Tata Chemicals Limited (500770) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon, shareholders. I'm Rajiv Chandan, General Counsel and Company Secretary of Tata Chemicals Limited. I welcome all of you to the 83rd Annual General Meeting of the company. We are holding this AGM through video conference in compliance with all applicable laws. Since there is no physical attendance of the members, the requirement of appointing proxies not applicable. The registers, as required under the Companies Act 2013 are available for inspection. As you are aware, the Companies Act 2013 and SEBI Listing Regulations requires the company to provide electronic voting facility to the shareholders. Accordingly, we have provided to all our shareholders the facility to cast their vote through remote electronic voting system administered by NSDL. The e-Voting facility is also provided to the shareholders present at this meeting who have not yet voted. Shareholders may please go to the voting page of NSDL e-Voting website and cast their vote while the proceedings of the meeting are on. Since the AGM is being held through video conference and the resolutions have already been put toward through remote e-Voting, there will be no proposing and seconding of the resolutions. Mr. P. N. Parikh of M/s. Parikh & Associates, Practicing Company Secretaries, have been appointed as scrutinizer for this meeting. This being the third virtual AGM, most of you would be familiar with the participating in the AGM through video conference. However, for the benefit of first-time participants, I would briefly explain certain technical aspects of the process. All members who have joined this meeting are by default placed on mute mode by the host to avoid any disturbance arising from the background noise. Once we commence the Q&A session, the Chairman will sequentially announce the name of the shareholders who have expressed their desire to speak at this meeting. When the Chairman calls that name, the host will unmute you. [Operator Instructions] With this, I would request the Chairman to take over and conduct the proceedings. Thank you.

Good afternoon, shareholders. I hope you and your family members are safe and in good health. I welcome you all to the 83rd Annual General Meeting of the company. As the requisite quorum is present, I now call the meeting to order. Before I start with the proceedings, I would like to request all directors who are on video conference to introduce themselves. Vibha Paul Rishi?

Hi. I'm Vibha Paul Rishi. I'm an Independent Director, and I am the Chairperson of the Stakeholders Relationship Committee. I hope everyone is safe and well.

Mr. Padmanabhan?

Good afternoon, shareholders. I am Padmanabhan. I'm attending this AGM from Mumbai. I serve as a Nonexecutive, Non-independent Director on the Board and also chair the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the company. Thank you.

Ms. Padmini Kaicker?

Good afternoon, shareholders. I'm Padmini Khare Kaicker. I'm attending this AGM from my office in Mumbai. I serve as an independent director on the Board of your company, and I also chair the Audit Committee of the company. Thank you.

Dr. Natraj. You're on mute.

My apologies. Good afternoon, shareholders. My name is Natraj, I'm an independent Director of this company, and I've joined this meeting from Bangalore. I also serve as the Chair of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. Thank you.

Mr. Anand.

Good afternoon, shareholders. I am K B S Anand. I'm attending this AGM from my residence in Mumbai. I serve as an independent director on the Board of our company and also chair the Risk Management Committee of the company. Stay safe and thank you.

Mr. Rajiv Dube.

Good afternoon, shareholders. I'm Rajiv Dube. I'm attending this AGM from my residence at Mumbai. I serve as an Independent Director on the Board of the company and also chair the Safety, Health, Environment & Sustainability Committee of the company. I hope you're all safe. Thank you.

Mr. Zarir Langrana?

Good afternoon, and welcome, shareholders. I'm Zarir Langrana, the Executive Director of the company, attending this AGM from Mumbai. I do hope you are all safe and in good health. Thank you.

Thank you all. With me present here are Mr. Mukundan, Managing Director and CEO; Mr. Nandakumar Tirumalai, Chief Financial Officer; Mr. Rajiv Chandan, General, Counsel and the Company Secretary. We also have our leadership team members attending this meeting through video conference. I'm also happy to see our union representatives from the Tata Chemicals, Mazdoor Sangh, Mithapur, are also attending this meeting from Mithapur on over cast. We value their continuing support and contribution for excellent industrial harmony at the company's establishments. Representatives of B S R & Co. LLP statutory auditors; Parikh & Associates, secretarial auditors; and D. C. Dave & Co, cost auditors are also attending the meeting through video conference. In line with relevant circulars issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on the Securities and Exchange Board of India, we are for the third consecutive year, holding the AGM through video conference. The live streaming of this meeting is also being webcast on NSDL's website. The company has taken requisite steps in [indiscernible] members to participate and vote on the items being considered on this AGM. The company has received 7 authorized representations along with Board resolutions from corporate shareholders appointing and authorizing representatives under Section 113 of the Companies Act 2013 in respect of 9,67,48,903 equity shares, representing 37.98% of the paid-up equity share capital. Members who have not voted earlier through remote e-Voting can cast their vote during the course of this meeting through the e-Voting facility. Since the notice is already circulated to the members, I take the notice and meaning the meeting has received and read. There are no qualifications in the reports of the statutory and secretary auditors. Let me make some brief remarks. At the start of the year, the world economic situation looked much more promising with an anticipation of a high growth and a high inflation economy globally. The Russia-Ukraine crisis has imported a stagflationary impulse. This resulted in a dent in the global growth while furthering increasing inflation. We are also currently facing supply chain shocks from higher oil prices, semiconductor shortages and a few other commodities. As a result of many of these macroeconomic factors, the global economy is expected to face a low growth, high inflation period ahead of us. The global GDP is expected to grow at a slower pace of 3.4% in 2022, which is almost 100 bps drop from the earlier estimate. However, India is in a very strong position. And is slated to be the fastest-growing economy in the coming year. The chemical industry, in particular, has recovered well from the impact of COVID-19 and the demand has been rising and it is expected to progressively grow through the fiscal year 2020 to 2023. The chemical industry and the demand for the products that your company makes is seeing excellent growth and also we are seeing a resultant price hike that is stabilizing at a higher level as the year has been progressing. Coming to the last year's performance, the company has posted a good operating performance for the year FY '21, '22. Indian domestic operations performed well, aided by improved market conditions and operational efficiencies. U.S. and Kenya operations also benefited from demand recovery. The company recorded a revenue of INR 12,622 crores, which is an increase of 24% on account of higher soda ash volumes. EBITDA was INR 2,305 crores, which was an increase of 54% primarily due to robust volume recovery across the products after the COVID, but also assisted by a favorable demand situation in the soda ash industry. The profit before tax stood at INR 1,667 crores, up 163% due to higher EBITDA. And the profit after tax was INR 1,258 crores, which was an increase of 391% for the previous year. The company also generated a very strong cash. The operating cash flow was INR 1,644 crores. The company's net debt stood at INR 4,390 crores, which reflected debt-to-EBITDA ratio of less than 2x. The consolidated cash and cash equivalents of the company was INR 2,635 crores. On a stand-alone basis, the revenue was INR 3,721 crores which is a 24% increase over the previous year. EBITDA was INR 951 crore, an increase of 56%. The PBT was INR 988 crores, which was 61% up from the previous year, and the profit after tax was INR 802 crores, up 67%. Cash generated was healthy at INR 582. The stand-alone cash and cash equivalents in the stand-alone company was INR 1,606 crores. In line with the company's dividend policy and based on a strong performance, the directors have recommended a dividend of 125%, which is INR 12.5 per share. The basic chemistry business compressing soda ash, bicarb on salt will scale up further with the addition of capacities in India at a planned investment of INR 5,000 crores. And the company is also focused on sustainability and we are leveraging the whole sustainability movement to increasingly focus on green chemistry embracing circularity, carbon reduction and biodiversity. The company has committed to a Science Based Target initiative with the goal of reducing its carbon emissions by 30% by 2030. Our newly commissioned carbon capture and utilization facility in the U.K. is one such flagship project executed in our efforts in this direction. In conclusion, the company's focus remains to grow the key products and scale up substantially and deleverage all the debt in the international operations and accelerate the commitment towards sustainability by adopting green chemistry. With these comments, I would like to thank you our shareholders for your support and also give my appreciation to the management and all the employees of the company. Now I would request the Managing Director, Mukundan, to make a brief presentation.

Thank you, Chairman. Greetings to all shareholders and colleagues. I hope you and your families are safe and healthy. As highlighted by Chairman, we are happy to report a good set of numbers with volume back to pre-COVID levels. This improvement in volumes led to revenue growth and also improvement in profitability. As you can see, the volume recovery was in soda ash by 21%. Also the specialty businesses grew at 54% and 42%, respectively. This improvement in performance was also backed with continued CapEx investment, which has been on track. These are a few pictures of the capacity expansion in Mithapur, we are expanding the soda ash capacity by 22%, and the salt capacity will go up by 36%. We expect them to come on stream progressively by 2024. Overall, we are focused, as Chairman explained, to grow and transform the core and adjacencies with this ongoing investment plan. Parallelly, we also want to embed sustainability with focus on carbon reduction and expand adjacencies through green chemistry. We are also focused on people metrics. Here, I think we need to improve our gender diversity, especially in manufacturing and sales and marketing. This number needs to go up from 7%. Our innovation metrics are strong. Increasingly, we are collaborating externally with R&D labs outside of our labs and these partnerships are paying good dividends. Our digitalization journey continues with momentum. Here, I want to just highlight the impact of digitalization in our manufacturing operations, where we've seen with the implementation of digital twin, there's been a 22% reduction in variability, which has improved efficiency in our soda ash operations. In terms of sustainability, as highlighted by Chairman, our carbon capture plant is now commissioned fully. More importantly, this CO2 is of such high purity that it is now able to produce pharmaceutical-grade bicarbonate. We are also focused on recycling consumption of waste materials and all these elements are part of our sustainability agenda of circular economy. In terms of community engagement, during COVID, we pivoted to mostly online program and support. Now what we've done as the economy has opened up is to go to hybrid mode. This has enabled us to increase our reach and impact, as you can see from the numbers of people impacted. In terms of environment program, our focus on Whale Shark continues. More importantly, this year, by the end of this year, we would also would have completed 1.5 million mangrove tree plantation. Last year end, it was 1.4 million trees. And this is an important program to have a positive impact on marine and coastal ecosystem. In terms of recognitions during the year, I want to highlight 3 of them. We were recognized amongst top and safe workplaces. We also got the Dun & Bradstreet Award for ESG performance in manufacturing sector. We also stood fourth spot in the Responsible Business Ranking during the year. In closing, I want to thank all shareholders for continued engagement and support. Thank you. Over to you, Chairman.

Thank you, Mukundan. The e-Voting facility is now open, and members may please visit the voting page of NSDL e-Voting website and cast their vote. The e-Voting facility will remain open for 15 minutes after the meeting to enable members to cast their vote. Now I would like to invite the speaker shareholders to make their observations. And as always, I would request them to be brief and to the point and not repeat a comment that has been already made by an earlier shareholder. I would also request the speakers to restrict their speech to 3 minutes as there are many speakers, and we would like to give opportunity to all of them. Thank you. Dr. Arun Kumar Boppana.

Great. Thanks to the [ CES ] team, the annual report is fine and excellent. I believe it's raining heavily in Mumbai, I'm in Bangalore, so there is pain there. But raining profits for Tata Chemicals again, sir. I'm proud of it. Best operational and financial performance, INR 1,000 crores on net profit, 125% dividend, the best in Tata Chemical history. But let us not beat our chest. [Foreign Language]. Let us be careful about that. So Chairman, you are smiling that is a euphemistic way of telling me to cut my speech to 2 minutes. It's like putting a gun to my [ head ]. I will not let you down, sir, as usual. Company is charting its growth plans at right time, Mithapur, soda ash, bicarb and salt inspection is a great growth story for Tata Chemicals. Mr. Mukundan is a champion of optimism and will amplify TCL's efforts for growth. I feel tremendously proud of him. [Foreign Language] My questions, will Tata Chemicals play any role in EV ecosystem? Can it supply lithium ion batteries economically on its own without relying on imports. With USP of being specialty silica, our proprietary technology as an essential ingredient of green chemistry, how much revenue will TCL add to its kitty from the business? How will silica and prebiotics will continue to be a part of growth, adding to green chemistry, science-based solutions? Food is not meeting nutrients requirements. Will Tata Chemicals fortify rice with micro nutrients? Tata Chemicals actions and commitment to ESG metrics. When will the Board split INR 10 share into INR 1? With Kalinganagar, as the national manufacturing investment zone, why is TCL not investing in land in Odisha to develop the east coast because we are heavily invested in Gujarat. In conclusion, sir, most chemicals can never be understood. We can enjoy it, celebrate its use, but never really understand. With this, I wish all the best.

Mr. Manoj Kumar Gupta?

Respected Chairman, Board of Directors, fellow shareholders. My name is Manoj Gupta, I'm equity shareholder of Tata Chemicals Limited. So first of all, I thank to you, your team and the entire Tata Chemicals Board for good and excellent result of the company for the year '21, '22 in the deprived end market. And thanks to MD and his team for excellent results and good dividend, and thank to the company secretary and his team and my special thanks to [ Mr. Sheth ] who has helped us to join this meeting through VC. And thanks for your dividend of 125%. Sir, have you any plans to come to eastern part of the country? Sir, have you any plans to come to Eastern part in this region? Just now Mr. Boppana has asked you South --- East Coast. And I asked you that have you any plans to come with some investment under the Tata Chemical in the Eastern region of the country? And I thanks to you for your CSR as per your balance sheet for the skill training, online classes, drinking water because drinking water when I meet you personally, I've asked you to provide some drinking water facility at the [indiscernible] railway station. [Foreign Language]. And sir, have you any plans to split the shares from 10 to 1 to increase the liquidity and the market cap. And attract the small investors that they can buy the Tata Chemicals CSR. And sir, what's your future outlook for chemical business for next 2 to 3 years? Future outlook for chemical business? And what's your view on the single-use plastic ban impact on our company? The government has implemented -- issued a gadget on 30th June 2022, that with effect from 1st July, there is a ban of single-use plastic. And sir, as per your balance sheet, the woman employment is very low. Have you any plans to increase this woman employment from 7% to 12% to 15%? And sir, Russia, Ukraine, and COVID has given a big impact on every aspect on common peoples due to inflation has gone up. How you face this challenge? So last, is there a plan to launch some household products like detergents under the brand of Tata Chemicals? [Foreign Language] So try to think to compete with others in this region -- in this segment, sir, also under the Tata Chemicals. And I strongly support your all resolutions.

[indiscernible]?

The respected Chairman, Board of Directors, good afternoon to all of you, myself, [indiscernible] from Mumbai. Very much thankful to our company secretary Mr. Rajiv sir and Kajal ma'am for outstanding, very good investment services and also sending me the AGM notice well in time, which is full of knowledge, facts and figures in place. Thank you, Mukundan sir for such informative and wonderful presentation. Thanks for the dividend, sir. In spite of pandemic restriction in the country for the first time, our company managed to give the best solid performance, which also reflected in the share price moving upwards. I congratulate the Chairman sir and management and particularly Mr. Mukundanji and our Executive Director for the great success and performance of our company. Sir, I would like to ask only one question. What is the market share of our main project, soda ash in the global market? So I strongly support all the resolutions for today's meeting and my best wishes, always for the company and its prosperity.

Ms. Patel?

Respected Chairman, first, I would like to greet our Chairman Emeritus, Mr. Ratan Tata; our respected Chairman, Mr. Chandrasekaran. Mr. Zarir Langrana representative on the Board and other eminent directors on the Board. Very good evening to all of you. Mrs. Patel over here. So this year, all the profits has been quite on an increase. The results are very good. Indeed, this is the third AGM wherein the share price today quoted is almost around INR 807, INR 808. And you have given us a dividend of 12.5%. Thank you very much for the dividend though it is not satisfactory. On the other side, the profits are on quite an increase. And the results are also good this year. Now I come to the point. So the entire profit, I understand that you are not transferring to the reserves, and the management has decided to use it to the furtherance of the profit of the company for the good of the company. The company has invested INR 18 crore in Indian hotels and INR 115 crores in Tata projects. So what will be our return for that? How much the Tata Chemicals will get out of it? So company has guaranteed to provide 14.4 million to Tata Chemicals Europe, 1 of the subsidiary of our company. When will this be, and how much do we expect to return out of it? So the CSR activities have been really very appreciable. So as mentioned, the new CSR, on Page 87, interventions that the company has to provide 2% of the profit that is INR 13.51 crores. The company has already spent INR 15.88 crores. That was INR 2.37 crores in excess. So every year are we going on excess and excess and excess, shareholders are not so satisfactory on dividend. But we are spending so much in CSR activities. We will keep on producing and producing and producing. The resources are not replenished, but it is deplenished more. And the population is increasing leaps and bounds. And still we have to go out performing CSR activities for others while people were investing. We are not getting much benefit out of it. No care has been taken for senior citizens, but care has been taken for all the children and women and this and that and extras and extras and extras. I think there should be some good policy. CSR policy should be framed and excess amount, which is spent on CSR should be counted. I think instead of 2%, I can go to the extent of saying it should be only 1% of company's profit on CSR. And other should be used for the company's benefit and for shareholders' benefit. Sir, just a minute, please. So the foreign exchange and this year...

Ma'am, can you finish your time?

Sure. So only 2 minutes out. Last year, it was 8.56, record foreign exchange rate. This year, it is only 7.89. It's much less. If some attention is to be paid by out. One is much more than the double. Last year, it was INR 460 crores. This year, it is INR 1,121 crores. Just 2 minutes please give me.

You're already 4 minutes. Other shareholders...

Just 2 minutes, please. Sir, what is this commodity swaps that you mentioned it on Page 325, commodity swaps. This year, it was INR 973 crores. If you can -- if your accounts, people can throw some light on it. And there is one more. Yes. So the raw material inventories level has gone quite up. And also the finished good stocks are on the rise. If it can -- some attention is due to be paid. And if it can be curved a little. [indiscernible] subsidy that we are receiving from the government for this phosphate fertilizer. Are we given -- have you taken [ funding ] with them depending -- thank you very much. I wish you all the best and I'm very much thankful to the share department for the good timely help that they have given. Thank you very much, [ Yashji ] at your good work done. I wish you all the best Yashji. Thank you. All the very best to all of the employees. Have a nice day.

Gautam Tiwari?

Good afternoon to my Chairman, sir, of course. And good afternoon to all Mr. Mukundan also Mr. Tirumalai, all Board of Directors, team Tata Chemicals Limited. I'm Gautam Tiwari as pronounced, and I'm participating at this meeting from Mumbai. Dear sir, we have seen our company's best ever performance and best ever profits in the year -- in this year. Now here is an example as to how company has rewarded shareholders in last 2 years. Sir, at the time of demerger announcement in financial year '18/'19, our market price of our share was INR 400 each. Now post demerger with Tata Consumer Products, shares were lotted in the ratio of 100 to 140 to existing shareholders. Now market price post demerger of Tata Chemicals shares stood at INR 1,000. Peak was INR 1,150, but it was INR 1,000 at an average, and Tata Consumer Products share was priced INR 900. Now that's INR 400 multiple to INR 2,000 just in the span of 2 years only, sir. Conclusively, our wealth creation and value addition is almost 5x in the period of 2 years. And this has happened, sir, for all shareholders, stakeholders and investors by just 1 decision, which was taken by you sir at the right time and correctly implemented under your expert and unmatched leadership. Hats off to you, sir, for rewarding the shareholders in these 2 years 5x of their investment. And besides this, you have given the dividend also up 125% for which we are thankful to you, sir. [Foreign Language] Sir, now what I see, sir, our R&D spend is INR 68 crores. Our dividend is 125%. Our EBITDA is 1.8 and market capital is INR 4,822 crores, and net debt-to-equity ratio has also come down to 0.26. Everything has improved like anything for which also we are very much thankful to you, sir. Sir, the soda ash and bicarb and salt expansion about these timely decisions taken at right time about these products, which has put our company in the growth trajectory. Sir, yes, sir. I congratulate the company for winning various awards and accolades and so also for excellent CSR activities, which are beneficial to the public at large and community also. Sir, secretarial department led by Rajiv Chandanji their associates, Shilpa, Shalini and Kajal and all others are providing exceptionally best-ever investor care, investor service year-on-year. And also balance sheet is also drafted, well designed very well and dispensed within time. Thank you very much for such a good share department. Also to share services by [indiscernible] and the [ Vivek's ] technical team is the best. Thanks to them also. And thank you management for providing such excellent service providers. I thank the management. And also I support all the resolutions. Sir, I support all the resolutions and appointments and reappointments and have already voted. Just give me 1 minute, sir.

[indiscernible]

Sir, one minute, sir. Sir, with number three expansion, what will be our market leadership position? Sir, secondly, our INR 10 paid-up shares are quoted in the market at INR 1,000. Sir, can we expect to stock splits or bonus from the management? Sir, our dividend is 125%, how much is the payout ratio? Sir, what is your plan to pay out the best of -- the date of INR 6,900 crores, which is remaining to be paid now and will Tata's employees [indiscernible]? Thank you, even sir, for patient listening. We wish you a long happy prosperous healthy, wealthy life to the management and the best of luck and best of the share. Thank you very much sir for patient listening.

Mr. Santosh Kumar Saraf.

[Foreign Language]

[ Prakashini Shenoy? ]

I'm Prakashini Shenoy from Bombay. [Foreign Language] Respected honorable Chairman, Chandrasekaran, others dignitaries from the Board and my fellow shareholders, good afternoon to all of you. I received the annual report well in time, which is colorful, transparent, information, knowledgeable and contains all the informations as per the corporate governance. I thank the company's secretary, Mr. Rajiv Chandan and his team for the same. I should not forget to thank them once again for reminding me of the meeting and giving me the chance to speak. Thank you, Rajiv Chandan and his team. The Chairman has given a fair picture of the company as well as Mr. Mukundan has given beautiful explanation, along with these slides. Thank you very much to both of you. At the outset, I congratulate the management for various awards received in different categories during the year. I'm also thankful to the Board for recommending dividend at the rate of 125% for the financial year. I'm glad to note that the company has done outstanding work in the field of CSR activities. Sir, I have just 2 questions. How are we planning to progress towards digital future? Number two, what is the market position of soda ash globally? I wish the company good luck for a bright future and pray God that the property of the company shall reach the peak in due course. Sir, I wholeheartedly support all the resolutions put forth in today's meeting. Thank you, sir.

Mr. [indiscernible]?

My dear Chandrasekaran, Chairman, thank you very much for taking care of the company. And I will not repeat all the good things that have been said by the previous shareholders. I would like to congratulate the company. I call Mr. Chandan. He is the best company secretary in the Tata Group. He takes care of the shareholders, even not -- I mean throughout the year, not only during the AGM. And Mr. Chairman, I will meet you today in the evening at the Bombay Chartered Accountant Society at the Wankhede Stadium. So it will be a physical meeting, sir. And so I would like to know what is your take and when are going to have a physical meeting as far as shareholder AGM are concerned? So that is 1 thing. I would like your opinion, why are we not having physical meetings. Then one more thing, sir, what is your opinion on merger of Rallis and Tata Chemicals. It is long overdue. You have taken away, sold from us and given it to Tata Consumer. So why don't you because Rallis and Tata Chemicals, it's a merger. It's -- I mean that is what it is. The products are similar. They are good. They are -- I mean, common products basically, as far as the farmer is concerned. So what is your expert opinion on that merger? And what is the opinion of the independent shareholders also who are on our Board. Then -- our company has discovered some product where we are going to replace this carbon black, which was used in the tires and all. So where do we stand as far as that product is concerned? Then that is one other thing. I mean I would like to know what has happened to that product? It was going to replace carbon black use for tires. One more thing, what I heard was you bought land, or we got land next to our Nano plant in Gujarat to manufacture batteries. So what is the progress of the plant? I would like to know that. And while not being open, I mean, while the attendance list hidden and why don't I see the directors on the Board? Why don't -- I mean, they just announced and then they are not -- I cannot see them. I mean, we are -- but now we have become used to it in other meetings also where each and you can even see the face of the attendees, even if it's 100 or 200 and plus. All the speakers, the moderators, we can see the faces also. Why -- you all are feeling ashamed of showing your faces or what or have they want to sleep, I don't know. You don't seem to be happy. Sir, this is -- be the change because during this meeting, audio meeting, basically, things are not what they're. I mean, the person who announced that the other AGM, the people -- somebody else is announcing the shareholder saying speaker #10, so and so, speaker 11, Mr. so and so get ready, so he knows now. If I'm speaker #12 and it come to #10. So he's ready basically. We have to wait if you -- you're not commenting on anything. So that is what and then again, you have to wait till you everybody finishes. We have to keep our phone on. We are battery [indiscernible] I will see you today evening at 7:00. Physical meeting is there and what is the opinion of having physical AGMs?

Mr. [indiscernible] Patel.

Chairman and members, kindly refer Page 83 of the Board report. Left column, Page 26, Particulars of Employees. I think you are on the Page 83.

Yes.

May I proceed?

Yes, please.

Disclosures pertaining to remuneration and other details as required in the Section 197 of the head read we've Rule 5 of the Companies, Appointment and Remuneration of Managerial Persons, Rules 2014 are enclosed as Annexure 5 forming part of this report. The statement containing particulars of employees has required in the Section 197 of the act read with Rule 5 of the Rules forms part of this report. Further, the report and accounts are being sent to the members, excluding the opposite statement. In terms of Section 136 of the act, the said statement will be open for inspection upon request by the members. Any member interested in obtaining such particulars write to the company secretary and so and so. Chairman Sri, Section 197 read with Rule 5 of the Companies Act and rules here provides that, Board have legal obligation to supply particular of employees along with report to every member and to the registrar of the Companies. It appears that either company secretary does not want to disclose that about [indiscernible] implicated by him while section 452 not part of this part of the [indiscernible] are being prosecuted wrongfully the Companies Act. Or Board do not want to disclose that, member also can prosecute to those employees including company secretary who are forming part of this, say, [indiscernible]. Chairman Sri, subsection 1 of Section 45 to provide that if any officer or employee of a company wrongfully obtains possession of any property, including cash of the company or having any set property, including cash in his possession, wrongfully applies it to for the purpose other than the expressed or directed in the articles and authorized by the act. He shall, on the complaint of the company or of any member thereof be punishable with fine which not less than INR 1 lakh, may extend to INR 5 lakh. Subsection 2 of Section 45 to further provide that the court trying an offense may order such an officer or employee to undergo imprisonment, which may extend to 2 years. Chairman Sri, while defending, say 20 workers, we would wish to know that why Board, including independent members, are holding back same disclosure [indiscernible]. Thanks for affording an opportunity to raise workers' concerns.

Thank you. Mr. Bimal Kumar Agarwal?

First of all, thanks to company's secretary and his team. And you always have the meeting online. It's better everyone can join from home as now it's raining like cats and dogs, at least we can -- otherwise, we could have not come for the meeting. And I'll come to the real point. During the last year, company has reported strong revenue and profit growth. Please provide the detailed CapEx plan for the soda ash business. Also, what are the prospects for the business during the current year, particularly considering falling commodity prices. Please also provide details of progress made in nutraceutical and recycling of lithium batteries recycling business. That's all from me.

Ashish Kumar Bansal?

Company secretary, I [indiscernible] the email. If you can reply us, I am thankful to you.

[ Hasmukh Vora ]?

Respected Chairman, I'm Hasmukh Vora from Mumbai. Results are very good for the current year. Our turnover and profit was good. I congratulate the management, and wish that our future also, it will successfully grow. And regarding this -- sorry, I would like to know what is our capacity utilization? And how recently last 3, 4 years, a lot of our business is demerged from Tata Chemicals and separated into separate new companies. So what is the -- I mean, is there any scope for further demerger? Whether any further demerger we can expect? And I'm really thankful to the secretary Rajiv Chandan and his team for all the assistance given to me. And also [ Mr. Vineet ] for the technical assistance given and to present myself before you. Lastly, thank you and all the best.

[indiscernible]?

[Foreign Language] [Foreign Language] Chairman, sir, wish you all the best.

[indiscernible]?

Hello?

Yes.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

Mahesh Kumar [indiscernible]?

Sir, am I audible?

Yes.

First of all, I congratulate to the Chairman of the company, Mr. Natarajan Chandrasekaran; Managing Director; other Board of Directors, CFO, and Company Secretary, also other dignities and all associated staff members who are assisting to this Annual General Meeting for a grand success. Sir, this is my humble request that I will speak in 2 phase, one in extraordinary, one in accounts. So first, listen, we are under the constitution of India Companies Act 2013, LODR Act, then [indiscernible] and some other related laws of the our country. A lot of shareholders are just appreciating to the -- some company secretary, some to other, some are just leading the accounts, some are just only [indiscernible]. So better to make 2 separate AGM. Those in such category and those who are criticizing in the company's affairs, accounts, et cetera, working. So better -- our time should not be killed. Another thing that [indiscernible] and some other shareholders also criticized about the secretarial department, company secretary, first of all, listen that Section 203 of the Companies Act 2013, it defines MD, CEO, Chairman -- this, Holding Director one category; CFO, another category; and third is company secretary. Company secretary is -- why company secretary is appointing in this company, any limited company because they are only the media in between the management and the shareholder. Their appointment is totally for the welfare of the shareholder, not for the promoter or any other work of the company. Their prime duty -- company secretary, is to assist to the shareholders. Why trying to approach to your company secretary, our children [indiscernible] never for many, many years -- just one month earlier, also, I tell you a lot of times, I tell to the deputy secretary who is the company secretary of Rallis India yesterday. He's only assisting, no any other staff in the company, they are never assisting to me. While ringing to the mobile phone number of the secretary of the secretary to the secretary, she never picking the phone also. Last year she had phoned me. I made it saved in my phone [indiscernible] after a lot of request, I just got the annual report and I got the link. Last year, no link was provided to me. They are saying that window will open on such and such date. In all these -- your Tata Group company and all other companies in the India, why they are adopting the system, window will open? I know window, there is [indiscernible]. I know window means these things. What do you mean by window in the Companies Act in the LODR Act? Why is this window, window? Companies act say that any shareholder can move to the meeting work without any permission. They're having that each and every right. Then why this system? Maybe in virtual meeting, it should be required to have an arrangement with the next year, so 3 days, 4 days before you close the chapter. Not from this date to this date. How people know that this date to this date. This is the normal policy that -- adopted by all the company secretary and charted accountant in India. This is a bad policy by the practice, which is the against the best interest of the shareholders of the -- any company. Not only Tata, any company. This is my humble request, to change the system. Okay. Now I'm coming to the accounts. These very, very vital point I'm telling because good corporate governance means we are accountable to the shareholder for a single minute of the company secretary, CFO and Director; and also the single penny of the company's expenditure for this. Nobody are providing any direct contact number for all these categories under the Companies Act -- 203 Section of the Companies Act 2013. Then [indiscernible] -- they say -- suggest to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Ministry of Law to delete this section from the Companies Act, better. Again, I am coming to the accounts. This is the third AGM of the company. So I thank to the management and Board of Director that is now after the demerger of our FMCG business in the -- this data consumer product, our this -- now this -- after demerger this product was evaluated properly. And earlier, it was under the Act. And when this -- our -- this earning per share and capital worth was not properly evaluated. Now -- earlier I know that 20%, 30% dividend, 40% dividend maximum, before that FMCG started. So now this evaluation of our network was openly doing and it required because salt is used by even any citizen's house in India, all over India because without salt, nobody can able to cook the food. It is very, very [indiscernible] and it is very profitable business. If any person will purchase INR 20 kg salt, then company will earn INR 4, INR 5 minimum. So it is a very, very important in comparison to all other products in the market, salt is very, very important. And other [indiscernible] this is also important to [indiscernible]. So this is a very important industry, very profitable industry. If we will evaluate this -- net worth of this company and the our -- working, then it will then able to give INR 100 per share. One thing that your Tata Steel is also subdividing share of INR 1 share. Now your Tata Consumer is also INR 1 share. So why you are not subdividing these Tata Chemicals share into INR 1 share? To evaluate the market to have attracted more and more investor in the market, now earlier there was a physical business in the stock market and the minimum [indiscernible] was INR 50 or INR 100. Now INR 1 share and 1 equity [indiscernible] is a marketable note to enhance more and more attraction of the investor, you have to subdivide this share. Again, I am coming to the...

[indiscernible].

Sir, there is no limit. I told in all other companies' meeting.

But still, you have to stop [indiscernible].

[indiscernible] Rallis India. Pardon?

Sir, try to be [indiscernible] in your comments.

Yes. Yes. I'll not tell any this story, one-act play or this. I'm talking about the legality and the prospect of the company. One working that Rallis India is a chemical business. And Tata Chemical itself is a chemical, that is also [indiscernible]. But that profitability go to other person because that is a listed company. Some others are also their shareholders. Better to merge this Rallis India to Tata Chemicals so that the other shareholder will also be directly the investor of the Tata Chemical and we will also get the benefit properly and we can also discuss for Rallis India in this company so that the picture will be clear to all the shareholders. Your profitability has enhanced in twofold from last year. It means there is a lot of scope in the profitability. Sir, you have been -- some of the subsidiary in abroad also besides this Rallis India and all are working very good, U.S. also. One thing in Magadi Limited, you had written Kenya, then in U.S., not U.S.A., et cetera. Why you are not noting the place of the U.S.A., so that we can understand which part of the U.S.A. our this subsidiary exist. Sir, this is chemical business, if we will have to enhance other businesses in the chemical business, like [indiscernible] other companies in the market, then we can able to have a diversified composite business of the chemicals so that we can able to achieve because a lot of this medical industry also using the chemical. So we will also have to medical this chemical so that we can able to go for the diversify implication of our industry. Sir, as a lot of shareholders also told that our this stock data is also in threefold, I appreciate that it will be subdivided into INR 1 share, that will enhance to -- INR 1 share can be achieved to INR 1,000. This is my guarantee because there is no limit of the money in the market, and we can able to achieve. Sir, active INR 1.46 per share is the -- our -- this earning per share. So you are paying INR 12.50. You see, you have retained the earning -- earlier earning is INR 15,000 crores. And our capital is INR 254 crores. After demerger, you have to reward to the shareholders because this money kept by -- from our earlier earnings and for the lot of -- lot -- so many long years we are waiting for the bonus [indiscernible]. So this is my humble request to come with the bonus issue because our this profitable business from this company to go to Tata Consumer. This FMCG is very -- in marketing, it is a very profitable business, which has gone to Tata Consumer. So now you come with the evaluation of the [indiscernible].

Mr. [indiscernible]. You [indiscernible].

I am summarizing. I will not take much more time. Regarding this [indiscernible].

[indiscernible] more than 10 minutes.

Maybe. It can be 7 days or 10 days, whatever it will. It is [indiscernible].

There are other shareholders waiting, so please finish.

Maybe. Maybe. My time is my time. You see in the net cash flow investing activity, you had disinvested the same amount of money, and again reinvested purchase of investment of the more or less same amount. Then why you are investing in the investment? Why you are not liking our -- as a working capital or the long-term capital in the company? Why in the other companies? So better to evaluate our proper -- this utilization. We will have to enhance our production and we can -- why we are investing in other companies? That is only 4%, 5%, 6% interest. And here, if we will utilize it for the turnover for 7x, 8x of our money, then we can able to earn a huge amount. Sir, I will not take much more time. I'm leaving. I'm leaving. Okay. Thank you.

[indiscernible]?

I'm sorry, sir. Mr. [indiscernible] has not joined the meeting.

[indiscernible]?

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

[indiscernible]?

Am I audible, sir?

Yes, you are.

Respected Chairman [indiscernible], MD and CEO, highly distinguished Board of Directors and our fellow shareholders, my name is Rajesh [indiscernible], and I'm speaking from Mumbai. So first of all, congratulations on getting the highest award of Padma Bhushan. And again, congratulations, sir, for purchasing a beautiful flat. Sir, I wanted to -- a small request is this sir, we had given the bonus in 1995. I remember sir, it was 1995 that we were given the bonus of 5:3-something. So it's been a very, very long time, sir, and we have a very good reserves also. So if it's possible, it's my request, if it's possible, we can go for the bonus or the second option is that we can do like Tata Steel, where we took a stock split, and -- we took a stock split. So maybe not in the rupee face value one, we can always go for the face value two, then in the future that we have -- we keep the margin [indiscernible]. And sir, regarding the video conferencing, sir, I'm very much happy with this things are -- because normally, the way the condition is, the weather is, so much rains and all, so I think we at our comfort can join the meeting, sir. And I'm very much happy with all the excellent performance. And secretarial department [indiscernible] secretarial department, sir, they are working very hard. And sir, very polite, very friendly. Out of the way, they got in touch with us and they -- everything is getting corrected, sir. So we really thank the entire secretarial team also. And a very small words I have to say, sir, for the AGM. For future also -- I won't take much of your time, sir. That's why I'm saying [Foreign Language]. This, sir, I support all your resolutions. And sir, I just wanted to ask one small thing, sir, regarding the Rallis, sir, there really has to be [indiscernible], sir [indiscernible], sir. I support all your resolutions.

[indiscernible]?

Can you hear me?

Yes. Yes.

Am I audible?

Yes.

Respected Chairman, good evening, all. I'm speaking from Mumbai, Mrs. [indiscernible]. First, I thank the company's secretary, Mr. Rajiv Chandan, and his team for sending me the annual report well in time and also registering me as speaker. And the team is so good, they even rang me today as a reminder, call, very good link also. And I'm not going to say more, sir. You only beat your own record every year. Just like dividend, which was last year 100%, this year 125%. Market cap also beaten earlier record to this record. And we have one more company in our hands, that is Tata Consumer, giving us still better return and good returns. I don't -- I will not ask for bonus. At the right time, you will give. I have got full faith in your management. Now my queries, straight away, only 2. We are manufacturing soda ash, bicarb, salt, halogen products. So I would like to know in which of these our margin is quite high, in which market share is highest and the future in which we have a great, great future. Now second question is, Page 75, sale of cement stood at INR 4.87 lakhs MT. Who or which company we are selling this cement, whether cement or directly we are selling in the market? My third is the suggestion, sir, it is not a query. What will be our CapEx, how much? Why I'm asking? Sir, think of accepting deposits from shareholders with 1% or 0.5% more for senior citizens. At least, we will be beneficial in these days with difficult times, so we can [indiscernible] we know our money will be safe. I support all the resolutions. Sir, I like the logo, stay ahead of change and be future ready. So I know we are all getting ready for future. Mr. [indiscernible], he is number 21. He will speak. Respected Chairman, sir, can I speak. Am I audible?

Yes. Yes, you are audible.

Respected Chairman, sir, very distinguished members boards and my fellow shareholders. My name is [indiscernible]. At the outset, I thank the management, our company secretary for sending me the balance sheet, which I received on time. It is self-explanatory, informative, transparent, and adhering to all the parameters required for a good corporate governance. Our results are very good, as shown by facts and figures with a handsome dividend of 125% and a good market cap of INR 810, very good, sir. Keep it up. Sir, we have a good management so far as CSR is concerned, very good risk management. Our products are very good. I would like to know, sir, any new products are in the pipeline? And 1 question I wanted to ask, Rallis India is our subsidiary. There was a move of a merger, Rallis India with Tata Chemicals. What is the progress? Is it still going on or is it dropped? That is I wanted to ask. Another question, sir, about the rupee-dollar fluctuation. We are export-oriented company, so dollar is strong. So our revenues by way of dollar payment will be good. And do we hedge our rupee-dollar fluctuation? And sir, many questions have been asked by my predecessor shareholders. I like to be brief and -- because I don't want to be repetitive. So I end my speech, wishing you personally all the Board members and Secretary for giving such a beautiful balance sheet.

Suresh Kapoor? Suresh Kapoor?

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

Sir, as has been articulated earlier by you and also our MD about our strategic priorities. Sir, currently, we are having debt in our international subsidiaries, whether it's U.S., U.K. and if I'm not wrong, for Kenya also. So what is our road map currently? How are we progressing ahead to reduce and deleverage, especially the U.S. debt? And also about the debt at the Singapore level, which our MD has articulated during the conference call, I think it's about $200 million. So how -- what steps are we taking to lower these numbers? And also, I think some refinancing is due for this year. So what kind of increase in cost in terms of the [indiscernible] interest rate are we [indiscernible]? Sir, the margins which we have observed, which we have seen in the U.S. operations and also for Kenya, how confident are we that these are going -- these margins are sustainable? And we can also -- there is also a scope of increasing the same? So if some more light would be thrown on -- how are the U.S. operations, sir? Currently -- of late, it was -- U.S. was a big drag. Last year, U.S. did outperform, I think so, at the fourth quarter. But still U.K., we had some issues with, I think, the energy prices and the carbon prices also. So how are we -- how is the current year looking like for also the U.K. operations? Sir, earlier, sir, we have already spoken about -- on one side, we are having carrying debt at the net level, at the consolidated level, and other side, we are holding investment in our credit operations. I'm particularly talking in terms about our investment in Titan, which is what today also about INR 2,400 crores. So what -- where are we in the midst of divestment or whether we have any other plan for it? And also, sir, last year, we did invest in Tata, I think so, Industry. Yes -- Tata Projects. We invested around INR 139 crores in Tata Projects. So I would like to understand our rationale of increasing our exposure again in Tata Projects. So we did spoke about the CapEx, which is currently being played out for -- at Mithapur. So what kind of capacity additions are we expecting for the end of this financial year since sir has told that it will culminate by FY '24. So are we expecting any additional quantities to be added to the total capacity for this year? And coming to the point about, sir, firstly about this demand outlook part, sir. How are we seeing, say, currently, the soda ash industry [indiscernible] I think so, but now also, we are seeing that there is a softening of the input prices. The -- whether it is coal, whether it is the crude prices, gas prices, everything has corrected. So where are we in the midst of our realizations in the soda ash segment, if some more color would be thrown? And also, sir, in conference calls and other medium, we have spoken about the enhanced demand from solar panels. So what kind of shift in demand or the increased demand, if you could quantify, is appearing from solar panels, particularly from India as well as from the foreign? I would conclude with only 2 points. One is about the benefits of this carbon capture utilizing unit in U.K., how are we going to benefit from the commencement of this unit? And lastly -- yes, I think I have summarized -- I would like to hear some more, categorically, how are the demand scenarios shaping up for the [indiscernible].

[indiscernible], come back to you. Thank you.

Yes, it could be done. And also the price hike, which we have taken, if any, post the -- this -- [indiscernible].

Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. I've heard you. Okay. [indiscernible] Kapoor?

Yes, sir. We are sitting together, so I was just -- that was the reason I was just trying to summarize it. So that less time can be taken. And we would look for the price hike also which we have taken [indiscernible].

Sir, I have taken all your questions. I'll come back to you. [indiscernible]?

Yes, just I'm connecting my video, sir. Thank you for providing me the chance to speak in AGM. Thank you, [indiscernible] Madam, for providing good investor service. [Foreign Language].

Sir, I have noted. Sir, I'll address it. Anything else?

Anything -- nothing here, sir.

Satish Shah?

[Foreign Language]

Anil [indiscernible]?

Chairman, sir, am I audible?

Yes, you are.

First of all, there is no physical interference of us since last 3 years. And I request you and all the Board members, if possible, kindly initiate physical meeting next year if everything goes well. Secondly, our company secretary, Mr. Rajiv Chandan and all other [indiscernible] team doing excellent work as far as Investor Relations is concerned and hats off to you, Rajiv, for doing good work to make happy shareholders. Under the guidance of Mr. Mukundan and Mr. Chairman, we have done exceedingly well all-round performance in Tata Chemicals. So you all should be congratulated and you all should have been given a round of applause. Sir, this year, our turnover has gone to INR 12,600 crores, up by 24%, including Rallis India turnover, which is given on Page 23. And our EBITDA margin has also gone up and a record profit of INR 1,400 crores and dividend of INR 12. Sir, all-round performance. I'm really delighted to see all these things in the annual report. Sir, my question is any capital expenditure we have envisaged on America, Europe and Africa operations this year? And sir, major buyers of our soda ash products, I would like to know? Sir, also revenue from our Tata Salt, what is the revenue of our Tata Salt total? And any plans of other variant of Tata Salt? Like in Tata Consumer, we have introduced Tata Copper brand premium water. So I would like to understand from you. Sir also, I have seen in our balance sheet, our manpower productivity is only INR 0.36 crores. Don't you feel this is on a lower side, sir? You can correct me on that. Sir, also on Page 19, we have won and obtained product and plant approvals for our fermentation prebiotics and formulations with pharmaceutical nutraceutical customers. Sir, our target to focus on new export markets and introduce formulations. I would like to know [indiscernible] on this issue. Please give me details on that, then I would be very much delighted. Sir, also, I would like to give you congratulations for winning various awards and recognitions. I support all the resolutions strongly today. And Mr. Rajiv Chandan, thank you once again for providing me all kinds of detail, which I wanted.

Arvind [indiscernible]?

I am Arvind [indiscernible], speaking to you from Ahmedabad. Sir, actually, I really want to congratulate you for having an excellent result. I have seen 360-page balance sheet, I have gone through that. I feel that almost all the figures are beautiful. But except that what I personally feel that one thing I could not understand and for which I will require help from you is primarily that you see the PAT is good, PBT is also good, the EBITDA margin is also good, but why the cash from operation is less? It is -- actually, in this year, it is INR 1,664, whereas prior to that in financial year '21, it was INR 2,037 crores. So I wanted to know on that. The second point I wanted to know, basically, Tata Group is very aggressive, aggressive in the sense in electric vehicle. I think I heard you the day before yesterday, that Tata Motor EVs, we are planning to have 50,000 EVs this year, that is the end of '23 and another 1 lakh cars. And I feel that the Tata Group as such is working in a very cozy fashion, like Tata Elxsi is really supporting for the software of this. Tata Power is coming, aggressively coming and installing the charging station everywhere. I -- at least in the annual report, I could not see. I understand very strongly from all the sources of media that Tata Chemical is coming with a very aggressive EV battery, lithium-ion batteries, which will be indigenously manufactured or indigenously developed or indigenously sourced material. I wanted to know what is this project, where it will be located, under what entity will it be located, what is the capital expenditure on that, what is the capacity of that? And the -- especially the collaboration arrangement, if any, technology transfer, if any. So this project somehow there, I think that it is closely kept to heart or closely -- it is a secret or it is not being disclosed very openly. So I wanted to know the actual status because I see a good potential for the lithium-ion batteries for EV. And the EV is definitely going to be the state-of-the-art technology for the green energy.

Hari Ram Choudhary?

I'm opening my video. I'm opening my video, just a minute. Let the video come. It has not come. now it has come. So -- yes, Chairman, other leading directors and managers, shareholders, my name is Hari Ram Choudhary. I'm speaking from Santacruz, Mumbai. Sir, first compliments to you for getting Padma Bhushan. I'm sure that in near future, you will get Padma Bhushan also. Now I would like to get attention of the CSR Committee members and Chairman also because I will be speaking about the CSR. Finally, let us know who is a CSR Committee member? Who are the CSR Committee members and who is the Chairman of the CSR Committee? And kindly let us know how much amount we have spent for CSR projects and whether this is more than 2% and how much have they spent for COVID-affected people? And Mr. Chairman, the presentation by [indiscernible] was very impressive, and we were happy that the recycling less material -- is recycled. That was a very good point. And the performance is very good. Turnover is better, revenue is better and profit is better, and dividend is better. so my compliments to you for all this. And Mr. Chairman, now kindly let us know whether we have a solar panel and the water harvesting in our plant. Come to you for all this. And Mr. Chairman, now can you let us know whether we have a solar panel and the water harvesting in our plant, currently there is no -- that is the need of the hour. And now how many shareholders are attending today's meeting, can you let us know about that? And one suggestion, Mr. Chairman, that we can have on mobile number also in our office. This would be good for contacting the shareholder. We can send the message also in case we cannot get cleaner contact. So let our company be the first to have this. And now about -- one suggestion is that as we have Diwali get together because this is not physical meeting. So this solution can also be considered. And minutes may be sent to me, I will pay the necessary charges for this can also to be done. I will conclude my comment by best wishes for all on progress and profit in the company. Thank you very much.

[indiscernible]

Can you hear me, sir?

Yes, I can hear you.

Respected Chairman, I have come a little later into the meeting as a speaker. So a lot of our queries have been already raised. So I don't take up those same queries, and I don't want to heap a lot of praises. The praises have already been said. I just want to come to the question. The silicon, which has been developed as a specialty product has been used only for tires, rubber and something into detergents -- into detergent, but not -- it has not been mentioned about the solar panels. Silica is the basic material used into solar panels. We're not tying up with any solar panel manufacturers for the silica that we make. And what I've noted is that the Mithapur soda ash plant capacity has been 88% utilized and the Cuddalore silica plant is 85% utilized. And you're mentioning about INR 5,000 crores CapEx during the year, sir. What amount of this INR 5,000 would go to the expansion? And what would be the expansion capacity plant for Mithapur and Cuddalore for this thing. And in the previous annual report, sir, the EV battery of lithium recycling was mentioned, sir. In this annual report from Page 1 to 360, I have not been able to find anywhere the lithium plant, which was supposed to come up with [ Modera ], I think so. But it has not been mentioned anywhere. I don't understand why, sir. And in the pages for plants and location, it has come in very late into the annual report. It is somewhere on page 113 in plant location, one second sir, as we mentioned on the very inside pace in the corporate governance side. But not somewhere in the front pages where the plants are located. And I would request the company secretary to have the annual report printed in dark black contrast instead of the gray ink, which has been printed in, which gives a strain while reading the annual report, sir. Signing off and I wish the company all the best.

Dinesh Bhatia.

[Foreign Language] All the best.

Yusuf Rangwala.

[Foreign Language] Speaking from Mumbai. My name is Yusuf Rangwala. First, I will thank for the [indiscernible] to give the sending the balance sheet [indiscernible] remember very colorful way and some -- our secretarial team has done very hard work, sir. [indiscernible] , 74 operating profit increased by INR 166 -- INR 1.66 crores on 2,022, 2022. So this how our company is going up. Sir seeing this result, sir, now I will ask for the bonus because many years have passed -- many years have passed, sir, you've given a bonus. We can access our digital Annual General Meeting. Now we stop the physical. We're not meeting -- of course, [Foreign Language] small get together, sir... [Foreign Language]

[indiscernible].

[indiscernible] here. Yes. the previous occasions, your cold was there. Well, we pray for your health, the health should be good then you can manage the companies very well. So now I just wanted to know 2 things. We come under essential services products, I think our company was running continuously to full capacity. For example, I just want to know was the company running to full capacity? Was that plants running to full capacity? Another thing is regarding research have not discovered any new products? Though we know you have maintained, you have written everything in your annual report. We know that we would still like to know is a research in new products. One more thing in Tata Motors you mentioned about the supply chain of Jaguar. What about here -- do you have any problems, any challenges with respect to the supply chain, the non-availability of raw materials, imports and then distribution. Anything you can throw like as in Tata Motors, you mentioned all our -- you answered all your questions in detail, but our subsidiaries are making losses. You can throw light on that also. And in the past, we had losses in Tata Chemicals. We sold at a loss -- so now we are happy. It has come up, though there was some new merger. As you know, I do not like to take more of your time. So I'm ending my speech here, I wish you all the best. We saw MD, our entire Board of Directors, I wish everyone all the best and thanks for entire time for continuously following up and making -- come on the speakers' forum. Thank you very much.

[indiscernible].

It's a great pleasure to join you again, [Foreign Language] to all. Coming to the point, sir, this time surely officials are there kindly bear with me. Sir, I want to comment on the mitigation plan. Yes, movement of raw materials and others, I want to comment to the import of the raw material safety in a chemical moment. And the royalty, I want to comment here, say that the loyalty, so the FMC company who invested from Europe and they invested in India, they take royalty. I am of opinion that we invested in a subsidiary in the U.S. and U.K., are we eligible for the royalty? What is your investment plan in the U.S.A. and the U.K. How many investments we'll do? You were to comment on your debt borrowing also, INR 4,000 crore borrowing and people are asking bonus, I fail to understand. Growth long way to go. Your balance sheet say...

Hello. Hello? Mr. [indiscernible]. I think we lost him. [indiscernible]

Okay. Great. Great. So good evening, Chairman, Board of Directors, my co-shareholders. It's been a long way. You have been allowing shareholders to interact with you. Having gone through 30 previous shareholders, all my queries have already been answered. So -- but a couple of observations, which I may like to share with you, which you -- if you can allow me, I will go ahead and read them.

Yes. Yes, please.

Yes, yes. The first observation is, basically, you see this has again been the year under review has been very landmark year for our company, and we have landed up with, say, earnings per share close to INR 50, the consolidated figures, which I'm referring to. But the dividend, the payout has been very, very low at just INR 12.50. So my request and humble submission to you is because we have been long associated long, long, maybe more than 2, 3 decades with the company, and this is a time when the company has deep profits to share with the, say, shareholders. So I request you to please kindly distribute 50% of your earnings year-on-year now going forward. So that's one humble suggestion, which if you can incorporate, it will help not only me, but several other large amount of shareholders who have been long associated with the company. And now is the time when we can reap the benefits of having stayed long together with the company. The second observation is that we have large holdings in our group companies, but I don't find the holding in Tata Consultancy Services, TCS. My observation may not be correct. If I'm wrong, excuse me. But if -- but if we don't have stocks of Tata Consultancy Services, we must have. It's a large dividend paying company, which will be -- our investment will be well rewarded with the -- having invested in this group company share. So yes, so these are 2 small observations, which I thought I may like to share with you. As far as the corporate governance is concerned, I'm very happy with that. I'm sure the Finance Head and the Secretarial Head, they are putting in a lot of efforts to make sure that corporate governance of our company remains to the best. And thank you for allowing me to connect on this call and patiently listening to me. Thank you once again. Bye-bye.

[indiscernible].

Respected Chairman, distinguished directors and members of the company. Sir, I'm extremely thrilled that I am being heard by such a distinguished board of directors with some of the points which I wish to make. Sir, I appreciate the integrated report, which is being prepared for the last 5 years. Every year, it is improving. And today, this year, you have also included BR and SR report voluntarily. Sir, I appreciate all this. One more thing, sir, I would like to note that you are holding 1 lac shares in our company that reinforces our interest in our company. And sir, I would like to appreciate the work being done by the secretarial department for giving me this opportunity. Sir, I now wish to put some questions. I will not repeat any one of them at all. So my first question is the EVA of our company and the rate of interest at which it has been arrived at. Sir, my second question is regarding the CSR work which is being done, particularly I appreciate that we are concentrating in marine and ocean area, which is a neglected part of the country. However, sir, my question is that what is the impact of our CSR work in our company. We have spent INR 0.18 crore for the impact study. So maybe now the number, sir, then we have a number of captive -- a number of plants, manufacturing plants, sir, are we having captive power plants in all of them? And to what extent we are using renewable energy in these plants? Sir, my next question is regarding the patents. We are having a number of patents. May I know their product patent or their process patent? Sir, my next question is -- regarding the business responsibility and sustainability report. It covers stand-alone activities. Sir that is already half the story of our company. Sir, may I suggest that from next year, we may prepare this report for the entire company? And sir, my one more suggestion is that we have given abbreviations towards the end of the report. Sir, my suggestion is that we may also include glossary of various technical words which are being used. Sir, as you are aware, TCS was one of the first to give glossary as well as abbreviations, and which we very much appreciate. And sir, lastly, the outflow in our foreign exchange during the year has been INR 1121 crore as against INR 460 crores last year. Sir, may I know whether we have imported any major plant or so during this particular period? And sir, lastly, we are talking about green chemistry and which is being implemented in our number of plants. Sir, may I know whether we are trying to implement green chemistry in all our plants? Sir, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to give my views. Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you. With that, we have completed hearing from all the speakers, shareholders, 36 of them. Now let me give my responses. Mr. Arun Kumar, thank you for your comments. And you asked about the EV ecosystem role. There are many companies are playing a role in the Tata Motors EV ecosystem, not only Tata auto components and Tata Power, TCS, Tata Elxsi, Tata Technologies, and Tata Chemicals. Tata Chemicals has been providing a lot of know-how in terms of batteries, battery technology and other chemical-related areas. Long term, what will be the role? We cannot say. We are basically trying to leverage all the group companies wherever it is relevant. In some situations, it may result in a significant role for our company, in some situations, it may not result in a significant role. But the point is we try to synergize and then see if we can identify growth opportunities for all companies at the same time. Help each other out. On lithium supply, I think this is an area which Tata Chemicals is looking at it. See, there are many people asked a question about batteries, whether Tata Chemical has got a battery plant and currently, there is no battery plant by Tata Chemicals and it has also not been decided whether Tata Chemicals will get into manufacture of batteries. Tata Chemicals has got a lot of knowledge in the chemistry, and we are trying to figure out what role it will play and what should be the focus area for Tata Chemicals because there are many related questions that was asked about the expansion. Currently, there is a significant focus in Tata Chemicals to expand its businesses. For example, we have overall capacity of 4 million tonnes in soda ash, we are going to double that almost to 78 million tonnes over the next few years. There's a significant amount of CapEx that is being committed. In Mithapur, we are trying to triple the capacity, in Gujarat at least, then we are also looking at expanding the capacity in the U.S. And also, we're looking at other regions in India where there can be an expansion. We are increasing the salt capacity. We are trying to increase our capacity in silica and bicarb. On all these products, we are trying to significantly increase the capacity. And people also asked about the CapEx. The overall CapEx that has been committed for all the expansion plans is about INR 5,000 crores, of which about INR 1,000 crores goes to salt and about INR 3,500 crores will be spent towards soda ash and bicarb and the remaining INR 500 crores towards a number of other chemicals. We need to get to a critical mass in some of these areas. And after that, we will scale them further. People also asked about the expansion CapEx in international markets. We are not spending growth CapEx in these markets, mostly sustenance CapEx. Between U.S. and U.K., we have allocated about INR 300 crores of sustenance CapEx. So that should give you an idea of where the company is expanding. And many people asked about split bonus, et cetera. I take those comments on board and the board will deliberate all these things at the appropriate time. Mr. Manoj Kumar Gupta. You mentioned in this AGM and also in the other AGMs about expansion in Calcutta and in the Eastern region, we'll take notice of that. And as I mentioned, some of the group companies are looking at expanding in Northeast region. Our women employment, you mentioned that it is 7%. It is low. I agree with you, it is low. We will find ways and means by which this number goes up, and that's an area that we need to work on. And the afterward, the impact of Ukraine and Russia, there is no impact on the company. If at all, it will only increase the demand from the company's point of view. On the single-use plastic, I think the company is well aware of sustainability, and it is very much in line with not only compliance, but aggressively leading the sustainability movement. [indiscernible], you asked about what is your market share of soda ash? Our market share in soda ash globally is about 7%. And in the U.S. and Kenya markets, it is roughly 25%. And in the U.K., it's about 50%. And Ms. Patel, you asked about why have we invested in IHCL and Tata projects? See the company has certain holding in some of the group company shares. Tata Chemicals won certain shares in Titan, certain shares in IHCL, certain shares in Tata Projects. When these companies came up with rights issue, it just subscribed its portion to maintain its shareholding. International subsidiary. I've already told you, I think the U.S. business is doing well, thanks to the good soda ash pricing. Currently, the U.S. business as well as the Kenyan business is doing well. We still have a lot of stress in the U.K. business. People also asked about how will we reduce the debt? Our plan is to reduce the debt related to the international businesses from the cash flows that these businesses are generating, especially the U.S. and Kenya cash flows are quite good for us to be able to not only pay the interest, but also to systematically reduce the debt from these -- debts in the subsidiaries. And in U.K., we have an issue, which we need to find a solution. I think we should spend on CSR, on the social aspect. The company believes that while the 2% is a government imposed limit, but as a Tata Group company, we are committed to social welfare. And if the right projects come and the company can and effort to spend money and we use then more than 2%. And I don't think that is a bad thing. That's a responsible behavior. So we will support that. The phosphate subsidy has substantially reduced from INR 1,600 crores to almost less than INR 150 crores. [indiscernible]. Thank you for your comments. Santoshkumar Saraf, I already answered your question with regard to lithium batteries. You asked about detergents. Tata Chemicals will stay with B2B business. And in the chemistry area, it will not get into consumer business. Any consumer business will be a call that will be taken in the Tata Consumer Products company. Prakash [indiscernible], I already shared the soda ash market share and the digital future, the company like every other Tata company is running a digitalization program, and we will leverage all the technologies. We have work to do, but we will continue to be a digital-ready future company. [indiscernible], your comments are taken and you asked about merger of Rallis and Tata Chemicals, some others also. I would just state that there is no plan. Our company has not even considered such a proposal at this point. [indiscernible] Patel, your comments are totally taken. About the disclosure and I've already spoken to the company secretary on the sidelines, and we will see how we can improve that particular section. [indiscernible] Kumar Agarwal, I've already shared the CapEx plan and lithium and other details that you asked for. Ashish Shanker Bansal. We will -- I've already spoken to the company secretary, he will reply to your email. Mr. [indiscernible]. Our capacity utilization for soda ash is quite high, almost 90% plus. And our salt is 100%. So it is 100%. Some of the other new products are in the 65% to 70% range. [indiscernible]. The debt is all related to international business. And as already said, these debts will be brought down over the next few years from the cash flow that is being generated by these businesses. We are not using the cash that is generated by the Indian business to pay down this debt. Indian business cash generation is being used for expanding for the businesses in India and entering new business. The goodwill has happened at the time of our international acquisitions. The other equity is significantly increased primarily due to the mark-to-market of the share price of companies like Titan, whose share the company wants. The -- our income also is -- in the P&L is also because of the shareholding of some of the stocks on the ForEx hedges in the OCI and that mark-to-market valuation is reflecting in the other income. Otherwise, the profit outlook is -- you asked about the outlook, outlook is quite strong. [indiscernible] , thank you for your comments. Mahesh Kumar [indiscernible], I made a large number of points. We have taken notice of those points. [indiscernible] is not here, [indiscernible] , thank you. Rajesh[indiscernible] , I already answered your questions. [indiscernible], I've already answered your questions. Suresh Kapoor, I answered the question regarding debt deleveraging, whether it's true for all the international debt. Our margins are quite good in the U.S. and Kenya. Our margins are not good in the U.K. U.K. business is quite stressful and we need to address that. We have no plans to divest our holding in Titan or Tata Projects at this time. Demand outlook for soda ash is strong. That is why we are increasing our capacity rather trying to double the capacity -- close to double the capacity. Carbon capture, what is the benefit? Because it will help us against the carbon tax. Om Prakash Kejriwal. I have noted all your comments, especially with regard to your comment on dematerialization, I will request the Company Secretary here, and in Tata Sons to see what can be done. [indiscernible], thank you for your comments. Anil Parikh. Thank you for your comments. You asked a question about what is the revenue from Tata Salt, it's about INR 1,100 crores and buyer of soda ash is several multinational companies who are glass companies or FMCG companies. There are many, many multinational companies. And we are primarily focusing on scaling up the current categories and also a few new formulations. [indiscernible]. The cash flow why is it less this year, you asked. It's primarily because of a higher increase in working capital this year, and I think this -- we are addressing this going forward. Hopefully, it will get corrected. Hariram Chaudhary, the CSR Committee Chairman is Mr. S Padmanabhan. You asked about the total -- how much we spend? We definitely spend more than 2%. And the overall spend, the 15% of the total money was spent in -- was spent in COVID-related activities. And your comment on mobile number has been taken note of. I'll share it to the company secretary. Vinod Agarwal, the silica that we produce is primarily used in glass and other areas, definitely not in solar panel. Dinesh [indiscernible], thank you for your comments. [indiscernible], thank you for your comment. I will definitely pass on your inquiries about Mr. Arun Tata. [indiscernible], our plants work to full capacity, especially Salt work to full capacity, and soda ash and other plants are working to the maximum capacity that is possible at any point in time. [indiscernible]. See, these companies are 100% owned by us. So the question of royalty doesn't arise because any cash that can be dividend out can be dividend out. [indiscernible], thank you for your comments and your suggestions are taken note of. [indiscernible], you made a large number of comments, sir. I would appreciate your comments. I will ask the CFO to share with you our EVA and the interest rate at which it's being calculated. And the impact of CSR, we impact about 2.4 million people and we have a captive power plant in Mithapur. And it is coal-based -- gas-based, -- it is not -- it's coal based. And we are working with -- the company is working with Tata Power to see whether it can be converted to renewable energy. The patents that we have, I will ask them to share with you. The classification between the product and process patents, your suggestion regarding the glossary is noted, and I will request the company to add it in the next year's annual report. With that, we have concluded the engagement with the speaker shareholders. Now I authorize Mr. Rajiv Chandan, General Counsel and Company Secretary, to conduct the voting procedure and conclude the meeting. I also would like to authorize him to accept, acknowledge and countersign the scrutineers' report and declare the consolidated voting results on receipt of the scrutineers' report. The e-voting facility will remain open for another 15 minutes. The results will be announced within the stipulated timeframe, and the same would be intimated to the stock exchanges and uploaded on the website of the company and that of NSDL. I once again thank all the shareholders who attended today's meeting and for your continued support. I also take the opportunity to thank the directors who have joined the meeting remotely. And with your consent, I, the Board members and the management would like to leave the meeting and wish you all a safe and healthy times ahead, and I look forward to seeing you next year. Thank you. [Voting]

The e-voting has been kept open for 15 minutes as mentioned by the Chairman. We now close the e-voting. The requisite quorum was present throughout the meeting. Voting result of the Annual General Meeting will be announced by the company within the stipulated timeframe. With this, I declare the meeting has concluded. Thank you all for attending this meeting. Thank you.