SJVN Limited analyst Q&A

Thank you very much. We will now begin the question -and-answer session. We have the first question from Mr. Mohit Kumar from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.

My first question is on the losses at the consol level. Can you please explain why there is a loss on the consol level? Is it due to the fact that you have started booking the revenue for the new power plant, which is at a much lower PAF and maybe much lower tariff because the final tariff order is still to come? Is that the right understanding?

Actually, thank you. The losses were in SGEL we had a loss of around INR 257 crores and in Buxar Thermal i.e. STPL, we had a loss of around INR 92 crores. Buxar, as you know, has been operational for around three months in the last year and it has started operating at a PLF of around 60%. Once this PLF goes up to around 70% plus, this plant will start bringing in profit. And as far as SGEL is concerned, as you know, solar is a cyclical industry and this year we had slightly lower CUF on some of our plants, commissioned plants, plus Bikaner Solar, that is the flagship plant for this SGEL, that has also started operating in December 2025. So, that plant is yet to come up to its full capacity, which we will be seeing in our current '26-'27 financial year. But since these plants have already been commissioned, finance cost and depreciation are already being charged to the profit and loss account. So, that is the major reason that these plants have shown a loss for this year and this will improve substantially in '26-'27.

Is it possible to share the plant availability factor for SGEL and Buxar for the quarter and the year?

Like I said, it is 60% PLF.

PAF, sir? Plant availability?

Plant availability was around 70%.

70%.

Overall, the details would be there in the investor presentation, which we are going to upload by Monday. So, you have all the details regarding the operational aspects of different plants, SJVNL as well as the subsidy companies. And if you have any further queries, you can reach out to us individually.

And sir, what is the SGEL revenue, EBITDA and PAT for the FY '26, if you can share that number for the full fiscal?

Yes, sir, revenue, EBITDA and PAT for the entire fiscal FY '26?

For this year, the revenue of SGEL was INR 510 crores against INR 232 crores in the last year and expenses were INR 802 crores against INR 415 crores in the last year. That translates to a loss of INR 258 crores in this year as compared to INR 151 crores in the last year.

And how do you see the new capacity addition in FY '27 and FY '28 for SGEL and the hydropower plant and especially Nepal, what is the progress?

If you see the capacity addition for '26-'27, there will be a capacity addition of Buxar Thermal Power plant, 660 Megawatts thermal. Then we are going to commission 69.5 Megawatt of Dhaulasidh Hydro Electric Project in March ‘27, both the units. And there will be addition of around 1,555 Megawatt of solar capacity by March ‘27. They are getting commissioned at various dates, starting from May ‘26 to March ‘27.

And anything on FY '28, sir, any guidance?

FY '28 also, we have a plan to add capacity around 650 Megawatts. This is again mainly due to the solar projects only. Because our hydro projects are under construction, so we have a scheduled date of commissioning starting from FY '29 to '30. So, 650 Megawatts of solar will be added in FY '27. '28, in fact.

And sir, what is the progress on the Nepal hydro power project? Where is it right now? When you are expecting the commissioning?

Yes, Nepal hydro project is also in a very advanced stage. We were having some issues with the dam. Some geological surprises were there on the dam right bank. So, those have been tackled now. And there is a minimum time required to stabilize that area. So, that is already in progress. And you know that there was a lot of uncertainty in the Nepal government side. So, some of the approvals were pending. But those are now okay. We are progressing well. And we have a plan to commission the entire plant, all the four units, by December ‘28.

December 28. F29.

Yes.

That's very helpful.

So, I have a few questions on Buxar plant. So , post commissioning of Buxar, what is the regulated equity for you right now?

The regulated equity as we have only capitalized Unit-1, and as on date, the equity is around 4,000 crores, so 2,000 crores regulated equity for Unit-1. And once we commission both the units, the regulated equity for Buxar would be around 4,000 crores.

The capitalized cost of Unit-1 is around 7,000 crores. So, like my colleague said, that translates to a regulated equity of around 2,100 crores for Unit-1.

And can you just repeat your generation from Unit-1 of Buxar and the revenue contribution and profitability or losses that you mentioned for Buxar, if you can just repeat that.

STPL, that is Buxar Unit-1, that earned a revenue of around INR 522 crores in this year, in the last three months. And the total expenses were around INR 644 crores. So post tax, that turns to a total comprehensive income of around minus 93 crores.

And what is the design energy for Buxar?

Design energy is 9,800 million units.

For the full plant.

For both the units. For the full plant, if you convert it to one, it is around 4,900.

And there has been a significant increase in expenses. Is it because of commissioning of Unit-1 of Buxar?

Yes, as we told that, because we were not running it on the full capacity, due to various reasons. Number one, it was like when we commissioned it, there was not much demand and the power was being curtailed down by the beneficiary. And because of the daytime, there is a lot of solar power, so we were running it on 60% PLF only. So, in thermal, what happens, when you run the plant at minimum technical level, then there is always a loss to the project because there is a minimum expense we need to incur. So, beyond 70% PLF only, we start generating the profit. But now this year, we will be commissioning the second unit also. And everything has been stabilized in Unit-1 also. So, we are very much sure that during this FY '27, we are going to have a profit from the Buxar Thermal Power plant.

And my next question is renewable tendering. So , do you see any slowdown in renewable tendering for this year and for next fiscal? And also, what is the status on the unsigned PPA to the tune of around 40 Gigawatts?

As far as SJVNL is concerned, we have our arm that is Renewable Energy Implementing Agency. We have awarded a contract of around like 16 Gigawatts, 16,000 Megawatts and out of that, we have signed a PSA of around 6 Gigawatt. The problem what is happening that there are a lot of tenders which came out simultaneously in the market. And the demand is not that much, frankly speaking, because ultimately, this power has to be purchased by the DISCOMs, distribution companies. And so they have their own plan to purchase the power from different sources. Like they are looking for a combination of various things, solar, wind, hydro, then thermal, because they need a base load plant as well as the daytime plant and peaking podiwer also. So, as per their adequacy plan, so all the states have their different requirement. So, that is why the present tenders which were done by all the areas, in fact, not only SJVNL, NHAI, SECI and NTPC. So, all have this issue that all have almost signed 25 % to 30% of their capacity which has been tied up as of now. Balance is pending and there is a possibility that all the PPAs may not be done because there are two reasons. One is that requirement of that particular, that configuration which was there in the tender may not be required by the DISCOM. And secondly, there is a decrease in the, like this bid which they have, like tariff, decrease in the tariff with the subsequent bids which have come in the market. So, these are two things. So there will be demand, definitely. I don't see there will not be demand, but maybe with a different configuration like solar plus BESS, maybe FDRE which comprises of solar plus wind plus BESS. So, this will come in the market. So, demand will not decrease for the RE power as such.

I will get back in the queue.

The next question is from Rupesh Sankhe from Elara Securities. Please go ahead.

Sir, a couple of questions. Firstly, sir, earlier we had shared a vision for rapid expansion to reach a rate of close to 25,000 Megawatt by 2030 and then 50,000 by 2040. So, are we still maintaining the same target? And secondly, sir, what is our CAPEX guidance and how we are going to fund this huge CAPEX?

This is a good question. These projections were done based on certain market assessment and our growth, which was supposed to happen with RE as well as hydro projects. Unfortunately, due to one or the other reason , which is like unavoidable, which is beyond the control of the SJVNL, the projects did not come in time. And even the tenders for CPSU -like schemes and other like VGF schemes for the RE didn't come, which we were expecting in a similar manner which came in '22-23. So, we found that due to this some delays, number one, and due to some losses in the running ongoing our commissioned projects due to less CUF or some other reasons, now we are trying to consolidate ourselves with the ongoing projects and we will be making this, our future projections based on the realistic targets and so that we will be sharing very soon what is our target. I told you, our future plan that 27 FY, we will be commissioning around 2,284, then in FY '28, 650, then in from FY '29 to '30, we will be around another 2,500. But the target which you were speaking about 25,000, 50,000, that is that we are reviewing it. We are making our new business plan and we will be coming out with the new business plan very soon. Regarding CAPEX, which you asked about our plan for CAPEX, so this year we have a CAPEX plan of around 9,400 and for FY '28 and FY '29, we have a plan of 7,800 and 7,500 respectively.

We have next question from Mr. Mohit Kumar. This is follow-up question from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.

Thanks for the opportunity once again. My question is for your operational assets of RE. Are you seeing any curtailment of solar power projects and how are you mitigating it?

We are facing curtailment in Bikaner. We have commissioned 1,000 Megawatt, but there is a curtailment of around 120 Megawatt. So, that is due to the SVR requirement. So, there is availability issue with the SVR. So, that we will be commissioning this year by October 26. We will be commissioning the SVR and then I think we will be running on the full capacity, 1,000 Megawatt. So, that is the one thing there is a curtailment is there. Similarly, we will be commissioning some plants very soon in Khawada, Gujarat and there also we are having some issue of connectivity. Though we were given the connectivity on some other dates, but now the connectivity dates have been postponed due to the delay in the transmission line. So, there we may also have a curtailment in those plants also that may be around 300 Megawatt. So, the other places there is no curtailment as such where we are operating the plants.

Basically, reactor for the compensation purpose.

Understood. So, why there is a delay, sir? Any reason? Is it in your scope or?

Actually, this requirement came from the Central Electricity Authority. Some regulation came and there is so much influx of the solar power plant in the grid. So, to balance the grid, this particular equipment is required and there is an issue with the 23, in fact, this regulation came. By that time, we have already awarded the Bikaner and the construction was going on. So, when we ordered, so delivery of these equipments is not matching with our requirement. So, now they are delivering us in October 26 only because this equipment has a limited manufacturer. And it is like a transformer only, nothing else. It acts as a reactor only, nothing else. But there is a sort of, yes.

So, this 1 Gigawatt is under CPSU scheme, right, sir?

Yes.

My second question is, sir, what is the status of projects under REIA for you? How much of the PPA is still pending?

I told you, out of around 15 Gigawatt, we have signed PPAs of around 6 Gigawatt. So, balance are pending because some of the PPAs are under progress. So, 6 Gigawatt are signed already.

How much do you think you can convert out of 9 Gigawatt?

Very, very difficult to say anything as of now. We are trying very hard because I told you it is the problem of the component of that, power of the tender particularly. Because these PP As, these all tenders are mix of FDRE, then your solar standalone, then there is this hybrid solar plus wind. And so, these are the major three type of tenders are there. So, I have told you because of their adequacy plan of the various DISCOMs and the states , so they are not finding some of them suitable to their requirements. Even the cost of the…

How much pure solar, sir? Pure solar in this?

Pure solar is, just a minute, I have to see. Just a minute.

3 Gigawatt pure solar was there.

So, is it right to say this balance 6 Gigawatt should easily find a buyer in due course of time or do you think also it may get cancelled again?

Because actually some of the tariffs are attractive in fact. Some of the solar tariff, there is a 2.53, 2.54 tariff is there. And now when the states are coming with a new tender, so they are getting a cost of around 2.8 or 2.9. So, I am hopeful that the way we are following up with the respective DISCOM, there is a possibility that we may be able to sell even the pure solar also.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we can close the call. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Rupesh Sankhe. Over to you, sir.

Yes, we thank SJVN management for giving us an opportunity to host this call. We also thank all the investors and the analysts for joining this call.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you. On behalf of Elara Securities, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.