Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the NTPC Limited Q2 FY 2027 conference call hosted by Nuvama Wealth Management Limited. 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 then zero on your touch-tone phone. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Subhadip Mitra from Nuvama Wealth Management Limited. Thank you, and over to you.
Thank you. Good afternoon, friends. On behalf of Nuvama Wealth Management, welcoming you all to the Q2 FY 2027 earnings call of NTPC Limited. We have with us today the senior management of NTPC led by Director Finance, Mr. Jaikumar Srinivasan. I would now like to hand over the call to Mr. Srinivasan. Over to you, sir.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am Jaikumar Srinivasan, Director of Finance of NTPC Limited and NTPC Green Energy Limited. It gives me pleasure to welcome you all to our earnings conference call for the second quarter and half year ended September 30th, 2026. Joining me today are my colleagues on the board, [Non-English content] Shivam Srivastava, Director Fuel, [Non-English content] K. Shanmugha Sundaram, Director Project, [Non-English content] Ravindra Kumar, Director Operations, [Non-English content] Anil Kumar Jadli, Director Human Resource, along with other members of our senior leadership team. We have announced our financial results for Q2 FY 2027 and half year ended September 2026, and I have shared the operational financial snapshot with the stock exchange. They are available for your reference. I will take you through the key developments covering the Indian power sector outlook and NTPC and NGEL's operational financial performance before opening the floor for questions.
The power demand has seen a substantial growth during FY 2027. The country recorded year-on-year growth of about 11% in power generation and about 15% in power demand during first half of the current fiscal. October month figure reflects further increased pace with a growth of 21% compared to the corresponding month of the last year. Compared with the corresponding month of 2025/2026, peak demand increased by 8.9%- 22.5%, while non-peak demand increased by 6.1%- 15.4%. Based on average monthly data for H1, peak demand grew by about 14.5% and non-peak demand by about 9.5%. The maximum demand met during the period was 271 GW for peak demand and 253 GW for non-peak demand. The highest increase occurred in July month when peak demand increased by about 50 GW and non-peak demand by about 34 GW.
The major contributors for this demand are digital services, urban transport, industries, changing weather pattern, and data centers. Rising demand during both peak and non-peak hours creates growth opportunities and reinforces the need for reliable baseload power supply. NTPC's generation portfolio and NGEL's renewable business complement each other in meeting this trend of demand. Accordingly, we are combining the strength of both organizations and developing new business models to meet the country's growing power needs and create long-term value for our shareholders through disciplined investment into value-accretive projects. At the same time, the grid is becoming more complex. Rapid renewable penetration is increasing backing down requirements during solar hours and creating steep evening ramps. To address this, we are already implementing 5 GWh of battery energy storage system at our thermal power stations alongside pursuing other long-duration storage opportunities.
NTPC Group delivered a strong operational performance during the second quarter. The growth in generation, captive coal dispatch, and power trading volumes indicate robust growth in every business. However, due to transmission constraint, NGEL is facing curtailment of power from RE projects, which is phenomenon faced by other RE projects in the country too. To address this issue, NGEL has plans to implement 40 GWh of battery for which proposals are under process. In addition to the above, NGEL has entered into contracts for 3 GWh of storage in service mode and additional 12 GWh are under tendering in service mode. To address transmission constraints and renewable energy curtailment, the Government of India approved the Green Energy Corridor phase-III schemes on September 30th, 2026.
The scheme will strengthen intrastate transmission systems to evacuate up to 135 GW of renewable power and provide 50 GWh of battery energy storage. It has a total project outlay of INR 1,86,405 crores with central financial support of INR 54,082 crores and is targeted for completion by FY 2032/2033. Coal generation continued to provide reliable power and help balance the grid, particularly as hydro output was lower during the quarter. According to the CEA report, the plant load factor of coal plants across the country rose to 70.37% in H1 FY 2027 compared to 66.02% in H1 last year.
Higher PLF has increased coal consumption, which continue to exceed supply. Accordingly, several coal stations in the country have critical coal stock levels. Presently, we have 5.2 MMT of coal stock at our stations, sufficient for seven days of coal requirement.
Despite supply constraint from CIL and Singareni Collieries Company Limited, dispatches from our captive mines grew by nearly 21% in H1 FY 2027. This was made possible by better monsoon preparedness at our coal mines and effective planning of our coal loading infrastructure. We have also issued tenders to procure 13 MMT of coal for H2 FY 2027 from alternative sources, including commercial mines, Odisha Power Generation Corporation, NLC, and West Bengal. We are also in the process of awarding 4 million metric ton of additional coal to be procured through domestic sources.
We are closely monitoring coal stocks and coordinating with all stakeholders, including Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Power, and Ministry of Railways, while working to increase the production from our captive mines. With commencement of land acquisition process of one of our project, our nuclear program has picked up speed.
We have also strengthened our nuclear team, bringing the team strength to over 100 numbers. The Government of India has published draft rules under the SHANTI Act for setting up nuclear power plants in the country. These rules are currently under consultation and mark an important step towards wider participation in India's nuclear sector.
Recently, we have also issued expression of interest for offering 26% equity to commercial and industrial consumers under group captive route, which will create an additional pillar of sustained growth and moving forward. We have also decided to establish a 100 MW data center at a couple of locations as part of our initial phase. We are also exploring further opportunities in this business. Now I turn to NTPC Group's key highlights during H1 FY 2027. As on H1 FY 2027, NTPC Group's installed capacity stood at 91,506 MW.
We have added 2,398 MW of capacity, out of which NTPC is 496 MW, NGEL Group is 1,136 MW, and other group companies have added 1,066 MW. Additionally, 162 MW have been added in October 2026. NTPC Group generation stood at 236 billion units in H1 FY 2027 compared with 214 billion in H1 FY 2026, registering growth of 10.4%. NTPC reached the 200 billion unit generation milestone in 156 days, its fastest ever achievement. NTPC coal station achieved a PLF of 75.11% against rest of India's average of 68.35%. Generation from NGEL Group during H1 FY 2027 stood at 10.88 billion units as compared to 6.76 billion units in H1 FY 2026, registering a growth of 60%. NVVN traded 31 billion units of power as compared to 24.8 BU in H1 FY 2026, registering a growth of 25%.
NVVN has also commissioned 250 MW by 500 MWh BESS as part of BESS implementation, implementing agency notified by Ministry of Power. Coal dispatch from group captive coal mines increased to 26.13 million metric tons in H1 FY 2026 as compared to 21.63 MMT last year, registering a growth of 21%. NTPC has awarded Lara Stage-III , 1,600 MW, and issued limited notice to proceed, pending environmental clearance in Q2 FY 2027. Our group thermal stations co-fired 0.83 million metric tons of biomass, which is 65% more than biomass co-fired during H1 FY 2026. NTPC participated in Ministry of Coal incentive scheme for coal gasification projects and submitted a proposal for producing 5 lakh tons per annum synthetic natural gas at Talaipalli. We are also planning to participate in round two of the scheme for methanol, dimethyl ether, urea plant, etc.
During the H1 FY 2027, CRISIL ESG Ratings & Analytics Limited has assigned Crisil ESG 62 category strong to NTPC. As regards fund mobilization, during the H1 FY 2027, a loan agreement amounting to US dollar 750 million was executed on May 6th, 2026 between NTPC and a consortium of SBI, HDFC, and Bank of Baroda, all from IFSC GIFT City. NTPC has availed RBI concessional USD-INR swap facility for the drawn amount of $ 450 million. The weighted average interest rate on borrowings during H1 FY 2027 stood at 5.72% compared to 5.98% in FY 2026, reflecting the benefits of proactive refinancing and restructuring of company's loan portfolio. As regards capital expenditure progress in H1 FY 2027, we have incurred a group CapEx of INR 23,932 crores as compared to INR 23,115 crores in H1 FY 2026.
While on a standalone basis, NTPC has incurred CapEx of INR 14,398 crores in H1 FY 2027 as compared to INR 14,149 crores in H1 FY 2026. The gross property, plant, and machinery as on September 30th, 2026 on group level has increased to INR 4,85,444 crores from INR 4,37,142 crores as on September 30th, 2025, during the last one year, an increase by 11%. I will now take you through some of the key financial numbers giving comparison for the corresponding period.
As regarding the standalone financials, revenue from operation for Q2 FY 2027 is INR 45,752 crores as against INR 39,167 crores for Q2 FY 2026, registering a growth of 17%. For H1 FY 2027, revenue from operation has reached INR 89,584 crores from INR 81,736 crores in H1 FY 2026, registering a growth of 10%. NTPC's profit after tax for Q2 FY 2027 is INR 5,320 crores as against INR 4,653 crores in the corresponding quarter of previous year, registering a growth of 14%.
NTPC's profit after tax for H1 FY 2027 is INR 10,662 crores as against INR 9,428 crores in the previous year, registering a growth of 13%. Adjusted PAT for H1 FY 2027 is INR 10,469 crores against INR 8,932 crores in the previous year, registering a growth of 17%. During Q2 FY 2027, we have accounted for dividend income of INR 658 crores from our subsidiaries and joint ventures in addition to INR 238 crores earned during Q1 FY 2027. Standalone regulated equity for conventional power business as on September 30th, 2026 is INR 92,926 crores as against INR 94,544 crores as on September 2025.
The reduction is due to transfer of coal mining business from NTPC Limited to wholly owned subsidiary company, NTPC Mining Limited. As regards the consolidated group financials, total income of the group for H1 FY 2027 is INR 1,05,857 crores as against INR 93,083 crores in H1 FY 2026, an increase of 14%.
PAT for group for H1 FY 2027 is INR 14,247 crores as against previous year INR 11,334 crores, an increase by 26%. During H1 FY 2027, our subsidiaries earned a profit of INR 3,194 crores. NTPC's share of profit in JVs was INR 1,253 crores in H1 FY 2027. Consolidated regulated equity for the group stood at INR 1,21,786 crores as on September 30th, 2026, as compared to INR 1,16,022 crores as on September last year.
Coming to the NTPC Green Energy Limited highlights, consolidated revenue from operation increased by 58% to INR 2,045 crores in H1 FY 2027, while operating EBITDA grew by 60% to INR 1,818 crores as compared to H1 FY 2026. EBITDA margin remained at 89%. For the Q2 FY 2027, revenue from operations for NGEL group has increased to INR 938.16 crores from INR 612.29 crores in Q2 FY 2026, showing an increase by 53.22%.
Operating EBITDA has also increased to INR 829.69 crores in Q2 from INR 529.6 crores in the last year, which amounts to increase by 56.67%. I am pleased to inform that NTPC board has recommended first interim dividend for FY 2026-2027 at INR 3 per share in line with the company's commitment to delivering value to its shareholders. Looking ahead, our priority is to turn India's growing electricity demand into sustainable growth for NTPC and NGEL.
We will build on the complementary strength of our conventional generation portfolio and renewable energy business to deliver reliable power while supporting the country's energy transition. We are actively looking at C&I opportunities to look beyond DISCOMs. With over 37 GW of capacity under construction, including 17 GW of coal-based capacity, about 3.6 GW of hydro, and around 16 GW of renewables, our immediate focus is on timely project execution and maintaining maximum availability of our station.
Alongside this, we will strengthen fuel security by maximizing production from captive mines, diversified coal sourcing, and close coordination with suppliers and transport agencies. Energy storage will be a key priority as renewable capacity grows. We are progressing well on setting up storage at massive scale. We are also developing new opportunities in synthetic natural gas, ethanol, dimethyl ether, and urea.
Nuclear energy remains an important part of our long-term growth strategy. Our priorities are to progress the Mahi Banswara project and further identify suitable sites for future projects and build the technical and quality capabilities needed for nuclear projects development. Across these initiatives, we will remain focused on disciplined capital allocation, cost control, and operational excellence. Our aim is to balance growth with financial strength, meet the country's evolving power needs, and create lasting value for our shareholders. Thank you for joining us.
We will now be happy to take your questions. I now hand over to Nuvama for the question and answer session. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Mohit Kumar from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good afternoon, sir, and congratulations on a very good quarter. My first question is, sir, demand has been very high last year month, leading to peak shortages, right? Is there indication from the government to increase your thermal pipeline? Are you looking to start work on few more thermal plants in this fiscal from the earlier 4 GW additional pipeline which you had indicated?
Sorry, you are not audible. Can you repeat and be louder, please?
Yes, yes. I'll just. Sorry. Sir, demand has been very high in the last seven months, leading to peak shortages, right? My question is, are you looking to start work on few more thermal power plants in this fiscal or next fiscal? I think earlier you had indicated 4 GW additional pipeline.
No, as you know that our capacity under construction is already 17.32 GW. Moving ahead, we have plans for tendering out close to 4.8 GW further. This will be largely from Q1 and Q2 of the next year. This will comprise of a 800 MW at the second stage of Jhabua. There will be another 800 MW from Talcher Stage-IV . Then Talcher Kaniha Stage-III will have two units of 800, which would become 1,600. Bhilai, we are planning a single unit of 800, and BRBCL Stage-II will be 800. So that adds to around 4,800. So 2,400, that is half of that, would come from a standalone, and 2,400 will be through the JV subsidiary. Beyond this also, we are continuously exploring, working on 3 GW- 4 GW on broad feasibility, examining the feasibility of this.
If you take a bifurcation of this into pithead and non-pithead, again, there is a split is equal, 2,400 MW will be coming from pithead stations, and non-pithead will be 2,400 again. The estimated CapEx of all these things would be INR 67,000 crores. As you know that Lara III, Stage-III , 1,600 MW, which was awarded in the Q2 of FY 2026/2027, hitherto we were showing it, this has been now shown under construction project.
Understood. My second question is that it seems curtailment has impacted you negatively in this quarter in NTPC. When do you expect the intensity of curtailment reduced significantly for our portfolio? Can you please quantify the revenue loss during the quarter because of curtailment here?
See, broadly speaking, this is a phenomena general across the country. Around 180 GW of evacuation capacity is under construction, largely in the Gujarat and the Rajasthan belt, through Khavda, Patan, Khavda, or Navsari, Pune, HVDC Khavda, Nagpur, Fatehgarh, Beawar, and Bikaner. Besides this also, the Green Energy Corridor phase-III envisages 135 GW of intrastate transmission capacity. According more specific to NGEL, our transmission constraint or the connectivity issue which we are facing will all be surmounted by next year, June, July, mid-July. Beyond which, we will not have this continued thing.
Pending this, we are trying to optimize this through wherever possible through temporary GNA. The other significant thing which we would like to point out is wherever we are facing this problem, the PPA term get extended because once you have this connectivity, the PPA term starts.
To that extent, we don't see this as a complete revenue loss. It gets shifted. The kind of revenue which we are getting through the TGNA, squarely we are able to cover other operational expenses, O&M and interest. Only the depreciation, which is the book cost, doesn't get covered in this phenomena. We are trying to get over this issue shortly.
Understood, sir. My last question, sir. Would you like to revise your.
You have to be louder again.
Would you like to revise your RE capacity addition target given the fact that we have added only nearly 1.3 GW, if I am correct, in the first half H1?
I would say that we had begun with an estimation of close to 8 GW. When we are reviewing this today, we have added capacity close to 1,300 MW at the end of October. And our estimation is that another 3.5 GW is something which would be able to do the rest of this thing. Close to 16 GW and 15 GW is something which would be on the ground, but which will be covered under the probably the delay in the transmission.
So, the capacity constructed would be close to 6.5 GW, but 1.5 GW may found wanting for a transmission, which probably, as we move ahead, we will be getting for that. So, at this present juncture, we may have some little shortfall compared to what was the initial projection, which will be covered in the next year.
Understood, sir. Understood, sir. Thank you and all the best, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mohit Pandey from Citi Research. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good evening, sir. Thank you for the opportunity and congratulations on a strong quarter. Sir, first question would be, is it possible to share the adjusted PAT for the consolidated entity for Q2?
Yeah. I reckon I had mentioned the adjusted PAT, but let me repeat that. That you wanted for consolidated, is it?
Yes. Yeah, yeah. Consolidated.
Okay. For consolidated, the adjusted PAT would be INR 7,152 crore for Q2. As far as H1 is concerned, it would be INR 13,970. Would you like for standalone as well?
No, sir. Standalone is there in the PPT. For the base quarter, Q2 FY 2026 also, if you could share for the consolidated entity. Yeah.
Yeah. Base was INR 5,000 last year for Q2 and INR 10,809 for H1.
Okay, sir. Thank you. Sir, if you can share color on both for the standalone and consolidated. If I look at the standalone, regulated equity is down because of the transfer of mines, but PAT is up mid-teens, right? Other income is also down. If you can share color on that. Similarly for the consolidated PAT number, 40% growth. Yeah.
Hold on. Yeah. So, as I already mentioned, the regulated equity is down because of the transfer. Other income, there is a drop by INR 432. That is because interest from JV subsidiary, while it has gone up by INR 180 crores, the dividend from JV subsidiaries, we have received less by INR 481 crores. The LPS, late payment surcharge, is also a drop by 28%, which is reflective of a better collection efficiency, although. It really, it of course has reduced our LPS. So that's broadly the reason which accounts for a INR 432 crores drop in the other income.
Yeah, no, sir. So my question was, despite the drop in other income, the profit growth is pretty strong. So yeah, my question was around that. Yeah.
No, because the profit is a different thing than a dividend payout. So profitability has come out of better efficiency.
No, sir. Much ahead of the regulated equity growth. I was coming from that end.
Correct. That is why it is about the efficiency. There are O&M gains, operational gains.
Understood, sir. Can we expect this trend broadly to continue, so profit growth to significantly at least regulated equity growth in the coming quarters as well?
Yes.
Because of the acquisitions.
We can fairly expect. Yes.
Yeah, that's great to hear. Sir, and second question on Ratnagiri, its profit is a function of availability or of generation? Yeah, just one clarification there.
Again, kindly repeat.
For the Ratnagiri gas, yeah, where we have seen a strong increase in profit year-on-year, the profit is linked to availability or to generation? Yeah.
It is because of generation. It is because of some of generation which was possible, the demand because of the increased demand.
Understood. Sir, are there any plans similar to Sinnar Thermal for M&A with regards to any state plant? For Sinnar, what is the turnaround timeline that you will be looking at?
We are targeting by December this year or January next, as far as Sinnar is concerned. Your first part of the question was, are we going for similar acquisitions, is it?
Yes, sir.
We are always open to any kind of value-accretive projects which are available through NCLT process or otherwise.
Okay, sir. Last question is, was there any fixed cost under-recovery linked to coal or, yeah, in this quarter? Yeah.
No, as far as O&M, there are O&M gains, in fact, there is no. As far as fixed costs are concerned, we have significantly improved compared to the last year. The disincentive, how we coin it is INR 332 crores. This is half of what was there in the last year of INR 625 crores. The disincentives have dropped, and the better seasons await us. We will be able to improve it further.
Understood, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that management is able to address questions from all participants in the conference, please limit your questions to two per participant. Should you have a follow-up question, we would request you to rejoin the queue. The next question is from the line of Apoorva Bahadur from IIFL Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, in your opening remarks, you commented that NTPC is actively looking at C&I opportunity. Can you give some color on this? Is it only for the renewables business, or is it for the thermal business as well? Secondly, you also commented on the BESS deployment by NTPC Green. So when should we expect the first batteries to commission?
See, we are actively pursuing on both the fronts, as you rightly said. I will take the second part of the question first, that we have an overall plan of close to 47 GWh. Out of this, as we must have already shared with you, 5 GWh coming from the thermal coal location. So broadly, we are 40 GWh- 42 GWh, which we are targeting. Here, broadly, this NGEL is initially targeting 2024 MWh on a standalone and co-located basis, and another 39,240 is we are targeting through whatever is the nighttime connectivity, non-solar connectivity, which is available to us.
Here, we are also exploring the possibility of utilizing this as well as tying up at the substation level through grid operator on a grid scale. So both these things generally takes around 12- 18 months to set up this particular thing.
You can expect some kind of progress in the next 17- 18 months. As far as your other part of the question is concerned, I will divert this question to the Director of Projects, Mr. Shanmugha Sundaram.
Actually, we have come out with an Expression of Interest for looking at partners in the area of C&I, for the area of both power generation and heat. The EOI will be closing in the end of November, then we will be able to know in which area we will be progressing further.
Okay, sir. So we will probably set up coal plants for these partners for C&I as well. That is quite interesting. Okay.
Yes.
Great. Sir, secondly, on this Ratnagiri profit as well as I see that the profitability of THDC has also improved year-on-year significantly. So can you give some update on this? Is it one time? Is it a structural increase for THDC? I believe it is the Khurja project which has been commissioned. For Ratnagiri, what are the contours of the PPA? It is a take-or-pay arrangement, or how do we get paid?
Whatever is the revenue that you are. There is an underlying PPA as far as Ratnagiri is concerned, which continues. There are issues over there. But right now, the sales what you see is through the market operation. Whatever is the opportunity available to trust the system requirement and markets. We are continuously engaging in exploring the market sales opportunities. That is as far as Ratnagiri is concerned. As regards THDC, the capacity of PSP has been added 500 MW. Capacity addition of Khurja 660 MW, the full effect of that will be seen in this year because we commissioned this in September last year. It had effect of part month, whereas this year, it will have a full effect. But in any case, the H1, there is a substantial difference.
That is the reason we have announced INR 221 crores for both these reasons.
Thank you, sir. Last question on, if I can ask on this regulatory deferral number, there is an other item of INR 862 crores. I believe it refers to some sort of a depreciation expense for one-time expense, which has been recorded. What is this regarding, and is it recurring?
No, it's kind of reversals of the excess depreciation till date of INR 862 crores. That is the reason for this, because this pertains to Bongaigaon coal station. But it will have nil impact on profitability because it will figure in both the sides of income and expenditure.
Sure. Sure, sir. Understood. Thanks a lot.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants to limit your questions to two per participant. The next question is on the line of Sumit Kishore from Axis Capital. Please go ahead.
Good evening. Thanks for the opportunity. My first question is around capacity addition. For the first half, you have done about 2,398 MW for NTPC Group. What are your targets for FY 2027, 2028, 2029? If you can break them across thermal RE for NTPC standalone, NTPC Group, and NGEL, please.
See, as far as the guidance for FY 2027 is concerned, which I had elaborately set out based on earlier query from one of the participants, I will not repeat that. As far as FY 2028 is concerned, we are targeting a total of close to 9.6 GW, which will have thermal capacity of 1,460 MW, hydro of 444, and renewable capacity of 7,735 MW. Out of this, standalone would be 726, and JV subsidiary will contribute about 8,913, making it a total of 9,639 for the group as a whole.
The year next, that is FY 2029, the target is 10,877 MW, which will have a broad breakup of 3,070 MW of thermal, no hydro, renewable will be 7,807 MW. This will be largely contributed by JVs and subsidiaries, which is 8,670, and standalone, there will be one unit of TTPS- 3, Talcher two , and Lara two units, 1,600.
So, it will be three units, thermal units, contributing 2260, and remaining from JVs and subsidiaries. Thank you.
Sir, for FY 2027, you had given details for NGEL mainly. For NTPC Group as a whole, what is the total expectation? If I missed it, can you please repeat it? For NTPC Group.
Yes. The NTPC Group, the earlier expectation was 9.5 GW, which we are scaling it down based on the dispensation on the renewable side. So, it would be now close to 8 GW.
Very good.
Sorry to interrupt you, sir. Can you please mute your line?
This is not from my end. This is from someone else.
You may continue.
Yes, sir. Please go ahead.
Yeah. It would be 8 GW. That would be the revised estimates. The entire thing will be from renewable.
No more thermal, yeah.
That is for renewable.
Okay.
1070 is already there. Yeah.
Yeah, just one clarification on the slide, in the NTPC deck, NGEL capacity addition in nine months is 1,136 MW, and in the NGEL deck, it is 983 MW. I mean, which is the more updated number for the six month period?
Yeah.
Mr. Neeraj, introduce yourself.
Yeah. I am Neeraj Sharma, CFO NTPC Green Energy.
Yes, sir.
As on September 30th, the number was what we have given in our NGEL's KPIs or key performance highlights. However, in NGEL's, in our NTPC's number, the details up to October 30th have been given. That is why the difference is there.
Okay. Got it. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Praveen [Inaudible] from PPFAS Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Yeah.
I just had a question on our under-construction capacity under thermal and also our thermal capacity addition targets for FY 2032. If I see the quarterly PPT, the under-construction capacity is more than 17 GW. But if I look at our year-end analyst meet presentation, there the capacity addition target for FY 2032 was about 10 GW in thermal. I just wanted to understand this discrepancy because it is 7 GW.
FY 2032?
Yeah.
Entire capacity will not come to operation below you. How do you want to.
No, there is a. Okay. So, by the end of 2032, some of the capacity would not have achieved COD. So, you are presupposing that the entire 17 under construction would have seen the operation, but some of that would extend beyond this. That is the reason.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nikhil Nigania from Bernstein. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you, sir. My first question is on the renewable business. As you said, transmission has been a challenge for us and for others as well. Hence, our guidance has been cut. But what gives us confidence on, again, achieving 8 GWs next year or the year after? Because it has been a consistent trend and with no easy answers. I mean, how confident are we of achieving the number, or is there some other issue on ground why we have been missing our renewable addition targets?
No, largely the issue is about transmission. Sometimes, when your transmission constraints are there, it doesn't pay to complete the project, spend on interest during construction. So, we tend to regulate it sometimes on the ground regarding expenditure. But largely, the issue is on the transmission, and this would have been largely surmounted in the next year. So we are fairly confident about the next year. But to add to that, I will request CEO NGEL to share that picture.
Yeah. I'm Sarit Maheshwari, CEO NTPC Green Energy Limited. Let me start by explaining a little bit on the capacity front. If you recall, we have been consistently saying that in FY 2027, FY 2028, and FY 2029, we would be doing, as a ballpark figure, around 8 GW every year. See, if you look at, we have also been telling about the connectivity availability in each of these years. So if you see in FY 2027, as Director Finance has just explained, we had a connectivity of only 44% of this capacity. So what we did was that we back-ended the capacity addition generation.
So you would find that significant amount of capacities will be coming in the third and the fourth quarters. To give you a little bit more flavor of the total capacity, we had said that initially we would be doing around 8,061 MW of capacity.
By the end of this financial year, the on-ground capacity that we would have erected would be around 6.35 GW. So there isn't much difference. The only difference that is arising out is because you're not seeing the COD happening. This COD is primarily because of the bulk of the capacity being added in the Khavda region, wherein the transmission has got inadvertently delayed by almost more than a year. So that is why you are seeing that consistently there is a rolling back of this. We were to get the connectivity in October 2026, for our full capacity, which has now been moved to November 2027. Therefore, this delay is in the actual COD that you are seeing. But all the projects for FY 2027, 2028, and 2029, the work is in progress.
Once these transmission constraints are over, you would see that these CODs would translate into real capacities.
Got it, sir. Thanks so much for the color. Moving on to the storage side, good to see progress on BESS. Wanted to understand, A, why is it taking us 12- 18 months to set up a BESS plant? Any plans to do a merchant BESS plant? Lastly, on pump storage, we have been highlighting that we have got 16 sites or something in that range, but we don't see any news of ordering or plans to order any PSP assets. Wanted an update on those two fronts.
I request Director Operations to take this.
Yeah, regarding battery, we are on track, and if some contractors are not working, we are terminating and giving contact to others. We are on line, and we are pretty hopeful that by April, we will get all the units, all the battery commissioned.
Coming to the pump storage, we will be completing our first DPR, that is in Maharashtra, Kumbhe, by December. Then other DPR will be completed in the month of March, that is for Amba. Our subsidiary THDC and NEEPCO are working on PSPs. Once this DPR is completed and TEC is done, then we'll be going for this PMC and further award.
I would also like to add on the BESS capacities that we are putting up in NGEL. You see, your question was that why it takes around 12- 18 months to this. Basically, these are utility-scale batteries, the largest containers being almost of the order of only 5 MW-hour. So when we are talking about such large quantities, both on the DC side as well as on the AC side, it does take this much of time.
And you would see bulk of our capacities that NGEL is putting as on the night connectivity will be showing its on-ground presence in FY 2029. A part of it will come in FY 2028 also. A shade of capacities will be next year, wherein the work is already going on around 1,350 MWs. That capacity will come by the mid of FY 2027.
[inaudible] sir, can you hear me? [inaudible] sir, can you hear me? Due to no response, we move on to the next participant. The next question is from the line of Mahesh Patil from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. So my question is on the comment that we made on some new solutions with NGEL that we are planning, and we also mentioned C&I, where we are also interested in deploying thermal. So could you throw some light on this, exactly what we are doing? Is it some kind of hybrid kind of solution with renewables, thermal that we are planning for C&I? Which are the type of customers or industry we are targeting here? Any color on that?
This has been already told. We have come out with an expression of interest that will be closing on the end of November. Then we will see how we will move forward. It will be in the area of heat and generation and in all sorts of power supplies, whether it is renewable or hydro, thermal, whatever it is. We are trying to add to this C&I segment.
Mahesh sir, can you hear me?
Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Atul Tiwari from JPM. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Thanks a lot. My question is on the gas supply situation for Ratnagiri. So what is the fuel cost that you are operating at right now, and is it LNG or some domestic source of gas?
Yeah, it is based on the LNG which is getting imported. So cost is varying from $16- $32. Whatever is available in the spot, we are purchasing, or we are tying through long-term tie-ups. So average, we can say we are getting less than $28 or $29.
Okay. Based on that average, what will be the fuel cost per kilowatt-hour, roughly?
Approximately, they come in 26 rupees.
26 rupees. Okay. Sir, on your BESS strategy, obviously we have seen you canceling a contract with some of the contractors who were not doing the work. But in the sector, at the same time, we are seeing some of your smaller competitors in the private sector directly tying up with Chinese suppliers and getting batteries much faster. Rather than going through some of these smaller contractors who ultimately delay the project, have you explored directly sourcing the batteries and installing and speeding up the process? We do need these batteries as quickly as possible to ride over these shortages.
Yeah.
Yeah, you are very right. In fact, if you see, we were constrained by the GFR Rule 144 of procurement, wherein we could not have directly imported from China. We have been pursuing actively with the government, and we have now been asked to procure directly, and we would therefore be going ahead with a 40 GWh tender coming up soon, which would be an ICB tender. Procurement of it would be directly from all the Chinese or the other related, the places from where we were not able to source directly. So what you said, we are already on the way on it for that.
Great. Good to know. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rajesh Majumdar from 360 ONE Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good evening, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. I had a couple of questions. One is that, is it possible to give us a breakdown of the regulated equity of THDC, NEEPCO, Meja, and Patratu? These are the main ones, actually.
We don't have it right now, but we will give you the breakup, share with you.
Okay.
Subsequently.
Because a lot of the growth is coming on the subs, I was interested in knowing the regulated equity of these ones.
Prepare and we'll share.
Right. My second question, sir, was how do we read into the increase in profitability of BRBCL? It's a regulated business. However, the PAT has gone by nearly more than INR 100 crore this first half. How we see the profits of this subsidiary going forward?
BRBCL, we see the profit for the Q2 has gone up by 64 crore. This is because there is a reduction in finance cost due to refinancing of term loan and scheduled repayment. The other is the impact of fly ash transportation, billing, and security expenses.
We have billed that. Yeah.
In terms of annualized PAT.
Yeah.
So in terms of annualized PAT, how should we look at BRBCL now with the change in the refinancing, et cetera?
You can see an improved trend compared to last year. I will not be able to say immediately whether, I mean, the first half, what you see the differential in the first half can be exactly repeated in the second. But yes, there will be, to the extent of that, the impact will be there for finance cost will translate to a better margin.
And sir, in NTPC Mining, what is the regulated return? Is it 14% or is it %15.5 ?
It is 14%.
Okay. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraints, we take that as the last question for the day. Now I would like to hand the conference over to Mr. Subhadip Mitra from Nuvama Wealth Management for the closing comments. Please go ahead.
Thank you. On behalf of Nuvama Wealth Management, I would like to thank the management of NTPC for giving us this opportunity to host the call. Sir, any closing comments from your side?
Yeah, thank you. I thank all the participants who have joined this earnings call and would like to convey our gratitude to the investors and analysts for their participation and the trust and confidence reposed in NTPC. I also take this opportunity to thank the Government of India, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and Ministry of Power for their continued guidance, support. My thanks to the fellow board members for their support. Also express our sincere appreciation to Nuvama Capital for organizing this earnings conference call and facilitating the interaction with investors. Any further queries or clarifications may be addressed to NTPC's Investor Relation Department at ir@ntpc.co.in. I will end here with warm greetings to all of you for the forthcoming Diwali festival. Thank you so much.
On behalf of Nuvama Wealth Management Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and now you may disconnect your lines.