1. We have audited the accompanying financial statements of De Nora India Limited (“the Company”), which comprisethe Balance Sheet as at March 31, 2025, and the Statement of Profit and Loss (including Other ComprehensiveIncome), the Statement of Changes in Equity and the Statement of Cash Flows for the year then ended, and notes tothe financial statements, including material accounting policy information and other explanatory information.
2. In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us, the aforesaid financialstatements give the information required by the Companies Act, 2013 (“the Act”) in the manner so required and givea true and fair view in conformity with the accounting principles generally accepted in India, of the state of affairs ofthe Company as at March 31,2025, and total comprehensive income (comprising of profit and other comprehensiveincome), changes in equity and its cash flows for the year then ended.
Basis for Opinion
3. We conducted our audit in accordance with the Standards on Auditing (SAs) specified under Section 143(10) of theAct. Our responsibilities under those Standards are further described in the “Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Auditof the Financial Statements” section of our report. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the Codeof Ethics issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India together with the ethical requirements that arerelevant to our audit of the financial statements under the provisions of the Act and the Rules thereunder, and we havefulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements and the Code of Ethics. We believethat the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Key audit matters
4. Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgement, were of most significance in our audit of thefinancial statements of the current period. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the financialstatements as a whole and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on thesematters.
Key audit matter
How our audit addressed the key audit matter
Appropriateness of Revenue Recognition:(Refer note 2.6 and 26 to the FinancialStatements)
The Company’s revenue is derived frommanufacturing and servicing of electrolyticproducts. The Company recognizes revenuewhen performance obligations as perthe underlying contracts are satisfied inaccordance with Ind AS 115 - Revenue fromContract with Customers. The terms set outin the Company’s sales contracts are variedbased on the nature of the product and servicecovered by the contract, which affects therecognition and measurement of revenue asper Ind AS 115.
Due to the nature of the company contractsand the underlying contractual obligationsand arrangements, the recognition andmeasurement of revenue involves significantjudgements and estimations in assessing theperformance obligations and evaluating theCompany’s rights to receive payments forperformance completed.
Considering the above-mentioned factors,appropriateness of revenue recognition hasbeen considered as Key Audit Matter.
Our audit procedures included the following:
? Understanding and evaluation of the design and testing theoperating effectiveness of controls surrounding the recordingof revenue in accordance with the principles of Ind AS 115.
? Testing of customer contracts on a sample basis to assessthe terms for identification of performance obligations inaccordance with Ind AS 115 and comparing those to themanagement assessment.
? Performed test of details relating to revenue recognitionprocess i.e., Customer contracts, Invoices, and relatedapprovals.
? Testing the appropriateness of timing of recognition of revenue(including procedures related to cut off testing) in line with theterms of the customer contracts.
? Tested journal entries for unusual/ irregular revenuetransactions if any.
? Evaluating appropriateness of the disclosures made in thefinancial statements.
Other Information
5. The Company’s Board of Directors is responsible for the other information. The other information comprises theannual report (but does not include the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon). The annual report, isexpected to be made available to us after the date of this auditor’s report.
Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form ofassurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information identifiedabove when it becomes available and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistentwith the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.
When we read the annual report, if we conclude that there is a material misstatement therein, we are required tocommunicate the matter to those charged with governance and take appropriate action as applicable under therelevant laws and regulations.
Responsibilities of management and those charged with governance for the financial statements
6. The Company’s Board of Directors is responsible for the matters stated in Section 134(5) of the Act with respect to thepreparation of these financial statements that give a true and fair view of the financial position, financial performance,changes in equity and cash flows of the Company in accordance with the accounting principles generally acceptedin India, including the Accounting Standards specified under Section 133 of the Act. This responsibility also includesmaintenance of adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisions of the Act for safeguarding of theassets of the Company and for preventing and detecting frauds and other irregularities; selection and applicationof appropriate accounting policies; making judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and design,implementation and maintenance of adequate internal financial controls, that were operating effectively for ensuringthe accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, relevant to the preparation and presentation of the financialstatements that give a true and fair view and are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
7. In preparing the financial statements, Board of Directors is responsible for assessing the Company’s ability to continueas a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basisof accounting unless Board of Directors either intends to liquidate the Company or to cease operations, or has norealistic alternative but to do so.
8. Those Board of Directors are also responsible for overseeing the Company’s financial reporting process.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
9. Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free frommaterial misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion.Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance withSAs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and areconsidered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economicdecisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
10. As part of an audit in accordance with SAs, we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticismthroughout the audit. We also:
• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error,design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient andappropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting fromfraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions,misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
• Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that areappropriate in the circumstances. Under Section 143(3)(i) of the Act, we are also responsible for expressing ouropinion on whether the Company has adequate internal financial controls with reference to financial statementsin place and the operating effectiveness of such controls.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates andrelated disclosures made by management.
• Conclude on the appropriateness of management’s use of the going concern basis of accounting and, basedon the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that maycast significant doubt on the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a materialuncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in thefinancial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are basedon the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions maycause the Company to cease to continue as a going concern.
• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures,and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achievesfair presentation.
11 We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timingof the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identifyduring our audit.
12. We also provide those charged with governance with a statement that we have complied with relevant ethicalrequirements regarding independence, and to communicate with them all relationships and other matters that mayreasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards.
13. From the matters communicated with those charged with governance, we determine those matters that were of mostsignificance in the audit of the financial statements of the current period and are therefore the key audit matters.We describe these matters in our auditor’s report unless law or regulation precludes public disclosure about thematter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine that a matter should not be communicated in ourreport because the adverse consequences of doing so would reasonably be expected to outweigh the public interestbenefits of such communication.
Report on other legal and regulatory requirements
14. As required by the Companies (Auditor’s Report) Order, 2020 (“the Order”), issued by the Central Government ofIndia in terms of sub-section (11) of Section 143 of the Act, we give in the Annexure B a statement on the mattersspecified in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Order, to the extent applicable.
15. As required by Section 143(3) of the Act, we report that:
(a) We have sought and obtained all the information and explanations which to the best of our knowledge and beliefwere necessary for the purposes of our audit.
(b) In our opinion, proper books of account as required by law have been kept by the Company so far as it appearsfrom our examination of those books, except for the matters stated in paragraph 15(h)(vi) below on reportingunder Rule 11(g) of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 (as amended).
(c) The Balance Sheet, the Statement of Profit and Loss (including other comprehensive income), the Statement ofChanges in Equity and the Statement of Cash Flows dealt with by this Report are in agreement with the booksof account.
(d) In our opinion, the aforesaid financial statements comply with the Indian Accounting Standards specified underSection 133 of the Act.
(e) On the basis of the written representations received from the directors as on March 31,2025, taken on recordby the Board of Directors, none of the directors is disqualified as on March 31,2025, from being appointed as adirector in terms of Section 164(2) of the Act.
(f) With respect to the maintenance of accounts and other matters connected therewith, reference is made toour remarks in paragraph 15(b) above on reporting under Section 143(3)(b) and paragraph 15(h)(vi) below onreporting under Rule 11(g) of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 (as amended).
(g) With respect to the adequacy of the internal financial controls with reference to financial statements of theCompany and the operating effectiveness of such controls, refer to our separate Report in “Annexure A”.
(h) With respect to the other matters to be included in the Auditor’s Report in accordance with rule 11, of theCompanies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 (as amended), in our opinion and to the best of our information andaccording to the explanations given to us:
i. The Company does not have any pending litigations which would impact its financial position.
ii. The Company did not have any long-term contracts including derivative contracts as at March 31,2025.
iii. There has been no delay in transferring amounts, required to be transferred, to the Investor Education andProtection Fund by the Company during the year.
iv. (a) The management has represented that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, other than as disclosed
in Note 50 to the financial statements, no funds have been advanced or loaned or invested (eitherfrom borrowed funds or share premium or any other sources or kind of funds) by the Company toor in any other person or entity, including foreign entities (“Intermediaries”), with the understanding,whether recorded in writing or otherwise, that the Intermediary shall, whether directly or indirectly,lend or invest in other persons or entities identified in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of theCompany (“Ultimate Beneficiaries”) or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of theUltimate Beneficiaries;
(b) The management has represented that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, other than as disclosedin the Note 50 to the financial statements, no funds have been received by the Company from anyperson(s) or entity(ies), including foreign entities (“Funding Parties”), with the understanding, whetherrecorded in writing or otherwise, that the Company shall, whether directly or indirectly, lend or investin other persons or entities identified in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of the Funding Party(“Ultimate Beneficiaries”) or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the UltimateBeneficiaries; and
(c) Based on such audit procedures that we considered reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances,nothing has come to our notice that has caused us to believe that the representations under sub¬clause (a) and (b) contain any material misstatement.
v. The dividend declared and paid by the Company during the year and until the date of this audit report is incompliance with Section 123 of the Act.
vi. Based on our examination, which included test checks, the Company has used multiple accounting softwarefor maintaining its books of account, which have a feature of recording audit trail (edit log) facility and thathas operated throughout the year for all relevant transactions recorded in the software, except for thefollowing:
(i) in respect of the core accounting software, the audit trail feature was not enabled for certain informationor data recorded in the software and at the database level to log any direct data changes;
(ii) one accounting software does not have the feature of recording audit trail.
During the course of performing our procedures, other than the aforesaid instances of audit trail notmaintained where the question of our commenting does not arise, we did not notice any instance of audittrail feature being tampered with. Further, the audit trail, to the extent maintained in the prior year, hasnot been preserved by the Company in respect of the software described in (i) and (ii) above as per thestatutory requirements for record retention.
16. The Company has paid/ provided for managerial remuneration in accordance with the requisite approvals mandatedby the provisions of Section 197 read with Schedule V to the Act.
For Price Waterhouse Chartered Accountants LLP
ICAI Firm Registration No. 012754N/N500016
Vivian Pillai
Partner
Place : Goa Membership No. 127791
Date : April 29, 2025 UDIN: 25127791BMNVBT5245