Hindalco Industries Limited

Report on the Audit of the Standalone Financial Statements

Opinion

1. We have audited the accompanying Standalone Financial Statements of Hindalco Industries Limited (“the Company”), which comprise the Standalone Balance Sheet as at March 31, 2024, and the Standalone Statement of Profit and Loss (including Other Comprehensive Income), the Standalone Statement of Changes in Equity and the Standalone 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 in which are included the financial statements for its interest in joint operations and trusts (Refer note 1 to the standalone fi nancial statements) for the year ended on that date audited by the other auditors (hereinafter referred to as “standalone financial statements”).

2. In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us and based on the consideration of reports of other auditors on the audited fi nancial statements of the joint operations and trusts, 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 accounting principles generally accepted in India, of the state of affairs of the Company, its joint operations and trusts, as at March 31, 2024, and total comprehensive income (comprising of profit and other comprehensive income), 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 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 together with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the standalone fi nancial statements under the provisions of the Act and the Rules 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 and the audit evidence obtained by the other auditors in terms of their reports referred to in sub-paragraph 13 and 14 of the Other Matter section below 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 the 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.

5. The Company’s Board of Directors is responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the integrated annual report, but does not include the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The integrated annual report is expected to be made available to us after the date of this auditor’s report.

Our opinion on the standalone financial statements does not cover the other information and we will 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 when it becomes available 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 integrated annual report, 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 action as applicable under the relevant laws and regulations.

Responsibilities of management and those charged with governance for the standalone 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 the preparation of these standalone 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 accepted in India, including the Accounting Standards specified under Section 133 of the Act. The respective Board of Directors of the Company, its joint operations and trustees of the trusts are responsible for the maintenance of adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisions of the Act for safeguarding of the assets of the Company, its joint operations and trusts 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 financial statements that give a true and fair view and are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, which have been used for the purpose of preparation of the standalone financial statements by the Directors of the Company, as aforesaid.

7. I n preparing the standalone financial statements, the respective Board of Directors of the Company, its joint operations and trustees of the trusts are responsible for assessing the ability of the Company, its joint operations and trusts to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the respective management either intends to liquidate the Company, its joint operations and trusts, or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so. The respective Board of Directors of the Company, its joint operations and trustees of the trusts are also responsible for overseeing the financial reporting process of the Company, its joint operations and trusts.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the standalone financial statements

8. 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.

9. As part of an audit in accordance with SAs, we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

• Identify and assess the risks of material mis-statement 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. (Refer paragraph 13 below).

• 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 ability of the Company, its joint operations and trusts 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, its joint operations and trusts 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.

• Obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the financial statements of the joint operations and trusts which are included in the Company to express an opinion on the standalone financial statements. We are responsible for the direction, supervision and performance of the audit of the financial statements of such entities included in the standalone financial statements of which we are the independent auditors. For the other entities included in the standalone financial statements, which have been audited by other auditors, such other auditors remain responsible for the direction, supervision and performance of the audits carried out by them. We remain solely responsible for our audit opinion.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. We did not audit the standalone financial statements of two joint operations included in the standalone financial statements of the Company, which constitute total assets of ' 13 crores and net assets of ' 13 crores as at March 31, 2024, total revenue of ' Nil, total comprehensive income (comprising of profit and other comprehensive income) of ' * crore and net cash in flows amounting to ' * crore for the year then ended. These financial statements and other financial information have been audited by other auditors whose reports have been furnished to us by the management, and our opinion on the standalone financial statements (including other information) in so far as it relates to the amounts and disclosures included in respect of these joint operations and our report in terms of sub-section (3) of section 143 of the Act including rule 11 of Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rule, 2014 of the Act including report on Other Information insofar as it relates to the aforesaid joint operations, is based solely on the reports of such other auditors. I n respect of one joint operation an emphasis of matter paragraph with regard to going concern and in respect of one joint operation, a material uncertainty related to going concern has been reported by the auditors of the respective joint operations vide their audit reports which is not considered to be material to the standalone financial statements of the Company.

* Amounts are below the rounding convention used in this report

14. The standalone financial statements of two trusts included in the standalone financial statements of the Company, which constitute total assets of ' 420 crores and net assets of ' 40 crores as at March 31, 2024, total revenue of ' Nil, total comprehensive income (comprising of profit and other comprehensive income) of ' 6 crores and net cash in flows amounting to ' 10 crores for the year then ended, have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles applicable to trusts in India. The Company’s management has converted the financial statements of such trusts from the accounting principles generally accepted in India to Accounting Standards specified under Section 133 of the Act. We have audited these conversion adjustments made by the Company’s management. Our opinion in so far as it relates to the balances and affairs of such trusts, including other information, is based on the report of other auditors and the conversion adjustments prepared by the management of the Company and audited by us.

Our opinion on the standalone financial statements, and our report on other legal and regulatory requirements is not modified in respect of above matters with respect to our reliance on the work done and the reports of the other auditors.

Report on other legal and regulatory requirements

15. 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 the “Annexure B” a statement on the matters specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Order, to the extent applicable.

16. 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 and its joint operation so far as it appears from our examination of those books and those performed by the auditors of joint operations whose financial statements have been audited under the Act, except that: (i) in the absence of sufficient appropriate audit evidence for five software applications of the Company, we are unable to verify whether the backup of books of account and other books and papers maintained in electronic mode has been maintained on a daily basis on servers physically located in India during the year; (ii) the back-up of two software applications, of the Company, for the books of account and other books and papers maintained in electronic mode has been kept on servers physically located in India on a daily basis, but maintained on every working day other than holidays; and (iii) the matters stated in paragraph 16(h)(vi) below on reporting under Rule 11(g) of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 (as amended) (“the Rules”).

(c) The Standalone Balance Sheet, the Standalone Statement of Profit and Loss (including other comprehensive income), the Standalone Statement of Changes in Equity and the Standalone Statement of Cash Flows dealt with by this Report are in agreement with the relevant books of account and the financial statements received from joint operations and trusts.

(d) In our opinion, the aforesaid standalone financial statements comply with the Accounting Standards specified under Section 133 of the Act.

(e) On the basis of the written representations received from the directors as on April 01, 2024, taken on record by the Board of Directors and the reports of the statutory auditors of joint operations, 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) With respect to the maintenance of accounts and other matters connected therewith, reference is made to our remarks in paragraph 16(b) above on reporting under Section 143(3)(b) of the Act.

(g) With respect to the adequacy of the internal financial controls with reference to financial statements of the Company and its joint operations, 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 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. The standalone financial statements disclose the impact of pending litigations on the standalone financial position of the Company, its joint operations and trusts - Refer Notes 6, 7, 13, and 31 to the standalone financial statements;

ii. Provision has been made in the standalone financial statements, as required under the applicable law or accounting standards, for material foreseeable losses, if any, on long-term contracts, including derivative contracts, as at March 31, 2024 - Refer Notes 5F, 7 and 13 to the standalone financial statements in respect of such items as it relates to the Company, its joint operations and trusts;

iii. Except as referred to in Note 12C to the standalone financial statements, there has been no delay in transferring amounts, required to be transferred, to the Investor Education and Protection Fund by the Company and its joint operations during the year.

iv. (a) The respective managements of the Company and its joint operations whose financial statements have

been audited under the Act, have represented to us and the other auditors of such joint operations, respectively that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, as disclosed in the notes to the standalone financial statements, 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 or any of such joint operations to or in any other persons or entities, 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 or any of such joint operations (“Ultimate Beneficiaries”) or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries (Refer Note 38(c)(viii) to the standalone financial statements);

(b) The respective managements of the Company and its joint operations whose financial statements have been audited under the Act, have represented to us and the other auditors of such joint operations, respectively that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, as disclosed in the notes to the standalone financial statements, no funds have been received by the Company or any of such joint operations from any persons or entities, including foreign entities (“Funding Parties”), with the understanding, whether recorded in writing or otherwise, that the Company or any of such joint operations 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 (Refer Note 38(c)(viii) to the standalone financial statements); and

(c) Based on such audit procedures that we considered reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances, performed by us and those performed by the auditors of joint operations whose fi nancial statements have been audited under the Act, nothing has come to our or other auditors’ 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 during the year by the Company is in compliance with Section 123 of the Act. The joint operations have not declared or paid any dividend during the year.

vi. Based on our examination, which included test checks, and that performed by the respective auditors of the joint operations, the Company and its joint operations have used multiple accounting software for maintaining their books of account which have a feature of recording audit trail (edit log) facility which operated throughout the year, except that:

(a) at the application level, the audit trail feature for one accounting software operated throughout the year for certain transactions; for fourteen accounting software, the audit trail feature operated for the later part of the financial year; for six accounting software, the audit trail feature did not operate throughout the year; for one accounting software, the audit log does not record the modification; and for one accounting software, the service auditors’ report on the software provided by the software service provider does not cover reporting on audit trail at the application level;

(b) at the database level, the audit trail feature for one accounting software operated only for certain transactions throughout the year; for thirteen accounting software, the audit trail feature operated for the later part of the financial year; for seven accounting software, the audit trail feature did not operate throughout the year; for one accounting software, the audit log does not record the pre-modified values; and for four accounting software, the service auditors’ report on the software provided by the software service provider does not cover reporting on audit trail at the database level; and

(c) In case of one joint operation, the other auditor has observed that the said joint operation has failed to maintain books of accounts in software which has a feature of recording audit trail (edit log) facility and accordingly, the same has not operated throughout the year for all relevant transactions recorded in the software. In case of another joint operation, the other auditors have not commented on the feature of recording audit trail (edit log) for the books of accounts maintained by that joint operation.

During the course of performing our procedures and those performed by the auditors of joint operations whose financial statements have been audited under the Act, except for the aforesaid instances at the application and the database levels, where the question of our commenting on whether the audit trail has been tampered with does not arise, we did not notice any instance of the audit trail feature being tampered with.

17. The Company has paid/ provided for managerial remuneration in accordance with the requisite approvals mandated by the provisions of Section 197 read with Schedule V to the Act. The joint operations have not paid/ provided for managerial remuneration during the year.

For Price Waterhouse & Co Chartered Accountants LLP

Firm Registration Number: 304026E/E-300009

Sarah George

Partner

Membership Number: 045255

UDIN: 24045255BKGUFE5017

Place : Mumbai

Date : May 24, 2024