STEL Holdings LimitedReport on the audit of the standalone financial statements Opinion

We have audited the accompanying standalone financial statements of STEL Holdings Limited ('the Company'), which comprise the balance sheet as at March 31, 2025, and the statement of Profit and Loss (including other comprehensive income), statement of changes in equity and statement of cash flows for the year then ended, and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information. 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 accounting principles generally accepted in India, of the state of affairs of the Company as at March 31, 2025, its profit 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 in accordance with the Standards on Auditing ('SAs') specified under subsection 10 of section 143 of the Act. Our responsibilities under those Standards are further described in the Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the 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 financial 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 is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Key audit matters

Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, 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. 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 auditor's report thereon

The Company's Board of Directors are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Director's report, Management Discussion & Analysis and Business Responsibility Report if any, but does not include the standalone financial statements and our auditor's report thereon.

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.

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 sub-section 5 of section 134 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, read with relevant rules issued there under. 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, the Board of Directors are 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 the Board of Directors either intends to liquidate the Company or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

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

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 scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

a) 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.

b) 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.

c) Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by management.

d) 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.

e) 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 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

A. As required by the Companies (Auditor's Report) Order, 2020 ("the Order"), issued by the Central Government of India in terms of sub-section (1l) of section 143 of the Act, we give in the Annexure a statement on the matters specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Order, to the extent applicable.

B. As required by Section 143(3) of the Act, we report that:

1. 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.

2. 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 C below on the reporting under Rule 11(g) of Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014.

3. The balance sheet, the statement of profit and loss including other comprehensive income, statement of changes in equity and the statement of cash flows dealt with by this Report are in agreement with the books of account;

4. In our opinion, the aforesaid standalone financial statements comply with the Indian Accounting Standards prescribed under Section 133 of the Act.

5. On the basis of the written representations received from the directors as on March 31, 2025 taken on record by the Board of Directors, none of the directors are disqualified as on March 31, 2025 from being appointed as a director in terms of Section 164 (2) of the Act.

6. The modification relating to the maintenance of accounts and other matters connected therewith are as stated in the paragraph 2(b) above on the reporting under Sec. 143(3)(b) of the Act and paragraph 3 below on reporting under Rule 11(g) of Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014.

7. 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.

8. 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 read with Schedule V to the Act.

9. With respect to other matters to be included in the Auditors' 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 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 for which there were any material foreseeable losses;

iii. There were no amounts which were required to be transferred to the Investor Education and Protection Fund by the Company.

iv. i. 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.

ii. 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.

iii. Based on such audit procedures performed 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 (a) and (b) contain any material misstatement.

v. The Company has not declared any dividend during the year.

C. Based on our examination carried out in accordance with the Implementation Guidance on Reporting on Audit Trail under Rule 11(g) of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 (Revised 2024 Edition) issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the Company has used an accounting software for maintaining its books of account which has a feature of recording audit trail (edit log) facility except that the audit trail has been enabled at the database level to log any direct data changes from May 3, 2024 onwards. Except for the period from April 1, 2024 to May 2, 2024 at database level, the audit trail facility has been operating throughout the period for all relevant transactions recorded in the software. Further, during the course of our audit, we did not come across any instance of audit trail feature being tampered with.

Additionally, where audit trail (edit log) facility was enabled in the previous year; the audit trail has been preserved by the Company as per the statutory requirements for record retention.

For G. Joseph & Associates

Chartered Accountants

Firm Registration No. 006310S

Reuben Joseph

Partner

Membership number: 216884

UDIN: 25216884BMGFCO6411

Cochin

May 19, 2025