India Carbon Ltd
Sixty-year-old Guwahati maker of calcined petroleum coke with a debt-free balance sheet and a ₹476 Cr investment book, riding out a cyclical slump in graphite and aluminium demand.
Market cap
₹235.32 Cr
0.27 Cr shares
P/E ratio
Loss making
Sector average 18
Book value
₹1,705.66
P/B 0.52
1-year return
+5.35%
52w ₹840 – ₹932
Currently 52% of the way through its 52-week range.
Indicative price history
1Y change
+3.77% ₹856 → ₹888
52-week band in this window: ₹842.90 – ₹961.12. Weekly indicative marks, not exchange-traded prices.
Key highlights
- Free cash and unencumbered investments of about ₹476 Cr on 31 March 2025 with no debt – roughly double the implied market value.
- Installed CPC capacity of over 250,000 tonnes a year at Guwahati and Budge Budge, supplying aluminium smelters and graphite electrode makers.
- Operating income fell from ₹576 Cr (FY23) to ₹175 Cr (FY25) as the CPC cycle turned; dividends continued, at a reduced ₹2 per share.
About India Carbon
India Carbon Limited, promoted by the Himatsingka family of Kolkata, was incorporated in 1961 and manufactures calcined petroleum coke (CPC), electrode carbon paste and tamping paste at Noonmati, Guwahati, and at Budge Budge near Kolkata, with installed capacity of over 250,000 tonnes a year. CPC is 99.5% pure carbon used by aluminium smelters for anodes and by the graphite electrode and steel industries. Raw petroleum coke is sourced largely from Indian Oil's Guwahati and other refineries.
Revenue is highly cyclical. Total operating income peaked at about ₹576 Cr in FY23 on strong graphite-grade CPC realisations, then fell to ₹420 Cr in FY24 and ₹175 Cr in FY25 as sales volumes and prices of both graphite-grade and aluminium-grade CPC softened. FY24 showed a small operating loss that was more than offset by ₹37 Cr of investment gains; FY25 ended with a pre-tax loss of about ₹11 Cr.
What supports the share is the balance sheet: CARE Ratings notes nil debt-repayment obligations and free cash plus unencumbered investments of about ₹476 Cr as on 31 March 2025, held in mutual funds, quoted equities, AIFs, bonds and debentures. With only 26.5 lakh shares outstanding, the investment book alone works out to well over ₹1,700 per share against a dealer quote near ₹890. The company still carries a listed-company CIN (it was historically listed on the Calcutta exchange) but its shares trade only in the unlisted market.
Financial line items are reconstructed around reported totals (operating income, other income, pre-tax results, net worth and investment balances from CARE rating rationales and dealer summaries); treat them as approximate.
Where the revenue comes from
- Calcined petroleum coke – aluminium grade55%
Anode-grade CPC supplied to aluminium smelters
- Calcined petroleum coke – graphite grade30%
Higher-value grade for graphite electrode makers; demand fell sharply in FY24-25
- Electrode carbon paste and tamping paste10%
Soderberg paste for ferro-alloy and aluminium furnaces
- Treasury income5%
Gains and interest on the ₹476 Cr investment portfolio
Products & services
Calcined petroleum coke
Aluminium-grade and graphite-grade CPC with 99.5% carbon content.
Electrode carbon paste
Soderberg electrode paste for ferro-alloy, calcium carbide and aluminium furnaces.
Tamping paste
Carbon paste for lining and ramming of furnace hearths.
What works
- • Debt-free with about ₹476 Cr of free cash and investments – more than the company's implied market value of roughly ₹237 Cr.
- • Long operating history since 1961, established supply relationship with refineries in the North-East and a diversified customer base in aluminium and graphite.
- • Regular dividend payer with a conservative promoter family and a CARE investment-grade rating.
What to watch
- • Extremely cyclical earnings: operating income fell from ₹576 Cr in FY23 to ₹175 Cr in FY25 and the core business made a loss in FY25.
- • Only 26.5 lakh shares exist, so liquidity in the unlisted market is thin and the bid-ask spread wide.
- • Profits increasingly depend on treasury gains rather than manufacturing; a market downturn would hit both the P&L and the investment book.