Okay. Greetings, everyone. I am Harshavardhan Dole, MLB Analyst at IIFL. On behalf of IIFL Securities, I welcome you all to the first quarter FY 2023 earnings call of Power Grid. To discuss and share the outlook for the company, today we have the entire senior management team of Power Grid. It's my privilege to introduce them to you. First, Mr. K. Sreekant, Chairman and Managing Director. Followed by Dr. Vinod Kumar Singh, Director, Personnel. And Mr. Abhay Choudhary, Director, Projects. I request the management to take us through the key details, subsequent to which the floor will be open for Q&A. Over to you, sir. Thank you.
Thank you, Harsh, and a very good morning to everyone. I would now start a brief presentation on the Q1 performance of Power Grid. I hope it's visible.
Yes, sir. It's fairly visible. Thank you.
Thank you. Yeah. Very brief overview of Power Grid. We are a Maharatna CPSE, third-largest in terms of gross block. Our aggregate assets are 172,662 circuit kilometers and 267 substations. About 85% of the inter-regional transfer capacity is owned by Power Grid. That's about 97,000 to 90 MW. Next.
Next, please.
Next. Yeah. This quarter, we have done CapEx of INR 1,482 crore on a consolidated basis and capitalized assets of INR 1,345 crore. Our annual target this year is INR 8,000 crore. We are pleased to inform that Gudaguda substation and the lines at Gudaguda have been completed. We have also added transmission capacity at Bagla and Fatehabad to facilitate the evacuation of renewable energy. Coming to operational performance, this year the availability of the network has been at 99% in quarter one. Marginally above 99.77% achieved last year. As you are aware, we have incentive capped at 99.75%, so we are above that threshold. The tripping per line have also been slightly better at 0.12 per line.
Financial performance, the disclosed numbers or declared numbers, show a reduction in the PAT from INR 6,085 crores to INR 3,766 crores this year, standalone. Or on a consolidated from INR 5,998 to INR 801. I would like to bring to your notice, you would have already seen that last year, first quarter, we had a significant profit on account of monetization of five TBCB SPVs. That is the reason if we adjust for that, we see the profit growth from INR 3,341 crores to INR 3,801 crores on a consolidated basis. The revenue growth has been about 11% from INR 10,392 to INR 11,169 on a consolidated basis.
Some of the numbers on a Q4 to Q1, again, there has been monetization of couple of cash flows in the last quarter, which has given about INR 600 crore of exceptional item, the profits on account of such monetization. If we adjust for these kind of one-off items, we see a marginal growth between Q4 and last year and the Q1 of current year. These are numbers on a consolidated basis. I won't go on these details. The gross fixed assets on a consolidated basis are about INR 2,64,000. Net worth is about INR 80,000 crore. We have debt equity is at 62.238 on account of paying down of the debt due to repayments as per schedule.
Some of the numbers you are normally interested in, we have put them in first quarter into this. I think, nothing significant. I just want to bring to your attention that this year, the first quarter CSR has been significant. We made a contribution of, I think INR 75 crore to the PM CARES Fund, so that is the reason this has gone up, in this quarter. Average, asking rate for CSR would be about INR 75 crore-INR 80 crore per quarter. Incentive, as you see, on a consolidated basis, we received INR 149 crore, reflecting the full, availability up to the ceiling we have received. Telecom, the income has been INR 166 crore. It is at par with what we used to get in the past.
We are targeting to take this up to around INR 200-250 crores per quarter in 2022-23. We have increased the availability of our OPGW through agreements with MSPCL and DVC. We are also partnering with domestic and international clients for telecom services. Consultancy income has improved significantly to INR 211 crores on the back of a couple of projects we are doing for the government of India in the Northeast. Also a few new assignments which we have received from Nepal and in other commercial performance has been good except for, if I say Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and a couple of states.
You are aware that the government of India has late payment surcharge rules, which provide for kind of installment payments. The dues outstanding as on June third, if the customers provide the payment security mechanism and also pay the outstanding dues on time. There is a mechanism following the withdrawal of the CERC regulations on late payment surcharge. The government of India has notified these rules. These rules also provide for late payment surcharge, if there is no payment security mechanism or if there is a default in payment of outstanding dues. This has been accepted by six DISCOMs, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and one more.
We have settled about INR 2,000 crores of dues as on 3rd June under this scheme, primarily from Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. A couple of transmission projects under TBCB have been acquired, the Khedbrahma transmission under the ISTS and the Mohanlalganj transmission under the intra-state. We have also signed a transmission agreement with Reliance Industries, which is a bulk consumer. It will be a dedicated line built for the Reliance Jamnagar plant from ISTS Jam Khambhaliya pooling station to their Jamnagar facility. This line will be owned by the Power Grid Corporation and tariff will be recovered from the Reliance as per the CERC regulations. This is the first such arrangement, and we are looking at such opportunities with others as well. Other related businesses, smart metering.
There has been some movement in this. We have signed an MOU for about 66 lakh meters, and with scope for further addition. We have already started the tendering process and hopefully by the end of the year we should see the first meters on. Solar generation is another area. Couple of issues here. One, we have to progressively go towards net zero and whatever auxiliary power consumption we do, we want to procure it from the renewable sources. And also we want to exploit whatever spare land we have at our substations and generate solar power. In that direction, the first site we have is at Nagda, which has been acquired long back and is now vacant. We are going to set up an 85 MW solar power plant at Nagda.
The feasibility studies have been completed, and we will be starting the tendering shortly. The total works in hand are about 52,000, or 8,200, TBCB 15,800. This year, as I mentioned, we have a target of INR 8,000 crores of CapEx. Now, briefly on the ISTS expansion plan and all. I think couple of trends which we are seeing are, one, energy security and then the other is sustainability. These are the key trends we see, and particularly in our context, following the commitments of India at the COP26.
Now, there is a lot of activity towards achieving this target of 500 GW of non-fossil capacity, and a lot of that will be from renewable sources and significant is on account of solar parks and large scale renewable capacities, so which require transmission. In addition, there is also lot of investment proposed in the storage also. The activities have started in this direction. We will see on the ground in very short period tenders and other things to take place. A lot of communication is going on between the center and the states towards achieving these targets and because there is also the acceptance that the journey towards renewable power is inevitable. It has to be embraced.
All the enabling policies and other whatever facilitation is required that the government is committed to do. Therefore, there is a significant amount of movement in that direction. Finally, a couple of awards and accolades which we have received this quarter. PowerGrid, a great place to work among the best companies and only PSU in this list. We have also received an award for the CSR initiative for improving livelihoods and protecting environment through our integrated watershed management program. Recognized among the Dun & Bradstreet top companies in the power and distribution sector. Thank you very much. I'll stop here and be happy to take questions. Thank you, sir. Nikhil, can we please open up the Q&A?
Sir, you are the host now, sir. You can start the Q&A.
Ladies and gentlemen, you can raise your hand and, we'll unmute your line so that you can go ahead and ask the questions. The first question is, I think, from Mohit Kumar. Mohit, your line is unmuted. Go ahead.
Hi. Good morning, sir. Am I audible?
Good morning. Yeah.
Sir, thanks for the opportunity. My first question on the smart metering. Is it based on Totex or CapEx mode? Secondly, how does the pricing gets decided?
Thank you. The smart metering is on PBFOT model where we will be doing the investment. The implementation period is two and a half years, and after that seven and a half years will be the operation and maintenance period. We will be receiving monthly rentals. The pricing will be decided after our bids are invited from the meter manufacturers and the system providers. On that basis on kind of a cost plus it will be going. There are some guidelines of the government regarding the VAT to be considered and the other broad principles. Once we get the bids from our vendors, we will be in a position to make our model and offer it to Gujarat or any other state.
Secondly, on this national monetization pipeline, do we maintain that figure that we can monetize at least INR 25 billion in the second half? Is there any hurdle which is coming up in the monetization? Because we haven't heard anything.
See, we sought from the ministry. Those are all in place. Now we are going ahead with appointing the councils, the transaction advisor and so on. You should see action in the third and fourth quarters of the current financial year. We plan to raise about INR 6,600 crores under the NMP this year.
Last one is award of HVDC. Is it a timeline which you are looking at?
Which one?
HVDC order. HVDC pipeline. Has the work started? When we expecting to order?
No, that is not yet started. We are doing the studies as of now.
Okay, understood, sir. Thank you, sir, and all the best. Thank you.
Thank you.
The next question is from Aniket Mittal. Aniket, please go ahead.
Yes.
Ash, you can also mention the institution.
Yeah.
Thanks.
Aniket Mittal, I think, is from HDFC Mutual Fund. Aniket?
Yes. Am I audible?
Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. Just a few questions. Firstly, if you could provide some insight on what is the current awarding pipeline for TBCB projects in the country, and how do you see that panning out over the next 12-18 months?
Okay. See, there is a strong pipeline. There has been significant change in the transmission planning. One is that the transmission planning is, you know, captive to the scheme approval by the RPCs or so it has to go ahead of generation. It is based on now the scheme GNA system, where the drawing entities have the right to draw from any generator located any part of the country. It is expected to increase the ease of implementation of ISTS ahead of the generation. The current pipeline we are seeing, many of schemes in Rajasthan are expected to come.
We are also having about INR 1,30,000 crore, which is the target for the Inter-State transmission up to 47. Schemes of about INR 25,000 crore are expected to be either ongoing or in the next three, four months, they are expected to be put down to bid.
Okay. The next question that I had was actually on the issue of the Great Indian Bustard, and this is more to understand from your role as a CTO as well. Give some context both, let's say, at a system level, as well as at a Power Grid level. You know, what are the quantum of projects that have been impacted because of this? And secondly, has there been any resolution now towards this issue?
First of all, Power Grid is not the CTU. CTU is our subsidiary, right? I mean, that's just an aside, but as far as this GIB issue is concerned, there is a committee constituted by the Supreme Court, which has been mandated to look into individual projects for laying overhead lines in the priority as well as the potential areas and give clearance. We had three projects which were having lines in the potential area. We got the clearance for two projects as it is. In the case of one project, we were asked to make some diversion in the line and subject to that, we got the clearance. All our projects which were pending before this committee for clearance have since been cleared.
It has taken some time for them to understand the issue and then kind of appreciate our viewpoint and give the clearance, but we have nonetheless got the clearances. Going forward, whatever new schemes which are likely to come in the Fatehabad and Bhadla area are likely to be impacted by this. I think when we do the bidding, we have to factor in for some time for this also to take approval of this committee. The other question you had was about, I think, future, what is the impact? None of our current projects are in that area. We had three projects. All of them we got the clearances.
Going forward, as I mentioned, if somebody is looking for capacity or transmission in a potential area, then there can be an issue, particularly in a certain strip of potential area, which has been considered as of a higher importance by this committee. They want to avoid that route, though it is not a part of the priority area, nor is it part of any notified area as such. They have identified that strip as something which is of importance to the GIB. They said that you avoid that and take the alignment. Have I answered your question?
Yeah. Just to follow up on this, just to understand, is that issue now settled by the committee? I mean, has the committee come out and laid out clear works as to how someone can go and do this? Is there any rework in the existing transmission scheme that needs to be done for it?
I'm not sure that they have set out any such framework in the public domain. As far as existing lines are concerned, everyone is supposed to put the bird diverters. That is one aspect. Now how many bird diverters and at what distance or on what conductors, that is still under debate with the CEA. As far as we understand from our experience of three cases, they have given us clearance for our 765 kV line as well as 400 kV lines because there is no alternative in terms of undergrounding these lines. Only thing we observed was that in one case they wanted a certain diversion in the route, a little away from the priority area.
Yeah. Just one last question. This is pertaining to actually a media article that had come out and, you know, highlighted the fact that the Ministry of Power is considering the Power Grid may acquire a stake in PFC. Just wanted your thoughts on that. And has there been any discussion with the ministry on the same?
No. This is not PFC. I think the news article perhaps was.
Sorry, REC.
No, there is no such formal communication or discussion on this.
Those are my questions. Thank you.
There's a question in the chat box that come from Deepika Mundra. I'll just read it for you. On the ISTS plan, one, does it include green energy corridor? Second, in terms of interstate capacity, it implies just 2% CAGR. Is more investment required for renewable Gencos at the interstate level or rather intrastate level?
See there is, I mean, this Green Energy Corridor is only a name for a particular scheme of the government. That was like, initially it had two components, an intrastate component and an interstate component. The interstate component was from Bhuj, Varaskhan Taj, Chittorgarh, Rajnir, Bikaner, Moga. That one was given to Power Grid for implementation. We have done and completed it somewhere around 2018 or so. As far as the intrastate component is concerned, in the Green Energy Corridor Phase One, some of the states are still implementing it, and I think that is an ongoing program. Second, another Green Energy Corridor Phase Two has been sanctioned that is primarily in the intrastate segment again, that is being implemented by the state utilities.
Whatever we are doing, for example, in Bhadla or Rajasthan or Gujarat or Tamil Nadu, lot of the transmission which is being developed in the intrastate segment is for the green energy only, renewables. We are hardly building any lines for new coal capacity or new gas capacity. Almost all the intrastate which will be built in the times to come will be predominantly for green energy. Though they are not called green energy corridors under any particulars. As far as investment by the Gencos are concerned, now I think under the GNA regime the requirement for the Gencos to invest in transmission will be much lesser. Only from their point to the pooling station that is the investment which will be required.
There will be significant augmentation of the network as system strengthening or for the purpose of network expansion, which will be under the ISTS. Inter-regional connections also will be part of the ISTS. As far as intrastate is concerned, that is again a matter to be bid out and decided by the STUs and the state utilities, like UP is doing, MP is doing, so others are building on their own. Some of the utilities feel they have enough capacity in the next. They are not leaving it to the generators to do such augmentation. That is my understanding.
Thank you. We'll take the next question from Rahul Modi. Rahul, please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. Hello.
Yeah, yeah. Please go ahead, Rahul.
Just a couple of questions. One, one of the slides mentioned the CapEx of around INR 1.25 lakh crore over the next 5 years up to FY 2027. Just wanted to put this in context, for example, whether you know the Leh-Ladakh line is a part of this CapEx. Secondly, sir, because that's 27-28 thousand crore for this year, for example, versus our target of INR 8 thousand crore. Is there a mismatch only, you know, in terms of timelines of what we are expecting in terms of progress? How do we read the two numbers?
INR 1.25 is the entire system, you know, as planned by the CEA. This is a kind of a potential for the entire sector. Of that, a part will be bid out, and won by Power Grid. The Leh-Ladakh system you are mentioning is also included in this. The immediate number which we see on the ground for the current year is INR 8,000 crores, that is what. Though we will try to better that, but that is the immediate. Maybe going forward next year when these bid out projects are there, we will have more visibility on CapEx.
Sure. Is my interpretation correct that if we remove the Leh-Ladakh and the Gujarat line from here, so another INR 90,000+ crore kind of an opportunity still is there as per this plan in terms of bidding coming up over the next five years?
Yeah.
Okay. That, that's very helpful. Sir, and any, you know, opportunities in the intrastate that you've seen because we've seen the RDSS scheme and other announcements recently made in the sector. Do you see any opportunities or an increase in the CapEx by the states on this and which is the and an opportunity for us? Thank you.
The RDSS is, you know, predominantly being funded by the grant and central government loan systems from the central sector financial power finance institutions. Investment opportunities are not going to be there. What we see is opportunity for consultancy work. Like, we have recently been in talks with one of the states. They want to give us a project implementation job for about INR 1,000 crore plus kind of works. Those will be more project management and consultancy works.
Sure. Sir, any intrastate opportunity over the next three years?
In intrastate, there is again we are seeing opportunities in UP, in Madhya Pradesh. These are the two states which have seen this. We are also in discussions with one of the states for a joint venture, one of the north states, for a joint venture. We had previously discussed and somewhere it got sidelined, but again we are hopeful that it will get revived and we, you know, get that joint venture up and running to strengthen the intrastate network and also get invested into the 66 kV plus infrastructure. It's very, again, a very preliminary stage it is. I think once we make little bit more progress, I'll be happy to share the details.
Sure. Sir, just last question from my side is on the smart metering that you mentioned that 66 lakh meters have been, you know, signed for with Gujarat. Sir, any timelines? Because obviously, sir, the overall execution on this front has been delayed, not from our, but from a system point of view. Do you see now things moving ahead faster?
We have signed an MOU with Gujarat. The commercials of course are yet to be frozen. Once we get our bids, then we have to come to an understanding about the rate and all. The timelines are, you know, December 2023. I think 10 crore meters is the targets of the government. But I think, we will have, once we sign a formal agreement, 30 months to implement this. We are targeting this in the next 2.5 years.
Sure, sir. Thank you and all the best.
The next question is from Bharani Darbi. Please go ahead. I think some issue with his line. Next one. The next question is from Apoorva Bahadur. Please go ahead.
Hey. Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. On the CTU plan which you had shared, just wanted to know that, does it include the entire transmission required for 500 gigawatts of non-fossil fuel capacity target? Or is there anything beyond this as well?
No, this does not take us to 500 GW, because 500 GW is 2030 target, so this is up to 2027. I think there will be another. Next version will have more clarity on the schemes which will be required for the 500 GW. One committee has been formed by the ministry to look at the transmission requirements. A plan has been drawn and it is still under work in progress. Based on the potential identified, the different transmission schemes are being planned to facilitate evacuation of these 500 GW of non-fossil. As I mentioned, significant activities are going on towards this target of 500 GW.
Okay. Sir, can you share how much does this factor, this plan?
I think it is about half of the, you know, gap. I think it will take us to around 400 or 350 gigawatts.
350.
350 gigawatts.
350.
350 GW.
Okay, great. That's definitely useful. Sir, also secondly, on the smart metering front, our channel checks suggest that the DISCOMs are actually taking a lot of time, starting to implement this scheme. Are you also facing this? Because I believe that you had included the tenders sometime in March, and it has not been closed yet.
There were a few reasons why it was not closed. One, I think some changes to the SPD. That is one. Second, it is a large tender, so there have been many suggestions from the industry. That is another reason. We are now going to close it by the month end, August 22nd or so. This month we'll definitely close and open the bids. We are able to, you know, come to an understanding with one of the best DISCOMs in the country, Gujarat. We expect to implement this scheme, you know, with greater pace in Gujarat. Where we are seeing resistance, for example, in UP or Bihar, there is certain amount of resistance to installation of these meters. That is the reason that there is a delay in implementation.
There's a lot of teething issues in terms of onboarding meters or in terms of communication systems. With that experience, which we have seen through joint venture EESL, we are planning to improve the systems for implementation in Gujarat.
Okay. Sir, on this business model over here, if I believe initially we had to install only in the CPSU or the government, central government, locations within the state. Are we going ahead with that or is it for the entire distribution area where we'll be installing?
This is for the entire distribution area of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Two Gujarat DISCOMs have given us this mandate, so to say. We will be implementing in their entire command area.
Sir, last question from my side, and this is on the transmission capacity requirement for new thermal capacities. We are beginning to see, sir, a couple of companies, larger companies are announcing planned capacity additions or brownfield expansions. Do you see any chatter from them on the transmission side or new lines required for those?
I think, this will go more towards the CT, but no, not yet. Not yet.
Okay. Thank you, sir. Thanks a lot.
Next is Varney. Varney, please go ahead. Your line is broken. Unfortunately, still. We'll take the next one from Anuj Upadhyay. Anuj, go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Morning, sir. Am I audible?
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, this is Anuj Upadhyay from HDFC Securities, sir. Sir, this is regarding the project we are constructing for Reliance Industries. Could you mention about the size of the project? I mean, quantify what's the size of this project. And also you mentioned in your initial remark that we are exploring a similar opportunity with other players as well. Could you quantify how big the overall opportunity could be?
I'll just let you know. See, this is, I think, part of their endeavor to green park. This is a transmission line between Jam Khambhaliya and their facility. They want about 2,000 MW. I think. But I'll just let you know.
It's about 2:50.
INR 250 crore. It's about INR 250 crore-INR 60 crore. It may go up slightly. I think there is a conductor change, so it may go up slightly.
Okay. On the size, sir, we have, like opportunity size. We are in discussion, or we are looking out for similar kind of arrangement with other private players as well. How big the opportunity could be?
A similar opportunity. I mean, of course, it will again be a function of the individual industry and the nearest pooling station. We are in talks, but size or the kind of circuits required, those are not yet frozen.
I see. Okay. The tariff would be based on a cost plus mechanism by CERC?
Yeah, it will be based on the CERC system.
Oh, fair point, sir. Secondly, on the Khavda project, so we have already seen that the first phase been tendered out and won by a private player. Any timeline, when can we expect the second phase to be tendered out?
I think the second phase will come. Is that part of our next one year's scheme? Khavda? I think by the end of this year we should tender it. Mostly now the next are in the Rajasthan area. Khavda is also there. Maybe by September we should be seeing.
Khavda?
Uh.
Okay, fine. That's it, sir. Thanks a lot, sir. Thanks for the opportunity, sir.
Right. Thank you.
Next, we have Dhruv Mutreja from HDFC Mutual Fund. Dhruv, your line is unmuted.
Yeah. Thank you so much, sir. You mentioned that this INR 1.25 lakh crore plan till FY 2027 will take us to 350 GW of renewable. We currently are about 100 odd, so that's about 250 additional for INR 1.3 lakh crore. That seems a bit relatively small because we are adding almost equivalent capacity of India in the next five years in terms of renewable. I mean, what this can cater to, and the transmission investment is only INR 1.2-1.3.
I think today we are about 167 or so in renewables, right? When you count it, you count hydro also.
Okay. Okay.
In this system, we are at around 160. 80 is under construction. This will be say for about 100-125 GW of additional RE.
The correct way to understand this is for 100 GW, this is 1.3.
Roughly take INR 1 crore per megawatt kind of a number for transmission.
Mm-hmm. Got it. Sure, sir. That helps. Sir, the second thing is, if you can help us with the prior period sales this quarter and the interest from beneficiaries this quarter.
They are already announced. Let me just tell you the number.
Prior period I get from the notes is INR 350 crore.
Yeah. It is there, no? 200 are from the notes
Sir, interest from beneficiaries, not from subsidies and fees. Interest income from beneficiaries.
Interest from beneficiary, that is part of the other operational income. Our surcharge income is INR 97 crore in the current-
Yeah.
INR 140 crores.
Interest from beneficiaries.
Yeah. Differential tariff, you could say.
Got it. The prior period is INR 350 crore. The prior period sales is INR 350 crore.
Prior period sale consequent to final order, INR 351 crores.
Okay, sir. Sure, sir. Thank you so much, and all the best. Thanks.
Next question is from Vishal Shah. Vishal, your line is unmuted.
Yeah. Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. My question was again on that REC stake. Management did clarify that, no formal communication has come till now. But if such an offer were to come, will Power Grid consider it? Or, you know, considering it may be a bit unrelated to the core business and at a time where core transmission CapEx pipeline itself is looking strong, you know, you may pass it and, you know, reject the same. What are your thoughts on the same?
I don't know. What do you mean by consider it? We will evaluate it for sure. Okay? If the government were to make such an offer, we have to evaluate it, and then we have to respond. When we do that, we will see what is in the interest of all the stakeholders.
Understood. Thanks. That was my question.
Next, we have question from Sumit Mishra. Sumit, go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. Two questions from my side. First is that on the TBCB projects that you have won, say, since January, February of last year, what would you say at a portfolio level is the equity IRR for those projects? My understanding is that with the proliferation of InvITs, you know, IndiGrid was already there. You have launched one InvIT. The scarce amount of projects that are available, possibly the equity IRR for new projects is coming down. Your comments, please.
It is a fact it is coming down. I don't see that to be the function of the InvITs, but it is because of the competition. The competition in the transmission business has intensified. Many new players are coming. I think the market is right now in a state of churn. Until the new business models are established, it is difficult to say, because it takes about two years to construct, and then thereafter, maintenance of this line for 35 years is critical. I think it is the advent of smaller players, smaller projects which are being offered. These are two reasons, this intensity in the competition, and the returns have significantly come down.
When you say they have come down significantly, appropriate to assume that it is 11%?
Sorry, I'm not able to hear you. Can you please repeat your question?
Would it be appropriate to assume? Am I audible now?
It is breaking.
Am I audible?
Yeah. Please speak. Yeah.
Yeah. I was saying that is the equity percent-
Sorry, at the critical moments, your voice is breaking. Maybe you can put it in the chat box. Harsh can read it out.
Meanwhile, I'll take a couple of questions from chat box which we missed out earlier. This question is from Deepika Mundra again. What is the risk on IRRs due to potential project cost increases on TBCB projects which are on the fixed price basis?
You know, there are no recourse due to increase in project cost under the TBCB regime unless it is either due to change in law or some kind of.
Point of view.
We used to have a back-to-back fixed price contracting with the EPC contractors to protect ourselves from the price increases. Of late, due to the significant movement in the commodity prices, the EPC contractors are also not willing to offer firm prices. To some extent, we are required now to take the risk of project cost increases, and there is no fallback on that to the customer. Because under the current regime, there is no variability in the tariffs due to any of these reasons.
Sure. Thank you. The next one is actually from Abhijeet Bora, again from the chat box. His question is: Are we maintaining our asset capitalization guidance of INR 10,000 crore each for FY 2023 and 2024?
This year, as I mentioned, we will be seeing CapEx of INR 8,000 crore plus and capitalization in the range of INR 11,000 crore plus. Capitalization means the assets which we are expected to be commissioned in this year.
Sure. The next question is from Nikhil Banka. Any plans on buyback as discussed earlier?
I don't know if I can discuss it on this call. We will evaluate that as well.
Sure. I think Sumit is asking a question. His question, basically, is the equity IRR in the region of around 11%-12%?
Yeah. That is the target.
Sure. The sub-question is, if we add the proposed CapEx of Power Grid, plus Adani Transmission and Sterlite Transmission in ISTS, it gets nowhere close to, you know, INR 277 billion number. Is the CTU anytime over, overstated, for the current fiscal?
CTU is kind of giving numbers, which I think these are estimates, and estimates of what they are likely to achieve. This will actually include some of the projects which are already in progress and which we will be starting afresh. I think again there is a function of how much has been announced to be built. Some of the projects got delayed on account of GIB. I think this plan, when it was made a few months back, I don't think it factored some of these. This is a kind of guidance. We can take it as more like a guidance rather than look at it each year by year. We should look at it as a kind of guidance for the next four, five years.
Sure. Thank you. We will once again try line of Bharani because he raised his hand. Bharani, go ahead. Your line is unmuted.
Is it audible now?
Yeah.
Great. Thank you. Apologies, I had to reset the setting. I just wanted to know the value of the recently floated TBCB projects by REC, this Khavda phase one and the ISTS expansion scheme in the western and the southern region.
These are, as I mentioned, about up to something like INR 4,000 crore.
Okay. Khavda phase one, INR 4,000 crore. The next one, sir.
Rajasthan is slightly more, maybe around INR 8,000-INR 9,000 crores.
Okay. That's totally about INR 13,000 crore. When you say about INR 25,000 crore in the near term, this includes this INR 13,000 crore, or is it?
Yeah, yeah. It includes.
It includes. Okay.
It includes.
Okay. The remaining 12,000 would be probably Khavda phase two and other projects.
Something in the southern region, then.
Chhatarpur, MP.
Jammu and Kashmir, there is something in MP, Gadag.
Mm-hmm. Okay. Understood. My final question, I don't know whether you covered this in your PPT. You usually put this, projects under construction slash implementation. What is the value, sir?
Around INR 8,000 crore. It's there in the PPT.
It's there? Okay. I'll refer to that.
It's not-
Thank you so much.
Andheri. It is there. Ambivali is there.
This will include ongoing projects, the Leh-Ladakh project and other TBCB projects one. It was about INR 45,000 crore last quarter. I'll refer to the PPT. Thank you so much and all the best.
Thank you.
We'll take one question from the chat box, and it comes from Shivam Gupta. His question is: Do you expect receivables to normalize below 45 days going forward? If yes, then when can we expect the same?
I think safe date will be thirty-first March. Because thirty-first March last year also, we were quite struggling to get 45, and then we ended up much, much lower.
Forty-three.
43 or even so. I think two things. One is that INR 2,000 crore is already off because of this installment payment. Now we are required to be paid on a continuous basis. Otherwise, the surcharge on the entire INR 2,000 crore will kick in as per the rules. We also have this power to regulate. In fact, we are mandated, bound to regulate. I expect this to come somewhere in March soon. March is a very critical date for both of us, I think.
Can I squeeze in one question from my side? Because it's come from a couple of investors who are unable to join.
Go ahead.
This question is broader in terms of the proposed amendment to the Electricity Act. Hypothetically, if the act gets amended and open access is implemented in reality, would you consider that as a growth area? Are you working along those lines?
You see, open access being made available will increase the flows across the region because that will mean that will require the individual customers to tie up resources from any place in India. They will therefore require this. That will come in the form of demand. These signals will come to the CTU, to the CEA for the transmission planning, and then it will translate into network augmentation, and then it will come to us for implementation. Between this and the implementation, there will be significant timeline before you see the projects on the ground, right? I can say that our open access will improve the demand for inter-regional transmission capacity. It will require more ISTS for sure, because they are not going to buy from the state generating utilities.
They will buy it outside the state. If they have to buy within the state, then intrastate will be sufficient. The economies will come where if suppose somebody wants to buy only green power, then he will procure from a green generator in Rajasthan or Gujarat or Tamil Nadu. Therefore it will require augmentation of the network capacity. To translate it into an investable number and then see, that is still some time, gap will be there.
Sure. Very helpful, sir. I think in the interest of time, we'll have to, you know, limit that to be the last question. I sincerely thank the Power Grid management for giving us a great insights into the numbers as well as what is lined up ahead. On behalf of IIFL Securities, I also thank all the participants for joining in. Any last insights that you would like to extend to the investors?
I thank all the investors for joining this call. It is extremely challenging times we are going through right now, the entire sector. Due to two reasons, as I mentioned initially. One is the drive towards sustainability and then this focus on energy security, particularly because. There is more focus on self-reliance, more focus on renewables, and that is good for the sector as a whole, because when we have to take our capacity from 400 GW today to say 800 or 800+ GW by 2030, in the next 7.5, eight years, that is bound to throw up immense opportunities for all the players in the segment. Only thing is that the opportunities will not be in the same conventional mold.
They will be in the new avenues and be it transmission, be it storage or even generation. We are evaluating all these opportunities and trying to put ourselves in a position that yes, there will be growth for this company going forward. Thank you. Wish you all a very happy Raksha Bandhan day. Thank you.
Thank you very much, sir.
Sir, I'm ending the meeting.
Yes. I'm just disconnecting.
Sure. Thank you. Thank you, everyone.