ARIES AGRO LIMITED
Report on the Audit of the Standalone Financial Statements
Opinion
We have audited the accompanying standalone financial statements of Aries Agro Limited (“the Company”), which comprise the Balance Sheet as at March 31, 2023, the Statement of Profit and Loss (including Other Comprehensive Income), the Statement of Changes in Equity and the Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended on that date, and a summary of the significant accounting policies and other explanatory information (hereinafter referred to as “the standalone financial statements”).
In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us, the aforesaid standalone financial statements give the information required by the Companies Act, 2013 (“the Act”) in the manner so required and give a true and fair view in conformity with the Indian Accounting Standards prescribed under section 133 of the Act read with the Companies (Indian Accounting Standards) Rules, 2015, as amended, (“Ind AS”) and other accounting principles generally accepted in India, of the state of affairs of the Company as at March 31,2023, and its profit, total comprehensive income, its cash flows and the changes in equity for the year ended on that date.
Basis for Opinion
We conducted our audit of the standalone financial statements in accordance with the Standards on Auditing (“SA's) specified under section 143(10) of the Act. Our responsibilities under those Standards are further described in the Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Standalone Financial Statements section of our report. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the Code of Ethics issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) together with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the standalone financial statements under the provisions of the Act and the Rules made thereunder, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements and the ICAI's Code of Ethics. We believe that the audit evidence obtained by us is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion on the standalone financial statements.
Key Audit Matters
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in our audit of the financial statements of the current period. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters. We have determined the matter described below to be the key audit matter to be communicated in our report.
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Key Audit Matter
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Auditor’s Response
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1. Revenue recognition - Sale of Goods
Revenue recognition - Sale of goods Refer Note 4 (N)(a) “Revenue Recognition” of the Standalone Financial Statements under Significant Accounting Policies. Revenue from sale of goods is recognised when control of the products being sold is transferred to the customer, which is mainly upon delivery and when there are no longer any unfulfilled obligations. The timing of revenue recognition is relevant to the reported performance of the Company. The Management considers revenue as a key measure for evaluation of performance. There is a risk of revenue being recorded before control is transferred.
2. Evaluation of uncertain tax positions
The Company has material uncertain direct and indirect tax positions including matters under dispute which involves significant judgement to determine the possible outcome of these disputes.
The Company has disclosed in contingent liabilities (to the extent not provided for) towards direct and indirect tax position.
Refer Notes 4 (M) and 40 to the Standalone Financial Statement The Company undergo assessment proceedings from time to time with direct and indirect tax authorities. There is a high level of judgment required in estimating the level of provisioning and/ or disclosure required.
The management's assessment is supported by the advice from independent tax consultants and legal consultants, where considered necessary by the management. Accordingly, unexpected adverse outcome, if any, could impact significantly the company's reported profit and balance sheet position.
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Principal Audit Procedures
We have performed the following principal audit procedures in relation
to revenue recognised which include a combination of testing internal
controls and substantive testing as under:
• Assessing the appropriateness of the Company's revenue recognition accounting policies in line with Ind AS 1l5 and testing thereof.
• Evaluating the integrity of the general information and technology (“IT”) control environment and testing the operating effectiveness of key IT application controls.
• Understanding the revenue recognition process, evaluating the design and implementation of Company's controls in respect of revenue recognition.
• Testing the effectiveness of such controls over revenue cut-off at year end.
Testing the supporting documentation for sales transactions recorded during the period closer to the year end and subsequent to the year end, including examination of credit notes issued subsequent to the year end to determine whether revenue was recognised in correct period.
• Performing analytical procedures on current year revenue based on monthly trends and where appropriate, conducting further enquiries and testing.
Obtained details of completed tax assessment and demands for the year ended March 31, 2023 from management. We involved company's legal and tax consultants to challenge the management's underlying assumptions in estimating the tax provision, liabilities and the possible outcome of the disputes. Company's legal and tax consultants also considered legal precedence and other ruling evaluating management's position on these uncertain tax positions. Additionally, we considered the effect of new information in respect of uncertain tax position as at April 1, 2022 to evaluate whether any change is required to management's position on these uncertainties. We did not identify any material exception as a result of above procedure relating to management's assessment of provisions.
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Information Other than the Standalone Financial Statements and Auditor’s Report Thereon
The Company's Board of Directors is responsible for the preparation of the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Management Discussion and Analysis, Board's Report including Annexures to Board's Report, Business Responsibility Report, Corporate Governance and Shareholder's Information, but does not include the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The other information is expected to be made available to us after the date of Auditor's Report.
Our opinion on the standalone financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the standalone financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the standalone financial statements or our knowledge obtained during the course of our audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.
If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.
Management’s Responsibility for the Standalone Financial Statements
The Company's Board of Directors is responsible for the matters stated in section 134(5) of the Act with respect to the preparation of these standalone financial statements that give a true and fair view of the financial position, financial performance, including other comprehensive income, changes in equity and cash flows of the Company in accordance with the Ind AS and other accounting principles generally accepted in India. This responsibility also includes maintenance of adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisions of the Act for safeguarding the assets of the Company and for preventing and detecting frauds and other irregularities; selection and application of 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 ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, relevant to the preparation and presentation of the standalone financial statements that give a true and fair view and are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the standalone financial statements, management is responsible for assessing the Company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless management either intends to liquidate the Company or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.
The Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing the Company's financial reporting process.
Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Standalone Financial Statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the standalone financial statements as a whole are free from material 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 with SAs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are
considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these standalone financial statements.
As part of an audit in accordance with SAs, we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also:
• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the standalone financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud 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 financial controls relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances. Under section 143(3)(i) of the Act, we are also responsible for expressing our opinion on whether the Company has adequate internal financial controls system in place and the operating effectiveness of such controls.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by management.
• Conclude on the appropriateness of management's use of the going concern basis of accounting, and based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor's report to the related disclosures in the standalone financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor's report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Company to cease to continue as a going concern.
• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the standalone financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the standalone financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
Materiality is the magnitude of misstatements in the standalone financial statements that, individually or in aggregate, makes it probable that the economic decisions of a reasonably knowledgeable user of the standalone financial statements may be influenced. We consider quantitative materiality and qualitative factors in (i) planning the scope of our audit work and in evaluating the results of our work; and (ii) to evaluate the effect of any identified misstatements in the standalone financial statements.
We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.
We also provide those charged with governance with a statement that we have complied with relevant ethical requirements regarding independence, and to communicate with them all relationships and other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards.
From the matters communicated with those charged with governance, we determine those matters that were of most significance in the audit of the standalone 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 the matter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine that a matter should not be communicated in our report because the adverse consequences of doing so would reasonably be expected to outweigh the public interest benefits of such communication.
Report on Other Legal and Regulatory Requirements
1. As required by the Companies (Auditor's Report) Order, 2020 (“the Order”) issued by the Central Government in terms of Section 143(11) of the Act, we give in “Annexure A” a statement on the matters specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Order.
2. As required by Section 143(3) of the Act, based on our audit we report that:
a) We have sought and obtained all the information and explanations which to the best of our knowledge and belief were 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 appears from our examination of those books (and proper records adequate for the purpose of our audit have been received from branches not visited by us).
c) The Balance Sheet, the Statement of Profit and Loss including Other Comprehensive Income, Statement of Changes in Equity and the Statement of Cash Flow dealt with by this Report are in agreement with the relevant books of accounts.
d) In our opinion, the aforesaid standalone financial statements comply with the Ind AS specified under Section 133 of the Act, read with Rule 7 of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014.
e) On the basis of the written representations received from the directors as on March 31,2023 taken on record by the Board of Directors, none of the directors is disqualified as on March 31, 2023 from being appointed as a director in terms of Section 164 (2) of the Act.
f) With respect to the adequacy of the internal financial controls over financial reporting of the Company and the operating effectiveness of such controls, refer to our separate Report in “Annexure B”. Our report expresses an unmodified opinion on the adequacy and operating effectiveness of the Company's internal financial controls over financial reporting.
g) With respect to the other matters to be included in the Auditor's Report in accordance with the requirements of section 197(16) of the Act, as amended:
In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us, the remuneration paid by the Company to its directors during the year is in accordance with the provisions of section 197 of the Act.
h) With respect to the other matters to be included in the Auditor's Report in accordance with Rule 11 of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014, as amended in our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us:
i. The Company has disclosed the impact of pending litigations on its financial position in its standalone financial statements.
ii. The Company has made provision, as required under the applicable law or accounting standards, for material foreseeable losses, if any, on long-term contracts including derivative contracts.
iii. There has been no delay in transferring amounts, required to be transferred, to the Investor Education and Protection Fund by the Company.
iv. (a) The Management has represented that, to the best of its
knowledge and belief, no funds (which are material either individually or in the aggregate) have been advanced or loaned or invested (either from borrowed funds or share premium or any other sources or kind of funds) by the Company to or in any other person or entity, including foreign entity (“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 the Company (“Ultimate Beneficiaries”) or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries;
(b) The Management has represented, that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, no funds (which are material either individually or in the aggregate) have been received by the Company from any person or entity, including foreign entity (“Funding Parties”), with the understanding, whether recorded in writing or otherwise, that the Company shall, whether, directly or indirectly, lend or invest in 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 Ultimate Beneficiaries;
(c) Based on the audit procedures that have been 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 (i) and (ii) of Rule 11(e), as provided under (a) and (b) above, contain any material misstatement.
v. As stated in Note 42 to the standalone financial statements
(a) The final dividend proposed in the previous year, declared and paid by the Company during the year is in accordance with Section 123 of the Act, as applicable.
(b) The interim dividend is not declared and hence the question of compliance with Section 123 of the Act does not arise.
(c) The Board of Directors of the Company have proposed final dividend for the year which is subject to the approval of the members at the ensuing Annual General Meeting. The amount of dividend proposed is in accordance with section 123 of the Act, as applicable.
vi. Proviso to Rule 3(1) of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014 for maintaining books of account using accounting software which has a feature of recording audit trail (edit log) facility is applicable to the Company with effect from April 1, 2023, and accordingly, reporting under Rule 11(g) of Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 is not applicable for the financial year ended March 31,2023.
For Kirti D. Shah & Associates
Chartered Accountants Firm's Registration No. 115133W
Kirti D. Shah
Proprietor
Date: 23rd May, 2023 Membership No.032371
Place: Mumbai UDIN : 23032371BGZFQR8615
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