Punjab Carbonic Limited IPO

01At a glance

What the company does — recovers CO₂ from distilleries through recovery units on their premises, purifies and liquefies it, and distributes liquid CO₂ and dry ice; builds CO₂ recovery units for others; and through Pancarbo Greenfuels makes fuel-grade ethanol for oil marketing companies (AP p.3).

Who pays it — beverage, automotive, chemical, fertiliser, pharmaceutical and aviation customers for CO₂, and oil marketing companies for ethanol; named top-ten customers include Varun Beverages, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages and Moon Beverages (AP p.3, AP p.4). The top customer was 39.97% of revenue in the six months to September 2025 and the top ten 78.31% (AP p.4).

Why it is raising money — ₹196.63 million for two CO₂ recovery units in Andhra Pradesh, ₹111.53 million for CO₂ tankers, ₹406.14 million for the ethanol subsidiary to add 35 kilolitres a day, ₹85.00 million to repay debt, and the rest for general purposes (DRHP p.142).

How fast it has grown — revenue from ₹1,104 million in FY23 to ₹4,882 million in FY25, and ₹2,794 million in the six months to September 2025 (AP p.7).

The one thing to understand — a CO₂ business that has become mainly an ethanol business. In the six months to September 2025 the ethanol subsidiary, which the company owns 65.01% of, produced 83% of consolidated profit; the parent's own share was 11% (DRHP p.381).

02The business, in plain words

Distilleries release CO₂ during fermentation. A recovery unit captures and cleans it, and the gas is liquefied and trucked to bottlers, vehicle makers and chemical plants. Separately, an ethanol distillery makes fuel ethanol that oil companies blend into petrol.

A cola bottler needs food-grade CO₂ → Punjab Carbonic's recovery unit at a distillery captures the gas → it is liquefied and delivered by tanker → the bottler pays per tonne.

The company runs 17 recovery units on premises leased from third-party distilleries, some with minimum offtake obligations (AP p.10, AP p.11). It sold to more than 23 states and union territories and four countries, but North India was 77.09% of sales in the six months to September 2025 (AP p.3, AP p.11).

Earnings equation: Profit ≈ CO₂ tonnes × yield per tonne + ethanol litres × yield per litre − raw material and logistics cost. CO₂ yielded ₹6,397 a tonne and ethanol ₹68.74 a litre in the six months (AP p.10).

03Where the money comes from

Source: AP p.10. H1 FY26 is six months.

Source: AP p.4.

M.S. Marketing, a firm in which the chairman is a partner, is among the top ten customers for the six months to September 2025 (AP p.4, AP p.5).

04The growth record

Source: AP p.7, AP p.9, AP p.10. Converted from ₹ lakh. H1 FY26 is six months.

05What the growth is made of

Ethanol: production went from 3,567 kilolitres in FY24 to 43,500 in FY25, as capacity rose from 4,500 to 54,000 kilolitres (AP p.10). CO₂ volumes grew only 5.5% from FY23 to FY25 (our arithmetic, AP p.10). The largest customer's share jumped from 8.68% to 31.46% in FY25 and 39.97% in the six months (AP p.4). The document does not name it in the pages read.

06Earnings quality

Operating cash flow was ₹319.41 million in FY25 and ₹357.14 million in the six months to September 2025, close to EBITDA (AP p.10). A growing share of profit belongs to the ethanol subsidiary's minority shareholders — ₹76.29 million, or 29%, in the six months (DRHP p.381). The auditors expressed no qualification or other observation (AP p.13).

07The balance sheet

Source: AP p.9. Converted from ₹ lakh.

Borrowings were more than three times the owners' net worth at September 2025 (our arithmetic, AP p.9).

08What the money is for

Source: DRHP p.142. Converted from ₹ lakh.

The named objects total ₹799.30 million (our arithmetic). Cost estimates come from a D&B cost-vetting report (DRHP p.143). The letters of intent for the new recovery units are non-binding (AP p.11).

09Who is selling

Source: AP p.1.

10Promoters

The promoters are Davinder Singh Kohli, chairman and managing director, with over 33 years in CO₂ and dry ice and a partner in M.S. Marketing and Kohli Gases; Amrit Paul Singh Kohli, joint managing director; Jatinder Kaur Kohli; and Inder Pal Kaur Kohli (AP p.5). The company has sought a SEBI exemption from naming one individual as promoter group (AP p.11).

11Who already owns it

Source: AP p.6.

Promoters hold 87.88% (AP p.7).

12What changed just before the IPO

• Ethanol — the distillery reached scale in FY25 (AP p.10).
• Customer concentration — one customer rose to 40% of revenue (AP p.4).
• Recovery units — up to 17 (AP p.10).

13Capacity and expansion

CO₂ capacity was 259,520 tonnes in FY25, with 158,746 used (AP p.10). The proceeds add recovery units of 120 and 90 tonnes a day in Andhra Pradesh and 35 kilolitres a day of ethanol capacity at Lehri, Punjab (DRHP p.142).

14Market size and industry structure

The Dun & Bradstreet report cited in the offer document describes India's ethanol blending programme, with the E20 target brought forward to the 2025-26 ethanol supply year, and growing investment in carbon capture and utilisation (AP p.5).

15Competitive position

What the document claims, and what it rests on:

• Integration from CO₂ recovery to distribution, plus plant engineering (AP p.3).
• Beverage-industry customers of long standing (AP p.4).

Against that: dependence on third-party distilleries for CO₂, a few large customers, and North India concentration (AP p.11).

16Peers the company named

Source: DRHP p.180. Converted from ₹ lakh. Peer P/E uses prices on 10 March 2026.

No P/E is possible for the company until a price band is set.

17Risks, in plain words

• Customer concentration. Top ten customers were 78% of recent revenue (AP p.11).
• CO₂ supply. It depends on third-party distilleries and leased sites (AP p.11).
• Offtake commitments. Some distillery arrangements carry minimum-offtake obligations (AP p.11).
• Hazard. Industrial CO₂ is hazardous to handle (AP p.11).
• Region. North India was 77% of sales (AP p.11).
• Minority interest. A large share of profit comes from a subsidiary it owns 65% of (DRHP p.381).

18Litigation and regulatory matters

Source: AP p.13. Converted from ₹ lakh.

19Related-party transactions

M.S. Marketing, where the chairman is a partner, is a top-ten customer (AP p.4, AP p.5). Other related-party transactions were not read for this study.

20What the offer document does not say

In the sections read for this study, the document does not give:

• Who the largest customer is, at 40% of revenue.
• How much the company sells to M.S. Marketing, and on what terms, in the pages read.
• Who owns the other 35% of Pancarbo Greenfuels.
• What the criminal proceeding against a director concerns.
• The price band, lot size or issue dates, which is normal at DRHP stage.

21Five questions for management

1. Who is the customer that provided 40% of revenue in the six months to September 2025?
2. What does the company supply to M.S. Marketing, and why is a promoter's firm a top customer?
3. Who owns the remaining 35% of the ethanol subsidiary?
4. What happens to the ethanol business if blending policy or procurement prices change?
5. What does the criminal proceeding against a director concern?

2Sources and cited facts

This study was read from 2 documents the company filed. The 31 figures it cites are listed under the document each came from, with the page and the sentence as printed.