Nestlé India Limited (500790) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Dear members of Nestle [Foreign Language] Good morning, and welcome to the 64th Annual General Meeting of Nestle India Limited through video conferencing or other audiovisual facility. [Operator Instructions] Please note, as per the requirements, the proceedings of the Annual General Meeting will be recorded and available on the company website. Without any delay, I hand it over to Mr. Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director of Nestle India Limited. Over to you, sir.

Thank you, Inba, and [Foreign Language] dear members. It is my privilege to welcome you to the 64th Annual General Meeting being conducted through video conferencing facility. This is my eighth AGM as the Chairman and Managing Director and the fourth virtual AGM of the company. To begin with, I do hope that all of you and your families are keeping well and safe. Though I missed the privilege and pleasure of meeting you in person, I believe that 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 and share their views. A lot of planning and effort has gone into holding the virtual AGM. We believe a virtual AGM provides convenience and ease of participation. All executive directors, the Company Secretary, company officials and I are participating from our office at Gurgaon, while all the independent directors are participating from their respective residents or offices. If there is any disturbance due to technical issues, I would seek your patience as sometimes these untoward glitches are unavoidable. Let me now have the pleasure to introduce illustrious Board members on the screen. Dr. Swati Piramal, Independent Non-Executive Director, Chairperson of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and member of the Risk Management and Sustainability Initiatives Committee. She is participating from Mumbai. Ms. Anjali Bansal, Independent Non-Executive Director, member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, Nomination and Remuneration Committee and Risk Management and Sustainability Initiatives Committee. She is participating from Mumbai, and this is her first Annual General Meeting of the company after her appointment in the last Annual General Meeting. Ms. Alpana Parida, Independent Non-Executive Director, member of Audit Committee and Stakeholders Relationship Committee. She is participating from Mumbai. This is her first Annual General Meeting of the company after her appointment during 2022 through postal ballot. 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 and Sustainability Initiatives Committee. He is participating from Secunderabad. Mr. Rajya Vardhan Kanoria, Independent Non-Executive Director, Chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and Stakeholders Relationship Committee and member of the Audit Committee. He is participating from Delhi Mr. Matthias Lohner, Executive Director, Technical and Permanent invite to the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. He is participating from Gurgaon. Ms. Svetlana Boldina, Executive Director, Finance and Control and CFO, member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, Stakeholders Committee and the Risk Management and Sustainability Initiatives Committee. She is participating from Nestle office at Gurugram. This is Svetlana's first AGM. She is a Russian national and holds an engineering degree from Moscow Telecommunication University and has a Masters in Business Administration, Accounting and Finance technology from the Russian Academy for Economics. She has worked across Nestle markets in Russia, East Europe and Indonesia with strong operational experience and an excellent track record of over 25 years with the Nestle Group. Before this role, she was Head of Finance and Control of Nestle Indonesia. She has contributed significantly towards effective business decisions as well as developing and shaping up a professional finance and information technology teams in her previous roles and has displayed strong functional capabilities, combined with leadership and drive to achieve business outcomes. The Board considers that her association would be of immense benefit to the company and has recommended her appointment as Whole-time Director designated as Executive Director, Finance and Control and CFO. Finally, Mr. Pramod Kumar Rai, Company Secretary and Compliance Officer. This is Pramod's first meeting as Company Secretary. He is a fellow member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and a law graduate from the University of Delhi with over 26 years of experience in varied fields such as legal, governance, compliance, Investor Relations, audit, insurance and has been associated with Nestle India for over 18 years. He is participating from Gurugram. 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 and authorized representatives of the statutory auditors, cost auditors and secretarial 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 Board's report for company's performance during 2022 is already available with you in the annual report. Today, at the AGM, I would like to focus on growing responsibly together. And we'll have the pleasure of taking you through five themes: Number one, the economic context, high inflation and actions taken to reduce impact; second, on strong brands and the robust performance; third, digitalization and technology; fourth, sustainability and societal initiatives; and fifth, inspired people, diversity and inclusion and long-term relationships. Let me touch on the first, the economic context, high inflation and our actions. I would like to begin with a quote from Rabindranath Tagore, "let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them". 2022 was an extraordinary year when adversities were a plenty with the Omicron variant of coronavirus waning in and out, climate concerns continue to daunt us and global geopolitical complexities are raging on. Despite decadal high commodity prices, monetary policy tightening and some slowdown, India remained steadfast, becoming the fifth largest economy of the world, demonstrating resilience amidst a challenging global environment. 2022 was also quite unpredictable with high commodity cost inflation, 6x higher of the trend between 2018 to 2022. In such times, it is easy for any company to build under pressure, but your company continued to deliver. We navigated the headwinds by accelerating economies of scale, sharpening procurement strategies, enhancing best price sourcing, reducing conversion costs, enhancing efficiency and speed of taking decisions. By using the SHARK saving program, we ran 1,100 cost reduction projects across Nestle India across all factories. across the entire value chain. We evaluated every product category, every brand and every SKU. This exercise led to a saving of INR 2.5 billion, which is 1.5% of sales in 2022 and INR 20 billion of savings in the last 10 years. Adversities bring teams together to a common purpose and values. The efforts of the Nestle team, our partners and stakeholders were stretched. Every new day brought in fresh challenges and with challenges, new opportunities. By collaborating and persevering together, we combated volatilities using imagination and courage. We delivered well thought-out strategies that kept the growth engine robust, taking the business and consumer journey forward, displaying consistency in the face of a storm. It was a year where we grew responsibly together through robust performance, strong brands, inspired people, empowered communities and with a strong commitment to sustainability. Dear members, your company believes in being consistent, building on people, building on brands, building on channels, building on analytics, building on digital, building on sustainability, building on societal capabilities, building on equity and therefore, building for growth. All this takes time and systematic effort. Consistency is a hallmark of an organization that has clarity of purpose of what it seeks to achieve. I go to the next point on robust performance and strong brands. Dear members, we are a company of relationships. We are a company of strong partnerships and also a company with global bandwidth that provides us with expertise to understand the market a bit better and take the right steps. Your company delivered the highest double-digit growth in a decade, led by sustained volume and mix-led growth despite a highly volatile economic environment. Total sales grew by 14.5% and domestic sales increased by 14.8% with broad-based performance across all categories. Your company's robust performance on e-commerce continued, fueled by quick commerce and brick-and-mortar. Out-of-home business made a strong comeback in 2022, recovering to its pre-COVID base and delivering robust growth by revamping, resetting geographies, channels and sales priority. Your company acquired Purina PetCare business that delivers nutrition to pets and launched globally renowned GERBER cereals catering to the nutrition needs of the toddler segment. We launched the first-ever direct-to-consumer or D2C as it is called, e-commerce platform, www.mynestle.in, to offer products manufactured by the company in India. Over the last seven years, your company has launched 110 new products and approximately 30 new projects are in the pipeline. As you know, RUrban is a focus area for your company, and we have progressed well on our RUrban journey. As of today, we are covering around 165,000 villages. Out of these, 91,000 villages were covered in 2022 that have a population of over 2,000. RUrban is about building the nuts and bolts of distribution. We have strengthened distribution infrastructure in terms of distribution touch points by undertaking numerous village activities, be it in the mountains in Ladakh or other parts of the country. Our distributors are spread across tough terrains of Kargil in the North, deep in the desert in Tanot in the West, Kanniyakumari in the South and remote areas such as Koloriang in the Northeast. Nestle has been in India since 1912, serving consumers with commitment and purpose with 99% of what your company sells in India being manufactured in your company's nine factories all located in India. India is amongst the fastest-growing markets for Nestle. To see the progress, the Board of Directors and Executive Board of Nestle S.A. visited India last year. They were impressed by your company's operations and opportunities available in India. The global Board's strong support for business growth in India is a testament of the dedication of the people, partners and stakeholders who have contributed to our India journey. Our global CEO, Mark Schneider, said that the Nestle India team has not only driven strong business performance, but has had positive impact on communities nationwide. The next theme, digitalization and technology. Your company has made a strong commitment to transforming itself using data analytics across every aspect of its business, be it in manufacturing, supply chain, sales, marketing and communications. Today, when I look at analytics, there are different elements that we operate with, D2C sales, automation, e-commerce, marketing, consumer insights and brand.com, among others. Numerous initiatives are being taken to integrate and enrich the power of data, the power of analytics, the power of digital, the power of commercial decision-making and the power of outcomes. This has made the use and the integration of multi-intelligence data analytics systems or MIDAS into the business. That is a revamped structure for analytics and digital within the organization. MIDAS is one of the many digital transformation initiatives by Nestle India. MIDAS provides us information through the power of data analytics. The next theme, sustainability and societal initiatives. Sustainability is emblematic of our commitment and your company has accelerated its sustainability efforts in the last few years. Initiatives on climate, packaging, sourcing and water remain resolute. From 2007 to 2022, for every tonne of production, your company reduced the usage of energy by around 36% and specific direct greenhouse gas emissions or GHG emissions by 52% Acceleration of the sustainability journey has continued across the value chain. As part of the Nescafe plan, your company maintained momentum by working with over 3,500 coffee farmers towards developing good agricultural practices, sustainable management of landscapes and enhanced biodiversity in coffee farms. Dear member, you would have seen Laxhipathi on the video that we played at the beginning of the session. He is a second-generation coffee farmer. He has been associated with the Nescafe plan since 2012. He works very closely with our agronomists, and he has received training on better farming practices by our team that has helped improve the quality of coffee. These agricultural practices such as soil testing, waste management are then shared by Laxhipathi with fellow farmers, and this becomes a virtuous cycle. Laxhipathi's wife is happy about how Nestle has helped schools in the area with clean drinking water and sanitation facilities for the girls. The increased income generated from the farm has improved their living standards and is helping them support their children's education. Another step towards sustainability is through the Maggi Spice Plan that has touched the lives of over 1,250 spice farmers, helping them go safe, high-quality raw materials and develop resilient sustainable farms. Your company has also ensured stable livelihoods for over 100,000 dairy farmers by assisting them to improve milk productivity and quality through technical assistance, providing veterinary services, promotion of sustainable agricultural practices, addressing the challenges of climate change and enhancing resilience. As part of the sustainability initiatives, we installed biodigesters to produce biogas in the farm of Gurlal Singh, one of the dairy farmers in Punjab who supplies milk to us. The biogas is used as fuel in his kitchen and to run the generator in the farm. By using biogas, Gurlal Singh and his white have saved three cylinders of equivalent LPG and 300 kilograms of wood as kitchen fuel per month. Strengthening the brand's climate commitment, KitKat Ecobreaks #BreaksForGood campaign focused on reducing the use of wasteful plastics by urging the youth to give the planet a break. Your company continued to work with society and strengthen its initiatives by engaging with over 10 million beneficiaries through projects pertaining to nutrition awareness, rural development, water and sanitation facilities. Project Vriddhi is creating long-lasting change across five villages in Haryana, positively transforming the lives of over 6,000 beneficiaries. The project has been gaining strength year-on-year through community-led integrated rural development. Last week, I had gone to Village Naharpur to see its transformation. That is where I met a 10-year-old student in Naharpur Middle School on a cloudy Monday. Her enthusiasm was infectious. The school has over 110 girls out of 190 students. She recounted to me how happy she was along with her classmates to come to a newly refurbished school, clean drinking water, proper toilets for boys and girls, laptops for digital classes and so much space to play and a rainwater harvesting project. Our ambition is to be a doctor one day. I also got the opportunity to meet the school head master. He was delighted about the positive impact Project Vriddhi has had in the villages and especially in a school, which has led to increased attendance and retention of school students. There are many motivating and inspirational stories which our company has to be able to make through its contribution to communities, and these are but a few examples. Inspired people, diversity and inclusion and long-term relationships. People have always been at the heart of your company. And with the unveiling of the new Nest, the renovated head office evolved ways of working were initiative. The new Nest is an inclusive workplace with daycare facilities, recreational zones, gender-neutral accessible washrooms, height adjustable workstations and accessible elevators. The Nest Life initiative offers flexibility, empowering employees to be their best at work, combining positive aspects of hybrid and remote working. Dignity, respect and equal opportunity are anchored on the pillars of purpose and values. Diversity and inclusion are today more important than ever, and it should be a business imperative. An inclusive environment leverages diverse skills, cultures, ways of thinking, knowledge and experience of their people to fuel innovation. Women are growing steadily in leadership in Nestle India. We ensure women are part of succession plans and their development plans are closely tracked and supported across all business units, factories and branches. It gives me immense pleasure to state that 50% of your company's Board of Directors constitute women. Women form 24% of all employees and 19.4% of the field force of the company. The Sanand factory is a shining example of diversity with 65% of the workforce being women since 2022. We have taken our commitment towards inclusion of women even further through Project Swabhimaan that fosters entrepreneurial skills in rural women by upskilling and training them. This initiative started in Uttar Pradesh with the appointment of eight rural women entrepreneurs. And as we speak, it has now scaled up to 1,200 rural women entrepreneurs. Your company continues its journey towards inclusion by hiring people with disabilities and ensuring continuous improvement to existing facilities. Your company introduced a new parental leave policy, enabling primary caregivers with 26 weeks of leave and secondary caregivers four weeks of leave. A gender-neutral child care policy where either parent is eligible was also introduced. Dear members, we are a company that firmly believes in long-term relationships. We remain invested in our people. In my eight years in the company, in my current role, 800 people were awarded 25 years of service and 448 people were awarded 35 years of service in the company. Our long-term relationships also extend to our partners. You will be surprised to note that in Dehradun, we have been working with the distributor since 1938 across three generations. This says a lot about the culture and values of the organization and the aiding commitment to our people and partners. As we look ahead confidently, the storm clouds of food inflation, acceleration of war and drumbeat of recession continue to surround us. All I can say is that storms will come and go. Volatilities will come and go, but it is the strength of teams, the strength of brands and the strength of conviction that will matter when it comes to anchoring the ship amidst the song. I seek the prayers and good wishes from members as we grow responsibly together. And here's a bit of good news for you. At the Board meeting this morning, the Board of Directors decided to declare an interim dividend of INR 27 per share for 2023 that will be paid together with the final dividend of INR 75 for 2022. That tells you the resilience of the organization. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to especially thank you, the shareholders, for the support and confidence in the company over the years and particularly during these difficult times. I wish you all good health, and I wish you all great prosperity. Thank you all very much for your patient listening. I will now take up the notice of the 64th Annual General Meeting dated 16th February 2023, together with the audited accounts and Board's report has been duly sent to the members by e-mail and public notice published in newspapers as stipulated. The auditor's report for the year ended 31st December 2022 does not have any qualifications, observations or comments on financial transactions or matters, which have any adverse effect on the functioning of the company. In view of the same, there is no requirement to read the reports. Your company provided members remote e-voting facility on the AGM agenda items from 9th April 2023, starting 9:00 a.m. to 11th April 2023, closing at 5:00 p.m. e-voting facilities is available at the meeting and as mentioned in the notice, at the end of the discussion on the resolutions on which voting is to be held, there will be an 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. 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 this meeting. I will now proceed with the agenda as per notice of the 64th AGM read with corrigendum to the notice of the 64th AGM with three ordinary business items listed as agenda items one to three and three special business items listed as agenda items four, five, and six. Agenda item #1 for the adoption of audited financial statements of the company for the year 2022, including the balance sheet as at 31st December 2022, 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 two interim dividends aggregating INR 145 per equity share for the year 2022. and declaration of final dividend of INR 75 per equity share of INR 10 each for the financial year ended 31st December 2022. Agenda item #3 for the appointment of a director in place of Mr. Matthias Christoph Lohner, who retires by rotation and being eligible offers himself for reappointment. Agenda item #4, for the ratification and 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 ending 31st December 2023. Agenda item #5 for the appointment of Ms. Svetlana Boldina as a Whole-time Director designated as Executive Director, Finance and Control and Chief Financial Officer of the company with effect from 1st March 2023 and to hold office for a term of five consecutive years that is up to 29th February 2028. And the final agenda item 6, special resolution for approval of payment of commission to nonexecutive directors are sum not exceeding 1% per annum of net profits of the company for each financial year commencing from 1st January 2023, subject to overall limit of INR 10 billion per year per nonexecutive director. This year, also being a virtual AGM, there are three ways in which members can ask questions on the agenda items AGM agenda items. Firstly, members who are 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 the notice of the AGM. Two, 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 the notice of the AGM. And thirdly, members can during the meeting, post messages on the communication box which is available on the screen to each member participating in the meeting. So members have missed preregistering as speakers or submitting the questions in advance, they can also ask questions by posting messages on the communication box available on the screen. I would request Pramod Rai to collect the questions and share with me after I take up the questions from the speakers and e-mail received by the company. I now request Inba to invite the esteem members who have preregistered in advance as a speaker in the order of the requests received by the company for preregistration. In the interest of time, I would keenly request all speakers to kindly restrict their question to a maximum of three minutes. 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. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. I now invite our first speaker member, Mr. Praveen Kumar from Delhi, having client ID number IN30011810449827 to speak. I request you to please unmute your audio and video and proceed with your question.

A very, very good morning to my respective Chairperson, well esteemed Board of Director and my co-fellow shareholders who joined this meeting online. Sir, myself, Praveen Kumar joining this meeting from New Delhi. Sir, I have a few observations, which I love to share with the entire house. First of all, sir, I'm very, very thankful. It was always a very, very pleasure to listen to your speech. You are so focused, your in-depth speech, which you address to the shareholder, I think you cover almost everything. You started your journey eight years ago, as you said. At that time, I do remember it. I'm very, very old and valued shareholder of our company. And it's a tradition in Nestle before we start of the meeting, you will take around. You have a healthy discussion with the stakeholder. I mean that's something which really boosts our morale. And I do remember clearly at that point of time, it was a big [Foreign Language] I salute you, your leadership, your expertise as a true that you will lead, you will take the profession to the next level and you will take the company logo, the brighter side of it. So I have deep respect to you and your leadership. I really salute that. And after four years, we will face another challenge that is the face in the entire world called deeply explain your speech at the point of time, we take a proactive call as far as the is concerned as far as taking our company and the product to the m and the CSR activities we are doing it. Sir, I'm truly privileged to be part of such an interesting journey, a part of such a legacy to be very, very honest with you and the investor-friendly approach the management is having, I supported all the resolutions which you set up for the notice today. And as far as the query is concerned, sir, if you ask me really, I really don't have any queries. I just have the complements, complement and complement to the entire team. And sir, for a retail investor like me, the very [indiscernible] of the company is decided by the [indiscernible]. I love to thank our team, Mr. Murli now. I welcome Pramod ji in his first meetings. They are wonderful people, fantabulous people. Having COVID time, if you have any concern because there are so many volatility in the market, it will be promptly replied. So I'm very, very thankful for part of such a journey. My best wishes, my best luck to the entire Board for the coming year. I'm very fortunate to give me this platform to share my positive...

Mr. Praveen Kumar, we're not able to hear you clearly now, sir.

I just say to the God that he will bless and I welcome all the [indiscernible].

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kumar. Thank you, Praveen ji, for your very, very kind and effusive words. [Foreign Language]. I'm very, very grateful. I think it is a huge team that has worked in the organization, a lot of people putting in a lot of effort. I am only the mouthpiece of the organization, but I'm deeply grateful for your good wishes and for your sincere wishes to me and to the company. And I do hope that we will continue to serve you well, whatever be your shareholding, you are a respected shareholder of this company and will always remain so. So thank you, Praveen. Thank you very much for your very, very kind.

We will now move to our next speaker member, Mr. Pramod Kumar Jain from Delhi having client ID IN30299410082531.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Satish Jayantilal Shah from Mumbai having client ID IN30063640102132 to speak. I request you to please unmute your audio and video and go ahead with your question.

Respected Chairman sir, Board of Directors and my fellow members, good morning to all of you. Myself [ Leksha ] from Mumbai. First of all, very much thankful to our company secretary for extending very good investor services and also sending me the AGM notice well in time. It is full of knowledge, facts and figures in place. Thank you Chairman sir for explaining [indiscernible] company. Chairman sir, I pray to God that he always shower his blessing upon you. I would thank all the person of company for receiving awards and recognition for the various lines during the year '21 and '22. And also I'm glad that the company is doing very well in the field of CSR activities. Sir I would like to ask few questions. My first question is how many new products launched in the current year and how many new products in the pipeline. My second question is, due to climate change and increase cost of raw materials, how you plan to take this and situation. Chairman sir, I hope company will continue videoconferencing meeting in future. [Foreign Language]

Thank you. Thank you very much [Foreign Language].

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Manoj Kumar Gupta from Kolkata, having client ID# 1201090004657150 to speak. Mr. Gupta you may please unmute your audio and video and proceed with your question.

Good morning respected Chairman, Board of Directors, fellow shareholders. My name is Manoj Kumar Gupta. I've joined this meeting from Kolkata, my residence. Sir, first of all, I thanks to you and the Board for excellent performance of the company under the year '22-'23 -- 2022. And I thanks to the Board for giving an excellent dividend of INR 220, the increment final. And I warm welcome new company secretary in our company. And I believe that he will also serve the shareholders like the previous one, Mr. Murli, and he will always be helpful to the shareholder. And thanks to Mr. Gunjan who always take care of the investors in any circumstances. And sir, I thank to you that you are fulfilling the vision of our Prime Minister, to give a chair to lady directors, because in the political scenario, our Prime Minister is not a success to give 33% reservation, but you are a success to give 45% reservation to female directors in your Board. Four female directors out of nine directors. So its a good sign that you are fulfilling the vision of our beloved Prime Minister and we Kolkata people feel proud that our see our R. V. Kanoria in our Board because he belongs from Kolkata, he resides in Delhi, but we feel proud that he's in the board of a big multinational company. And I warm welcome to Anjali Bansal in our Board and she has a vast experience in every sector because she has also served two companies in Kolkata Board. And I also warm welcome to new CFO, Director Finance. And I believe that she will lead the company in right direction and fulfill the vision of -- and she will and support you. And sir, what's your future plan for the company and how you will reward the investors? [Foreign Language] I will not suggest you to issue the bonus. Bonus is just like a piece of paper. [Foreign Language] And sir, I thanks to you that every year I go to Vaishno Devi I find that Nestle store is there. [Foreign Language] So I thanks to you. [Foreign Language] So now Maggi is a popular brand. But sir, nowadays doctors are not suggesting for the parents to give Lactogen powder to their children, why? What's the reason sir? Why the doctors not suggesting to use the Lactogen powder to give their children? This is because of Lactogen is not good? [Foreign Language] And sir, if you don't mind, I will give one suggestion that you and the Board consider that if you, under the CSR policy, you give your products to NGOs, like hospitals, schools and others, like tea, coffee, milk powder, to distribute for their patients and others. [Foreign Language]. And sir, think about to reward the shareholders, so we investors will feel very happy and just now we've been informed that the Board has considered a interim dividend, first interim dividend for 2023 today morning, so we will get the dividend very fast.

Thank you. Thank you Manoj Kumar ji. Very very happy to hear you again. Last year also you spoke. I'm very happy to hear your comments. Thank you for your constructive suggestions. [Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language] I'm very happy to meet people and well wishers of the company. I think your suggestions are -- you see the strategy of the company, Gupta ji, is very simple. Penetration-led volume growth. That is what has been our strategy for the last 8 years. That is what has given you the results that you are seeing, both growth and profitability will go hand in hand. So this is something that we will not compromise on. In terms of new categories, new growth. I think as you yourself have seen, not just in Mata Vaishno Devi, but also in other places, now the India is opening up a lot in smaller towns, especially, and we have seen this across. India is opening up to higher quality, better quality brands, better nutrition brands, and that is where Nestle growth also is coming. Now coming to your question on Lactogen, Manoj Kumar ji, the one honest fact is that mother's milk is the best for the child. That is also what the company believes, that is also what we spare by. So only if the mother is not able to breast feed the child should a formula be considered. That is our stated policy, and that is our -- scientifically also established. So if somebody is criticizing the brand by encouraging the mother to breast feed the child, it is fine. The child must be breast fed. But otherwise, if there are some negatives that are happening, we will certainly have it investigated. But just for your information and to set the company record straight, mother's milk is the best for the child. That is scientifically Gupta ji, that is very well established, and that is not something that the company will ever want to refute. But your suggestions are valid, and we will take them on board and I look forward to your constructive suggestions and to your support of the company in the coming years as well. So thank you, Manoj Kumar ji.

Our next speaker member, Mr. Anand Parkash from Delhi, having client ID 1203230007690738 had registered, however, has not connected to the meeting. We will therefore move to our next speaker member. I now invite Mr. Manjit Singh from Delhi having client ID IN30020610907641. Requesting Mr. Manjit Singh to please unmute your audio and video and proceed with your question.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

I now invite Mr. Manjit Singh from Delhi, current Client ID IN30020610907641.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

[Operator Instructions] Our next question, we will invite our next speaker member, Mr. Sarvjeet Singh from Delhi having Client ID 1201910102090517.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. K. Sadananda Sastry from Bangalore, Client ID number IN3061141170220 to speak.

I'm Sadananda Sastry from Bangalore. My number is 11702201. Sir, I'm sorry, to be frank with you, I have no words to praise the Chairman or the Board members but I have much concern about the development and the improvement of the company. So coming to the report, while glancing the report, we noticed that more advertisement are there rather than facts and figures. Why? Secondly, annual report should contain the copy of the meeting notice. It is neither in the context of column page nor in the corporate information. What is the reason? Next on Page 21. In Board's report highlights, company has shown a substantial exceptional income of INR 2,365 million during 2021. But in '21, '22, it is nil. Whether the company do not have any exceptional income. It is a rare situation. What is the reason? Page 24 and 25. You have shown the growth and supply of other products that is -- but in recent days, a lot of complaints are appearing in social media with regard to the company's defective, spoiled products from which company's image deteriorates. What steps you have taken to eradicate it, whether the company created the vigilance committee to curb these? Page 35. Company may face certain contingencies and loss to the tune of INR 3,554 million in connection with the case of 2015. Whether these contingencies are covered under insurance claims, has the company arrange for any provisions for that? Page #36, you are crediting a large amount, which belongs to the investors to IEPF at the cost of investors. Whether the company is following it up to trace the beneficiaries? Whether the company introduced demand system? Locating the beneficiary is very easy. Is there any laxity among transferring agents or DPs, what precaution company is taking? Page 48, balance sheet. In other noncurrent assets, there is an item of INR 50 billion towards prepaid expenditure. How it would be adjusted? [Audio Gap] Are these loss [Audio Gap] in other expenses? The exchange difference loss is highly inflated compared to the last year from INR 2 billion to INR 126 million. The relax is suspected in planning. What precaution you take to reduce it in current year? Thank you very much, sir. See you in Delhi in the next meeting.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Sastry. Thank you very much for your very detailed questions. I'm very happy to see that you have very constructively gone through the annual report. I just want to add a few comments. The reason why we represent things pictorially and otherwise is not to obfuscate on facts and figures. This company believes in facts and figures. We just try and present it in as interesting form as possible. I do hope, sir, you have had the time to go through our business responsibility and social report, which is extending from Page 123 till 173, 50 pages of all information pertaining to the company and to the 9 elements of corporate social responsibility. So there is a fair amount of due diligence that is done. What I would request is that since the questions are of a fairly detailed accounting nature, I will request you to kindly give your e-mail ID to our Company Secretary. And point by point, which has been noted, we will give you a detailed reply on this. There is no question of any kind of lack of transparency on the queries that you have asked. But since many of them are of a nuanced accounting nature, I think they will need a bit of explanation to you, which will be provided at the earliest. So with your permission, that will be accessed, you will be accessed and given this information as best as we can to allay and to assuage any doubts that you might have on the organization, its effectiveness and the appropriateness of its compliances. Thank you very much.

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Vimal Jain -- I apologize. The next speaker member, Mr. Santosh Kumar Saraf from Kolkata, having Client ID number IN30306910080328 to speak.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Vimal Jain from Delhi, having Client ID number 10131690, to speak.

Good morning, Chairman sir, Board of Directors, and Shareholders attending the meeting. Sir, I have full faith in the management since I am holding an equity for more than 25 years. My point is that as per the balance sheet we have good reserves as compared to our equity capital. Shall we hope for a bonus in this year? And we also expect is split out the shares for the small shareholders for their liquidity -- early liquidity. Thank you very much to the Company Secretary and all the staff the sectoral branch to allow me to express my views to the Board of Directors from faraway places like me. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jain. Thank you very much for taking the time to attend our AGM and for participating. Your suggestions are taken onboard, both your suggestions on splitting the shares in order to make it more accessible and also your suggestion on bonus shares, and we will revert to you in due course. But thank you for your faith in the company for the last 25 years, and thank you for reposing the trust in the organization going forward. Thank you very much, Mr. Jain.

I now invite our next speaker member, Ms. Rama Jain from Delhi, having client ID number 10003504, to speak.

Good morning, Chairman, sir, Board of Directors and fellow shareholders. I, Rama Jain, hereby support all the resolutions for the accounts of year 2022. But I have a small query. In annual report at Page 79 for Note 26 of the profit and loss statement, there is an export incentive of INR 54.4 million for the account of other operating revenues. So in this regard, please elaborate, what is export incentive revenue?

Thank you, Ms. Rama Jain. Thank you very much for your comment. While a more detailed response can be given to you, should you desire but export incentives really pertain to the incentives that we get on the export of our products. There was earlier under the MEIS scheme that has now been since revised in compliance with the WTO. So these export incentives are on an accrual basis. And these are, therefore, reflected in the balance sheet. But a more detailed response on this can be provided by our Company Secretary post this meeting to you. Thank you.

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Yash Pal Chopra from Delhi, Client ID number 10592847. [Operator Instructions]

Honorable Chairman, sir, you know me very well because I am a very, very old shareholder of the company for the last more than 25 years. And I remember the day when this was Everyday Ghee was launched for the shareholders at Shriram Kala Center at this Mandi House. And there was a flood of Ghee on the floor and the people were floating on the floor. So prior to that, I was with this company and I have seen, and one thing I'm proud of that our management is so wise that they never repeat a mistake. The mistake it was committed at that time, and that was by the public. So thereafter, our management did not make that mistake. So I'm very proud of the management. I'm proud of the team over there because we have just given a grand performance for the last year, in spite of the most affected year. The first quarter was affected by Corona. And the last quarter was affected by Ukraine-Russian war. And both the quarters, there was a disruption in the chain of supply and all that. And still our dedicated employees and wisdom of our directors, our Board, our company achieved the targets rather. This is a matter of pride that even our, what you call, dividend, it has been enhanced. So that shows the real means the capacities of our management that last year's working was hardly for 6 months. And within that period, you achieved the target rather you just made a big dent and all that means achievement that is the big thing. And sir, I just want to find out that you have introduced 2 new products. One is that Burger -- GERBER for the toddlers, and the other is Purina for the pets. Means both products are for those virtually the infants for those growing community, whether it is pets or whether it is human being. So there lies a very, very, very solid scope for the promotion and for the promoting of these products. So I'm quite sure that these products will be very much popular in the times to come. Sir, before I close and before I forget, I would like to welcome our Company Secretary because he is now in a very, very strong company with a very, very wise management, and I think that he can go a very long way and he can just contribute to the prosperity of the company. Our company has always been on a track of prosperity and the turnover of just INR 50 billion in 2001, and now the turnover is at INR 1,500 billion. So that shows that our company is how much strong our company is and how much dedicated our employees are. Sir, but now my fear is that is '23 -- in '23, we are having a danger of inflation everywhere worldwide, that is a big [indiscernible] because that shows inflation means rise in the cost, input cost of our products. There's going to be a rise in the cost of milk, there may be rise in the cost of cereals because even the monsoons have not been protected favorably. So I would just like to find out from the management, how -- what strategy they will be having it? Because on the one hand, this inflation means rising import cost. On the other hand, there is liquidity crunch in the hands of the consumers. So -- and I have seen that your competitor, Hindustan Unilever has already smelled this problem, and that is why they have reduced the prices of their products by virtually 10% or something like that or they have increased the weight of packs by 10%. So that shows that something fear is there. Even our Babaji, every day in the morning, you open the TV channel, on all these channels is standing there and just saying one thing or the other thing against our company. He says, [Foreign Language]. All these things and all those strategies, I just want to find out what our management is thinking of those strategies. Though I know that our Board is very much competent even we have got 3 lady independent directors that shows the women empowerment, and those ladies are very much experienced in their field. And I'm a rather fan of madam Swati Piramal because I'm holding a share of Piramal companies also in bulk. So sir but now I have got some Food For Thought. I know that you respect that Food For Thought. If you can remember it, in 2015, then that Magnum, Maggi issue had cropped up. At that time, I had spoken that please do not feed those costly celebrities who do not stand with the company in the time of adversity because those celebrities, I don't want to name, they were the #1 in the country, and they were the most highly paid. And at the time when the media went to them for that -- on that controversy, they just withdrew. They said, no, no, we are no more attached with them. And since then, you rectified your mistake, and you have just dispensed with them. Now we are not having any such celebrity. And we have saved, I think, around INR 20 crores to INR 25 crores since then, in which we were spending on those fair weather friends. So this is a very, very big thing, sir. Sir, now I have to offer just a few suggestions as -- because I am a very old supporter of the company, I want that you ask your RTA just to take out a list of those persons who are associated with the company for more than 20 years and make a club of those people loyalists, a loyalists consumer club should be there for those persons who have been with the company for such a long time. And for them, there should be a special provision that they should buy our products. A distributor rate -- distributor rate, I'm saying that that discount is not much, that discount you're giving it to your distributor. People should be promoted to just go and buy that thing for their own house, for their families at the distributor rate, that will enhance the turnover of the company, that will enhance the popularity that the, what you call, emotional attachment of those shareholders. And even for the other shareholders, I -- last year, I had requested for the discount coupon. If you do not -- I know that company may not afford to give a heavy discount but you can give at least that much, which we are allowing to our distributor. So that means that will increase the turnover of the company and that will definitely make that product more and more popular because you see now the people when they just go to this retail departmental store, they just ask only for one thing, what is the scheme, where we can get 1 for 1, 1 for 2 free and all that. So because of that thing, so at present, there is no brand loyalty with any worry. That loyalty is only that how much discount, how much saving we can make out of that. So I will just request our management to consider on that because once the volume increases, it is bound -- we are bound to get more profit and more liquidity and all that, sir. Sir, before I close, I got a query. Recently, I heard that you are buying some Chinese cigarettes from Capital Foods and all that. I just want to find out what is the status of that and how beneficial the addition of that product will be in our company and how much we -- how far we have just reached in that direction. That, I would just like to find out. And sir, before I close, I must thank our corporate department. And I must say that Mr. Gunjan Arya is replacing our late Rajenderji because every day, he is just in conversation with our investors and our shareholders and all that. So that is a matter of pride, and that is very soothing to our soul and all that, sir. And you see, sir. We get the chance to see once in a year. And even on this media, I'm proud of you that you are coming over here yourself and you are not deputing anybody, ABC and all that. So wish you best of luck and pray God for the prosperity of our company, for the positivity of all our directors, for the positivity of all our employees and the dedication in which they are working. So I'm proud of that. Best of luck. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Yash Pal. You can't imagine how happy I am to see you. Every year, I see you, I feel very happy. I hope you are in good health and in good spirits. I notice you are in good spirits. So that also puts me into good spirits because it is the positivity that you reflect on the company that is very, very important. So thank you for all the suggestions that you have given us. I think these are very, very, very important. Talking of brand GERBER and also on Purina PetCare, I think both these brands are got off to a good start. As you rightly said, there are more than 20 million pets in this country. And on a jocular tone, I may add that sometimes the pets at the home get better food than the husband or the wife because the pets are so important for the families. So this is a promising business for us that we have got. I think, coming to your other suggestions, certainly, we will give it due thought. We always respect our old shareholders. And I remember you from the 2015, '16 AGM that was in a very difficult situation but you stood by us. And people may say anything they want to, Yash Palji, again, to quote a Dua of Kabeer [Foreign Language]. No point in talking ill about people. I think if you talk good about people, you are also soothing and the person who listens to it is also soothing. So thank you very much, Yash Pal. Looking forward to meeting you, and looking forward to interacting with you. Thank you very much.

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Susheel Arora from Faridabad, client ID number 1204470003553370, to speak.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

[Operator Instructions] We'll take our next question from our next speaker member, Mr. Karam Singh Arora from Faridabad, Client ID 1204470003785696, to speak.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Gaurav Kumar Singh from New Delhi, Client ID 10099233.

Good Morning to all of you. My name is Gaurav Kumar Singh from Delhi. Sir, first of all, I wish to welcome and thank our Company Secretary, Shri Pramodji, and his entire team of Secretarial Department, along with the team of Chorus Call for such a wonderful arrangement and also for giving me the opportunity to express my views on this platform. Sir, company is doing extremely well as it is effecting price, and the credit goes to you and all the employees of Nestle India. Sir, as far as the agenda of this AGM is concerned, I support all the resolutions. Sir, I have two points. First is I want to know what products do we have for diabetic people? And also, any plan launch and promote new products for diabetic segment? And mainly, as our earlier speakers said and also every shareholder is interested in corporate benefits like bonus stock split, special dividends or rights issue. So kindly consider the same as it is due and so on. Lastly, kindly consider plant visits for shareholders as we are interested to see how are workers and employees are working behind the scenes. And also, kindly consider to conduct AGM in hybrid mode or physical so that more and more shareholders can participate. And one more thing I want to mention that whenever I have sent any query on mail, I got promptly reply from your investor, sir. So thanks to them. And in the end, I wish more colorful feather in your cap sir, and great health to all of you. Thank you.

Thank you. thank you, Mr. Gaurav. I think thank you for your very crisp and very clear questions. I thank you for your suggestions that you have given us that we will certainly, as I replied earlier to those queries, ensure that we give it due thought. I'm also happy to hear that our people are responding to you promptly and well. And I think, yes, the company is clearly on a path of growth and on a path of enhancing its footprint. And that is what you will see in the coming periods as well as we go forward. So thank you very much for your support, and thank you very much for your suggestions, which we will incorporate and see what best we can do about it. Thank you.

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Yusuf Yunus Rangwala from Mumbai, client ID number 1601010000232396, to please go ahead.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Ashok Kumar Jain from Delhi, Client ID 10242590, to speak.

I'm Ashok Kumar Jain from Delhi. Thank you for letting me connecting with you through this meeting and give me to speak in front of you all guys. As all of my queries are already resolved with Chairman sir's speech and with the shareholder's queries. I just want to thank the secretary department as all queries of any type of us immediately. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ashok Kumar Jain. Thank you very much for your kind words for our secretarial department, also kind words for the company. I may add that even if you don't have any suggestions today, but you are most welcome to please share any suggestions that you would have on the company with our Company Secretary. And I promise you that your words will reach me. For sure, it will reach me. And I thank you for your support and for your cooperation. Thank you very much, Mr. Ashok Kumar Jain.

I now invite our next speaker member, Ms. Chanchal Bala from New Delhi. Client ID 1201910100286431.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

Our next speaker member, Ms. Prakashini Ganesh Shenoy from Mumbai had registered however, is no longer in the meeting. We will therefore move to our next speaker member, Ms. Celestine Elizabeth Mascarenhas from Mumbai, having client ID number 1205140000090218.

My name is Mr. C. E. Mascarenhas. I'm speaking from Kobe, Osaka. First of all, I thank the company Secretary and his team for sending me the annual report and registering me as a speaker at my request. I also thank the Board of Nestle for the platform, Zoom platform given to interact. First, I thank -- I welcome the new secretary and I hope he will always be a good link between the shareholders and the management. Now next, I congratulate for all awards. Applause. Also, I appreciate the CSR work and the ESG initiative. I put it because ESG takes a note of everything. So I make it short because this meeting is going long and long and so many questions. So I really give me hell of a time and I'm out and if the weather is also not good. So I'm very happy with the working and the good results and the good reward given by Nestle, but I have one thing to tell you, sir, what has happened, I felt this company is a family's wealth. And I cannot -- like gold, I cannot -- my grandmother's gold, I don't sell. So like that, this also I felt that I should not sell. And with the result, I have physical shares, one with my husband, one folio and another folio with my son. And I understand there's a lot of, hell of problems in dematerializing because now the TD is out of the window. First, we had the TD. So okay, I want to remove, I could do. But now with this TD gone and the harassment which we get, sir, I would like you to ease my problem because many like [ Dabar ] we have got there, it is not there is that, you see I have to still submit, I have given the KYC thing. So because otherwise, they will do money laundering. Now the new word I'm hearing that if the shares are not dematerialized, you are money laundering. I don't understand what is this concept only, money laundering. Sir, as a senior citizen, I am now [Audio Gap] .

Ms. Mascarenhas. I'm sorry, not able to hear you clearly.

Can you hear me? Please you help me, rest I don't want to say. [indiscernible] I say a prayer and we wish you all the best. I had participated in last 2 meetings. And the third one online, keep it online. I'm very happy with it. So I only -- the 6 pillars, I had only said the prayer. So I put the prayer as the main because against Omicron or whatever you say, COVID cases has increased. And at least here, nobody moves without a mask. We Indians, we have got good lungs, so we go without. So with this, I thank you very much. I wish you all the best. and best of health to you and all your team and especially to the staff. With this, thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Mascarenhas. Delighted to hear your voice once again. Last time, it was at your home that you were -- that you spoke to me. I'm very happy that you have taken the trouble to connect from COVID. I do hope that you enjoy your stay in Japan. I thank you for your blessings and for your good wishes and for your kind words always. I will request my Company Secretary and his department to try and see how we can help you with the shares. It is, as you rightly said, it is your prized family jewel. And for many people, for many shareholders in this country, the Nestle share is a family jewel. They don't like to sell it because it's like gold. It's like a precious thing. So we will try and do our best madam to help you in this because -- not just because you are a senior citizen, but also because you are a very loyal and a very sincere well wisher of our company, and we need all your players and blessings as we move forward. So thank you very much for joining, and have a great stay in Japan, and do come back safe. Thank you.

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Chander Shekhar from Delhi, having client ID number 120133000053928.

[Foreign Language] Thanks for giving me opportunity. A big thanks to the management team and Company Secretary for sending the annual report well in time wherein all section has been covered in very lucid and transparent manner. Sir, also welcome to the newly company secretary, Mr. Pramod Kumar Rai, who is not new for us. He was associated long time. And after the Murli, he was looking after all the shareholder grievances and the questions. We are very happy. He's very having sufficient experience about this job. [Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

We now move to our next speaker member, Mr. Manmohan Singh Dang from Delhi. Client ID 10474434. Yes, sir. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Thank you host for enabling me to interact with the management. It was a bit a long wait and everyone should -- would be eager to finish up, especially the Chairman who has been, say, speaking for more than 2 hours now. So let me start. Chairman Suresh ji and everyone, a very good afternoon. Sir, the company under your leadership has done very well and deserves applauds. Your patient hearing to all the shareholders and giving them replies with rich words full of sugar are always very soothing. I would -- I had a few questions, but all have been covered by the previous speakers. On growth of Nestle, I heard you during the CII DX conference last month. And I'm very convinced that we will grow many folds in the coming years. So I don't have any question to ask you at this platform, but I may take liberty to make a few -- couple of observations. The first is with regard to the splitting of face value of the shares, which I -- which all the shareholders have been requesting for year after year. And every time you say that you will take up with the Board and discuss internally. But what are the discussions in the Board room, if you can kindly appraise us because these -- the face value, you must understand and everyone actually understands already that HUL and Colgate in India, they are already having a INR 1 face value. And it makes sense that Nestle also should have a INR 1 face value. So that if we want to invest more, we can. And if we want to leave the legacy to our children, we can actually leave some, say, 100, 100 shares for in all the children names. But given the current value of the shares, 100 shares is out of the box imagining 100 shares. So that's my humble request. please surprise us what the Board thinks about not splitting the shares? What is the road block in that? That's one. Another is on conducting the AGMs physically or virtually, you see it is seemingly an ironical situation where in every meeting, you say, sir, that you want to conduct the meeting physically. Now we are all vaccinated. We don't wear any masks. We move freely. All the employees come to the office. They are working freely. So it's very surprising that the AGMs are now taking -- this AGM is also taking on VC. ABB, another AMC, they are going to conduct a physical meeting in next 2 weeks' time. So you -- Nestle is a market leader. The other fraternity, the other corporates, they look at Nestle, okay? A better idea would have been a hybrid meeting. While we have a physical meeting in the auditorium, at the same time, you get connected people across globe virtually. That is what we aspire for. Maruti conducted the meeting last year, physical meeting, it was a hybrid meeting. People across the globe that also got connected. That's what we look. Now COVID is -- has become a normal flu, and there is no such danger as we are all vaccinated. You must appreciate. Now -- so that's 2 points. Another point which I repeatedly heard about the factory visit. And you have already said that anyone wishing to go to the factory, they are most welcome to say, reach out to the company and you can make some arrangements. But another way is to get -- give a cluster of shareholders a chance to go together. So that's another idea that the company may think of. So these are a few points. I appreciate assigning the full-time responsibility to Company Secretary, Pramod. I'm sure he will -- we will go a long-lasting way having a good PR with each other. I, Manmohan and along with my group of shareholders, thank you for this interaction. Thank you very much once again and all the best, sir.

Thank you, Manmohan ji. Thank you very much for your very kind words on the management and on the achievements of the company. I think your suggestion specifically on the splitting of shares is something that will be even more deliberated with the Board and also internally on how to take that forward. I can really assure you that this is -- this matter will receive the utmost consideration in our discussions and deliberations. The point has been well made on the value of each share and also on widening the shareholder base as a consequence of splitting the shares. I think that is well understood. The timing, the methodology, the mechanics, when to do it, how to do it is really what needs to be worked out. As far as the virtual versus physical meeting, I think you have suggested having a dual meeting, which is both virtual and physical because as you would have noticed, Manmohan ji, during the course of the shareholders' meeting, the AGM, there have been some who are very vociferous as far as the video conferencing is concerned because they're able to participate. I think there is merit on both sides, but we will try and see how to take this forward. Hopefully, next year will be an even better situation when we'll be able to take a more considered view on the matter. But thank you very much for your suggestions, and thank you very much for your strong support of the company along not only yourself but also your group of shareholders. Thank you very much, Mr. Manmohan.

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Bijnan Singh Srimal from Kolkata. Client ID number 1304140000779144.

Mr. Chairman, sir, member of the Board and my fellow shareholders, I am Bijnan Singh Srimal from Kolkata. I'm a CA. I am holding your share since IPO days when the company's name was Specialist Chemicals Limited. Sir, I am grateful to you to give me the opportunity to have an interaction at this meeting. Sir, I know you have a long innings in the crease, but we have a long wait on the dressing room. So having said so, I will indulge to have some time more than what is allocated to me to enable me to have my questions properly put in the perspective. With your consent, sir. Sir, the COVID has thrown up a great opportunity for the shareholders to participate from different parts of the country and even abroad. And this has also reduced our cost to a great extent. So in this context, I should say you should also consider for giving some gift to the shareholder as many companies are doing also like Britannia and many other companies, Bosch, Britannia. So this will popularize your products as well. I welcome the Company Secretary who has newly joined and would request that he should have a better report with the speakers, which we find in almost all companies. We didn't have the opportunity to have any conversation with him. Having said so, sir, I have a few of my suggestions and observation. In the corporate information, I do not find the e-mail of RTA, neither the e-mail of RTA nor the company, which should be there. Company e-mail is there, phone number is not there. Then I would like that the meeting should be held in any Saturdays and probably in the afternoon. So it will be easier for the participant to participate because you will appreciate this is a long-haul wait for me. I'm waiting for the 2 hours, same as you to get my chance to speak. Sir, another point was that many of the FMCG companies are also today having their figures in crores instead of million, which is the general figure appreciated by the Indian public. Then sir, before I go to my view on the accounts, I would also place on record that the [ COVID ] page itself should be in the earlier portion, which is in the Page 19. So if you can put it earlier because the basic informations are lying here, which is necessary for the shareholder to understand and have a correspondence with the company. Sir, let me now take forward to the few of my observation about the accounts. Sir, could you enlighten us about the actual capacity of the company at this present moment and its divide between the urban and rural. Having said so, sir, I would also take that the dividend you have declared is very handsome, and we are really appreciate your gesture of declaring another INR 27 as a dividend for this year and we appreciate very much. But while talking about the dividend part, I would like to point out that these days, a lot of shareholders are facing problem because of the fact that their shares -- their dividends are not received by them. And ultimately, it is going to IEPF, which is a very dangerous thing because I am facing it. So I would like to suggest that company should take a very proactive step in informing the shareholders, those who are not claiming their dividend because if it is unclaimed for 7 years, even the shares are likely to be forfeited. So it's a process and I would also like to know whether the company is coming out in their website, the names of the shareholders who have not claimed because that will also be helpful. They would go to the website and see if their names are there, they will claim it. So these are the things which company must take care. This is very important for the shareholders are concerned. Then sir, what is your total CapEx plan for the coming year? And what is the position of capital work in progress, which has been shown in the balance sheet? And when do you think this capital work in progress will be maturing and we are getting the extra sales and profitability of the company? As the current year is going to be tough, could you spell out how do you think of meeting this challenge by cost curtail and cost control measures? I think to impart a higher confidence in the level and in the mind of the shareholder, all the directors must sign the balance sheet. I being a CA, I understand that it is not necessary, but it is a question of confidence. And especially, I don't know why the Audit Committee Chairman has not signed the balance sheet. It is a must for him to sign. And all the independent directors should sign so that we get the confidence that, yes, it has gone. We know that the Board has placed before them. They have gone through it and everything is okay. But that much confidence will be forthcoming if you get it signed by all the directors. Sir, I would also like to know you have increased the sales turnover, which is not very adequate to my mind because if I see the 10 years performance, it has hardly doubled and with the inflation in mind, I don't think it is quite enough to meet the challenges of the day. Could you spell out, sir, how much volume-wise we have increased this year, sales forgetting the cost part, the increase in the inflation. And I think many shareholders already asked if you can also give us any of your new portfolios, especially in the nutrition side, what are the new portfolios? Sir, another thing which I find in the accounts that you have given some loan to the employees, 2 places and that is you say it is unsecured. I do not understand what is the question of unsecurity when he is already an employee and it must be deducted from his salary. So please see what is the correct position? Sir, I have many other questions, but I know it's a long drawn innings and I being [indiscernible], I'm attending your meeting for the first time and hope that I'll attend in future as well. And I am extremely grateful for the modesty you have shown. It's a pathbreaking thing. People should appreciate and must illuminate your modesty. At this position, your modesty is wonderfully shown and we appreciate very much. We thank you so very much for giving me this opportunity and wish you all the best and good health and good luck. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Srimal. At the outset, I sincerely appreciate your taking the time being an [indiscernible] waiting for a long time, I think, to ask your questions. What I would be doing is that some of the questions that you have asked, which are pertaining to the balance sheet and to the accounts will be answered to you separately in full so that there is nothing left out in terms of the queries that you have got, the suggestions that you have given also on e-mail IDs or telephone numbers on casting some of the information and also the accounting clarification you wanted on the loan that has been given. I think we will give that to you with full clarification. Just to answer a few of your points that you talked about, the urban rural split, Mr. Srimal, between -- in Nestle is currently 80-20. So 80% of our business is coming from urban India and 20% is coming from rural India, but rural India is growing very well for us. So I think that's the reason why we have a rurban strategy that is really to access smaller towns and to really go after the portfolio. And you'll also would have noticed Mr. Srimal, that smaller towns are now becoming more aspirational. People want to have good quality products and good brands, and that I think is helping us. In terms of CapEx, as we had announced earlier, INR 5,000 crores is the amount of CapEx that we are planning for the next 3 to 4 years, from which about INR 1,700 crores will be spent during the course of this year. So it's a fairly high amount of CapEx that is being spent. In fact, new capacities are being created. New factories are also being envisaged. So that really means that we are quite bullish as far as the growth is concerned. On the current year, I think inflation, as you very rightly said, Mr. Srimal, is here to bite us. I don't think we have all the answers for it. But I think we have got programs that looks at cost efficiencies and recipe efficiencies as far as the products are concerned, which gives us about 1.5% to 2% of saving, which is what we will be working on and looking at the portfolio as well of the company. I agree with you that there is -- there should be no end to our ambition to grow, and we should not get complacent by whatever we have achieved. We have done reasonably well, but I think the scope is there much more. And the coming years, you will see that our scoping of the opportunities will be much more considerable than what you have seen so far. But thank you very much, Mr. Srimal, for your kind words, and thank you very much for taking the time and asking these detailed questions. I sincerely appreciate it, and have a great day. Thank you.

We now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Subhash Chander Wadhwa from New Delhi, having client ID number IN30011810082349.

Respected Chairman and Board of Directors, my name is Subhash Wadhwa, and I have joined from New Delhi. I first of all, comp Chairman sir and entire management of Nestle India for doing very well during the financial year 2023. Our secretarial department under the leadership of Mr. Pramod Rai is very proactive, and I am happy that we get response from them quickly. I also mention Mr. Gunjan Arya who is very helpful and thanks for confirming my name as speaker. I want to know from Chairman, sir how the company is planning to grow its business in the coming 3, 4 years' time. Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Wadhwa. Thank you very much for your very short and very clear question. I think Mr. Wadhwa, the company has done fairly well. But as Mr. Srimal has said, there is scope to do even better. So I think that's the mood and tone in the organization of doing even better, yes, tomorrow than what we have done yesterday. I think there are -- the core products of the company, all the 4 businesses, the Foods business, the Milks and Nutrition business, the Beverages business and the Chocolates confectionery business are growing very well. There is a lot of strength. We are also having 30-plus projects in terms of new products that we are looking at introducing appropriately into different segments of the market. So for us, volume-led, penetration-led volume growth will be very important. We've had a reasonably good growth last year on volumes despite the difficult situation. As you know, our domestic sales grew by 14.8% and almost 6% was the volume contribution out of that. We are looking at stabilizing some of that volume as we go forward. Hopefully, inflation also will moderate during the course of this year, giving us a greater opportunity for growth. But Mr. Wadhwa, one of the things that will be good for us is opening up of smaller towns and opening up of rural India. That for us is a big opportunity, which we are going to capitalize on. So I can assure you that there will be a lot of excitement from the company, a lot of effort towards top line growth and also profitable growth. Thank you for your support, and I hope I have been able to answer your question. Thank you.

We'll take our next question that's from Ms. Prakashini Ganesh Shenoy from Mumbai. Client ID number 12451107.

I'm Prakashini Ganesh Shenoy from Bombay. Respected honorable Chairman, Shri Suresh Narayanan and other dignitaries on the Board and my fellow shareholders, good afternoon to all of you. I received the annual report well in time, which is powerful...

It looks like you have muted your microphone. Can you please...

For the same. Sir, I heard this outstanding speech of the Chairman, which was outstanding and contained all the information in respect of the company. I thank Chairman, sir. It was a wonderful speech. Thank you once again. Hello. I'm glad that the company has done outstanding work in the field of CSR activities. I am also thankful to the Board for recommending dividend for the financial year '22-'23. I'm very happy to note that the company has robust performance during the year in respect of all the parameters. I'm also glad to note that the company has adopted digital platform as on date. Sir, I have 1 or 2 questions. Question number one, are we planning to expand the existing R&D or we are going to have a new R&D? If yes, which place? And how much is the amount involved approximately? My question number two is, are we planning for any new product in the city? Please let us know when it shall be brought out? And question number three, after our acquisition of Purina PetCare, what is our market share in the domestic market? Hello? Can you hear me, sir?

Yes, I can hear you Prakashini..

I wish the company good luck for a bright future and pray God that the profit of the company shall reach the peak in due course. Sir, I wholeheartedly and fully support all the resolutions put forth in today's meeting. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Shenoy. Thank you very much for your -- for the confidence and for your enthusiasm in the performance of the company. I deeply appreciate it on behalf of myself, the Board and also of all the employees of the company. You have 3 specific questions, clear answers, I hope. R&D facility is a global facility, which has been established by Nestle S.A. The facility is capable of taking care of not only our projects, but also projects from around the world. So therefore, there is no immediate plan to expand it even more, but to leverage it even more as far as India is concerned. And that's what they are doing now as far as products around millet is concerned, plant-based protein is concerned, sustainable packaging is concerned, new ingredients and ancient grains of India to be used in our products is concerned. The R&D center is doing some very, very important work, and you will see progress of this in terms of new products happening relatively soon. The new projects, as I speak to you, we have announced, as I answered the respected Mr. Srimal, our shareholder, there is an investment of INR 5,000 crores that has been planned over the next 3 years. This will be in terms of existing categories and also new factories. So clearly, as and when that fructifies, you will hear more about it. Purina PetCare is a very exciting entry for us. As of now, madam, it is very small. It is less than a 5% market share today, but it is a fast-growing category, and it's a category where we see a lot of promise because worldwide, Purina PetCare is one of the leaders, if not the leader in the pet care business. And India, pet ownership is going up quite sharply and going up quite well, both for dogs and for cats. So we see a good proposition there. I hope I've been able to answer your question, and thank you very much for the confidence in the company. Thank you.

I now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Toni Bhatia from Faridabad having client ID number N30177410144373.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

We now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Dipankar Purkayastha from New Delhi, client ID number 1204720009417188.

I had sent in a list of my questions in advance, database questions. I hope you have received those. So in the interest of time, I will not repeat those questions, and I'll wait for the answers to those questions. But just a couple of additional observations which I would like to make, observations-cum-suggestions. First is this direct-to-consumer website, which you have launched. In the last 2 AGMs, I had spoken on the need for this, and I'm very happy that you have finally rolled it out initially only for the NCR region and later on, you'll be extending it to the country. There are a couple of weaknesses in this website. First is the search engine is very defective. You would type in, let's say, Milo, M-I-L-O on this search engine and you see the response that you get. I'm not comparing you with any of your competitors. I will just draw your attention to your own affiliate company, Nestle Hong Kong has a direct-to-commerce website. You type in -M-I-L-O Milo on Nestle India's direct-to-commerce site and you type in Milo on the Nestle Hong Kong website, and you will see them, qualitative difference. In the Hong Kong site, you will get a complete list of products. In the Nestle India site, you will get nothing. You can try it out for yourself. We will ask somebody to do it in front of you, and you can see how bad the search engine is. The second thing is new products. In the annual report, you always tell us about the new products which you have introduced. So like Milo with whey, Mishti Doi with Jaggery, a+ Greek yogurt with local foods. These are all mentioned in your annual report. So with a lot of excitement, I thought I'd try out these products and I went to the D2C site. None of these are available on your D2C site. It's very disappointing. So my suggestion is that when you talk about new products in the annual report, please give hyperlinks to the D2C site, which should be valid for 3 months or 6 months so that consumers who are also shareholders can go and try out these products on the site. Third thing is forget about new products, even some of your existing products, to give you specific examples, Mint Iced Tea, Cardamum Tea Premix, these are not available on your D2C site, but they are available on Amazon. I think it's very discouraging and disheartening for shareholders that when we go to your own company's D2C side, we don't get these products whereas these are available on Amazon. So I would suggest that you get a professional web designer to revamp your website. And I'm not asking you to benchmark with your competitors. Just look at the Nestle Hong Kong website. How much superior and how much more customer-friendly that website is, and try to do something like that. So that was my first point. The second point on a lighter note is pet foods business. I very vividly recall a couple of years back when the pet foods business was first introduced in India through a separate vehicle, a separate subsidiary company of the Nestle Group was launched. Many shareholders who attended that AGM had raised the question, and I think you were also present there, Mr. Chairman, as to why this has not been introduced through Nestle India and why it has been found necessary to launch it through a separate vehicle. The then CFO, who had responded to this question said that this was because the management and the Board believe that the religious beliefs of the people in India would not accept the manufacture of human food and pet food under the same roof. So I don't agree with that view, personally speaking, but would just like to know what prompted a rethink. Just to set the record straight, I warmly welcome the addition of this portfolio to our company. I'm very happy about it. But just out of curiosity, when the CFO and Director Finance had given this response on behalf of the Board at that time, so what has prompted a rethink? My third general observation was this recent controversy, which we have seen in India about distribution channels. Over the last 1 year or 2 years, some mega wholesale distributors have arrived like Jio, who have sort of disrupted the entire chain. And as a result, your small distributors or -- I mean, small distributors in many FMCG companies have sort of called for boycott and banning the companies because they felt that they are getting a raw deal and their margins are being squeezed. In that controversy, I found that Nestle is a conspicuous exception. So I would just like to understand how is it that Nestle has managed to stay out of this controversy? I mean what is the secret sauce behind Nestle avoiding all this, whereas all your legendary competitors have all been affected by this. Fourth and final observation is the recent controversy over the last 6 months on the FSSAI standards, the marking on food products and the labels. Currently, certain standards are enforced, which obviously Nestle is duty bound to comply with and you are complying. But there have been repeated calls from various sectors, consumer activists and so on for more explicit disclosure where it should be -- the food product in question should be classified as good or bad or healthy or unhealthy and so on. So would Nestle object to that kind of stand? Would you be affected if those standards are ultimately brought into vogue? If FSSAI, the regulator brings in those kind of disclosure requirements, would your sales be affected? Would you oppose that? I just would like to understand from you. What is the Nestle viewpoint on this? That's all that I have to say. I'll wait for the answers to my specific database questions. Thank you for the opportunity and time.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Purkayastha. Thank you very much for your questions. Let me answer the questions very, very quickly. Nestle channels, why is it that we don't get into a conflict? Mr. Purkayastha, that's because we have got a clear channel strategy. And that also links into the question on D2C. D2C meant to be an exclusive channel for particular brands and not expected to be a generic channel for all our brands. The minute we make it a generic channel for all our brands, we are going to get into a huge conflict with e-commerce channels, with wholesale channels and with retail channels. And therefore, I think while as a shareholder, you could be disappointed saying that I don't see all the brands on D2C, there is a conscious reason for it. It is meant to be selective in brands and rich in experience. Milo, my apologies, Milo is not a national brand as yet. Milo is represented -- Milo powder is there only in the South. And therefore, because it is not part of the Delhi NCR, when you search for Milo, you don't find Milo. So it's not that it is a fault of the design. It is because the product is being -- in its current Avatar is being tested in the South. And therefore, we don't put it into D2C because the consumer in Delhi can't buy the Milo of that site. And that's the reason why it is not there. So it's not a design failure. It is more a question of availability at this point in time. The third issue that you talked about is on pet care. I think one of the issues that was at that particular point in time. I think there were 3 main reasons why we did not have PetCare as part of Nestle India then. Number one was the unfamiliarity with the channels. PetCare is largely sold through pet channels, which we had no knowledge about as a company, number one. Number two, in terms of marketing and commercial expertise, it was not embedded within the Nestle India organization. We had no product that was anyway allied or close to it. And number three was at that stage, the fear and that was borne out. I agree. I fully respect your view, Mr. Purkayastha. I might also have the same view that it should hardly make a difference. But there was a feedback coming saying that, look, there will be some sentiments that will get hurt. And the last thing you would appreciate, Mr. Purkayastha, as a company that I would like to absorb myself of is to get into a religious controversy that can blow up on my face. We have had enough other controversies that we face. And that is the reason why it was mentioned, but happily now it is part of Nestle India, and I think we are doing fairly well. On FSSAI, the stand is very clear, Mr. Purkayastha, what we have requested FSSAI, let there be standards for industry. Nestle is the gold standard in this. For me to implement some of what they are suggesting is not an issue. But I don't want to be in a regime where I am made to declare all that I'm meant to declare and somebody else says, I don't have the capacity, so therefore, I will not declare. And I think that is really where the debate is. I think it's an industry-wide issue. There could be some tension points in this, but Nestle is very clear. Whatever is permissible and whatever is transparent to the consumer is something that we should declare because we have got nothing to hide. So that's the view that we are taking. I think it will take some time by the time it concretizes, but I do hope that it is done. So those are the quick responses to the verbal interventions that you have had just now. Some of your other questions, I think -- you talked about Purina PetCare, as your first question, saying it's a loss-making business. When can we expect this to breakeven? The next couple of years, Mr. Purkayastha, is when it will be expected to breakeven. This is the investment phase. As I mentioned earlier, we have less than a 5% market share. This is going to be a fair amount of investment, and that's really what we are looking at. Where can you find it in our segment reporting? Currently, it is being shown under product group, prepared dishes and cooking aids, and that is Page #78 of the annual report for 2022. So that's where it will come. You talked -- your next question is on the Milk Products and Nutrition business on its relative low trajectory of growth. Also the paradox that you indicate that it's probably one of the strongest segments that should be for the company. And also have we gained or lost market share as far as the Milk Products business are concerned between 2018 and 2022. On the contrary, Mr. Purkayastha, during and after COVID, Nutrition has been one of our strong businesses. In fact, we have had quite a few innovations. Unfortunately, we can't talk about these innovations because, as you know, that it is completely media task in terms of what we do. But whether it is toddler cereals, whether it is more affordable packs of Lactogen, Pre-Lactogen, et cetera. There have been products that have been introduced because where breast feeding is not possible, doctors still choose some of our brands. In fact, the growths in infant formula have been fairly encouraging during this period. Of course, it comes in the overall category of Milk Products and Nutrition. Gerber has met with a very good response in the marketplace. And also in keeping with the call of the Prime Minister on the Year of Millets, Millet products have been introduced in Nutrition under the Ceregrow grain selection, Ragi is called, also got off to a pretty good start. We are leveraging fully Mr. Purkayastha, as you rightly said, you alluded to in your question the competitive advantage. I think we have got considerable R&D expertise in this category. We have got a focus in terms of medical detailing and execution on the ground, fairly advanced technologies. Some of the products, Mr. Purkayastha, you'll be happy to know that we make in India in our factory in Samalkha, their only location outside of Europe is India. So therefore, you can see the level of sophistication that we have got. And I think this is something that we will leverage in the coming period. So in market share terms, our market shares have been stable. They have not gone up significantly. They have not come down significantly. They have been stable in the last 3 to 4 years in keeping with the growth of the category as well. Your next question has been on disputes with the income tax department regarding the disallowance of royalty. I just wish to add Mr. Purkayastha that, in fact, in the income tax appellate tribunal or the Delhi High Court, they have actually given us favorable judgments saying that after all the facts are taken into account on the benefits that the company has received, the royalty payment that has been paid is fair. And there is -- they have rejected the allegations of the tax department and held that the royalty paid by us is appropriate. Of course, we have now preferred the matter to the higher courts. The matter is sub-judice. Hence, a comment from me would not be appropriate. But just to let you know that at the appellate level and at the High Court level, the judgments have been favorable as far as the company is concerned. Target dates you asked for completion of projects at Ponda, Tahliwal and Nanjangud. This is part of the accelerated CapEx program, which is referred in Page 6 to 7 of the annual report. Most of this CapEx will be incurred in 2023, Mr. Purkayastha, and commissioning at Tahliwal will get completed in this year. Ponda and Nanjangud will be completed in quarter 1 and quarter 4 of 2024. Your next question has been on the global CEO talking about the CapEx in India of INR 5,000 crores. Also, you wanted a reconciliation of the earlier announcement that Nestle India was investing INR 2,600 crores. How much of this INR 2,600 crores is included in the figure of INR 5,000 crores? And are these 2 separate things? The CapEx of INR 2,600 crores, Mr. Purkayastha, was relating to the period 2020 to 2023. So it is largely undergoing completion now. The CapEx of INR 5,000 crores related to the period 2022 to 2025, of which about INR 1,700 crores, as I had answered Mr. Srimal earlier, will be invested in 2023 and the rest will be in 2024 and 2025. So that's where it stands. I think fairly aggressive CapEx investments, dividend policies and everything else, which you are welcome is in light of the CapEx that would be involved. The final question has been what was the consideration received by the company on the account of sale of a station in Sahyadri Agro and Dairy Private Limited during the year. Nestle received a consideration of INR 171.1 million for a divestment of -- disinvestment of 19.98% stake in Sahyadri Agro and Dairy Private Limited. So with that, I answered your question, Mr. Purkayastha. Thank you very much for your very constructive suggestions. And indeed, I think it is good that we have been able to engage today on various points. Thank you very much.

I now invite our last preregistered speaker member, Mr. K Raja Venkatasubramaniam from Chennai, client ID#1301240005401893. [Operator Instructions]

Now can you hear me?

Yes, sir, please go ahead.

First of all, I would like to congratulate the Chairman -- rather Mr. Suresh Narayanan as a Managing Director of the company and the management for an excellent result for the year 2022 as usual. In fact, more specifically, a 25% growth in chocolate and confectionery, which is very remarkable and a 41% growth in e-commerce, which is again an excellent one. This, of course, wishing Pramod Rai all the best for a bright future as Company Secretary of Nestle. My only question is on the debtors turnover ratio, it has increased from 88.6% to 93.8% between the year '21 and '22. Any particular reason because normally, we are -- our company has been a cash-rich company. And this increase is anything specifically -- because of any specific reason? Of course, the second point is Koko Krunch cereal and is not available in South or Chennai specifically. But it is a good product. So when is it made available in Chennai? Thank you, sir.

Thank you. Thank you, Raja. It's a privilege for me as we complete the round of people who have preregistered to end with a third generation -- 3 generations Nestle person. Raja, you, your father, your grandfather have all worked very diligently for this company. And I think if there is somebody in all the audience here who knows this company inside out, starting from the early part of this century would be your family. So thank you for your questions. I think the question as far as the debtor ratio is concerned, I would pass on to Svetlana, the CFO of the company to answer. As far as the question relating to Koko Krunch is concerned, I think Koko Krunch is being selectively distributed, Raja. So it is not in all the places. There is a greater focus on particular towns and on particular geographies. And therefore, my apologies if in the neighborhood store, you are not able to find it. I think gradually, we will be rolling this out. It's a little bit like the Milo story that I explained to Mr. Purkayastha. It is not nationally available as of now. It's in particular geographies, and that's where we will be focusing on it. So over to you, Svetlana, if you'd like to take that question.

Thank you, Mr. Raja, for the question. So the ratio went up because the sales growth was faster, right, than the trade receivables and hence, the trade receivables turnover to -- trade receivable ratio to the turnover also went up. So basically, this trend is [indiscernible]. Hope I have answered your question.

Thank you. Thank you, Svetlana. In any case, if Raja has a query, he can always come back. He is a member of the extended family, and I'm sure he can ask the questions like every other shareholder of this company is also entitled to ask. So thank you, Raja. And with that, we have completed all the speakers. Thanks to all the speakers participating from across the country. I am genuinely grateful for the time that you have taken. My sincere apologies, it has been long, but I would rather take the time and answer your questions, rather than try and put it all into a [Foreign Language] and give a 2-minute answer at the end, I don't think that is doing respect to you as shareholders, and I deeply respect you all. So therefore, thank you for having the patience. I have tried, I hope to give answers to the best of our ability. And some of the answers, which are of a more detailed nature, I promise that it will be -- you will be accessed with replies as soon as possible. Next, the questions sent in advance by e-mail. I would like to thank the team members who have sent their questions in advance to the designated investor e-mail of the company. The question that I have in front of me is of Mr. Nitin Nerlekar and Meera Nerlekar. Their questions are around the CapEx of INR 5,000 crores, their concern on whether in the current environment we are being prudent to invest what we are investing and whether there would be a resulting lower dividend payout over the years. So please specify the areas where such CapEx is proposed. Firstly, thank you, Mr. Nerlekar, and Meera Nerlekar, for your question and for your consideration on whether we are being prudent. I think we have taken the current growth rates, the current capacity utilizations in many categories where we are running desperately short and we are putting in investments into that. They are primarily in 3 main areas. They are in coffee, they are in chocolates and confectionery and they are in the prepared foods area. So these 3 areas are going to take a majority of the investments. All the NPVs and IRRs have been done, and they are showing reasonably good paybacks taken on a conservative basis, so not on a very aggressive basis. And therefore, that is where we will be. Your second question has been on the Milks and Nutrition business continuing to degrowing and then observation that Milkmaid seems to be also degrowing. I think I've dealt with this Milks and Nutrition question earlier. On the contrary, the growth has been fairly strong. It is a promising area as we open into RUrban markets, even more promising. And you will see that the action and especially on new launches like Gerber, et cetera, has been fairly encouraging for us. Other Nutrition, you said you alluded to ensure from Abbott doing very well and also on whether we have plans in the Nutrition category. I want to take a minute to answer this question. At Nestle, we have -- we are genuinely keen and concerned about the growing health issues that the country faces. Shareholders have asked about diabetes, shareholders have asked about other health-related issues. I'm happy to say that the Nestle Health Science business has got about 7 highly relevant categories where they focus on, health supplements, weight management, diabetes management, acute care and disease-specific supplements. Most recently, I've -- if there is one product that I am extremely proud of dear members that we have launched is a product called ThickenUp and Clear. It is a product meant for people with dysphagia. Dysphagia is a medical condition where you cannot swallow. Typically, it is meant for patients with cancer -- post-cancer conditions. But there are millions and thousands of very old people in this country who also are not able to have a decent meal because they are not able to swallow. This product, ThickenUp Clear, is a product that is meant for them. It doesn't change the taste of your food. It only changes the consistency so that an elderly person is able to swallow the food easily. This is contributing to society and contributing to a community, which is much bigger than the growth and profit numbers that you see that really makes it more exciting for us as a company. And this is where our purpose and values meet the consumer expectations. So the Health Science business has got a dedicated team of clinical experts. We are looking at ramping up this business significantly. We have new renewed leadership in this business, and I'm confident that we will continue and build this strategic portfolio [indiscernible]. One of the other questions that have been asked, the fourth question is, has there been a slowing down of new launches? And what are the response to the launches that have been done over the last couple of years? We have launched about 110 products in the last 7 years and continue to identify emerging trends and spot new opportunities. During the COVID time, our focus was on protecting the core because the core business is important to sustain the growth momentum of the company. That was done. Now we have certainly opened up the engines in terms of new products. As I mentioned to you, 30 new projects are on the annual, and this spans a variety of the categories of the company. So you will see more action happening on this. With this, I answer the questions that have appeared on e-mail. Now for messages posted on the communication box, those members who have posted messages, thank you very much in advance, and Mr. Pramod Rai, may I request you to kindly spell out the questions, messages if any received in the communication box one by one.

Thank you, Chairman. Most of the comments and questions posted in the communication box has already been addressed. However, there are 2 questions from Mr. [ Kamlesh Shah ], client ID#120169-00132 and which is as follows. Since inflation is coming down, do we plan to reduce price of products? This is question number one. Question number two is, what is premiumization percentage currently to sales? And what it be in coming 3 years with 30 new products coming in?

Very good question, Mr. [ Kamlesh Shah ]. Thank you for your question. Firstly, food inflation continues to be high, Mr. Shah. Overall, headline inflation is at about 6%, but food inflation is certainly more. Two of the biggest culprits in that are -- is at the moment, wheat and milk. There is not -- and milk has been, on a year-to-year basis, up by almost 15% to 20% and with a promise of even further increase. These are because of structural issues in the dairy industry, which has been well elaborated by other players as well. And also, of course, a surge in demand that has happened post COVID. Wheat, we still await the news on the crop. There is an expectation of 112 million tonnes, which has been announced by the government, though the quality of the wheat might be slightly lower is one of the reports that I've read, but once again, I think both these commodities and coffee, which is also on a runaway rise. So coffee, milk and wheat are going to be escalated and heightened during the course of this year. Therefore, I don't see an immediate possibility of relenting on the prices. However, we will take a hard look at the portfolio and see where that can be enabled. Second question was?

Percentage on premiumization.

Premiumization. Premiumization in terms of our total contribution is anywhere between 12% to 15% as a company. This has grown, and we would also like to increase it further. I can only say that with the new products being launched, this percentage will go up, not only for the new products, but also for the existing premium products because there's very clearly opportunities in premiumization that is taking place. I hope I've been able to answer the questions. But if any of your questions has not been answered, please write to the designated investor e-mail of the company, which I will repeat, [email protected], and we shall respond to you at the earliest. I now come to the voting on the agenda items. Now for voting on the agenda items 1 to 6 as set out in the notice of the AGM. As explained 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 at the top of your screen. You will be redirected to the e-voting portal of NSDL. Mr. Abhinav Khosla, Partner Messrs SCV and 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. tomorrow and shall be immediately intimated to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The results, along with the report of the scrutinizer, shall be uploaded on the website of the company and the NSDL, and shall be also available at the registered office of the company. I now wish to draw the attention of all the members participating in the AGM that the e-voting platform provided by NSDL will remain open for another 30 minutes. I thank you all for your participation, for your valuable suggestions and comments, for your confidence and trust in our company, which I assure -- and your suggestions, which I assure will receive due consideration by the management. The proceedings of the meeting will close after all the members participating in the meeting have cast their vote through e-voting, which will lapse once again after 30 minutes. Thank you very much for your participation. Thank you very much for your support. Thank you very much for your suggestions. Thank you very much for your involvement in the fortunes of Nestle India. Thank you very much, and the best of luck and good health to all of you. Thank you. [Voting]

Dear members, as instructed by the scrutinizers, request all the members participating in the AGM and who have not cast their vote to cast their vote in the remaining period of 10 minutes. Thank you. Dear members, as advised by the scrutinizers, the time for 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, Inba. The eligible and willing members have been given adequate time and opportunity to cast their votes. I formally close the proceedings of the Annual General Meeting. Once again, thank you very much for your participation and best of luck. Thank you.