Can you share traction between category A, B, C dealers and updated dealer reach numbers?
We had a target of 50,000 dealers in the first year and were very close to that. We are still adding dealers but consolidating more on existing dealers. We had talked about 6,000 towns, but we are close to 8,000 towns. We are not sharing other numbers but these are fair indicators that business is progressing on all fronts in all geographies.
What revenues were in CWIP this quarter versus last quarter?
As per accounting laws, sales from factories not yet capitalized go into CWIP. Mahad factory was manufacturing before capitalization, so products manufactured there would go into CWIP. I would not like to comment on the value, but per accounting standards on a timescale it does impact our reported numbers.
Can you clarify steady state margin for epoxy business? Earlier it was mentioned 15-18%; has it come closer to 10%?
I would not like to comment on the current state of margins because it's competitively sensitive. We also have a large portfolio of specialty epoxies - uniquely tailored for automotive, wind, anti-corrosion etc. So commenting on a single margin band would not be appropriate.
What is the profitability for the B2B e-commerce segment at over Rs 5,000 crore revenue run rate? And how much capex has been spent out of the Rs 2,000 crore announced?
Revenue growth has been pretty good and continues quarter-on-quarter with high single digit sequential growth. On profitability: at scale of $1 billion in FY27, we are confident we will break even at that scale. Regarding capex, our business is fundamentally a technology business - most capex has been in building the technology stack. We are well within track as per budget.
Any one-year revenue target for the paints business?
We do not have specific targets to share for a one-year period, but the journey continues and we are on track, give or take a few things plus or minus. We gave some metrics for the first year and have given our intention for full-scale operation after 3 years.
Excluding Birla Opus, industry growth was flat or negative - what is your general estimate for industry growth for the year?
It's dependent on the industry players. There is volume in the market. Whether you want to convert that volume into value is now left to the industry players. That is what we are repeatedly saying - there's enough in the market, consumers want to do painting services, but it's up to each player whether they want to discount for volume or keep the value. Too early to say after just one quarter.
On chemicals chlorine integration level at 63% - what portion is dedicated customers vs internal consumption? And what happens to epoxy margins when ECH plant comes on stream?
Internal consumption of chlorine is in the range of 30% to 40%; rest goes to pipeline customers. On epoxy margins with ECH plant - that would also depend on ECH price at that moment since ECH is a volatile commodity. So it is difficult to predict.
Can you share on your sales momentum in recent months for paints? Is Birla Opus consolidating as some views suggest - that dealers are going back to old brands?
Quarter-on-quarter growth is in double digits and growth continues. Apart from franchises, majority of our dealers are multi-brand dealers and continue to expand our portfolio and sell us more. If one or two dealers have gone back, that should not be taken as dealer attrition. We are in both growth and consolidation phases simultaneously - throughput per dealer is going up through deeper penetration and more products, while we are still adding some more dealers and increasing range in each dealer.
How has the competitive landscape evolved vs last quarter? Any color on volume and value for rest of this year?
Competitive intensity remains; competition has increased on value/economy segment with higher discounting. We continue to play strongly in all three segments - luxury, premium and economy. Contribution of luxury products is close to 65%, which is very good even for an established player. On volume-value for rest of year: the market has grown only at 5% YoY; removing Birla Opus the market is actually minus one or zero. Festive season is earlier this time with upswing starting end of August/September, and we are fully prepared to grow well on a continuum basis.
On chemicals: the EBITDA improvement appears consistent with ECU realization gains. Was there a degrowth in epoxy division profits?
Yes, within the epoxy chain, the industry is in a margin compression between hardening raw material prices, antidumping duty on ECH on one hand, and duty-free imports from Korea through FTA arrangements on the other hand. We are making the right balance trade-offs between retaining our margin and ensuring we don't spoil our market position. We hope that the process running with the Government to review different FTAs will lead to some positive.
What is the power mix for the chemical business - captive renewables vs grid? And capacity utilization for chlorine derivative business?
Capacity utilization for chlor-alkali is slightly above 80%. For the VAP portfolio it is difficult to give a number - it's a complex portfolio with more than 20 product lines. Renewable has reached about 15% exit. Captive and grid would be roughly equal.
What is the credit policy difference versus peers for the paints business?
Our credit policy falls somewhere in the center compared to the top 3 or 4 players. We are with the market - not giving less or more. Different players have slightly different policies from A to B, and our policy falls somewhere in the average in terms of credit.
How do you track brand evolution from transactional business pull-through to brand-driven pull-through?
We have access to RMS data which gives insight into our share across geographies. We also have a good brand tracking mechanism that shows total awareness, unaided awareness, spontaneous awareness, and how we are progressing versus competition quarter-to-quarter. We are getting into the consumption funnel from awareness to usage. On total awareness, we are already there with the top three brands. For spontaneous awareness, as per my data I am already number two and equal to the number two player.
How do you see industry demand going into festive season and will muted industry growth challenge Birla Opus growth momentum? Also on PaintCraft's contribution potential.
The season is slightly advanced this time - festive upswing should start towards end of August/September and that should be a big month. We have exciting luxury premium portfolio and are fully prepared. We are quite confident we will be able to reap good benefits and continue quarter-to-quarter growth. On PaintCraft, we are taking it to about 100 towns and offering it to franchise dealers initially. Good preparations and good plans have gone in and we hope it contributes decent volume for partners.
Any update on the CCI investigation? And B2B business break-even timeline - was that FY28?
On CCI: Grasim filed information with CCI regarding abuse of dominance by the dominant player. CCI saw merit and ordered DG for investigation on 1st July 2025. The order is available on CCI website. As this is subjudice, we will not comment further. On B2B break-even: when we reach $1 billion revenue topline, we said we will be EBITDA positive.
Premium paint revenue share is 65% - how is that defined? And what is the geography-wise revenue breakup?
Revenue contribution of premium plus luxury is 65%. Market defines premium and luxury by category. We have three broad brands - Style for economy, Calista for premium, and One for luxury. When I combine Calista plus One, wherever applicable, otherwise what is market-defined in a particular category, that is 65%. On geography: we are generally performing well across pan India. The range between best and slowest performing region is 80 to 120 - so by and large good acceptance and growing across all markets. Our aspiration is pan India, not regional aspiration.
Is it correct that the 10% extra grammage scheme is withdrawn in some markets?
I am very happy you raised this because if you were not going to raise it, I would have given a clarification anyway. The 10% offer on 20 liters and 10 liters for majority of emulsion packs as we are giving fully continues. This puts the record straight.
How is Grasim thinking about cross-platform data monetization between Birla Opus and Birla Pivot in next 2-3 years?
Privacy laws of the country are very strong and cross-sales from different platforms is not permitted. I am currently the Chairman of the FICCI Privacy Board and clearly that's not permitted. We have to go back to the customer to do cross-sales. Both new businesses are in the process of getting their act together and we are not going to cross this bridge for a certain period of time.
How much is the chlorine price for this quarter?
For the quarter we just reported, chlorine was trading at about 6,000-6,500 negative.
On chlorine derivative extension plan: difference between the 100 KTPA announced and 79 KTPA in current guidance?
Market conditions are a little uncertain right now so certain projects on chlorine derivatives have been deferred for better market conditions. The two main ones - ECH and CPVC - are proceeding as planned. The rest we may accelerate or delay based on market conditions.