Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Q2 FY 2026 earnings conference call of SJVN Limited, hosted by Elara Securities India Private 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 touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Rupesh Sankhe. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Yeah, good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of Elara Securities, we welcome you all for the Q2 FY 2026 conference call of SJVN. I take this opportunity to welcome the management of SJVN, represented by Mr. Bhupender Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, and Mr. Sipan Garg, Director of Finance. So we will begin the call with a brief overview by the management, followed by a Q&A session. I will now hand over the call to Mr. Bhupender Gupta, sir, for opening remarks. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Rupesh. Very good morning to all of you. In fact, afternoon. I am pleased to be accompanied by my Director of Personnel, Shri Ajay Kumar Sharma, and Director of Finance, Shri Sipan Garg. It gives me immense pleasure to share with you some key highlights and significant developments from the second quarter of FY 2025- FY 2026, along with important milestones achieved during the ongoing quarter. I'm delighted to share that Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated Unit one of 660 MW of our 1,320 MW Buxar Thermal Power Project on 22nd August 2025 from Bodh Gaya. Prior to this inauguration, the unit had been successfully synchronized with National Grid on 21st of August 2025. I am further pleased to inform you that we have completed a major milestone of 72-hour continuous full-load running on 5th of November 2025.
This is the, you can say, the last step towards declaring the unit as commercially open. That is now COD. We will be, I think, declaring within, maybe today itself, maybe in the evening itself, or maybe tomorrow max, we will be declaring the commercial operation date for the Unit one. The second unit, definitely, that will also be coming very soon, maybe within the next two to three months. Once this plant is commissioned fully, it will be generating around 9,826.72 million units annually, of which 85% will be supplied to the State of Bihar, and the balance will be supplied to the North Eastern Grid.
Another milestone which I just want to share with you is that during this quarter, Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji virtually laid the foundation stone for the 200 MW solar power project under Phase 17 on 21st September 2025. This project is located in Khawda Solar Park, which is being developed by the GSC in Kachchh district of Gujarat. The project is expected to generate around 505 million units in the first year. The generated power will be supplied to Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited at a tariff of INR 2.88 per unit. We are excited to inform that the commercial operation date for the cumulative capacity of 680 MW under the 1000 MW Bikaner Solar Power Project has been successfully achieved in the phases.
The project is located in Bikaner district of Rajasthan and is being developed under the CPSU scheme for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India. The project is progressing well and scheduled for full commissioning in the current calendar year. With this addition in operating assets, the total installed capacity of SJVN now stands at 3,146.52. After this adding of 320 MW, maybe this month or max by 15th of December next month, we will be adding another 320 MW. It means around 3,500 MW will be under operation. In another significant development, PPA has been signed with Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited for the supply of power from our one international project, 900 MW Arun 3, and 210 MW Luhri Stage one, and 380 MW Sunii Dam Hydroelectric Project during this quarter.
Regarding the progress of our ongoing projects, we have achieved some major milestones in the second quarter and ongoing quarter of the FY 2025-FY 2026. Following the successful trial run of Unit one, significant progress has been achieved in Unit two, as I told you, and we are targeting the COD of this second unit also during January or February next year. Another significant milestone has been achieved in Arun 3 Hydroelectric Project in Nepal, where we have completed the Unit 1 Pit 3, one of the major milestones to start the electromechanical activities. The electromechanical activities have been initiated, commenced in this particular Unit one. Regarding our projects which are under operation, I just want to share some highlights for the current half-year progress of the generation which we have done in our two projects.
There is one Nathpa Jhakri, 1500 MW, where we have generated 1785 million units during the quarter, again reflecting an improvement over 1774 million units achieved last year. Similarly, in the Arun 3, also we have, sorry, this Rampur project, also we have generated more power than the previous year. As of date, the current financial year 2025-2026, the total generation from all the power stations stands at 9442 million units as compared to 8880 million units during the corresponding period of 2024-2025, reflecting an improvement of around 562 million units or about 6.3%, primarily driven by the commissioning of Unit one of Bikaner Solar Power Project. To provide the brief of our current project portfolio, SJVN currently has 13 operational projects with a combined capacity of 3146 and 2 transmission lines.
We are currently constructing four hydro projects with a total capacity of 1,558 MW, one thermal power project of 1,320, and 14 solar projects totaling 2,213 MW. This brings our total under construction portfolio to 5,091 MW. In line with the Government of India vision for energy accessibility, SJVN has been selected to play a pivotal role in the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana. The initiative aims to provide free electricity to one crore households across India. SJVN has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the scheme across three states, that is, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Arunachal Pradesh. Additionally, we have also been assigned the responsibility of installing a rooftop solar system on government buildings, covering 18 ministries. The process of empanelment of vendors for government buildings is completed, and implementation is in progress.
So far, a total capacity of 20.1 MW has been awarded, and execution of work is underway. You may also be knowing that SJVN has been listed as one of the renewable energy implementing agencies by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to contribute towards the nation's ambitious 500 GW renewable energy target by 2030. Cumulatively, as of date, tenders have been floated for a total capacity of 19.8 GW. Letters of awards have been issued for 13.74 GW, and a power sale agreement has been signed for 3.74 GW. I am also pleased to share that SJVN has received the prestigious Scope Eminence Award in HR Management from Honorable President Smt. Droupadi Murmu on 29th of August 2025 for its progressive employee-centric HR practices. As we continue to build to this success, I would like to reaffirm that SJVN remains committed to sustainable growth and to supporting the nation's clean energy transition. Thank you so much.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on your 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. We take the first question from the line of Ragini from Elara Capital. Please proceed.
Yeah. Can you please tell the cases from H1, FY 2026, and what is the guidance for FY2027 and FY 2028?
There is a lot of noise in your voice, I think, in the background. Can you repeat the question, please?
Yeah. I was asking about the CapEx, which has been incurred for H1, FY 2026, and the CapEx earmarked for FY 2027 and FY 2028.
Yeah. For this year, the total CapEx which we have capped is around INR 7,500 crore. Out of that, we have already spent in two quarters around INR 3,600 crore. With the balance two quarters, we are 100% sure that whatever CapEx we have given as an MOU target by Government of India, we will achieve very comfortably. As far as next year is concerned, 2026-2027, we have capped CapEx of around INR 8,000 crore for the next year.
Okay. And for FY 2028, the guidance is in the similar range?
Yeah. Actually, we are just consolidating our present portfolio. One of the big projects is Buxar, which was basically CapEx-driven. That is now going to be completed this year. Now we will be focusing on some new projects in Nepal, which will be like we will be awarding the contract something maybe in the second quarter of next year. In the beginning, when we start any hydro projects, the CapEx is not very high. After one or two years, then the CapEx starts increasing. That is the reason why the CapEx is in the same range and not increasing year-on-year basis.
Okay. Can you give the incentive income for Q2 FY 2026?
Just a moment.
Incentive income for the half-year, current half-year, it is INR 104.45 crore.
Okay. My next question is, can you share the progress on the hydroelectric projects of nearly about 5 GW, which are coming up in Arunachal Pradesh?
Yeah. I can share that definitely. In the 5 GW, actually, there are five projects, in fact. Out of that five projects, three are still under PFR stage, which we call pre-feasibility report stage. Those are not being, like, they are in different stage, so that will take some time to make PFR, then DPR, then they will come into construction after some time. Regarding the two other projects, one is the biggest hydro project in India, that is 3,097 MW, Etalin. Another is around 688 MW, Athunli. These two are progressing well. In case of Etalin, we are in the final stages of getting the environment clearance. We have already received, in fact, the forest and environment clearance.
We are in the final stage of acquiring the land, which is the prerequisite to start the construction activity in any of the projects. That is in the final stages. Some of the people, almost 70% of people, have already taken the compensation amount, which is being paid by the state government. The balance are in the final stages, so it will take one or two months. Regarding the tendering process, we have started the tendering activities also parallelly so that once we have all the clearances with us, we can start the actual construction at site from the next financial year as early as possible. Secondly, Athunli, slightly, you can say, six months late from this Italian because there are some issues we were facing regarding this property survey and the land acquisition. Otherwise, forest clearance and environment clearance is also in the advanced stage there. By the end of next year, this Athunli can also come for the construction stage.
Okay. Thank you. I'll join back the question.
Yeah.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Paras Cherda from Purple Limb Vertex Ventures LLP. Please proceed.
Yeah. Thank you, sir, for this opportunity. I just wanted to understand that some of our projects have probably come on line. When I compare our results in the revenue for this quarter, it is comparable to the revenue of the same quarter of last year, whereas some of the projects have also come on line in terms of the depreciation, which is up 20%-30%. I am just trying to understand, sir, in terms of operations, are our projects that have come on line fully operational, or is the capacity utilization pending in some of these projects? When do you expect the Buxar unit also to fully commission, sir?
Yeah. As far as.
Because the finance cost and the depreciation keeps going up, but the revenue is not coming in. I just wanted to understand how is it placed.
Yeah. Regarding Buxar, as I told earlier, we are going to declare the commercial operation of the plant within one or two days because already full load operation has been completed. This is a requisite for commercial operation. Now the paper formalities and document formalities are going with the state load dispatch center. The first unit is 660 MW. Regarding the second unit, during this financial year, we will be completing and declaring the commercial operation maybe January or February next year max. Definitely within this financial year. That is progressing very well. We are 100% sure that it should not go beyond January. Now, regarding the other question, I am still not clear, actually, what.
Can you repeat the question? Can you repeat the first question?
The question is, sir, that okay. The question is, sir, when we look at the revenue style for this quarter, which is about, let's say, INR 1,000 crore odd, which is almost comparable or equal to the revenue of INR 1,000 crore of last quarter of last year also, that is September. A lot of projects, or at least some of the projects, have also come online because the depreciation is about INR 171 crore compared to INR 133 crore of depreciation of that last quarter .
That is why some of the projects have come online, like the Bikaner and other projects that have come. Right? I am saying that why has the revenue not equally gone up, or at least gone up, comparable to the last quarter of the year? Are some of the projects which have come online underutilized or not yet utilized completely? What is the reason? I mean, the revenue is also to increase, right? I mean, to some extent.
You are very true. You are very right what you are asking, actually.
I'm not even talking about the finance cost, which I understand some of the projects will be under construction, etc. Those are different things. On the depreciation front, at least when the projects have come online, I don't see any incremental revenue that probably should be added to the quarter's revenue.
There are very few reasons, just I will let you know. You are very correct that when the generation capacity has increased, why the revenue has not increased. There are three, four major reasons why this income has come down. One is this decrease in energy charges means, actually, generation we have increased. But there is a concept of plant availability factor. And based on that, there is a tariff which is given to us in terms of energy charges and capacity charges. This time, there was a lot of flood in the Himalayas, particularly Himachal, where our both major plants are located, Rampur and Nathpa Jhakri. We had to close the plant due to the high silt in the water and during the flood season.
Our plant availability factor, which is driven by our plant availability and our capacity charge, energy charge, both are linked to that. In fact, incentive is also there. Because of that, we have lost almost INR 50 crore-INR 60 crore. There was an increase in tax expenses because of this MAT utilization, which was applicable for one of the projects. We completed 10 years, so now we are not getting that exemption under 80 IEA. That is one part. There is a slight increase in the finance cost, which is around INR 50 crore. That has increased in comparison to the last quarter.
I would like to add something also. You are talking about the depreciation on a consolidated basis. The depreciation for the quarter has increased to INR 170 crore as compared to INR 132 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous year. There is an increase in the depreciation also and increase in the finance cost also. Because new projects have been commissioned, that is why the depreciation also, the finance cost has increased. However, as already told by CMD itself, revenue has not increased correspondingly because of certain other reasons. Those reasons only I was trying to understand.
Four, five reasons I told you, energy charges due to not meeting the plant availability factor as we are supposed to as per CERC guidelines, then capacity charges. Then as Director of Finance told you, just the finance cost has increased, depreciation has increased. Then there is a dividend income from that is minor one. Definitely, the main is 80 IEA benefit, which we were getting for one of our plants. Because of that, INR 52 crore , we have this decrease in the income.
There is another two aspects also, decrease in the bank interest and income tax refund, which were earlier higher. Current year, there is a lower bank interest by INR 26 crore and decrease in late payment surcharge. That is a good thing for us that our beneficiaries are paying on time, and there is less late payment surcharge during this year by INR 17 crore.
Right.
And sir, now with Buxar plant, right, I mean, half of that 982 units should be operational within a couple of days. At least the next quarter will be fully operational, right? That entire project, unit one and unit two, will produce 982 crore units of electricity, right? Half of that at least will be fully operational. Is that understanding correct?
Yeah, yeah. Because this one unit I told you, that will be operational from this month only. And second.
What would be the average price, sir, PPA on that?
Around INR 5.4 crore.
Understood. Around INR 5.4 crore. And sir, just for this next quarter or so, for the next three, four months, are there any significant projects that are coming online which will be added in terms of the revenue capacity on the renewable side?
Renewable side, Bikaner is coming around 320 MW. That will be commissioned in next month itself, 320 MW. Jamui, we have one plant in Bihar that is 75 MW. Another 120 MW in Assam. That will be commissioned within this financial year. Bagodra, 35 MW in Gujarat, and another 100 MW in Naba. This is again in Jaipur or in Rajasthan. Like this, around 650 MW of RE, renewable energy projects, solar projects specifically, will be commissioned during this financial year.
Understood, sir. Sir, just, I do not know if you can estimate sort of what kind of revenue capacity can that add in, these new 650 MW projects?
Average.
On an annualized basis?
Average tariff is around INR 2.60 for all the solar projects, if you see. If you consider around 25% of PLF, you can calculate how many million units will be there.
Understood, sir. And sir, just last query, we were trying to list our subsidiary, SJVN Green Energy. Is there any progress on that? And what would be the timeline associated, etc., if there is any?
No, as of now, there is no such plan as of now for next one year at least. After seeing the market condition and our commissioned project of SJVN and the future portfolio, we will decide on that.
Right, sir. Last query from my end, sir, we are, let's say, intending to spend another INR 3,500 or INR 700 crore. Totally INR 7,500 for the year. Maybe next year also we'll add something, right? All of this will go as CapEx, and the debt levels are increasing, right? I mean, we are at INR 30,000 crore odd totally for now. We'll add up to that, etc. How do you intend to look at it in terms of debt-to-equity ratio? Because the revenue and the PAT levels, whether they'll be sort of commensurate to service the debt and the interest, etc., that will follow up eventually.
Definitely. You are a.
Because the commissioning timeline will matter, I mean, on these projects.
We have already found that Buxar's first unit is getting commissioned by tomorrow. The second unit is also coming very soon. In that case, our CWIP will shift to the fixed assets, and it will start generating revenue. Based on that, we do not see that there will be a very large increase in the loan portion in the next two years. We will be able to service our loans out of the cash generated from Buxar. We feel that we will be in a comfortable position over the period.
Okay. Okay. Fine. Thank you so much, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Bharani from [Evindus Park]. Please proceed.
Good afternoon. Am I audible?
Yes, yes.
Yes. SJVN as a renewable energy implementing agency, how much capacity would you have figured out so far? And of that, how much capacity needs to sign PSA or PPA?
Yeah. Actually, as of now, we have floated the tenders of around 19.8 GW. Letter of award has been issued for 13.74 GW. Regarding the PPAs, which you are asking, PSA and PPAs have been already executed for 3.74. We are expecting around the same quantity of PSA/PPA in the next two months, 3.75. This is the present position. We are further coming out with some of the tenders for state-specific, where they are asking us for going for a tender for BESS.
For Haryana, we will be coming out with a tender of BESS, that is battery energy storage, of around 1,250 MW within this month or maybe next month. Similarly, we have already floated a tender for wind power, around 1,200 MW. We are coming out with another tender for pump storage plants, which will be on tariff-based competitive bidding. This is in pipeline as of now. We are trying to sign the PSA for balance around 10 GW very soon. Otherwise, we will take some other call on these tenders.
Okay, sir. First follow-up question for that case, government has given targets for the four REIAs, including us. In the last two years, the achievement was close to the target. In your view, this year, how much do you think you will be able to achieve SJVN's target?
Actually, regarding tender, we have achieved all the targets for this year also, actually. The problem, frankly speaking, you must be knowing yourself also, because there is a lot of tenders which are coming out in the market, specifically for solar. There is some issue now. Because of the grid connectivity, there are transmission line shortages. Because of that, power is not getting evacuated even for the commissioned plant. Connectivity is one issue which is delaying the construction of new plants in Rajasthan and Gujarat. You know there are some issues in the transmission lines, some Supreme Court issue also.
I mean to say the targets for bidding is not an issue. Only problem is that when these will see the day of the light, particularly the commissioning. That is, to some extent, getting delayed due to many reasons. One of the reasons is that there is now this transmission line issues are there mainly, which is holding it back. Connectivity is the main issue where people are not getting the they are getting late connectivity, 28, 30, 31. That is why the commissioning target I can't speak about. As far as my portfolio comes for REIA, I will meet my target, whatever given to me by the government.
Okay, sir. Now coming to this 19 GW, you said we have tendered out so far. I think you mentioned of that 13 GW has seen awarding of LOA. Of this 13 GW, you said only 3 GW PPA and PSAs have been signed.
4 GW.
Right?
4 GW.
Okay. Okay. So of the ones where LOA has been given, about 9 GW is yet to be signed for PPA or PSA, correct?
Yes, yes.
That is where you are telling the reasons, which is connectivity and related to PPA, are the main reasons for signing even the PPA/PSA.
Yes, yes.
The remaining 3 GW where even LOAs have to be signed, what is the reason why that is not happening now?
[audio distortion]. Those were actually recently concluded. Some of the tenders were recently concluded by us. They are under different phases of approval. Once we get the approval, we will award them. That is the main reason.
Understood. Final question. We are reading in the media that the projects where PPAs are not getting signed will get re-bidded. Will that happen in your view? When will it happen?
That is, we are still into the stakeholder consultation, frankly speaking, in this regard, including the Ministry of Power, Ministry of Renewable Energy, and also with the bidders who have already given the bid. Some of them already got a connectivity and many things are there. We are into stakeholder consultation that what call should be taken on these things where LOA has been issued but PPAs are not getting matured. It will take some time, one or two months. After two months, there will be more clarity that what is going to happen for these LOAs where PPA is not getting signed.
Understood, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Shubham Shelar from Antique Stock Broking Limited. Please proceed.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. I'm audible, sir?
Yeah, yeah, very much.
Okay. Continuing with the previous question, when you mentioned PSA of only 3.7 is signed, there was also a notification which talks about November is the only month that the PC has to be signed, bid has to be made. You are still seeing that noise is there into two months or?
Noise, noise. A lot of noise from a line coming. Can you just see what is the issue?
Seeking our opinion regarding that cancellation of award letters by end of month.
Hello?
Yes.
Are we audible? Are we audible?
Yes, sir, you are audible.
Okay. So can I proceed with the answer?
Yes, sir.
Yeah. Actually, the thing is that you are right that you must have seen some notification. Not it's notification, actually, just a discussion which has happened recently. There's some call has to be taken on the LOAs which were issued and not getting matured into the PPA and PSA. Otherwise, that is getting stuck up. Some of the connectivity which is related to these awarded LOAs, that is also getting stuck up. It is not getting opened up for the new projects. The reason is because there are various REIAs, REAs basically, which you call. They are into market, and they have come out with a tender for a similar type of this, what do you call, similar type of arrangement like FDRE or there is solar projects or there is a solar plus battery at the similar time.
Due to some difference in PPA price, sorry, discovered price, some issues are coming up. We are still into discussion with that stakeholder I told you. There is no deadline as such in November, which is because some clarification has been issued by MNRE after that. Case-by-case basis, you can take a call and in consultation with the stakeholders. Otherwise, there can be issues. We are still working on that, as I told earlier. It will take two to three months to get the clarity on this issue, what action we are going to take on these untied power or untied PPAs.
Got it, sir.
Sorry to interrupt, Shubham, your voice is breaking.
Yeah, it's very much breaking. We are not able to hear at all. Go to the next one.
I would request you to please join back the queue. We take the next question from the line of Ragini from Elara Capital. Please proceed. It seems like the line for Ragini has been disconnected.
Okay.
As there are no further questions from the participants, I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
Yeah. I just want to convey to all the people who are connected here that SJVN is in a very sound footing. There is no issue as of now regarding the growth of the company. We are slightly trying to consolidate our position as of now, mainly the under-construction projects which are there. We just want to complete them fast so that we can start generating the revenue. Having said that, we have now two new projects in Nepal which will be going under construction, which are big projects which will be going into construction very soon in the first quarter of next financial year. One is Lower Arun, which is 680 MW, and second is your Upper Karnali with 900 MW. They are very good and attractive with attractive tariff. There should not be any issue for sale of power.
The present existing projects, like we told, there are 650 MW we are commissioning this year, the RE projects, solar projects. Next year, we will be commissioning around 1.5 GW solar projects. We will be in advanced stage of three hydro projects, that is Arun 3, then Sunii and Luhri. We will be commissioning one small project, definitely. It is around 66 MW. That is Dholasidh. That we will be commissioning next year, around December 2026. Things are very on track. I do not foresee any challenges as of now regarding the finances or debt servicing or any other issue which you feel like. Everything is on track. We will be growing every year with better revenue, better profit, and better capacity addition. Thank you so much.
Thank you. On behalf of Elara Securities India Private Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.
Thank you so much.