Waaree Renewable Q1: EBITDA, Profit Rise Multifold | NDTV Profit
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00:00We're now going to be in conversation with Worry Renewable Technologies who posted a
00:03strong set of numbers this quarter and joining us to talk about the quarter gone by and the
00:07future outlook of the company, we're joined by the Chief Financial Officer at Worry Renewables,
00:12Mr. Dilip Panjwani.
00:13Good afternoon, Mr. Panjwani.
00:14Good afternoon, Erika.
00:15Thank you so much for offering us this opportunity to come on your platform.
00:20Yes.
00:21You know, let me ask, let me start off with, you know, asking you your assessment on how
00:23Q1 FY25 went by and if you could maybe give us an outlook for FY25 in terms of top line
00:29and bottom line growth.
00:30You know, from our standpoint, you know, if you look at our performance in terms of year
00:35on year, we have always performed very well.
00:37So from that perspective, you know, we are very happy.
00:41We also want to say that, you know, the way sector is offering opportunities, it's very
00:46significant.
00:47So our outlook remains very, very, you know, hopefully, you know, very strong, both from
00:52year perspective and for next, you know, another four to five years timeline that the government
00:58has set for renewable space, you know, to reach 50% of energy coming from renewable
01:04space.
01:05So, they do offer a very significant opportunity for companies like us to keep the growth rate
01:10momentum going for a considerable period of time.
01:13Yes.
01:14You know, you come over to this side and I also wanted to get and talk more about your
01:19order book.
01:20Now, it's the unexecuted order book stands at over 2,100 megawatt power, but you have
01:26said that the company will be executing the current order book in the 9 to 12 months,
01:31how much of it would be executed in FY25 itself?
01:35So you know, if you look at our order book, in the same period in the last year, we were
01:38at around 800 megawatt only, you know, and now we have doubled in that parameter also.
01:44So in the March end, we were at 2.3 gigawatt, our now order book is now 2.1 gigawatt because
01:49we have executed around 215 megawatt in this year, in this quarter, sorry.
01:54But you know, going by 9 to 12 months, our expectation is that, you know, almost 75%
01:59of the order needs to get executed in the next nine months.
02:02That's about roughly about 1.8 megawatt, 1.8 gigawatt that we are talking, you know, that
02:07translates to around, you know, put together with Q1, that translates to about 2,400 to
02:132,500 crore of existing order book.
02:16We are not even talking of what we are chasing and what we ought to be.
02:20That when you translate to our last year's earnings, it's again two and a half times
02:24or, you know, almost virtually three times larger, you know, growth rate that we are
02:29speaking.
02:30Yes.
02:31You know, correct me if I'm wrong, but, you know, the revenue estimates that you gave,
02:36does that bring the per megawatt revenue potential for the company to around 1.2 crores?
02:41So we are in the range of 1 to 1.2 crore, given and take, you know, what kind of orders
02:46we get, whether it's turnkey or balance of system, but your metric is right.
02:49We are always probably in the range of 1 to 1.2 crore per megawatt.
02:53Got it, Mr. Bhanrani.
02:54I also want to get more outlook in terms of order book growth.
02:58How is the bidding pipeline looking like, maybe on how it's broken down to segment or
03:03project type wise?
03:04And what's your outlook in terms of order growth potential for the financial year?
03:09You know, the business that we are chasing now has also doubled, you know, at the same
03:13period in last year, we were at 7 gigawatt, we are at 15 and odd gigawatt talking to our
03:18clients.
03:19So, you know, that's the most tender business and the CNI potential that we are talking.
03:23So utility scale IPPs also.
03:26So most of the utility scale IPPs are again, you know, tariff driven who have taken biddings
03:30from government or NTPC or Seki and those kinds of stuff.
03:36So it is a mix of both, but the domination, you know, has been utility scale IPPs for
03:41us.
03:42That's not shifting to government as well for us.
03:44So in the order book also, right now we have 30% from government business.
03:50So in the bidding pipeline also, that is moving towards 30-40% now, but more trajectory we
03:55see now it's coming from government.
03:57Okay, so that maybe, you know, the breakup from government orders could increase, you
04:04know, as we grow as well in terms of order book?
04:07Yeah, certainly.
04:08If you look at even the last quarter gone by, you know, where 16 gigawatt of tenders
04:12were issued in March quarter.
04:14And though there was a predominately from government, you know, government driven, policy
04:17driven, where government asks NTPC and Seki and etc. to issue tenders and current policy
04:25also framework government wants to issue 50 gigawatt per annum order tenders in each year.
04:31So that's a big, huge business for us that we are looking from the government side.
04:35Got it.
04:36I also wanted to get your outlook first on the Indian solar industry as a whole.
04:41I know you've identified this segment, especially the rooftop segment, as you know, a potential,
04:46you know, growth opportunity for the company.
04:48So I wanted to get your outlook on the entire industry as a whole first.
04:52You know, the outlook, you know, no one can, you know, beat this kind of an environment
04:56the government is offering.
04:57There are three to four opportunities that the government is offering.
05:00One is they want to reach 50% of renewable energy, they want to reach net zero, they
05:05have firm number plan of 280 gigawatt from solar to 20 from wind, 500 gigawatt put together
05:11for the renewable.
05:12Now they're talking of battery energy storage system, that's a 42 gigawatt opportunity roughly
05:19translating to 14 lakh crores.
05:20There's a pump storage, there's an RTC that's happening, there's a hybrid that's happening.
05:26Then there's a CNI opportunity that's happening separately over and above that.
05:29Then there's a carbon tax that's going to come in Europe and Indian companies exporting
05:33there must transform their energy to energy transition into renewable space.
05:37There is an 100 Club that's happening.
05:39So there's so much happening, you know, to put a number would be also an underestimate
05:43in this sector.
05:44The inflection growth is just now being made visible in terms of the numbers that the companies
05:50that are importing companies like ours.
05:52Yes, you know, I get that, you know, there have been many policy pushes and a lot of
05:56support from the government as well, you know, solar, you know, it's almost 85% of our renewable
06:01capacity right now.
06:03But from the, what kind of challenges could pose from a company or an industry point of
06:09standpoint?
06:10You know, it has been going good as of now, there are no significant challenges that we
06:14observed, including the supply chain challenges that we were talking.
06:18And you know, the module capacity is available, the vendor ecosystem has developed in India.
06:23So there are no significant, except, you know, manpower could be a challenge in future, because
06:27to scale up very significantly higher, you need a qualified manpower.
06:31But from a WARI perspective, we are good for now, because, you know, we don't need
06:35significant manpower to add to deliver this kind of growth also.
06:39Yes.
06:40And I want to get more perspective on your ground, ground mounted and rooftop solar projects.
06:45What's the kind of traction you've been getting in both these segments?
06:48And you know, how do you see growth, you know, going forward?
06:51You know, significantly higher orders we are getting still from ground mounted, but the
06:55rooftop opportunity also is between 30 to 40 gigawatt in India, that's yet untapped.
07:00So we do have orders from rooftop, you know, in the current quarter also, we got one order
07:06on the rooftop, but good to speak that we also got a floating solar order.
07:11The order may be small, but it speaks that the country is moving in a direction where
07:15all forms of, you know, rooftop, ground mounted, floating solar, all these kinds of orders
07:21are now coming up, which we have been talking for, you know, the last couple of years.
07:26Yes.
07:27And, you know, Mr. Pauchani, you also mentioned the opportunity in terms of green hydrogen
07:32and battery storage.
07:34Could you maybe give us more color on what the company has in terms of orders in hand
07:38and you know, the execution timeline for the same?
07:40I believe you all did get a contract to set up a one megawatt green hydrogen plant.
07:44So that was a pilot project, but in terms of very significant orders, you know, there
07:49are investments yet to happen.
07:51And that's a significant opportunity apart from those, the line up of opportunities of
07:55RTC hybrid, which I spoke.
07:57The green hydrogen also will need solar plants to be set up.
08:00So that opportunity we are forcing in the coming year to come up for companies like
08:04us.
08:05Okay.
08:06So, am I right to assume, correct me if I'm wrong, that your bidding pipeline could also
08:10see some kind of projects related to green hydrogen battery energy?
08:14Yes, you know, we will be now chasing even those pipeline as well as going forward.
08:21Yes.
08:22And lastly, Mr. Bachani, before I let you go, I just want you, you know, if you could
08:26talk about the growth strategy going forward in terms of O&M markets, you know, international
08:31markets as well as, you know, growing your EPC segment.
08:34So you know, EPC segment, as I told you, you know, it's a sitting opportunity and you are
08:38to deliver the best to the customers like we have been in this business for a decade.
08:42But from an O&M perspective, the good to talk about is we are already sitting at half gigawatt
08:47of portfolio assets.
08:49We have 1.5 gigawatt of orders in our hand as of today in terms of once we complete these
08:55EPC projects that will translate to O&M tail business for us.
08:58These are sitting orders.
08:59We are also equally chasing O&M as we chase EPC, you know, because the tail business comes
09:04naturally to us, you know, because we have been in this business for so long.
09:08So that's our strategy going forward that we keep focusing on diversification into hybrid
09:13RTC, battery energy storage system, O&M, into various forms of O&M.
09:19That's the strategy that the company is doing.
09:22As far as international business is concerned, you know, right now, the domestic opportunity
09:25itself is quite long.
09:26But at the right time, we will definitely, you know, approach international markets as
09:30well.
09:31Well, thank you, Mr. Bhandrani for giving us outlook on, you know, the growth process
09:35of your company and wish you all the best.