Indian numbering, dates & conventions¶
Indian filings, broker reports and websites use conventions that trip up newcomers. Keep this page open during the first few weeks.
1. Lakh and crore¶
| Indian unit | Digits | International equivalent | Written as |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 thousand | 1,000 | 1 thousand | ₹1,000 |
| 1 lakh | 1,00,000 | 100 thousand | ₹1 lakh / ₹1 L |
| 10 lakh | 10,00,000 | 1 million | ₹10 lakh |
| 1 crore | 1,00,00,000 | 10 million | ₹1 Cr |
| 100 crore | 1,00,00,00,000 | 1 billion | ₹100 Cr |
| 1 lakh crore | 1,00,000 crore | 1 trillion | ₹1 lakh Cr / ₹1 L Cr |
Indian digit grouping puts commas after the first three digits from the right and then every two digits:
12,34,56,789 = 12 crore 34 lakh 56 thousand 789. This course writes crore amounts with international grouping
(₹1,318 Cr) because that is what most annual reports and data sites do.
Quick conversions (useful for mental maths):
- ₹1 Cr ≈ US$ 0.11–0.12 mn at ₹85–90/US$ (check the current rate). ₹1,000 Cr ≈ US$ 110–120 mn.
- Market-cap language: "a ₹10,000 Cr company" ≈ US$ 1.1–1.2 bn.
- Per-share figures are in plain rupees (EPS ₹15.1), while company totals are in crore — never mix them in one formula without converting (market cap in ₹ Cr = price in ₹ × shares in crore).
Units in filings
Check the top of every statement: "₹ in crore", "₹ in lakh", "₹ in million" and "₹ in thousands" are all used by Indian companies. Screener.in shows ₹ Cr. Many IT companies and some MNC subsidiaries report in ₹ million or ₹ lakh. A 10× or 100× unit error is the most common beginner mistake.
2. Financial years and quarters¶
Indian companies (with rare exceptions) use an April–March financial year.
| Label | Period | Results usually announced |
|---|---|---|
| FY26 (also "FY2025-26", "2025-26") | 1-Apr-2025 → 31-Mar-2026 | Q4 & full year: April–May 2026 (audited annual results due within 60 days of year-end) |
| Q1 FY27 | Apr–Jun 2026 | July–mid-August 2026 (within 45 days of quarter-end) |
| Q2 FY27 / H1 FY27 | Jul–Sep 2026 / Apr–Sep 2026 | October–mid-November |
| Q3 FY27 / 9M FY27 | Oct–Dec 2026 / Apr–Dec 2026 | January–mid-February |
| Q4 FY27 | Jan–Mar 2027 | April–May 2027 |
- "FY27E" / "FY27F" = estimate/forecast for FY27. "TTM" / "LTM" = trailing twelve months (sum of the last four quarters). "YoY" = vs the same quarter last year; "QoQ" (or "sequential") = vs the previous quarter.
- The assessment year (AY) in tax is the year after the financial year: income of FY26 is assessed in AY 2026-27 (terminology under the Income-tax Act, 1961; the Income-tax Act, 2025 moves to a single "tax year" concept — check the current terminology when reading tax documents).
- US companies use calendar years or their own fiscal years (Apple's FY ends in late September). Always check.
3. Common abbreviations in Indian filings and reports¶
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| PAT / PBT / PBDIT | Profit after tax / before tax / before depreciation, interest and tax (≈ EBITDA incl. other income) |
| OPM | Operating profit margin (Screener: operating profit = sales − expenses, excludes other income) |
| CWIP | Capital work-in-progress (assets under construction) |
| ROCE / RoE / RoA | Return on capital employed / equity / assets |
| NCI / MI | Non-controlling (minority) interest |
| CFO / CFI / CFF | Cash flow from operating / investing / financing activities |
| FCF | Free cash flow |
| EPS / DPS / BVPS | Earnings / dividend / book value per share |
| FV | Face value (par value) of a share, e.g. ₹1, ₹2, ₹5, ₹10 |
| QIP / OFS / FPO / IPO | Qualified institutional placement / offer for sale / follow-on public offer / initial public offer |
| DRHP / RHP | Draft red herring prospectus / red herring prospectus |
| LODR | SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 |
| SAST | SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011 |
| PIT | SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015; UPSI = unpublished price-sensitive information |
| ICDR | SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018 |
| FPI / FII / DII | Foreign portfolio investor (older term: FII) / domestic institutional investor |
| MF / AMC / SIP | Mutual fund / asset management company / systematic investment plan |
| GNPA / NNPA / PCR | Gross / net non-performing assets / provision coverage ratio |
| NIM / CASA / CRAR | Net interest margin / current & savings account deposits / capital to risk-weighted assets ratio |
| ALM | Asset-liability management (maturity matching) |
| NBFC / HFC / SFB | Non-banking financial company / housing finance company / small finance bank |
| PSU / CPSE | Public-sector undertaking / central public-sector enterprise (government-controlled) |
| MNC | Multinational company (often "MNC subsidiary" = Indian listed arm of a foreign parent) |
| KMP | Key managerial personnel (CEO/MD, CFO, company secretary) |
| RPT | Related-party transaction |
| KAM / CARO | Key audit matter / Companies (Auditor's Report) Order, 2020 |
| BRSR | Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report |
| PLI | Production-Linked Incentive scheme |
| GST / STT | Goods and Services Tax / Securities Transaction Tax |
| STCG / LTCG | Short-term / long-term capital gains |
| MTM | Mark-to-market |
| bps | Basis points (1 bp = 0.01 percentage point) |
4. Numbers in tables¶
- Negative numbers appear as
(14.0)in financial statements,-14.0elsewhere. - "Cr" is often written as "cr", "Crs" or "Crore". "Mn" = million; "Bn" = billion; "L" = lakh.
- Percent vs percentage points: a margin moving from 12% to 14% is +200 bps or +2 percentage points — not +2%.
- Share prices on Indian sites are not adjusted for all corporate actions unless stated — check splits and bonus issues before computing long-period returns.