...Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Power Finance Corporation Limited Q1 FY 2025 Earnings Conference Call, hosted by Elara Securities Private Limited. As a reminder, all participants' 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 our operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I'll hand the conference over to Ms. Shweta Daptardar from Elara Securities Private Limited. Thank you, and over to you, ma'am.
Thank you, Neha. Good evening, everyone. On behalf of Elara Securities, we welcome you all to Q1 FY 2025 earnings call of Power Finance Corporation. From the esteemed management, we have with us today Ms. Parminder Chopra, Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Jha, Director of Projects, Mr. Manoj Sharma, Director of Commercial, Mr. Sandeep Kumar, Director of Finance. Without further ado, I now hand over the call to Ms. Chopra for opening remarks, post which we can open the floor for Q&A. Thank you, and over to you, ma'am.
Thank you. Good evening, and a very warm welcome to all of you. We have declared our Q1 results today. I am happy that I have been able to regularly connect with the investor community on quarter-on-quarter basis. Before I discuss the results, I would like to introduce our newly appointed Director of Finance, Mr. Sandeep Kumar. He assumed charge on 11th July and brings with him more than 34 years of experience. Sandeep has been instrumental in steering a wide range of financial functions in PFC, including fundraising, accounting, taxation, and treasury. He is also earlier the, announced as the CFO for the company. Also, I would like to share that Mr. Shashank Misra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power, has joined our Consolidated performance. For Q1 2025, the consolidated profit after tax stood at INR 7,182 crore, a 20% increase year-on-year.
The group loan asset book registered a growth of 13% and crossed the INR 10,00,000 crore mark. The loan asset book stands at INR 10,04,735 crore as on 30th of June, 2024. On the asset quality, we continue to see a decreasing trend in the NPA levels. The consolidated gross NPAs has reached below 3% and is at 2.97% in Q1 2025, compared to 3.54% in Q1 2024. The consolidated net NPA ratio for Q1 2025 is at 0.84%, compared to 1% in Q1 2024. Now, moving on to standalone performance. For Q1 2025, the net profit is at INR 3,718 crore, a 24% increase on a year-on-year basis. The net interest income also rose by 25.24% year-on-year.
The income growth has been supported by improving yields, stable spreads, and steady net interest margin. The yield for Q1 2025 is at 10.08%, the spread is at 2.64%, and NIM is at 3.55%, all within our guided range. The cost of funds also continues to be within our expected range of 7.44%. Also, this quarter, we did not have any major additions in our provisioning numbers. In Q1 2025, we have created an incremental provision of only around INR 62 crore. Going forward, we do not anticipate any major adverse provisioning impact unless there is any regulatory changes. On the foreign currency front, we have an outstanding portfolio of U.S. dollar equivalent of $8.4 billion.
Out of this, around 78% of the outstanding portfolio is U.S. dollar denominated, 15% is yen denominated, and balance 7% is euro denominated. Further, 95% of the outstanding foreign currency portfolio is hedged for exchange risk. Out of this, nearly 100% of U.S. dollar exposure and 100% of JPY loan exposure is hedged for exchange risk....So with a prudent hedging cover, the range from forex fluctuations have a limited impact to our, on our profit and loss account. Through our prudent risk management strategy and stable revenue, PFC delivered a healthy bottom line in Q1 2025. Also, our balance sheet remains exceptionally strong, with a Capital Adequacy Ratio of 27% and a net worth of INR 83,265 crore. Given the robust performance this quarter, we have declared an interim dividend of INR 3.25 per share.
With this solid foundation, PFC is well positioned to capitalize the future growth opportunities. On the asset quality front, I'm happy to share that we continue to maintain a healthy book. We have added no new NPA assets. The net NPA ratio reduced by 17 basis points, that is from 1.04% in Q1 2024 to 0.87% in Q1 2025. Similarly, the gross NPA levels saw a 44 basis points reduction from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025. For Q1 2025, the gross NPA ratio is at 3.38%. On the resolution front, three projects of INR 4,036 crore are in advanced state of resolution.
Two of these are the same as indicated during our March results, that is Lanco Amarkantak, with an outstanding loan amount of INR 2,376 crore, and Shiga Energy loan of INR 522 crore. The third project is TRN Energy Private Limited, with an outstanding loan amount of INR 1,139 crore. It's a 600 MW commissioned thermal asset. The resolution of this is being pursued outside NCLT. The resolution plan has been formulated, and approval from all the consortium lender is awaiting. On resolution of these three assets, our gross NPA ratio will be below 3%. Also, in KSK Mahanadi project, where resolution is being pursued in NCLT, we have received 10 bids last week. It's an 1,800 MW partly commissioned project with PFC outstanding amount of INR 3,300 crore.
The evaluation of the bid is underway, and we expect more than 100% recovery against the project, basis the current bids received. We have maintained around 55% provisioning on the project. So now coming onto the loan asset growth this quarter. The disbursement for Q1 2025 are at similar levels as the previous Q1. The Q1 2025 disbursements are at INR 19,483 crore. I'm aware that this quarter, our disbursements were slightly subdued, which has resulted in a loan asset book growth of around 10% on a year-on-year basis. However, I want to assure you that our loan growth targets for FY 2025 remain unchanged. In this regard, I would like to share an important development with all of you. Embracing change is essential for any growing organization to maintain its future growth.
As you all know, that the power sector landscape in India is changing at an unprecedented pace, marked by rapid technological shifts. Concurrently, PFC is also building upon its infrastructure lending business. To navigate these changes, business priorities and to grow in a sustained manner in future, it is important for PFC to change and adapt to the new business realities. With this vision, around a year and a half ago, we initiated a transformation exercise in PFC with the support of Boston Consulting Group. BCG has carved out a detailed transformation strategy, including realignment of our lending processes and capacity building for the infrastructure business. The implementation of board-approved strategy has been rolled out from first April.
To implement a change of this scale requires time, as it needs employees' sensitization, aligning of the existing systems, and managing the teething issues... Therefore, the beginning of the financial year has been strategically adopted to bring in these changes. This gives us sufficient time to align the processes and ensure that we are able to achieve our targeted growth levels. Currently, we are yet to fully integrate these changes, and it may take another quarter to completely adopt it. This transformation exercise has temporarily slowed down our normal business operations. I am confident that once the processes stabilizes, we will be able to maintain our growth trajectory for FY 2025. This transformation is crucial for our long-term success, as it would strengthen PFC's ability to tap the future opportunities in power and infrastructure.
Talking about opportunities, the recent union budget sets the stage for a cleaner, more resilient and economically vibrant India, aligning with India's vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047. The initiatives for the power sector, including a focus on energy transition and security, are likely to stimulate demand and capacity expansion. The clear focus on clean and green is encouraging for the sector. Further, the announcement to formulate a policy for pumped storage projects is a crucial step towards smoother integration of renewable energy, enhancing grid stability and reliability. Also, the step to develop a climate finance taxonomy will be instrumental in attracting capital to accelerate the implementation of clean energy projects. Additionally, expanding the list of duty exemptions for critical minerals required for equipment manufacturing will help in accelerating the growth of the renewable energy sector.
Further, the government's push for innovative nuclear technologies will strengthen the sector's promising future. Overall, the budget has created a strong ground for CapEx growth in the power sector, and PFC is well positioned to capitalize on these long-term project financing opportunities. Before I conclude, I'm pleased to share that PFC launched its first ESG report in July 2024. This comprehensive document outlines our ESG vision and our existing practices in environmental, social, and governance domains. The report is available on our website. This initiative demonstrates PFC's commitment to sustainability, and I am confident that PFC will continue to scale new heights in this domain. Thank you, and now we are open for questions.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question, press star and one on their touchtone 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 Dhaval from DSP Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hello, ma'am. Thank you for the opportunity and, congratulations on good performance. I just had two questions. First was relating to growth. So like you alluded, these changes that you brought about in infrastructure lending may have caused some disruption in the overall growth for the quarter. Just wanted to get some clarity in terms of how do you, you know, sort of cover up in the next nine months, you know, to achieve your overall growth target of 41 % for the full year. So just if you could give some perspective on that, that would be useful. So that's the first one.
The second is, I'm sure you would have seen the media reports around, you know, the Shapoorji Pallonji, account, I mean, you know, sort of sanction and, you know, exposure, et cetera. If you could just, clarify, you know, how, I mean, how much amount if we have given, and, you know, collateral and, the thought process around it, that would be very useful. Thank you.
Yeah, thank you. So, with regard to your first question, that, how do we expect to maintain the growth trajectory which we have given for the FY 2025? So I think our goal is to strike a balance between value and volume. So, we are expected that we will, as per our guidance given earlier, we are expected to achieve the same similar level of growth for the current FY 2025, and we don't see any issues in the remaining part of the year, because this is a whatever exercise is being undertaken, that is to smoothen the process, faster process and to explore the new avenues what PFC can tap. But otherwise, our underlying loan book trajectory is very strong, and we hope to meet the targets for the current financial year.
With regard to your second question about the Shapoorji loan, as we have earlier also clarified on the exchange, that the diligence process is still underway and no funds disbursed to it yet. So we have also declared at that point of time that post the completion of the detailed due diligence, Board will take a decision on the merit basis and will accordingly decide what will be the outcome of this deal. And I understand that you are referring to some of the media news in the recent past few days. I can say that these media news are speculative in nature and inaccurate.
Understood. Ma'am, just one follow-up on the growth. So, you know, I mean, last year we had this benefit on the distribution lending business, which may not, part of which may not occur in the current financial year. And, you know, REC, for example, had talked about generation CapEx, both on the, you know, conventional side and the renewable side, being a driver or part offset of that growth delta. Is that the same thought process at PFC as well?
Or you think infra will be a far bigger, you know, play, in the current financial year, to sort of see, that, kind of disbursement momentum, that we are looking at for the rest of the year? Thank you.
I think we and REC are working in the same space as far as, the, be it the power sector or the infrastructure sector. So accordingly, the business, what is they are expecting are, we are also expecting from the similar space. So last year also, distribution played a vital role in our, overall disbursement, and this year also we are expecting that, distribution is going to play a major role. If you see even the current Q1 disbursements, so out of the total Q1 disbursement, 59% is coming from the distribution sector, and 28% is coming from the generation. In generation also, we will be focusing more on the renewables, and 18% of the total disbursement in Q1 is from for the renewables sector.
So infrastructure, definitely the number will be going to be higher than the previous year, but, I think we would like to maintain the earlier approach of steadily growing the disbursement for the infrastructure sector.
Got it. Thank you, and all the best, and I'll come back in the queue. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Shreya Shivani from CLSA. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. Ma'am, I have three questions. There was a media article today on KSK Mahanadi, which mentioned that probably they will be allowed to distribute surplus cash among lenders. Or the other way, the lenders are allowed to distribute the surplus cash. So can you help us understand, before any resolution, what are these developments happening over there, and what will be the impact on us? Second is, ma'am, just on the loan growth, if I was looking at the different segments, particularly the Genco and distribution segment, so the repayment rate has been a little elevated in both the segments for the past two quarters.
Discoms, I understand that the RBPF and LPS, LIS repayment rate may have picked up or repayment cycle may have begun. But what about the Genco segment? Was there any large repayment that happened in this quarter or any other color that you can give on that? And third, just a clarification and just curious that if a state ends up not repaying their certain loans and becomes bad asset for one of the lenders, which is your peer company, has that not happened for you? Because your peers did take an elevated provision on that one state not repaying their or slipping into stage two. So, has that not happened for you? And just curious how it plays out between PFC and REC when state repayments happen. Thank you.
On your first question about the KSK Mahanadi, that, that there is an article about, distribution of the cash available. Everybody knows that a huge cash is available, and the lenders have requested for allowing the early distribution of that cash. But I'm not aware that what is the outcome of that, case. But otherwise, also that, RFP was floated for bidding for the KSK asset, and we have received the bids in the last week for that. And including the cash available, we have got a very good recovery rate, which is expected to be more than 100% of the principal outstanding for the KSK. So, in any case, since the, the evaluation is under process, and going forward as the evaluation is completed, so that will be still reported to the, NCLT for approval.
On that front, we are clear.
So, if the cash recovery can actually come earlier than the other recoveries, which will only happen after the full project is resolved, all the bidding and the new promoters come in. Is that a fair way to look at it?
We have represented to an NCLT for allowing us to withdraw the cash. If the decision comes, then definitely we will have early access of the surplus cash available in the system.
Got it.
So on the loan growth, yes, I agree that repayment has been at a comparatively a little faster pace as compared to the previous quarter. But as you are aware that in the last, before last two quarters, the RBPF scheme was under the sanctioned process, most of the scheme. Now the sanctioning has been done, lot of disbursements has been done, and this is a basically line of, sort of a line of credit for them. And it's a short-term loan, where once they repay back the loan, then they are entitled to draw it again. So that's the regular process, and I think that RBPF is going to continue. With respect to the LPS scheme, yes, initially the disbursements were at a higher pace because most of the states were covered under the up to three-year category.
But now, since three years have passed, and for most of the states that LPS disbursements have peaked out. So going forward, the LPS disbursements are at a lower pace, but the repayments will start only after the moratorium period is over. So that is how, maybe because of the lower LPS disbursements, you may be looking at a slightly subdued growth in the disbursement under this scheme.
Got it. Got it. And ma'am, Genco, was there any large repayment or anything this quarter in any of the, any of the core Genco books?
No major disbursement, no major repayments under the Genco scheme.
Okay.
And your last question about the state government, I would like to clarify that the none of the states have defaulted, neither for PFC nor for REC. There has been, we have always been talking that there has been some delays on the part of the state for remittance of the dues, but they have not been categorized as a non-performing asset ever. So forming part of stage one asset or a stage two asset, this depends on quarter on quarter basis. But yes, the INR 67 crore additional reserves which are a provisioning you are looking at, out of that is a substantial is on account of that state utilities over.
Got it. So even you have increased some provisioning on one state. But are you counting it in stage two now, the entire state? Or is it some bit of it you've started counting in stage two and majority is in stage one? How does that play out?
As on 30th of June, yes, they were, are forming part of Stage two asset.
Mm.
I think, during the current quarter, some payments have been received, and the status might have changed because it is on the basis of past due date, number of days.
Got it. Very useful, ma'am. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Kunal Shah from Citigroup. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks for taking the question. So the-
Sorry to interrupt you, sir. I request you to use the handset, please.
Yeah. I mean, yeah. So, thanks for taking the question. When we look at it in terms of what can actually trigger the higher provisioning on this deferred payment from the state government, would it be only the seasoning, or maybe now we are confident that it will regularize and there is no need for incremental provisioning that could happen, yeah?
So, as I told you, that for the state sector, it generally happens that at times they are forming part of the Stage two asset, and maybe in the next 15 days, they clear and they again form part of the Stage one asset. And it keeps on happening, but we try to maintain the provisioning. Whatever is there under the Stage two, we generally try to maintain for those assets which are habitual going from Stage one to Stage two.
Okay, okay. And, secondly, with respect to KSK, any timeline that you would want to highlight in terms of when can we see the overall resolution? Maybe cash recovery can happen soon, but, overall resolution, how, how much time would it take? Because, there you have still mentioned, like, it's not in the advanced stage, so what, possible in this system?
The bids have been received, and bids are being evaluated. It all depends on the NCLT approvals. It's a court-driven process, so for that, I think, it's very difficult to give timeline, but we are expecting that it should happen within this financial year.
Within this financial... Okay. And lastly, on the growth side, so when we look at it, other than the power sector, when we look at it now that, a larger part of, at least the transitioning and the processes are set, so how should we look that, disbursement to, ramp up for the entire fiscal? Any, any changes out there in terms of-
... what you have been suggesting, and how should we look at full year disbursement from those segments?
See, infra, if you ask me about the number size, then there may be going to be a slightly more disbursement. But, still major component is going to be from the power sectors, and we are focusing on distribution as well as renewable sector for our growth targets.
Okay. Okay. Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Manish Agarwalla from Phillip Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. Ma'am, I have a couple of questions. One, just a clarification on SP Group. Did we sanction the loan or the sanction is not let out?
See, there was at one stage, a sanction was there, but that was subject to further clarifications, and, which we are in the process of doing the due diligence on those clarifications. So the final sanction will be, the final will be only after those clarifications we achieve.
Okay. Got it. The other thing I wanted to check was just to get, you know, more clarity on the growth. Can you disclose what is the total outstanding sanction which is yet to be delivered?
See, I don't have that figure right now with me, but my team can. You can be in touch with my team, and they can give you.
Sure, sure. And the other thing I wanted to check was, what is the status of Stage two after Q1? If you can give absolute or a percentage-wise, that would be helpful.
The Stage two assets are approximately 11% of the total outstanding, and it is purely government sector utilities which are falling under the Stage two.
There is an increase on a quarter-over-quarter basis, correct? Because in Q4, it was from 7.5%, if I'm not wrong.
See, it is always I told you that, there are certain utilities which are off and on falling under Stage two or Stage one. So you may seeing on quarterly basis their status being changed from Q1 to Q, Stage one to Stage two.
What would be our provisioning policy around this? Because if I look at the Q4 number, your stage two provision coverage is lower than stage one provision coverage. So just wanted to check, how should we look at the stage two provisioning, on a steady-state basis?
See, we follow the ECL model, and under stage two coverage, if I say it is 0.92% on an average, whereas in stage one it is 0.85%, on an average. So I told you that where these are the habitual utilities which are falling off and on from stage one to stage two, we generally don't change their provisioning unless until they are for a bit continuous period, they remain under the stage one. So that is what you may be finding that there is a gap of... Still there is a gap of around, maybe around seven basis on an average.
Got it. Just final question on the, you know, spike in Tokyo overnight rates. So is there any... Do you see any impact on your incremental spreads? Because there's a massive spike and, we have some borrowings. Obviously, the number is not very high. Do you see any risk there to the incremental spread?
You are talking about the yen borrowing, right?
Yes. Yes, yes.
Yen borrowing, we have already 100% hedged, so we don't, we are not going to have any impact on those loans.
No, my question was on the interest rate side. We might be having the currency side. So there is a spike-
Already their interest rate is. I don't think that there is a significant interest rate on these borrowings. So, it's just so far-
TONA.
TONA is just 0.25. So I don't think that any increase is going to have any major impact on our borrowings to come.
Okay. Thank you, ma'am, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Shreepal Doshi from Equirus Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi, ma'am. Good afternoon, and thank you for giving me the opportunity. Ma'am, the question was on infra lending side. So while we aspire to, you know, sort of grow this book incrementally, where would we want to keep it, keep a cap on this in, in terms of the loan book mix? So where would we see this share increasing by the year-end or in the next three years timeline?
See, there has been, you know that in infra, the sanctions are generally of a larger quantum as compared to renewable or distribution. So but, disbursement under this happens over a period of three to four years. So I think it is going to gradually to take time for us to achieve the cap of 30% of our total loan outstanding, because, you know that as our power sector book is also growing, so accordingly, 30% share is going to increase. So it's going to time for us to hit the highest level. For the three to four years at least, which is there in the visibility, I can see that the highest level touching for the infrastructure sector.
So where would we see the share in the next couple of years? Like, while 30% is of course look far, like, far time, far, but, you know, in the next couple of years, where could this be?
Yeah, you can see growing our share gradually for the infrastructure sector. Like, if I talk of 30th June 2023, it was only INR 1,000 crore what we have disbursed under the infrastructure. There is, when we talk of 30th June 2024, our outstanding is INR 7,400 crore. So right now we are at 1.56%. But yes, you will be looking at each year we will be growing for funding of the infrastructure sector as a total percentage of our whole.
Got it. Got it. Second question was on the, on the NPA pool. So we have 21 projects. And so just wanted to understand how many of these projects are 100% coverage projects, wherein we have 100% coverage, you know?
So out of the 21 stressed assets, in 13 assets we have 100% provisioning. In two assets, we have around 80% of the provisioning. So-
Got it. That's very helpful, ma'am, actually. So, so these 13 projects can get, resolved, like, I mean, if, if you want, you can sort of write them off as well. So what is the status there? Are we seeing any bidding activity there or are, is there, is there any resolution in pipeline for these 13 projects?
See, most of them are under liquidation. seven of them are under liquidation. So, slowly, slowly, assets are being sold in isolation for that. Once all the projects have been liquidated and we have got an NOC, then we will be writing it off. And, for few of the other assets, we are trying to find a resolution, and then we will be going ahead. Like, there is one, Maheshwar is there, so there we are looking for some resolution. There is another, Narsimha Solar, there also we are looking for some resolution. So, we are looking for an individual asset base, finding a solution for each of them, depending on the requirements.
Got it. Ma'am, just last question, on the projects side. So we have, Lanco Amarkantak, KSK Mahanadi, and some other projects which are in advanced stages of resolution. Apart from that, which are the ones wherein we see, we have the visibility that it will get resolved in the next, let's say, you know, couple of quarters?
See, we have already shared about the Shiga, where we have approved the resolution plan, and we are expecting that other consortium members will be approving it. We have TRN Energy, which, again, outside NCLT resolution we are seeking, and we are expecting to be resolved soon. So these are another, other two assets. And in few of the NCLT's, assets, the RFP has been floated, and once the bids are received, then the, process will be taken forward.
Got it. Got it, ma'am. That's very helpful. Just last question on sanction pool. So what would be the cumulative sanction pipeline that we have as on 1Q end?
Cumulative sanctions in hand undisbursed, you are saying? That I al-
Mm-hmm.
-already said that the number is not readily available. We will be providing... You can be in touch with my investors and, people.
Got it. Got it, ma'am. Thank you so much for answering my questions. Good luck.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address the questions from all the participants, please limit your questions to one per participant. I repeat, please limit your question to one per participant. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Jigar Jani from B&K Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, ma'am. Thank you for taking the question. So on the margin front, we have kind of maintained margins at 3.55%. What is the outlook on margins? Because I believe REC was highlighting that their incremental cost of borrowing is even lower than their book cost. So do we see further upside in terms of margins from these levels, or you are comfortable with these margins for the full year? And secondly, just a question on the write backs that you are expecting this year, given that you have close to INR 7,300 crore, including KSK resolution, which we are expecting this year, what kind of write backs can we expect from these resolutions? Thanks.
... See, on the margins front, we have already given a guidance that we expect due to competitive regime, we are expected to maintain our margins somewhere between 3.25-3.5 range. So, and we expect to maintain within this guided range. On the write backs, yes, I agree that, like I told you, that in KSK we are expecting more than 100% recovery, and we have already provided for 55% provisioning. But, depending on the NCLT outcome after final approval of the NCLT, we will be writing it back the provision. Similarly, in Lanco, whatever successful plan has been submitted to NCLT for approval. We are expecting some write backs in that also, which is, I think, maybe around in the range of 20%.
So that also, once we receive the NCLT approval, we are expecting that to be there.
Right. On TRN and Shiga, some time some write back is expected there?
Fifty-five percent.
There could be marginally some write-backs in case of TRN and Shiga also.
Sure. Thank you so much, Madam. Welcome back.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nikhil Nigania from AB Bernstein. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for taking my question. My question is on the, the loan sanction being evaluated for the Shapoorji Pallonji loan. If you could give us some color on the rationale to go ahead for this opportunity, given, as you said, there are so many opportunities in the power sector itself to lend. And this seems outside the expertise area of or the strength of PFC and looks like a holding company loan. So could you please share a rationale to pursue this opportunity?
So I think, since PFC has been allowed to fund under the infrastructure sector, so in order to... I agree that there are enough opportunities in the power sector, but whatever are there in domain in for PFC, we will, we would like to explore, all those. But saying that, that, since it is a infrastructure project, housing, we would also like to, explore that space. I think so, that is a sufficient rationale for PFC for going forward for this deal.
Understood, ma'am. If I could switch to the second question, just wanted to understand, are we funding the renewable-merchant renewable projects as well, or is PPA a condition precedent for loan disbursement?
See, historically, we have been funding the projects with long-term PPA. But, yes, looking at the current market scenario, we are funding a few of the projects based on their merit under the merchant power also.
Understood. Thank you for answering the questions.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Gaurav Agrawal from Nine One Capital. Please go ahead.
Thank you, ma'am, for the opportunity. Ma'am, for this year, we are guiding for 14% kind of loan growth, right?
Right. I told that we will be maintaining the similar levels.
Correct. So, ma'am, you know, you mentioned that there are some initiatives, you know, which BCG has helped you figure out. So if you can highlight some of those initiatives which you guys are implementing, and, as a result of those initiatives, do we expect a higher loan growth in future? And if yes, what is the vision for a three-year or a five-year period, like from the current INR 14,145 lakh or how much can we grow to in the next three to five years?
Initiatives are on two parts. One is improving our internal processes and due diligence process, and the other is the potential areas where PFC can venture into.
Okay.
We are right now implementing first phase, improving our processes and, improving our due diligence, what is required to be done. But, the new areas, as I told earlier also, we would like to go in a steady and gradual manner. So they have suggested few areas, but we will be exploring them in a time to come.
Ma'am, if I can just, just one follow-up, because, you know, in any organization, whenever you take certain initiatives, in the beginning, there are a lot of challenges because of which in the short term, the loan growth or the business growth might look a bit low. But once these initiatives are implemented fully, once the organization is accustomed to all these initiatives, the growth strategy becomes higher and better. So with that perspective, I wanted to ask if 14%-15% is the kind of growth that we would want to grow in the coming years, or our aspiration can be of 18%-20% also, once these initiatives are fully implemented.
See, I think in the shorter term, we would like to maintain that we will be growing at around 14%, as we have given the guidance earlier.
Okay. Okay, thank you.
... Thank you. The next follow-up question is from the line of Dhaval from DSP Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Yeah, ma'am, just a couple of follow-ups. First is on this Maheshwar. The outstanding is about INR 1,600-odd crore only, or it has changed in this period?
No, it is-
What's our coverage on this specific exposure?
See, it is 16, now INR 1,600 crore, and 100% has been covered.
Okay. And the other one is relating to Mahanadi on the generation side. So when NTPC recently, you know, highlighted, you know, this large CapEx plan over the next few years, and overall, REC's also been talking about 92 GW of conventional, you know, power addition in the next six to seven years. So from that standpoint, and they've been talking about a market share of roughly 35%, say, of NTPC portfolio. So how does PFC sort of see its opportunity in this space? And if you look at our disbursement, largely they've been flat at about INR 30,000 crore, give or take, for last 10 years in conventional generation.
So do you see in this cycle, given what is happening in the power demand side and capacity constraint on peak power, can we see bigger numbers in the coming years, and that should support medium-term growth for PFC? Any thoughts around that? Thank you.
Yeah, definitely. Out of the, the Government of India is expected to double its installed capacity from what it is at the present level. And from there, we are looking even adding some of the, capacities in thermal also, maybe around, as you said, around 96 GW or 80 GW-96 GW. Out of which, NTPC is expected to may be around, 25 GW-30 GW, and the balance is going to be either in the state sector and in the... or in the private sector. And we are expecting that our share in the state power sector generation and private is going to remain as it is, as we are there as of now.
Ma'am, in the sanctions by, you see right now some of these state Gencos are the proposals, I mean, already being under discussion or they are still at very early stage? I mean, where are we in terms of, like, can we expect some sanctions this year on some of these thermal generation projects?
See, primarily these projects are coming on the basis of expected capacity expansion, wherever the existing capacities are available. So expanding those capacities, from where these prime numbers is coming in. So we are in the process of... These are all brownfield projects. So for a few of them has already been poised, and we are in the process of sanction. So, I think, we are also going to have a sufficient pipeline for this thermal participation project. But definitely the focus is going to be on the renewables, so percentage may remain different, but yes, this is where we are going to fund these projects also.
Right. And, ma'am, just one last thing on renewables. So we've seen, you know, the battery storage projects sort of, you know, some initial traction has been gained and prices have been coming down there as well. How are we sort of looking at battery opportunity and, and, similarly, on pump storage, while not so much traction yet, but if you could talk a little bit around these two opportunities within renewable, that, that would be useful. Thank you.
Our Director Projects would like to answer your question.
I think, yeah, you are right when you say that, that the battery prices are coming down, and last time when it was bid by Gujarat, it was INR 10 lakh per MW for battery storage. Now, recently it has come down as low as INR 5 lakh, INR 5 lakh-INR 6 lakh. We are expecting a reduction in price, and that will help a lot in renewable energy sector with the battery energy storage system becoming most cost-effective. But your statement on pump storage, I think a lot of pump storage projects have actually taken off in private sector, and we are one of the first lender in power sector, where we have lent to a Andhra project in the private sector, and this is about to get commissioned by next year, March.
There are many other projects which are taking off the ground. So, pumped storage is also coming. And then these battery storage and pumped storage together would be very, very useful in making renewable energy source as a continuous source of energy to the grid and provide more stability to the grid. So we always are keen to be a part of that as a lender.
Understood. Thank you, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll take this as the last question, and I hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Shreya, that was the last question, I feel.
Sorry, ma'am?
That was the last question?
Yes, ma'am.
Okay. Thank you very much for hosting the call for us, and thank you everyone for joining in. Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of Elara Securities Private Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect. Thank you.