We have audited the accompanying standalone financial statements of Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited ("the Company"), which comprise the Balance Sheet as at March 31, 2024, 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 then ended and notes to the standalone financial statements including material accounting policy information 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 specified 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, 2024, and total comprehensive income (comprising of loss and other comprehensive income), changes in equity and its cash flows 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 (SAs) specified under section 143(10) of the Act. Our responsibilities under those Standards are further described in the Auditors' 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 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 Code of Ethics. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion on the standalone financial statements.

Emphasis of matter

We draw attention to Note no. 5 to the standalone annual financial statements, which describes the fact that in view of the losses of Rs.17,432.36 Lakhs incurred by Joint Venture Company, GACL - Nalco Alkalies & Chemicals Private Limited (“JV”) during the year and accumulated losses of Rs. 45,972.65 Lakhs as at March 31, 2024, the Company, through external expert, has carried out impairment review of its Investment of Rs. 41,400 Lakhs in 41,40,00,000 equity shares of Rs. 10/- each in JV. As per external expert’s assessment, the fair value of above-referred Equity Investment in JV exceeds its carrying value and consequently, the management has determined that no impairment provision needs to be recognised against carrying value of its Equity Investment held in said JV as of March 31, 2024.

Our opinion is not modified in respect of this matter. Key Audit Matters

Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in our audit of these standalone financial statements of the current period. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the standalone 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 matters described below to be the key audit matters to be communicated in our report.

Information Other than the Standalone Financial Statements and Auditors' 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 Board's Report including Annexures to Board's Report, Management Discussion and Analysis, Corporate Governance Report, Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report and Shareholder's Information but does not include the standalone financial statements and our auditors’ report thereon.The above-referred information is expected to be made available to us after the date of this audit 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 identified above and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the standalone financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.

When we read the information, if we conclude that there is a material misstatement therein, we are required to communicate the matter to those charged with governance and take appropriate actions necessitated by the circumstances and the applicable laws and regulations.

Responsibilities of Management and Those Charged with Governance 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, total comprehensive income, changes in equity and cash flows of the Company in accordance with the accounting principles generally accepted in India, including the Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) specified under section 133 of the Act.

This responsibility also includes maintenance of adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisions of the Act for safeguarding of 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 also responsible for overseeing the Company’s financial reporting process.

Auditors' 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 auditors' 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 control 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 with reference to standalone financial statements 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 auditors' 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 auditors’ 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.

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 auditors’ report unless law or regulation precludes public disclosure about the matters 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 of India in terms of sub-section (11) of section 143 of the Act, we give in Annexure "A", a statement on the matters specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the

Order, to the extent applicable.

2. 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 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 except for the matters stated in the paragraph (i) (vi) below on reporting under rule 11(g);

c. the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Profit and Loss including other comprehensive income, the Statement of Changes in Equity and the Statement of Cash Flows dealt with by this Report are in agreement with the books of account;

d. in our opinion, the aforesaid standalone financial statements comply with the Ind AS specified under Section 133 of the Act;

e. on the basis of the written representations received from the directors as on March 31, 2024, taken on record by the Board of Directors, none of the directors is disqualified as on March 31, 2024, from being appointed as a director in terms of Section 164(2) of the Act;

f. theobservation relating to the maintenance of accounts and other matters connected therewith are as stated in the paragraph (b) above on reporting under Section 143(3)(b) and paragraph (i) (vi) below on reporting under Rule 11(g).

g. with respect to the adequacy of the internal financial controls with reference to standalone financial statements of the Company and the operating effectiveness of such controls, refer to our separate report in Annexure "B";

h. with respect to the other matters to be included in the Auditors' 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; and

i. the other matters to be included in the Auditors’ Report in accordance with Rule 11 of with respect to the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014, in our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us:

i. theCompany has disclosed the impact of pending litigations on its financial position in its standalone financial statements - refer note 43 to the standalone financial statements;

ii. the Company did not have any long-term contracts including derivative contracts for which there were material foreseeable losses as at March 31, 2024;

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 it's knowledge and belief, no funds 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(s) or entity(ies), 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 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 it's knowledge and belief, no funds have been received by the company from any person(s) or entity(ies), including foreign entities ("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; and

(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 15(v) 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 Board of Directors of the Company has proposed final dividend for the year which is subject to the approval of the members at the ensuing Annual General Meeting. The dividend proposed is in accordance with section 123 of the Act to the extent it applies to declaration of dividend.

vi. Based on our examination which included test checks, the company has used accounting software for maintaining its books of account which has a feature of recording audit trail (edit log) facility and the same has operated throughout the year for all relevant transactions recorded in the accounting software at the application level. However, the company has not enabled the audit trail (edit log) feature at database level in the accounting software. We did not come across any instance of audit trail feature being tampered with at the application level.

As proviso to Rule 3(1) of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014 is applicable from the period April 1, 2023 reporting under Rule 11(g) of the Companies Act (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 on preservation of audit trail as per the statutory requirements for record retention is not applicable for the financial year ending March 31, 2024.

For K C Mehta & Co LLP

Chartered Accountants Firm’s Registration No. 106237W/W100829

Shripal Shah

Partner

Place: Vadodara Membership No. 114988

Date: May 30, 2024 UDIN: 24114988BKALZV1484