Srimal, for your compliments. I think we are trying to, as I mentioned to an earlier shareholder, cut according to the size of the cost and therefore, to involve the immediate stakeholders, our employees, our partners, our distributors, our farmers as the first port of call to try and help as best as we can. And then, of course, to expand it, I would really request your indulgence and your patience that as we go through this pandemic, we will try and incorporate some of the suggestions that you have very rightly put, because the pain is enormous, the suffering is enormous. Whatever we can do to help even one human being in this situation is, I think, a worthy cause. And that statement you have made very well, and it will remain with me, and we will try and see how we can expand our scope of involvement as well. As far as CapEx is concerned, Mr. Srimal, we have announced INR 26 billion of CapEx, INR 2,600 crores, over the next 3 to 4 years. Part of this is going towards a greenfield site, which is the site in Sanand, where we will be producing Maggi noodles. Also, it will go behind the Sanand facilities, chocolates and confectionery facilities, and also in our Milks and Nutrition business as well. All this is being done, Mr. Srimal, because we have now reached the headroom of capacity utilization [indiscernible] very little. We are running at over 90% [indiscernible], which is what is necessitating this CapEx. So I can only promise you that we will do it judiciously. You have noticed from our capital also that we are sitting at a figure of [indiscernible] 100%. Obviously, this CapEx and the consequences thereof [indiscernible] very healthy business. The pandemic is clearly taking a toll in terms of operational issues. And I think it is a cause for concern. Lockdowns and other infirmities of the pandemic [indiscernible] challenge. Inflation in commodities is posing a challenge. And while the company is strong enough to be able to combat it, [indiscernible] going to be volatile times as we move forward, going to be very smooth times. There is an overall health impact. There is a societal impact. There is an economic impact, which you are very well aware of Mr. Srimal. So really, we are trying to navigate the ship as best as we can. And I thank you sincerely for your good wishes. My prayers and my good wishes to you [indiscernible] in Kolkata and also to wish you good health and happiness in the days to come. Thank you very much, Mr. Srimal.

So to answer the question on the participation in the virtual AGM, we have about 220 participants connected.

Thank you, Inba.

I would now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Toni Bhatia from Faridabad, having Client ID number 10914464, to speak.

[Foreign Language] Respected Chairman, Board of Directors and my shareholders friends, [Foreign Language]. Second thing, [Foreign Language]. He was in the company since 1993 for shareholders, investors [indiscernible]. May god bless him. I'm coming to the point sir. [Foreign Language] they gave us such excellent results. There is all round progress in the company. Our sales were INR 132,901.6 billion; profit after tax, INR 20,824.3 million; EPS INR 216; dividend, INR 200; INR 135 interim and INR 65 yet to be given, proposed INR 200; and profit from operations INR 28,775.4 million. [Foreign Language]. And of course, highest ever export of Maggi noodles to USA, Canada, European Union, Australia and New Zealand despite disruption in supply chain as a result of COVID-19. [Foreign Language]. Sir, in this regard I will say [Foreign Language] our quality is second to none [Foreign Language]. Yes, during the year 2020, [Foreign Language] INR 35.3 billion exchequer income [Foreign Language] such a good point, I appreciate it. Our company stood by nearly 1 lakh dairy farmers in these difficult times and bought every drop of milk which was offered by them. [Foreign Language]. Company also continues to work closely with 3500 coffee farmers and also 1,200 [indiscernible]. Our company also continues to explore new market contribution to e-commerce to domestic players [indiscernible] dearly. [Foreign Language]. Yes. You are going to invest further INR 2,300 million [Foreign Language]. You're going on the right track, Mr. Chairman. Company is going on the right track. [Foreign Language]. You are going on the right track. [Foreign Language] people will get employment. [Foreign Language]. You have shown you're such a good man and I appreciate it, Mr. Chairman. [Foreign Language]. One more thing, [Foreign Language], split up of share [Foreign Language]. MRF Tyres and some other companies, they never go by split up of shares. [Foreign Language] but I am not in favor of split up of shares. [Foreign Language] One thing, Chairman sir, our share price, I think it touched INR 18,500, if I am not wrong, best [indiscernible]. Now it's INR 15,500. [Foreign Language] due to this downturn in market [Foreign Language]. With these words, once again I support [Foreign Language]. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bhatia. [Foreign Language]. Mr. Bhatia, please remain safe. I pray and hope that you and your family are safe, that your loved ones are safe. God bless you all, and thank you very much for your questions, and thank you very much for your very comments on the company today. Thank you.

So there are some last minute pre-registered speaker members. With your permission, I would like to take their questions now. Our speaker member, Mr. Pramod Kumar Jain, Client ID number 10082531, had preregistered, however, has not connected. So we will move to our next speaker member, that is Ms. Urmila Jain, Client ID 10401292, to please proceed with your question.

Chairman sir, [Foreign Language].

[Foreign Language].

Thank you. I now invite our speaker member, Mr. Praful Chavda, Client ID number 1201350000107177.

[Foreign Language].

[Foreign Language]. Yes, Inba, next speaker please.

Sir, all speakers have spoken. One of the members, Ms. Neelam from Delhi, who had pre-registered as a speaker confirmed that she would not be able to participate in the meeting. Over to you, sir.

Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you to all the speakers and to everyone participating for your very kind words, for your valuable questions, for your valuable suggestions. I hope that I have responded as comprehensively as possible to the various suggestions and the various queries that we have had. Wherever it is not fully adequate, you are free to, as a shareholder of the company, get in touch with the secretarial department, and I will be happy, along with my colleagues, to provide more full answers that you might need at a particular stage. I will now take up the questions sent in advance by mail. I would like to thank the esteemed members who have sent their questions in advance to the designated investors email of the company or through company [indiscernible]. I will now respond to those questions. I have received a set of questions from Mr. Nitin Nerlekar, Client ID number 11351982, which I will now take up. The question is, despite all the volume discussion, it appears that only the prepared dishes category has reported positive growth, while rest of all the categories have remained muted as the COVID-19 impacted volumes in quarter 2 of 2020 dragging the overall volumes for the year. This appears to be a bit of an aberration when compared with other food companies since pantry stocking was high in early part of 2020. Your comments, please. I think overall, on a category-wise basis, if you look at the 5-year track record, 2015 to 2020, almost in all categories, we have seen a secular growth in volumes. In 2020, however, some categories have been adversely affected in overall terms, I would say, because of the impact of COVID on the out-of-home business and indeed on some of the other businesses where the levels of growth have therefore been relatively muted. Overall, however, you will see that the year has closed with a volume of close to 5%, which is not a small number in terms of the growth performance. Of course, prepared dishes, Maggi, which is 30% of the portfolio, has registered a very, very strong growth. I want to say that last year, in 2020, we were probably the only large consumer goods company that recorded a double-digit during the first quarter of the year. We were one of the very few. In fact, I would reckon probably the only one. In the June quarter, sales was affected. We have, Mr. Nerlekar, as you would understand, a fairly large portfolio, a fairly complex portfolio, where there are numerous suppliers involved. And therefore, it took us a bit of time during the pandemic for all the suppliers, for all the manufacturers to come together to be able to produce the full portfolio of the company. That clearly led to an impact. We had sales volume [indiscernible] by about 11.8% in the second quarter. And of course, this was also [indiscernible] taken into impact the adversity that we faced in the out-of-home channel. However, since quarter 2, we came back to double-digit growth. Quarter 3 was double-digit growth, quarter 4 was double-digit growth, and quarter 1 of this year was also double-digit growth, all of which on the basis of fairly strong volume growth. So therefore, I would think that some of the debility that we faced during the second quarter of last year, which admittedly was a quarter that gave us an overall growth of 2.6%, I believe, on domestic sales, has bounced back. And I do hope that we are able to continue the journey forward. The second question is regarding Nestlé has been in a pole position in the infant nutrition business, and it appears price hikes are actually struggling to generate incremental volumes. In fact, [indiscernible] further, despite leadership position, Nestlé is lagging in innovation over here and has not been aggressive enough in new launches across the population mix like nutrition for the elderly population and so on. [ Albeit ] in India, though late to join the bandwagon, has been doing a stupendous job, still feel Nestlé has a great platform in Nutrition business to capitalize upon. I think, Mr. Nerlekar, I completely agree with your question on the strength of Nestlé in Nutrition. By far, and I say this with all the confidence that I can muster, we have the widest, the most significant potential portfolio in Nutrition products. We look at it from the point of purely Milk and Nutrition. But let's not forget that brands like Milo, brands like Everyday Dairy Whitener, Nescafe ready-to-drink, the Nestlé Health Science range of resource products are all nutritious products as well. And yes, indeed, the process of strengthening this in terms of innovation is a continuous process. There are some good examples that I would like to bring to your attention. S-26 Gold, which is a premium range of infant formulas, has been launched in 2020; Pre Lactogen for babies born prematurely; Cerelac, which is a baby food; Raagi, which is also in smaller packs. Also, we have smaller packs of infant formula. And [indiscernible] Lactogrow, which is a superior product designed for [indiscernible] that is nutritionally important, is nutritionally superior. It has whey protein instead of soya protein, which [indiscernible]. We have a fairly strong position. I don't think you see it in the public space, and therefore, you probably underestimate the Nutrition part of the company, because across hospitals, across hospitals, one of the core products that is being consumed for postoperative care or indeed during these difficult circumstances are products like Peptamen and Nestlé Resource, which are protein dense or nutrition dense and which are an essential part of the repertoire as far as doctors and surgeons are concerned. We've also launched and, unfortunately, the pandemic has been a bit of a dampener, Optifast, which is a global leading science-based product for adults who want to manage their weight in consultation with medical professionals. Optifast is today available in 40 cities across the country. So while I do not wish to comment on what competitors do, I think competitors always give us an inspiration for doing better. I just want to assure you of an unwavering focus that the company has on Nutrition. Our core strength, our heritage has been on Nutrition, and you will see this continuing into the next period as well. I hope with this, I've answered your question on the Nutrition portfolio and the plans for the company. Next question. Can you please highlight on the proposed plans to revive the Nutrition business, which has always remained the cash cow for the company? I think I've answered this in the earlier question that you've had. We believe the role of the company, the timing and the responsiveness to our brand is extremely strong. Whether it is new innovations or whether it is the current Milk and Nutrition portfolio of the company or indeed some of the new launches that we are proposing in the adult nutrition area will strengthen our strength amongst consumers and the medical profession. So these are areas which remain under continuous focus for the company and will be under continuous scrutiny as far as our own results are concerned. Another question that has been sent by Mr. Nerlekar is, wanted to understand that the in vitro fertility IVF cycles and planned pregnancies are and have got delayed and declined on account of COVID. Could you let us understand your view of the same and also whole impact on infant nutrition business, whole impact of this on the Nutrition business in the current year? Well, infant nutrition business, contrary to your belief, Mr. Nerlekar, has not been struggling. It has grown. Last year, 46% of the portfolio grew at 8.5% despite the pandemic and despite COVID. It means that the brands continue to be strong. We continue to enjoy leadership positions both in formula and in baby food. And it is the situation as far as the company is concerned. There will always be temporary blips that would take place, which is something that we are watching out for. I believe that while we do not have any hard published evidence on the decline in birth rates, what we have, through our empirical evidence based on discussions with leading maternity hospitals, come by is that IVF cycles seem to have been postponed, but there is no material change that we will have to face and see whether it replicates any of what is happening in more advanced economies like the U.S. or Europe or China. Birth rates actually are secularly declining, you will watch that. The products in the infant nutrition business become relevant only when a [indiscernible] or chooses to feed. And I think that is a very, very clear fact as far as our portfolio is concerned. Your company believes in providing science-based products that meet the nutritional requirements in toddlers and those that the doctors can trust. This is the bedrock of the business, and this is really what we will be focusing upon during the course of the future of the company. The next question that you have is, also if you could briefly dwell on the proposed plans of new launches and in general, outline the current business environment. I think at the moment, the clear focus, Mr. Nerlekar is core. This is the time to ensure that the core of the company, the core 4, 5 categories that make for Nestlé India are protected. And I'm delighted that even in the quarter 1 of this year, which was the results we just announced, we have had a double-digit growth. Our growth has been secular. Our growth has been across Tier 2, Tier 3 towns. It has been, in fact, stronger than the results that we have obtained in some of the larger cities. And overall, I believe that the people, purpose, partnerships, performance and planet story that we have continues to be inspiring and continues to be something that we will work on for the future as well. The only area of concern, which I mentioned earlier to a shareholder, is the overall inflation and the commodity context. This continues to be worrying. But with the overall economic context, obviously, taking on a larger share of mind at the moment, we'll have to watch and see how this space evolves. The next question I have is from Mr. Dilip Tawre, Client ID number 12081600-13013500. His question is, in current market, Nestlé share is continuously falling. This needs management's immediate attention as follows. This is the share price, I presume. Is the downslide 1 quarter 2 result spread by rumors? And what is the management expectation or guidance for the same? If it is affected, then any downward guidelines issued in approximate percent? Look, the performance of the company has been secularly strong for the last 5 years. Let me give you a few numbers, because clearly you don't understand this. So overall top line has grown by about 10.3% CAGR, cumulative annual growth rate, 2015, 2016. The growth in operating profits has been about 16 points on a CAGR basis. The growth in profit after taxes has been close to 30%. The appreciation in the share price in the last 20 years has been 20.3% per annum, 2001 to 2020. The income [indiscernible] 5.6. The [ FX ] has grown by 13.5%. The cumulative increase in the share price in the last 20 years has been 3,000%. So Mr. Tawre, I don't think by any stretch of imagination, the performance or indeed the market performance of your company should [ deny ] any expectations that you have got. Secondly, we are going through a big situation. And obviously, the situation has its ups and downs. The market has its ups and downs. So I don't wish to comment on what the market does, because my job and the job of my team is to ensure that the corporate performance of the company continues to be strong. To be strong, we have declared results in the first quarter that gave a 10.2% growth on the top line and a 15% growth in the bottom line. And this is consistently being shown. We are one of the few companies with results declared so far where both the EBIT margins and the profit after tax margins have also improved over the quarter. So the fundamentals of the company remain strong. I would wish to assure you that I think all steps are being taken to ensure that we deliver the best that we can and keep our people and our partners safe under the circumstances. So these are the questions. I think there was another question [indiscernible] share or split policy. I believe that this is something that we have answered in the earlier shareholder questions that have come up. I think it is a suggestion that we consistently evaluate over a period of time, and we will come back with response when it is appropriate and when it is relevant. Now I go to the messages that are posted in the communication box and wish to thank the members who have posted the messages. Mr. Pramod Rai, may I request you to spell out the messages, if any, received on the communication box one by one.

Thank you, Chairman. Out of all questions, there are 2 questions posted by a member on the communication box, which are not answered so far. Question number one is from Mr. Udit Bokaria having Client ID number 1208160001272204. The first question from him is whether the company's products are covered under the recent announced PLI scheme by the government of India. The second question is, what is the opportunity size for the virtual course in the partnership with new age delivery start-ups?

Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Bokaria. I think in terms of PLI, I believe that very few of our categories, I think sauces and, to a certain extent, chocolates are covered under PLI. We are examining how we can leverage this fully. And we'll actualize on this in time. There is an internal team that involves our Finance Director as well, along with other members who are looking at PLI opportunity, whether it is something that we could utilize as a company and take our fortunes forward. With an important step that PLI is a very important step to secure not just the manufacturing footprint for the company. It is giving a fairly strong incentive plan. And I'm sure that there will be companies who would be looking at these opportunities. And depending on how it pans out, we'll be getting ready for making their investment as time goes along. Opportunity for delivery of those start-ups, I think this is an area that is consistently being worked upon by the company. We work not only with the major e-commerce players like Amazon and Flipkart, we also work with the smaller players and consistently are in touch with some of the new entrants to see how we can leverage [indiscernible] in the e-commerce space. So I thank you for both the questions.

Thank you. The next question is from Mr. K. Mohideen Gani having Client ID number 40407255. He wants to know of the upcoming launches and he writes that can we get back the Nestlé pickles that were available more than 10 years back. And can we also look into organic drinks. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mohideen Gani. I hope that you and your family are safe. Yes, I think in the last 5 years, Mr. Gani, the company has launched close to 80 new products, 8-0, 80 new products with a success rate of anywhere between 60% and 70%. Some of the brands are doing particularly well. Other brands need to be nurtured. Some brands have taken a bit of a backseat because of the COVID situation. Nevertheless, the intent and inspiration to become [indiscernible] journey will continue for a long time. As I speak to you, there are about 30 to 40 projects that are on the anvil across different categories. And I'm sure that some of these would be seeing the light of day during the course of 2021 and beyond. Innovation, renovation is a key part of the company's portfolio strategy. And indeed, this is where [indiscernible] the consumer comes. This is an area that you can be aligned to and you can watch out for the company's launches. Organic [indiscernible]. This is an area that is, again, one of the many exploratory projects that we have got. I will not be able to concretize it and tell you what the plans are. But I think the whole nutrition, plant-based space, the whole energy space, the whole milk space, the whole ready-to-eat snacking space are all spaces which are of active consideration of the company. And this is part of the innovation projects that we will be doing. So I hope I've answered your questions. I wish, Mr. Gani, you and your family, all safety at this time.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Rai, for posing the questions. We are trying to answer the questions to the best extent possible. If any of your question has not been answered earlier, please write to the designated investor e-mail of the company, [email protected], and we shall respond to you within a short period of time. I now take up the voting on the agenda items. Now for voting on the agenda items 1 to 4 as set out [indiscernible] earlier, members present at the AGM but who have not cast their votes by availing the remote e-voting facility can exercise their vote in proportion to their shareholding through electronic voting platform provided by NSDL, the icon of which is available on the screen. You will be redirected to the e-voting portal of NSDL. Mr. Abhinav Khosla, Partner M/s. SCV & Company, LLP, Chartered Accountants, will scrutinize the votes cast through remote e-voting and votes cast during the AGM on e-voting platform as provided by NSDL. Mr. Khosla will submit the report thereon to me as the Chairman in the prescribed manner not later than 2:00 p.m. tomorrow. The voting results on all the resolutions placed before the AGM would be declared not later than around 6:00 p.m. on 8th May 2021 and shall be immediately intimated to the stock exchange. The results, along with the report of the scrutinizer, shall be uploaded on the websites of the company and the NSDL and shall be available at the registered office of the company. I now wish to draw the attention of all the members participating in the AGM. The e-voting platform provided by NSDL would remain open for another 30 minutes. Thank you all for your participation and for your validation and comments, which I assure you will receive due consideration of the management. I thank you for your good wishes for the company. I wish you well and I wish you health and all happiness. The proceedings of the e-voting will close after all the members participating in the meeting have cast their vote through e-voting, which will lapse, as I mentioned, after 30 minutes. Thank you all very much for your participation today. Thank you for your suggestions. Thank you for your kind words. Thank you for your sympathy and your commiseration at the difficult situation that we in the company and the country are going through. I thank you for your condolence for Mr. Rajendra Agrawal and I would ensure that we would pass it on to the family appropriately. Thank you very much. Please keep safe. Please keep secure at this time with you and your families and the best of luck. [Voting]

Dear members, as advised by the scrutinizers, the time for the e-voting has elapsed and they are of the opinion that all members who are participating in the Annual General Meeting have been given adequate time and opportunity to vote at the AGM. And this concludes the voting process of AGM. I hand it back to the Chairman.

Thank you. Thank you, Inba. The eligible and willing members have been given adequate time and opportunity to cast their votes. I formally close the proceedings of the meeting. Once again, I take the opportunity to thank you all for your participation today, to wish you the best of health and safety, and wish you the very best of luck. Thank you very much.