Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to JSW Energy Q4 FY 2026 post-result earnings call hosted by PL Capital. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star 10 zero on your touchtone phone. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Vishal Periwal from PL Capital. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. Periwal.
Yeah. Thanks, Michelle. Good afternoon, everyone. I welcome you all for the Quarter Four earnings call of JSW Energy. Today, we have leadership team of JSW Energy with us, led by Mr. Sharad Mahendra, Joint MD and CEO, Mr. Chandrasekaran Prabhakaran, CFO, and Mr. Vikas Choudhary, Head Investor Relations and ERM. I'd like to thank you to the management for giving PL Capital the opportunity to host the call. Now I'm giving the speaker to Sharad, sir, for the brief from him, and then we'll have a line open for Q&A. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Vishal. A very good afternoon to everyone, and thank you all for joining us today. It is my pleasure to share the highlights of our performance for the quarter and the year gone by. FY 2026 has been an exciting year where we began to translate the bold ambitions of our Strategy 3.0 into hard business outcomes. During financial year 2026, we increased our installed capacity by 2.6 GW to reach at 13.45 GW, with generation growing commensurately by 58% year-on-year. The company reported its highest ever annual EBITDA of INR 11,041 crores in financial year 2026. Before I delve into our performance, I would like to share some sector observations.
India's power sector continued its structural transformation in FY 2026, though demand dynamics were different from what we saw in recent years. Total power demand for the country grew modestly at 0.9% in FY 2026, the most muted growth in last five years, driven by an extended monsoon season that weighed on consumption through the first half of the year. However, from Quarter Four FY 2026 onwards, we saw a fair demand recovery, with demand growth rebounding to 2.1% Quarter Four. In FY 2027 so far, year-to-date demand growth remains healthy at a growth of 4.6% year-on-year. Overall, the season softness that we have seen in the first half of FY 2026 does not, in our view, alter the medium-term structural demand story in any way.
India's growing industrialization, urbanization, and rising per capita consumption continue to underpin a 5%-6% CAGR in power demand over long term. Peak demand on 25th April 2026 reached 256 GW, and with the summer of 2026 now commenced and expected to be severe, the system is positioning to handle a new peak of approximately 270 GW, higher than the 250 GW record seen in May 2024. On the supply side, India added 64.9 GW of new capacity during the fiscal, of which renewable energy accounted for 50.9 GW, translating to 78% of total capacity additions. Non-fossil sources have crossed 50% of total installed capacity for the first time in. The ongoing status quo reinforce the need. India's coal reserves insulate us from crude volatility, an advantage the country is actively leveraging.
Structural shifts towards induction heating and EVs are expanding electricity demand, while data centers are also expected to anchor the long-term offtake in India. The merchant market remained soft through most of FY 2026, averaging approximately INR 3.86 per unit on exchanges, reflecting muted demand. Despite this, in line with what we have maintained, our FY 2026 merchant realizations commanded more than 20% premium to average exchange prices, which are driven primarily by strategically executed back-to-back short-term contracts. We are already seeing tariffs firm up in FY 2027 as summer cooling demand builds. As mentioned earlier, till date, power demand is up by 4.6%. Now, coming to company performance, FY 2026 has been defined by scale and integration.
We have added 2.6 GW of installed capacity during the year via a calibrated strategy of organic and inorganic route, taking our total operational base to 13.45 GW, making us one of the largest diversified power generation companies in the country. The additions span organic commissioning across wind, 240 MW, solar, 305 MW, hybrid, 451 MW, and hydro, 240 MW assets. The full integration of all the inorganic acquisitions was completed in FY 2025 and FY 2026. The integration of O2 Power, the 4.7 GW renewable energy platform that we acquired in April 2025, has progressed well. O2 Power's operating capacity has grown to approximately 2 GW at the close of FY 2026, with active construction underway across the remaining portfolio.
Its asset quality underpinned by diversified geography, long-term PPAs with credible counterparties, supported with 100% connectivity and majority of the land and rich tariffs, has met our original underwriting assumptions. Coming to thermal, on KSK Mahanadi, our 1,800 MW operational capacity delivered robust performance during the year, driven by synergies post-acquisition. We have been focused on implementing cost efficiencies and improving plant performance, and I am pleased to report that PLF has remained healthy through FY 2026 and among the top 10 plants in the country in the first full operational year in our hands. The ramp-up plan for the remaining units of plant is progressing on schedule, with water and rail arrangements firmly in place post our recent acquisition of KSK's water and rail SPVs. On the organic front, we commissioned 1.24 GW of new capacities during FY 2026.
Notably, the 240 MW Kutehr hydroelectric plant, which was commissioned in quarter 2 of FY 2026, is one of the fastest timelines for a project of its scale, further cementing our position as the largest private IPP in hydro sector. We also acquired 150 MW Tidong hydropower plant from Statkraft, which is at an advanced stage of completion. I am happy to tell that 50 MW of this has already been commissioned on 7th of May 2026. Balance 2 units are expected to be commissioned within this quarter before June 2026, against the original plan of October 2026. This timely commissioning will help us catch the ongoing hydro season, adding meaningfully to the top line and bottom line.
Alongside renewables, thermal power has regained its prominence as reliable base load. We made rapid strides on this front as well during FY 2026. Following the signing of 1,600 MW Salboni PPA in FY 2025, we secured an additional 1,600 MW and signed the PPA for the same location, making Salboni our largest single site asset at 3,200 MW. On the first 1,600 MW project construction has commenced and equipment procurement is on schedule. As we have informed, in parallel, we have taken strategic steps to de-risk our thermal supply chain through the strengthening of Toshiba JSW joint venture for turbine generators and the acquisition of GE Power boiler business, with the latter transaction expected to be consummated within the next two quarters.
Turning to our under-construction portfolio, JSW Energy is currently building 14 GW of generation projects, all of which are fully tied up under long-term power purchase agreements. This high quality, fully contracted under-construction book gives us a strong visibility into future EBITDA. This fiscal year we are looking to add about 3 GW capacity and a CapEx spend of around INR 20,000 crore for the year. On our thermal optionality at KSK, we expect the first 600 MW to be commissioned by quarter three of next fiscal. Beyond this, we have a robust project pipeline of approximately 4.6 GW, where letters of intent have been secured. Our total logged-in capacity now stands at 32.1 GW, placing us firmly on track to deliver the 30 GW target of generation by 2030 under Strategy 3.0.
Coming to energy storage, we recognize the critical role it plays in integrating renewable energy and ensuring grid stability. Our logged-in storage capacity now stands at 29.6 GWh, of which 3.2 GWh are in battery energy storage and 26.4 GW are in the remunerative PSP space. Our 5 GWh battery assembly facility in Pune was commissioned in quarter 4 of FY 2026, and the commercial sales of the battery storage have already commenced. This plant will position us to meet domestic content requirements for battery energy storage systems as and when mandated by the Government of India. Energy storage is fast becoming a mainstream infrastructure investment, and we are well ahead of the market in building this capability.
Additionally, our wind blade manufacturing facility at Halol in Gujarat, scheduled for commissioning in the first half of FY 2027, would provide advantage to us in terms of lower capital costs for wind projects due to savings in logistic costs and foreign exchange, thereby strengthening our vertical integration. Coming to the operational performance for the quarter, we have added organic renewable capacity of 118 MW during the quarter. Our net generation for quarter 4 in FY 2026 rose by 48% year-on-year to 11.7 billion units, driven by a 68% year-on-year increase in renewable energy generation on the back of capacity additions across wind, solar, hydro and O2 Power assets. Before I move to thermal, I would like to mention about the power curtailment.
Regarding the power curtailment due to evacuation constraints, I would like to say that about 160 million units were curtailed for us. A significant portion of this 160 MUs is under permanent recovery, so we are getting the tariff for the same, thus not impacting our revenue. Only a small portion of this curtailment has resulted in a revenue loss of around INR 16 crores during the quarter and approximately for INR 50 crores during the year gone by. This curtailment, however, is expected to be over by July 26, with the expected commissioning of new evacuation line. Thermal generation grew 43% year-on-year to 8.8 billion units, driven primarily by robust offtake at our Mahanadi and Utkal plants. Our KSK plant's PLF for Q4 FY 2026 remained robust at 93%.
Further, our overall thermal portfolio maintained a healthy PLF of 78% for the quarter and 73% for the full year. Compared to this, country's average thermal PLFs stood at 68.7% during the quarter and 65.8% during the full year. I would also like to address one operational nuance from the quarter. KSK Mahanadi experienced some PPA backdowns attributable to a transient demand softness in the region. We successfully monetized the backdown volumes through short-term market sales, mitigating any major revenue impact. This has since normalized with the onset of summer and the consequent surge in demand. The KSK plant in fact registered an impressive EBITDA of over INR 3,300 crores in FY 2026.
Also driven by fuel cost reduction through optimizing sourcing of coal from nearby mines, resulting in lower logistic costs, just like what we did for our Utkal plant as well. Further, at Utkal, both our units are fully operational, and the plant registered a PLF of 75% in Q4 of FY 2026. Now, driven by full tie-up that we had done earlier, our Vijayanagar plant's PLF also stood robust at 79% in Q4. With open capacity now at about 5% of our total installed capacity and a 25-year, 400 MW PPA for the Utkal plant at INR 5.78 per unit and another two year PPA for 115 MW PPA with APDCL with effect from April 1, 2026, the quality of our underlying EBITDA has improved substantially.
The predominant share of our remaining open capacity is domestic coal-based with plants closer to the mine, which reduces sensitivity to global coal prices volatility and keeps our merchant break-even economics highly competitive. Coming to the outlook. FY 2027 is expected to be a year of accelerated earnings delivery. The sizable projects commissioned during FY 2026 will stabilize and contribute to full year EBITDA, driving a meaningful step-up in our financial performance. India's power demand recovery, with the government projecting peak demand of 270 GW this summer and a medium-term CAGR of 5%-6%, provides a strong tailwind for our growing portfolio and remain fully on track towards our FY 2030 targets of 30 GW of generation capacity and 40 GWh of energy storage. We remain committed to disciplined capital allocation.
Every investment must meet our mid-teen return thresholds. Our balance sheet management continues to be guided by our leverage guardrails. While net debt has risen as expected during this phase of accelerated investment, the quality and our contracts on our growing asset base means that free cash generation will improve progressively, supporting deleveraging on a path towards our 2030 net debt to EBITDA target of approximately 5- 5.5x . Finally, equally important, on the people front, we are proud to retain our Great Place to Work certification, a recognition that our culture and people practices continue to keep pace with our growing scale. We have been rated amongst top 25 places in the manufacturing sector in the country.
Moving to our financial performance for the quarter, details that most of you have had the opportunity to review ahead of this call. Supported by our robust Q4 generation growth of 48%, our EBITDA during the quarter rose 72% year-on-year to INR 2,602 crores, resulting in an all-time high annual EBITDA for the company during FY 2026. On the bottom line, our profit after tax came in at INR 574 crores, up 38% year-on-year and PAT to shareholders stood at INR 372 crores. As you may know, we have already served a notice to exercise our call option in KSK Mahanadi to acquire the balance 26% stake. The minority outflow should materially reduce once we consummate the same. Further, our cash profit to the shareholders for the quarter remains robust at INR 699 crores.
Our cash returns on net worth, adjusted for our investment in JSW Steel shares, remain strong at approximately 18%. Revenue for the quarter four FY 2026 grew 39% year-on-year to approximately INR 4,851 crores, a trajectory firmly anchored in the robust expansion of our generation capacity. As our newer assets continue to be capitalized on the balance sheet, depreciation and interest costs have risen accordingly. Depreciation grew almost 1.7x during the quarter four on a year-on-year basis, while interest costs increased approximately 2.4x , both consistent with the scale of capital deployment underway. On the leverage, excluding Capital Work-in-Progress related debt, our net debt to EBITDA stands at approximately 5.2x , well within our financial guardrails. Our liquidity remains ample with cash and cash equivalents in excess of INR 10,000 crores.
Out of the INR 3,000 crores preferential allotment that we have done recently, INR 1,125 crores has been received in quarter four. On the cost of capital, consistent with our earlier guidance, our weighted average cost of debt declined by approximately 67 basis points year-on-year to 8.36% as of March 26. This reflects our healthy credit profile and the sustained confidence our lenders and rating agencies placed in us. Finally, on working capital, total receivables as on March 31st stood at around INR 3,240 crores, translating to debtor days of 62, a sharp and meaningful improvement from 76 days in the corresponding quarter of the prior fiscal. This reflects both improved collection disciplines and the evolving counterparty profile of our portfolio.
The central message is that significant capacity additions we have executed over the past several quarters are now visibly converting into higher generation volumes and stronger cash flows. We expect this momentum to build further through the remainder of the fiscal and into FY 2027. Thank you. That concludes my opening remarks. I am now happy to open the floor for questions. Thank you.
Thank you very much, sir. We will now begin the question and answer session. The first question is from the line of Mohit Kumar from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Good evening, sir, and thanks for the opportunity. My first question is, sir, I think what is your guidance for RE asset commissioning for FY 2027 and FY 2028? I think you mentioned 2 GW- 3 GW in FY 2027. Is it possible to break down this between wind and solar and also give FY 2028 number possible?
You see, the thing is FY 2027, as I have said, that approximately, close to about 3 GW of capacity additions will happen, which will be a mix of solar, wind, and hybrid projects. The breakup between solar and wind depends on what kind of project, what kind of hybrid which is there. As per the PPA terms, we can say that. Maybe you can say in terms of, if I have to do a percentage, maybe, out of 3 GW, about close to about 35%-40% will be wind, rest all is solar.
Mm-hmm. My second question is, has the amount to be paid for minority acquisition for KSK Mahanadi, is it crystallized? If yes, can you help us with the amount?
Yeah. You see, Prabhakaran
No, I think it's not yet crystallized. I think the process is currently on. We can't comment anything at this point in time, I think. It is kind of probably by end of Q2 is what we'll have some number on it.
Yes. My last question, sir. How are you thinking about PPA for KSK Mahanadi in the last year? Do you like it to remain under merchant?
See, the thing is that, PPAs definitely there are demands from different states which are there, and the discussions are on, meeting with our timelines of commissioning of first unit and then the balance two units. The discussions are on. Various states want the power, so accordingly as and when the PPA time, the requirement comes, we'll be definitely participating. However, to note that this being close to the mine and the low fuel cost also gives us a leverage to the merchant also. In a longer term, we will prefer to be, we Our strategy is to have a long-term PPA for this.
Understood. Thank you and all the best. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sumit Kishore from Axis Capital. Please go ahead.
Good evening. Thanks for the opportunity. My first question is on the 3 GW that you're looking to commission in renewable in FY 2027, what would be the broad phase-out of commissioning of these capacities from Q1 to Q4, if you could give us some sense?
Yeah. You see, the thing is that some of our projects which are at advanced stage of commissioning. Of course, giving exact number will be difficult, but you can say that maybe it is uniformly divided between H1 and H2.
Okay. 1.5, 1.5 roughly. Okay. Second question is on CapEx. When you said about INR 200 billion of CapEx, I mean, the free cash flow that you are generating right now, or basically your EBITDA less your net interest cost and the tax adjustment. That seems to be enough to take care of the equity requirement for INR 20,000 crores of CapEx. Is there any thought process in terms of raising equity funds beyond the infusions that are coming through preference shares and the warrant issuances to promoters?
Okay. Prabhakar will speak up.
I think similar to what you understood is right. With the existing 20,000, the cash flows which we generate and within the kind of, the net debt to EBITDA, I think within those ratios we will be able to easily manage this INR 20,000 crores which we talked about. We have this additional INR 1,800 crores, which we can kind of avail at any point in time. If you again want to kind of postpone or fast-track this one, we can. We have this leverage to do it.
Okay. Just one last question, trying to understand the broad break-up of this INR 20,000 crore CapEx, because there is some allocation that should start happening to the Salboni project, something to the Battery Energy Storage System project that you're commissioning, the Pumped Storage Hydro. I mean, just to understand, because what kind of CWIP should we expect, you know, for the thermal project, Pumped Storage Hydro, by the end of the financial year?
When you talk of thermal, definitely, yes, when Salboni work has started and also the pumped storage project for which we have got the clearance from the environment and forest stage 1 clearance, definitely some investment will go in these projects. We have to remember that normally the year one of such projects doesn't entail significantly large investments. It is only the order placement and some kind of civil work which starts. It is a very small percentage of the payment which flows, and then gradually it increases. It is not significant. If you have want of break-up, it can be maybe INR 16,000 crore-INR 20,000 crore, we have said.
You can say INR 4,000-INR 5,000 crores will be for these projects, enabling projects which are the thermal project and the pump storage. Rest all will be in the wind and solar space, and battery energy.
Very clear. Just one bookkeeping question to understand, what was the CWIP for your RE projects at the end of FY 2026? You're going to commission 3 GW. What percentage of the investment has already happened? Just to understand.
We have a total of about INR 17,300 crores of CapEx, out of which about close to INR 11,200 is for RE, and the balance is for the thermal and others.
Very clear. Thank you, and wish you all the best.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ketan Jain from Avendus Spark. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Thanks for the opportunity. Good evening, sir. Sir, if you understand, the 2.6 GW of capacity addition, how much of it is acquired from MoU and how much of it is organic?
See, out of this 2.6 GW, it is 1.3 GW, which was the acquired capacity, and the rest all, it is 50/50. That is acquired, and the rest all is the greenfield capacity which we have commissioned.
Understood. I understand that there were challenges this year. Are you still seeing challenges to execute or commission plans on time for FY 2027?
See, the thing is, we have been all reading and all knowing about one of the biggest challenge has been the project readiness and the power evacuation. The grid curtailment, the delays, because if we know that last year Government of India had planned for the evacuation networks increase by 15,000 circuit kilometers against this, the actual which happened was only 9,500 circuit kilometers. Those challenges, we see that, but otherwise we are insulated because the challenges are whether the land availability or whether the connectivity, and we have that 100% of that, then only we start the work. We don't see, of course, RE projects execution day-to-day issues of right of way and others is something which is part of the project, which is planned and nothing unexpected.
We don't see any challenges. With large significant portion of our capacity at advanced stage of commissioning, we are confident at this time that definitely 3 GW of capacity addition will happen without any challenge.
Understood. Second question is, are we seeing any increase in cost or supply chain disruptions due to the Red Sea conflict and impact on our IRRs? Is there any impact?
See, one thing I've like to say is that if we talk of whatever the commodity cycle price increases we have seen in general and the currency impact on import-related components. For wind, as I have maintained earlier, that we signed a fixed price contract for 2.4 GW of wind turbine supply from Sinovel W ind China, which is fixed in terms of the pricing and fixed in terms of the currency also, which we did in around March, April 2024, we did that, signed that contract. That contract quantities have suppliers have recently started.
We are insulated from that for maybe next at least 1.5 years. On wind side, there is no impact to us. Of course, minor impacts on the domestic purchases. If the steel prices goes up, the tower cost goes up, because that is all steel, but that is a very cyclic industry, steel. We time our buying, bulk buying accordingly when that is the best suited for us. We are largely not impacted. Even if there is a small impact with the commissioning of our blade plant in India, that will further help us because of the huge reduction in the logistics cost, both in terms of the ocean freight from China and also the local logistics cost.
All those things put together, we remain insulated from any cost impact for next 1.5 to 2 years. On solar front, with what we have been seeing, the increase in solar cell prices, the currency impact because of the solar imports from, the cell imports from China. I like to say, that even if the ALMM comes for solar cells also, for all PPAs, what we are executing next to 2.5 years is all before the date on which we are allowed as per the rule, regulation, the rule that we cell imports from China will continue. To large extent, we are insulated. Of course, steel also is a cost, some portion of the cost on this.
The same as we are doing for wind tower steel purchase, we are timing our purchase to have a minimal impact on our solar projects. Our benchmark return IRRs or mid-teen IRRs, that remains protected.
Understood. Thanks for your elaborate answer. This is the last question. At the industry level, is there any update on the unsigned PPAs at the country level? Are things moving in that case?
No, right now we are not seeing because there are enough PPAs which are signed and which are to be executed for next two to three years' time, and with the evacuation challenges which are there, which are going to ease out only by 2029. Not before that. We are not seeing any significant movement on the signing of the PPAs for the unsigned capacity. That status remains as it is, what it was last time when we met.
Understood. Just the last, if I could squeeze in. What is the BESS pack prices right now, and does it impact our project execution? Just the last one.
See BESS, can you repeat the question?
No. BESS pack price, like the CapEx for a BESS project.
See, the thing is, when we are insulating, definitely we have seen that there have been price increases which have happened. As I told you that we are, we have been able to optimize our costs by starting the assembly plant within our facilities under JSW. Whatever impact on cell pack prices are, we remain much more competitive as compared to the import imports which are coming with our facility commissioned in Gwalior.
Understood. What would be the pack price right now, sir?
It is varying. If you are a tier 1, tier 2, very difficult to give a number, where tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 suppliers, whether it is a three year warranty, whether it's a five year warranty, it depends. Very difficult to give a specific number.
Understood, sir. Thank you. Thank you. I will get back to you soon.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Apoorva Bahadur from IIFL Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, just sort of delving deeper into this 5 GWh BESS cell to pack assembly plant that we have operationalized. Can you provide some color on how are you thinking about the margin profile of this business? How much should be the revenue contribution that we start building in our models? Have you built any order book?
Yeah. The thing is that this is in a ramp-up stage, and we'll be taking care of my own captive requirements as well as Because once this capacity ramp up and stabilization takes its own time, maybe going forward, definitely the in-house requirement as well as the outside market. We will be definitely looking for outside market. We have got some orders, right now the testing of the products are going on and the necessary approvals which we expect very soon, then we'll be going into the marketplace. Then only we will be in a position to come out with what is the revenue and the financial numbers on this. Maybe next time we will definitely like to share on that.
Okay. sir, where are we importing our cells from and which manufacturer in China?
There are multiple. There are multiple. Definitely we are concentrating only on tier 1 suppliers, definitely, and we will be importing from them only.
Okay. Sir, on the renewable capacity addition target for FY 2028, if you can provide some guidance over there?
See, as we have said that we have to reach 30 GW by FY 2030, and if we add maybe 3 GW this year, so maybe 3 GW approximately from the RE front, you can say maybe about 3.5 GW something is the number which definitely we'll continue to add.
sir, we would expect a sharp uptick in capacity addition in 29 and 30, FY 2029, FY 2030.
Yes, because what will happen is Yes. Beyond FY 2027, it is the thermal capacity also will contribute, which is the KSK, 1.8 GW, 1,800. Also by 2030, partial capacity of Salboni also commissioning is planned. All those things put together, thermal will also be a capacity which will be added in this.
Fair enough. Thank you so much, sir. I'll get back in the queue.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may please press star and one to ask questions at this time. The next question is from the line of Aniket Mittal from SBI Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Yes. Thank you, ma'am. I joined the call a bit late, apologies if any questions are repeated. On Mytrah, what's the reason for the increase in EBITDA this quarter on a YoY basis?
Yes.
Yeah. Mytrah, actually, there is one of this quarter, like, you must also be read in the Supreme Court gave an order on the generation-based incentive, right? That is the bump to the increase which you have been able to see.
What is this number?
It is INR 0.50 per unit, is what the generation-based incentive, and it is in excess of INR 200 crores.
Yeah. INR 210 crores. Yeah.
This is a one-off. This includes certain past recoveries as well?
Yeah, that's right. Yes.
Yes. For now going forward, which was not being given, every year we'll be getting the Generation-Based Incentive, based on this order which was not being given earlier.
Got that. Got that. For a commissioned wind and solar portfolio, which is almost 6 GW, what would be the annual steady-state EBITDA?
Just See, you can say that almost INR 75 lakh megawatt is what you can take as the steady-state EBITDA for full year capacity available.
Understood. Understood. Just to understand KSK, if I recollect, I think next year there's supposed to be a slight drop-off in the tariff at UPPCL.
Yeah.
This year we've obviously done a fairly good amount of EBITDA, but how does that move heading into FY 2027 and 2028?
See, we have to remember two things. One is that, in FY 2025 March, when we acquired, the full year EBITDA that plant made from the operations was around INR 2,650 crore. Against that, we have made almost in excess of INR 3,300 crore this year. Of course, lot of efficiency improvements in terms of the cost efficiencies improvement what we have done is one which will continue. Of course, there will be some impact because of the tariff reduction from UP. A part of this will be compensated by maybe two, three steps what we have taken. One is that after the acquisition of the rail and water SPVs, especially the rail one, the efficiency improvements and the cost reduction there also is going to contribute too.
Second is, in terms of the fuel allocation, which we have optimized by sourcing majority of the fuel from the mine which are closest to our plant, and replacing the fuel which was coming off from far off places. Fuel logistic cost reduction is one of the main drivers. Efficiency improvement during the last year, but during the year we did lot of steps we took in terms of operation and maintenance cost reduction. Those steps which were taken during the year will also give us full year benefit in the current year, will help us to mitigate the reduction in the margins because of the UP PPA. But definitely it will continue to perform significantly better than what it was in FY 2025.
Aniket, if I have to add, this is Vikas here. If I have to add, we've always said that please consider a steady state EBITDA of INR 2,700. The idea also is that please assume that a good year is what we are highlighting-
Yeah.
The reasons for what we are highlighting. Viewing this following trajectory, we have said that please assume INR 2,700 as our base case EBITDA.
With the steps we are taking, we are confident that we will be delivering better than the steady-state EBITDA, what Vikas just said, of INR 2,700 crores, we can say that.
That is, that is helpful. I just had one last question. When I look at the standalone entity, the overall debt over there is almost INR 15,000 crores there, a lot of holdco debt coming over there. Just to understand, you know, how this is, how this is panning out from a maturity point. What's the maturity profile over here? What's the average interest rates at the holdco level?
At the holdco level, out of this, some of them are the short term because some of the acquisitions that we have done, right, in terms of the KSK, rail and all. Some of them are temporary. Once we take over these assets, we'll refinance it through the major entity or the actual entity which we do. In terms of if you look at it from an overall perspective, I think all of them are close to more than three years, except for about close to INR 4,500 crores, which is in the form of short term. The others are all long term.
What would be the average interest rate right now at the holdco level for these debt?
The holdco level, we are at about close to 8.2 is what we'll have. As a whole consolidated, we are at about 8.36.
See, Aniket, to add to what We just said, you know, we would like to have a project finance-based financing, which is, which means that from maturity, the maturity as long as possible for borrowing. holdco level, like he mentioned, is obviously short tenor, and for us the overall cost of debt is about 8.36%, including working capital, right? What we are saying is that obviously the short tenor borrowings are there, and they'll be obviously at a lower cost. Overall, if you look at the interest rate trajectory, it has come down.
Understood. Those were my questions. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nikhil Nigania from Bernstein. Please go ahead.
Hi, thanks. Thanks for taking my question. I have two questions. Number one, was any plans to set up a merchant battery energy storage plant?
See, right now we are in the process of executing the battery energy project for which we have signed the PPA. Going forward, wherever we have the solar capacity and keeping in mind how the evening peak demand shapes up, we definitely keep exploring. Immediately in the current year, if you ask, we will be exit focusing on our projects under the PPA. Going forward, we will keep exploring that merchant option for especially where we have the connectivity, we have the solar plants. Coupling the same connectivity for the evening peaks is one option which the team is working on. We keep evaluating.
Understood. What I understand from your peers is some of them are preponing the battery plant part of a PPA to use it in the merchant in the interim till the PPA starts. Would you have any such plans like that to prepone your battery?
Sure.
before the solar hour? Yeah.
See, when I compare with what others are doing, we don't have any merchant or open capacity in our solar portfolio. All is tied up, whatever is commissioned. Today we see that there are curtailments happening for especially the capacities which are open, untied merchant capacities in solar are facing a very high curtailment, is what we are seeing. That is where it's a sunk cost as per me. Putting a battery, using that power where which is getting curtail, charging the battery and using the evening peak option is something maybe others may be thinking on. I feel that this curtailment issue is a matter of three to four years.
Whether for the long term I can do the investment on the basis of this principle somehow doesn't fall in our scheme of things, because we look for at least a battery life of 12 years. Based on that, if the returns are protected, is a better option rather than going immediately only temporarily for us. For us it will be no, because we don't have any open capacities in solar, so we are evaluating by setting up charging the batteries by solar and evening peak. Once that model is financially definitely giving my benchmark returns, then only we'll be moving ahead with this.
Understood. Appreciate your response. The other question I had was on the DSM regulation. In case it is implemented as per the CERC document says, and given you have a good quantum of wind as well in your portfolio, what is the impact you envisage on your financials?
See, with this new DSM regulations, we expect a total impact, which we have budgeted in our plan, is between one and a half to 2%.
Just to clarify, one and a half to 2% of revenues of the renewable assets?
Yes. Yes. Yes. Which was not zero, mind it. It was not zero earlier also. It will move up to 1.5%-2%. It used to be there today also, but now it will be slightly more.
Got it. Would it be fair to assume as that X factor in the DSM rule changes by 2030, this number goes up further?
See, you see the thing is, now when it is known that this is going to happen, everyone now is going to be de-designing the project, building the project, the tariff biddings, everything, the discovery will be accordingly. That is definitely.
Yes, whatever. The tariffs have already been discovered, the projects being executed. Definitely, this is going to impact. There are options and tools available to minimize this. One of the things which is being talked of is that at a particular substation, grouping all the maybe other producers who are in the same substation at a group level to see the to do the settlement rather than individually. Because someone may be at a particular moment excess, someone may be down. It is more from the grid point of view this is being done, grid stability. We are absolutely certain industry has made the representation. At a group level, this will be assessed, not at an individual level, is what we are confident of.
Got it. Appreciate your answers. Those were my questions. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Abhishek Nigam from Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Just two questions. One, these Andhra-based, Andhra generation-based incentives, is that included in other income? That's my first question.
Yes.
Yeah, I think, certain of it is part of revenue and certain of it. I think you can say about INR 100 crore is, 1 is part of revenue, the other 100 is part of other.
Okay, okay. I think the increase in other income is because of I mean, there is some other reason for that. Okay.
Yes.
That is one. Second, on the deferred tax asset, if you can, you know, give us some clarity. I think we've seen in the past also one of the quarters and in, you know, going forward also, could there be more such tax creation?
Yeah. I think the deferred tax asset is primarily on account of two things. One is that Utkal, where actually we had a certain unabsorbed depreciation and business losses which were there. Now, with the PPAs being signed for the entire capacity, there is visibility in terms of recoverability of these tax losses. That is why this year, when we signed the PPA and we said that we'll be able to kind of recognize this deferred tax. This is a one-off. I think mostly in both, Utkal is the major one. The second one is in the KSK. The second one is in terms of because currently with the new tax regime, because everybody would kind of transition to the new tax regime.
the current tax would be similar to what it was, like 17%-18%, because you will have to adjust 25% of the MAT credit available. I think going forward, that will be the this one. I think we'll be inching close to the effective tax rate of 23%-24%, basically, going forward.
Okay. Okay, that's it from me. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Satyadeep Jain from Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you. The first question is on the RE commissioning. You talked about 3 GW this year. How much would be CTU? How much would be STU? Generally, are you seeing maybe faster commissioning for STU versus CTU, and do you expect any changes there this year?
You see, whatever we are commissioning, it's a mix again of CTU and STU, and also the C&I customers also and under the group captive. Connectivity is available for whatever we are 3 GW we are planning, whether it is STU or CTU. It doesn't make any difference whether it is STU or STU, which one will happen earlier. As I said that this time, as compared to the previous year, in H1 we'll be seeing almost close to 50% of the capacity coming up, which means that the project is at an advanced stage, connectivity is available. We don't see, this doesn't make any difference whether it is a CTU and STU. It's a mix of CTU and STU projects. Also-
Okay.
As I told you, the group captive also.
Secondly, just on the return profile for REI, I'm sorry if I missed it. What kind of curtailment do you build in the projects when you bid for a project for long term? When you mentioned DSM, just clarifying, you mentioned about 2% revenue hit. Is that X is equal to zero and assuming, is it assuming group grouping at the substation or is it without grouping at the substation?
See, one thing is curtailment I will just like to bifurcate into two. One is that a significant portion of our capacity is under group captive which is off-grid. I'm insulated from the curtailment in, on those capacities which are almost 1 gigawatt of capacity which is operational. Further we are going to add in the current year also. Next two year, three years, we'll be continuing to add off-grid, group captive, capacities. There we are insulated from this DSM regulations. In addition to that, next question.
X factor
The question was when you calculate DSM.
Yes.
When you calculate DSM.
Yeah, yeah. Continue.
That 2.5% of revenue hit, is that, when you consider X is equal to zero and assuming grouping or this is without grouping at the substation?
Satyadeep, Tushar here. Sorry. Hi. Hi to you. you know, what we were saying is that is the worst-case scenario that we could see considering what has been announced as of now.
Will do.
Obviously everyone benefits and we benefit out of it.
What we see is not as two and a half what we said, it is one and a half to two, is what I said. It is not zero today, that we don't have to make it from zero to one and a half. There is some which is there also. It has become stricter now. It is without grouping is what I have said. After that we expect that things can improve, but with the grouping this will reduce.
Fair enough. Just one more if I can please on pump storage. You mentioned 2030 for one and 2031 for another. Do you expect groundbreaking this year? Then what is the typical construction timeline are you looking at for these PSP projects?
See, normally for pumped storage projects, we see that from the zero day, maybe 36 months. As I told, maybe in my opening about we have got the forest stage 1 clearance just two days back. Work in the non-forest area has already started. The contracts have been awarded. The electromechanical ordering has already been placed. We are confident that that will be in time. This will be 36 months you can say.
Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to paucity of time, we would request all the participants to kindly limit their questions to only one. We'll take the next question from the line of Mohit Pandey from Citi. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good evening, sir. Is it possible to give any color on our merchant realization in April and May so far? Yeah.
See, as we have been saying that normally in the merchant, when we sell our open capacity, we normally are, it is through bilateral contacts, contracts. I can say whatever merchant tariffs are being discovered in the market, we will definitely maintain at least minimum 20% premium, and we are continuing with that. What we have demonstrated last year also, overall discovered price, we are more than 20% premium. We are continuing to sell even in the current quarter.
Okay, sir. Sir, are there any risks to the performance of our hydel portfolio due to possible El Niño and heat waves?
No, we don't see that. Reason is that if you see when the temperature increases, right now when we have been seeing onset of summer and the temperature increasing, we are seeing because snow melting was slightly lower last year. Now with the good snow melting, the river flow is better and with the power what is required, even if there is, in past also data clearly shows that even if there is 6%, 7%, 8% below normal monsoons, the water flow required to run at full capacity and to go as per the design energy is sufficient. We have reviewed and we have evaluated this, and we are absolutely certain that we don't see any significant impact on our hydro operations because of this weather impact.
Just to add, there are broadly two ways. One is obviously snow melt, the other is rainfall. Like sir was saying that last time the rainfall was there. This time there will be snow melt if there is, like you said, going to be higher heat. For run of the river it's not a concern, and this we've highlighted earlier as well, and we reiterate the same.
Yeah. Understood, sir. Thank you so much, and wish you all the best.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Atul Tiwari from JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Sir, will it be possible to, at least qualitatively share how much was of KSK's INR 930 odd crore EBITDA was due to merchant in the quarter?
What we'll see, we will, maybe we'll divide and we'll come back. My IR team will definitely get back to you, and we'll give you the number.
Okay. sir, broadly speaking, I mean, obviously, your PAT has been helped by deferred taxation.
Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt you. Mr. Tiwari, I would request you to kindly limit to only one question, please.
Okay.
who are waiting for their turn. Thank you so much, sir. We will take the next question from Rajesh Majumdar from 360 ONE Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, you were talking about additions of roughly 2.5 GW to 3 GW per annum, as I understand. If you see the pipeline for next year, FY 2027, it consists of other than group captive, GUVNL, then 2 or 3 tranches of SECI and, I think, SJVN, if I'm not mistaken.
Yeah.
Do you see any kind of delays in these projects, any of these which can happen and with the installed capacity is like for falling short of our targets?
See, the thing is-
-in the future as well?
Yes.
Yeah. See, the thing is, what you have pointed out is very, very correct. We definitely see the delay in this because we have deliberately delayed the execution and investment in this, these projects because the availability of the allotted connectivity is getting delayed. We are aligning our investment and commissioning with the commissioning of the evacuation. We don't want to invest, make the asset ready and then wait that I'm not able to commission because of this curtailment issues and the connectivity issues. We are particular. We are insulated from any kind of penalties or anything because of the delays. We are absolutely certain, yes. Yes.
I mean, I missed it out probably earlier. Did you reduce your earlier increase of 2.5 GW-3 GW per annum, or you still maintain that based on these orders that we have, which is lot SECI, you know, heavy?
Can you repeat the question?
I said the addition for this year is about 3 GW, which includes a substantial amount of SECI orders. Do you see any delay in this kind of addition for FY 2027 which will get postponed to next year?
No, no, we don't see at all. No. As I said earlier also, we are absolutely certain because the challenges for which the projects have been getting delayed are not there in terms of connectivity, in terms of land availability, in terms of execution, the various stages the projects are. We are certain that the current 3 GW in the current year, we are absolutely certain that this will be there.
Okay. Just one follow-up question, sir.
Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt you. I'm so sorry to interrupt you.
Okay. It's fine.
There are others who are waiting.
No problem.
Thank you so much, sir. We'll take the next question from Nikhil from UTI Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Sir, just one question. What has been the impact of curtailment on our EBITDA, if you can quantify that in terms of INR crores or something?
As I told in my opening remarks also, during the quarter, as I told you, the curtailment was not significant because a portion of the curtailment was under permanent grid network access connectivity. My plant was available, the power was offered, but couldn't flow. I have been getting the tariff for that. Some portion which was under temporary grid network access because of the delay in the connectivity, permanent connectivity execution. There has been a loss of around INR 15 crores during the quarter, and full year approximately INR 50 crores, the impact. It is in two of our assets in the state of Rajasthan where this evacuation capacity is getting commissioned, maybe sometime in July. We expect after this will not be there.
Sure. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Thank you and over to you, sir.
Before I close, maybe Atul from JPMorgan asked for what was the merchant EBITDA on Mahanadi. During the quarter, the EBITDA from the merchant sale was INR 203 crores. I just wanted to give that number. Okay.
Thank you, sir.
Right. T hank you everyone and thanks for being with us, and maybe we hope to meet you all very soon again. Thank you.
Thank you, members of the management. On behalf of PL Capital, that concludes this conference. We thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.