Ajax UDAAN volumes more than quadruple to 216 in H1 FY27

Ajax sold about 216 UDAAN units in H1 FY27, more than quadrupling from about 49 units in H1 FY26, while expanding the product’s sales footprint to 20 states. Management said six states were added during the half year, reducing the concentration that had existed when the rollout was limited to a few markets.

How fast did Ajax UDAAN volumes grow in H1 FY27?

Ajax’s UDAAN volume increased by about 167 units year on year, from about 49 in H1 FY26 to about 216 in H1 FY27. The change is a roughly 341% increase on the prior-year base, meaning H1 FY27 volume was about 4.4 times the level reported a year earlier. Management disclosed these figures in response to an analyst’s question covering UDAAN demand and year-to-date volumes.

The disclosure covers H1 FY27 rather than Q2 FY27 alone. Ajax did not provide quarterly UDAAN units, revenue, average selling price, margins, order backlog or capacity. The reported data therefore establish a material increase in units, but do not show UDAAN’s contribution to Ajax’s total H1 FY27 revenue of Rs 961.5 crore.

Ajax’s overall revenue increased 5.5% year on year to Rs 961.5 crore in H1 FY27, a much slower percentage change than the UDAAN unit increase. Self-loading concrete mixer, or SLCM, revenue was Rs 783.5 crore, up 3.3%, while non-SLCM revenue rose 31.5% to Rs 103.5 crore. Ajax did not state which reported revenue segment includes UDAAN.

Where is Ajax selling UDAAN?

Ajax was selling UDAAN in 20 states at the end of H1 FY27 after adding six states during the half year. Management said the expansion was improving the geographic spread of the business, which had previously been concentrated in a few states. The 20-state footprint is the only disclosed measure of UDAAN’s market coverage.

Ajax began selling UDAAN in Uttar Pradesh, but management said the state had become a smaller share of the product’s business as the rollout widened. This denotes a changed geographic mix, not necessarily weaker Uttar Pradesh sales: Ajax did not disclose UDAAN volumes, revenue or market share by state. The company also did not identify the six states added in H1 FY27.

The rollout sits within a wider SLCM market where the top 10 states contribute close to 78% of total volumes, according to management. It identified Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra as two large markets needing improvement, while citing Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rajasthan as markets with growth drivers or potential demand support.

How does UDAAN growth compare with Ajax’s wider demand trends?

UDAAN’s unit growth came during an uneven H1 FY27 operating environment for Ajax. SLCM revenue rose 3.3% to Rs 783.5 crore, supported by 2.5% volume growth and the benefit of a price increase taken in Q4 FY26. Management said the benefit of a further price increase taken in September would begin to reflect from Q3 FY27.

Ajax reported that its SLCM retail market share increased to 75.5% in H1 FY27 from 70.7% in H1 FY26, a gain of about 480 basis points. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. That market-share movement applies to SLCMs and should not be treated as a UDAAN market-share figure, because management did not disclose a separate UDAAN share.

Demand conditions varied by application as roads fell to about 40% of Ajax’s FY27 year-to-date application mix, from 67% in FY26 and 70% in FY25. Factories, buildings and urban infrastructure together increased to about 39% in FY27 year to date from 15% in FY26 and 13% in FY25. Management linked the shift to slower state capital expenditure, contractor cash-flow pressures and greater private-sector activity.

How is Ajax expanding products beyond UDAAN?

Ajax is also expanding its non-SLCM portfolio, which generated Rs 103.5 crore of H1 FY27 revenue, up 31.5% year on year. Management said pumps led that growth. In Q2 FY27, non-SLCM revenue rose 64.7% to Rs 55.8 crore, with concrete pumps, batching plants and boom pumps identified as contributors.

Dealers are a disclosed mechanism for that non-SLCM expansion. Ajax said 62 of its 68 dealers had sold at least one concrete pump, and about 12 to 15 dealers had started selling a broader range including concrete pumps, boom pumps and batching plants. Management said it was simplifying configuration, standardisation, commercial scope, service and parts to support wider dealer participation, including for 20- and 30-cubic-metre batching plants.

These initiatives run alongside a financial base that included Rs 1,151 crore of cash and cash equivalents at the end of H1 FY27 and a 22-day working-capital cycle. H1 FY27 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, were Rs 110.6 crore, up 3.7%, while profit after tax rose about 16% to Rs 106.5 crore. Those company-wide figures do not establish UDAAN profitability.

What information has Ajax not disclosed about UDAAN?

Ajax has not disclosed UDAAN revenue, pricing, gross margin, dealer count, manufacturing capacity, order book, cancellations or an H2 FY27 unit target. The available H1 FY27 information is limited to about 216 units, compared with about 49 a year earlier, and the expansion to 20 selling states. As a result, the product’s financial significance cannot be calculated from the call.

Management did give context for the H2 FY27 environment, saying 60% to 65% of Ajax’s annual revenue is typically generated in the second half. It expected customer sentiment and demand momentum to improve in H2, but described margins as subject to uncertainty over steel, aluminium and foreign-exchange movements. H1 FY27 EBITDA margin was 11.5%, compared with 11.7% in H1 FY26.

Management also said contractor-payment issues remained significant in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, two important markets in the top-10-state mix. It referred to potential contracts of up to Rs 2,000 crore for concrete roads in Uttar Pradesh, while noting that such contracts would involve both batching plants and SLCMs. The comments did not include any specific UDAAN order or target.

Conclusion

Ajax’s disclosed UDAAN progress is clear in operational terms: H1 FY27 volume rose from about 49 to about 216 units, and sales extended to 20 states after six additions. The expansion occurred alongside 31.5% growth in non-SLCM revenue to Rs 103.5 crore, while SLCMs remained Ajax’s largest reported segment at Rs 783.5 crore.

The next update to watch is whether Ajax provides H2 FY27 UDAAN units or financial metrics as its broader second-half revenue season develops. Management expects 60% to 65% of annual revenue in H2, but gave no UDAAN target and identified commodity costs, contractor payments and demand recovery in major states as unresolved variables.