Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Limited Q1 FY23 earnings conference call. This conference call may contain forward-looking statements about the company which are based on the beliefs, opinions and expectations of the company as on date of this call. These statements are not the guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touch tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Sandeep Thomas Mathew, Head Investor Relations, for his opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Very good afternoon, everyone. I welcome you all to the Q1 FY23 earnings call. Along with me, I have Mr. Amit Jain, Global CEO, Mr. Bahadur Dastoor, our CFO, and Strategic Growth Advisors, our investor relations advisors. We will start the call with an update on the solar power industry and operational highlights for the quarter by Mr. Amit, followed by financial highlights by Mr. Bahadur. Post which, we will open the floor for Q&A. Thank you, and over to you, Amit.
Hi. Thanks, Sandeep, and a warm welcome to all the participants on this call. I would like to give a quick update on the solar power industry, other allied renewable businesses, and status of our business operations. To start with the industry update, there are strong levers which will drive robust growth globally over the coming years. Stronger policy support from the government in terms of tax incentive, favorable policies for renewable sector, coupled with ambitious climate targets announced for COP26, are going to drive demand for solar energy to new records worldwide. Solar industry is well poised to grow in long term, as IPPs have huge plans for both global capacity additions. The global tariffs have already corrected upwards with the revision in prices, and a lot of projects are expected to get finalized in FY23, including in FY23.
Despite the record increase in modules, commodity and freight over the last 18 months, the Levelized Cost of Electricity for solar plants is still cheaper than the traditional source of energy as well as the renewable source of energy. With the Indian government accelerating its plan for clean energy transition, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledging to build 500 gigawatts of renewable energy and ensure that half of our energy requirements will come from renewable resources by 2030, we expect outstanding growth in Indian solar power industry in the years ahead. India has also announced a roadmap to become a hub for production and export of green hydrogen made from water and renewable electricity. India has set a 5 million ton green hydrogen production target by 2030 to help bolster its geopolitical heft and be a game changer for the country's energy security.
With the government promoting the new age emission-free fuel, Reliance Industries has also shown significant interest in the space. With this development, we expect huge increase in the scale of average project size in Indian solar industry. The U.S. utility-scale solar market saw the sharpest decline in the Q1 of calendar year 2022, and experienced its lowest quarter of installation since 2019, and the lowest number of new projects added to the pipeline since 2017. On June 6, the Biden administration announced a 2-year duty exemption for solar products from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to accelerate execution of projects delayed by U.S. Department of Commerce anti-circumvention investigation. This executive action brings massive relief to the U.S. solar industry, and we expect significant ramp up in the project execution activities going ahead.
In Australia, the recent election has been a game changer in terms of policy support for renewable energy. The new Labor government has plans to unlock renewables investment, upgrade the grid, and bring federal policy more in line with the states and territories, many of which have more ambitious climate goals. In June 2022, the EU energy ministers agreed to increase the share of European energy consumption coming from renewables such as solar or wind power to 40% by 2030. According to BloombergNEF, Europe is expected to add 27-33 gigawatts per year for the period of 2022-2025, and 36-56 gigawatts per year for the period of 2026-2030.
As per the International Energy Agency, by 2026, global renewable electricity capacity is estimated to rise more than 60% from 2020 levels to over 4,800 gigawatts, equivalent to the current total global power capacity of fossil fuels and nuclear combined. Renewables are set to account for more than 95% of the increase in global power capacity through 2026, with solar PV alone providing more than half. Our focus is to grab large share of EPC capacity additions in FY 2023.
For example, U.S. is going to be 23 gigawatts of capacity addition, 16 gigawatts of capacity addition in Europe, 3 gigawatts in Australia, and 16 gigawatts of capacity additions in India. It is estimated that solar PV utility scale market, excluding China, is expected to grow at 15% CAGR over the next few years, with growth led by developed markets like U.S., Europe, Australia as well as Indian market. I would like to state that with our global reach, strong relationship with customers and lenders, as well as the induction of Reliance Group as an additional promoter of the company, we are well positioned to capitalize on these growth opportunities. Reliance Group's investment in company has led to strengthening of company's balance sheet and increased confidence in customers, suppliers, bankers and other stakeholders. Now coming to our operation and maintenance business.
Solar O&M portfolio as on date is 5.8 GW. O&M constituted 3.7% of the revenue in Q1 FY23 and stood at INR 44 crore. Reduction in O&M portfolio is primarily on account of sale of plants by clients to customers having their own O&M team. We are focusing on increasing international O&M portfolio through organic and inorganic route. Our enhanced value to customer through O&M differentiators like drone thermography, strong analytics and predictions, IV curve tracer, underground cable fault reader, etc., will help us to expand our O&M portfolio. Now as we have briefed you around our battery energy and storage system businesses. Battery energy storage system and energy storage system is expected to grow 2x in next four years to $12 billion annually.
UK and Europe will be the next big consolidated markets with UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain being top five countries. With this, I will ask Mr. Bahadur Dastoor, our CFO, to take you through the order book and consolidated financial highlights. Thank you very much. Over to you, Bahadur Dastoor.
Thank you, Amit, and good afternoon. Coming to the order book. Solar modules constitute about 55%-60% of the cost of a solar project, and prices of the same have increased by about 40% from January 2021 to March 2022, driven by higher commodity prices, primarily on account of silicon and supply chain issues such as shortage of shipping containers. Steel contributes 5%-10% of the total cost of a solar project, while its rates have risen by 25% during the said period. This has adversely impacted the ROE of solar power projects, resulting in developers postponing the awarding of solar power projects, consequently resulting in order finalization getting pushed to Q2 and H2 of FY23. The module prices, commodity prices and logistics costs which had hardened due to the Russia-Ukraine war, have started to soften slightly.
Thus, we expect the tendering activity to gather momentum, which should result in robust order finalizations. We expect to bag major solar PV EPC projects in our addressable markets in the coming quarters. We expect to bid for projects constituting 23.1 gigawatt, with India having the highest share at 32.5%, followed by MENA and Africa at 19.5% and U.S. and LATAM at 19.1%. We are targeting around $1 billion of new EPC orders in the international and Indian market in FY23. We expect a lumpiness in order inflow, with significant consolidation being observed in the industry, with stronger players expected to take a larger share of the market in the future and low-level players moving out.
Our unexecuted order book as on June 30, 2022, stands at INR 2,098 crore, which is executable over the next twelve months. Our order bid pipeline remains robust. Now I will take you through the consolidated financials for the quarter ended June 30, 2022. Revenue for Q1 FY23 has been INR 1,206 crores as compared to INR 1,071 crores in Q1 FY22. O&M constituted 3.7% of the total revenue in Q1 FY23. The region-wise revenue breakup is as follows. Australia contributed 59.79%, Americas contributed 21.28%, followed by India, which contributed 15.02%, and the balance 3.9% by MENA and the Africa region. At a company level, the gross margins remain suppressed primarily on account of international EPC projects.
In the U.S., labor costs increased due to shortage of labor supply, and in Australia, labor cost site overheads increased due to the loss of productivity on account of extreme weather conditions. Further, there was a significant translation loss due to adverse movement in the exchange rate of USD/INR and AUD/INR compared to March 2022. O&M margins were suppressed in the quarter due to one-off final punch points as well as demobilization costs incurred in the current quarter relating to large projects handed over to developers in the previous year. We anticipate O&M margins to normalize from the next quarter. Recurring overheads for Q1 FY23 increased 17% to INR 94 crore. As part of the transaction with the Reliance Group, the company has signed an indemnity agreement with the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, Khurshed Yazdi Daruvala Group and the Reliance Group on December 29, 2021.
According to the agreement, the Shapoorji Pallonji and Khurshed Yazdi Daruvala Group would indemnify and reimburse the company and its subsidiaries for a net amount if it exceeds INR 300 crore on settlement of liquidated damages pertaining to certain past and existing projects, old receivables, direct and indirect tax litigations as well as certain legal and statutory matters. These amounts would be settled on 30th of September of each succeeding year on the basis of the final settlement amounts with customers, suppliers, and other authorities. Shapoorji Pallonji Group and Khurshed Yazdi Daruvala Group are consequently entitled to net off the amounts payable with specific counter claims levied and recovered by the company and its subsidiaries on its customers and vendors relating to these matters. As of 30th June 2022, the company and its subsidiaries have made provisions equivalent to INR 300 crore.
Thus, there will be no further impact on the results of the company on settlement of liquidated damages pertaining to past projects as on the date of signing the transaction documents with RNEL, old receivables, direct and indirect tax litigations, as well as legal and regulatory matters in accordance with the indemnity agreement. Coming to the balance sheet. As on June 30, 2022, net worth stood at INR 596 crore and cash and cash equivalents stood at approximately INR 272 crore. Our debt grew by INR 131 crore with net debt equity ratio at 0.22x. Advance and performance guarantees encashed by four customers amounted to INR 588 crore. With one customer, we have signed the final settlement agreement, and the encashment amount of INR 319 crore relating to two projects have been refunded by the customer.
With respect to the balance two customers whose projects are completed, the company is in advanced stage of discussion with them and is confident of recovering the amount in the coming quarters. As on June 30, 2022, we had a negative working capital of INR 277 crore as compared to negative working capital of INR 302 crore as at March 2022. Receivables due for more than one year as at June 30 stood at INR 261 crore compared to INR 251 crore due for more than one year as at March 31, 2022. They comprise related party receivables of INR 10 crore, which is net of INR 196 crore that the company needs to pay back to the related party against advance received for the waste to energy project.
With this, we can now open the floor to questions and answers.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone phone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Mohit Kumar from DAM Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good afternoon, sir. Mohit, first question is on the gross margin. The gross margin for the quarter is again negative. We were expecting a positive, you know, gross margin for this particular quarter. What went wrong, and when we expect it to correct going forward? This is the first question.
Let me take it question by question in case you have a second one. As we have explained, the gross margins were suppressed in this quarter, primarily due to increase in labor costs in Australia and U.S., as well as extreme weather conditions in Australia. Due to the same, we continue to see a slight erosion in the gross margin. Coming to your question on when the gross margins are expected to go back to normalized levels, we are looking at bidding and winning almost $1 billion of projects, which will help us to take the margins back to its normalized level in the near future.
Certainly on the O&M side, you know, on the O&M side, we were, we of course, last year we did INR 200 or INR 220 crore run rate for the year, if I am not wrong. The margins have been suppressed. I think you mentioned about something about the one-offs which happened in this quarter. But what is the normalized run rate for the O&M based on your portfolio, which you expect in a year? What kind of EBITDA margin you are expecting, you know, in this particular segment?
In the case of O&M, again, as we had mentioned, there was a movement of almost 2 gigawatts worth of projects which were transferred from our existing customer to a new party who has his own O&M division. That led to a loss of revenue and a reduction of almost 2 gigawatts from our O&M portfolio. We had to do certain punch and closure for those projects in the current quarter, which led to a suppression of the margin as a one-off event. We expect the margins to go back from this quarter and onwards, I mean, Q2 and onwards, back to its 25%-30% benchmark for these jobs, for the remaining part of the jobs. Hence there is a reduction in the overhead run rate.
Today in the first quarter, we had about INR 44 crores, which is slightly lower than the annualized turnover of the previous year. There are other bids which the O&M team is working on, which will help us take it back to where it was. We will keep you posted in the quarters to come.
Lastly, sir, what is the impact of the, you know, the prices going up, solar modules, steel and et cetera, on the project cost, if I have to make a comparison for YOY?
As far as the module prices are concerned, there was they had started correcting, and there was softening in the prices. Due to certain recent events in the China market, the prices have again gone up. There is fluctuation in the module prices and hope, but hope with the kind of capacity additions which are coming in China market and globally, we expect in coming few quarters, the prices will soften and stabilize.
What will be the module price right now from China, and what is the freight cost from China to, let's say, Saudi Arabia or India?
The freight, as far as the module price is concerned, they are hovering between $0.26-$0.27 per watt peak, and freight depends upon the geography where you're working in. If it comes to India, it can be one and a half to two cents, and if you're going to other geographies like Australia or USA, they can be up or somewhere between close to four cents per watt peak.
At current freight cost?
Pardon?
At current freight cost. Am I right?
Yeah, that's correct.
Otherwise, this amount would have been much, much lower, roughly around $0.01.
Yeah. If the logistics market also corrects itself, even there would be impact on logistics costs as well, and they will also normalize in coming quarters.
Understood, sir. Thank you. All the best, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Before we take the next question, participants are requested to press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Mr. Faisal Hawa from H.G. Hawa & Co. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Can you hear me?
Yeah.
Very clearly, Mr. Hawa.
You're audible. Please go ahead.
There is a public limited company which is on record saying that they have, like, you know, contract from you to hire, like, 3,000 engineers in the coming year. Is this true, and what is the, you know, utilization that we could be having for these engineers?
I don't think that that's the correct information, and we are not aware of any such contract. I think that information is not correct.
Sir, going forward, when do we feel that, you know, we can actually, you know, have any kind of, you know, orders from Reliance's own module factory or, you know, kind of where we could be more assured of supply of modules from them?
Reliance is I think they're working on establishing their plans for module manufacturing, so it will take some time. Next few quarters when they will be ready with their plant and manufacturing start, then we'll get to know the plans, how much support we can get from Reliance as far as the module supply is concerned. We expect in next few quarters, not only Reliance, there will be multiple new players on the block. We don't see few quarters down the line there will be any issue with respect to module supply.
Mr. Faisal Hawa, do you have any other further questions?
No, no more questions, ma'am. Thank you so much.
Okay. Thank you. A reminder to all the participants to press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Rahul Mody from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. Just, I had one question, sir. Historically, we've seen that, you know, our margins have been, you know, impacted due to the volatility, as you also mentioned, of the module prices. How are we changing our or evolving our contracts when we are actually going and taking orders to mitigate this risk? Because obviously the volatility, probably five years back, we had a, you know, a one-way movement which was downward in module prices. We were beneficiaries of that. Today when we, it's more of a zigzag pattern, so how are we mitigating that risk in terms of the contracts? Thank you.
As we have elaborated on this particular strategic aspect in our last few calls also. There is a two-pronged strategy to address this particular issue, and we are addressing it with vendors as well as with our customers. Vendors, we are negotiating much tighter contracts and asking for a much higher amount of bank guarantees to be backed up, which can assure us that they will stick to their contracts, and we can procure the modules at which we have estimated in our mix. Secondly, along with the customer also, we are building a pattern, like if there is a willful default by the suppliers. There are built-in mechanisms in the contract which we are negotiating with our clients to provide a safeguard against that particular movement.
This is a strategy which is being worked both with the suppliers as well as the client to safeguard against any unprecedented price rise in the modules.
Sir, in the recent past, you've seen any such thing which had to be invoked or you had to go by any recent memory of this which where the resolution could be found?
Yeah. Yeah. We are in touch with all our customers, and there is a perceptible change in, like, the way the customers also approached. One of the contracts which we are negotiating with our key customer in Europe, the customer is ready to take the risk at which we agree at the time of getting the notice to proceed on the contract till the last shipment of the modules. The market trend is moving towards that direction, and some of the customers which we recently discussed, which are the global big players, that they're de-risking EPCs with respect to the module supply risks. We see a change in the market with respect to that. The customer thinking on those lines are also changing, and they appreciate that EPC risk profile also has to change.
In coming quarters, we'll see a lot of movement on that front and which will de-risk our business significantly as far as the module price risk is concerned.
Sir, secondly, in terms of, you know, the origin of modules that we are taking, are you seeing any change in terms of the buyers, whether it is because there are many customers in the U.S. who are actually directly importing modules as well? Are you seeing any kind of you know change in the you know buyers you know way of thinking in terms of buying either from China or Sterling and Wilson procuring modules from the Indian manufacturers? Because the export orders for Indian manufacturers have also picked up. Just-
You are absolutely right. Yeah, you are absolutely right. IPPs and our clients across the globe, they are looking for de-risking their supply chains. All the potential players in the market, anywhere in the world right now want to develop, and they're working on developing alternate supply chains. The various players, not only in India, Europe and U.S., a lot of additional module manufacturing plants are coming online, which will be commissioned in, I would say, a couple of years down the line, and some will be operational as early as last quarters of next year. We'll see its movement and shift in the supply chain with respect to modules. All the suppliers are looking for alternate supply chains so that the whole entire solar capacity addition across the globe can be de-risked.
Amit Jain, lastly, sir, the Indian market is also, you know, sort of short of EPC players. That's what we understand now. The recent bids that we saw, they were actually going at much higher margin or at least at per megawatt basis. Any rethinking your strategy that you want to look inwards also along with? Because typically you had a 20% kind of an off order book historically towards India. Any change you are looking there?
Yeah, definitely. You are absolutely correct, I would say on that front. Indian market, we expect the Indian market is an inflection point. I would say with the kind of capacity addition which government has announced and the targets we have, plus the new hydrogen roadmap which has come in, will lead to not only the capacity going up and there will be much bigger plants which will be coming online. All the private players in the country, they have announced their ambition around green hydrogen, and they will also be coming out with mega projects. Considering that, we see that there will be definitely business volumes will be much more and there are, like, limited number of EPC.
We see that the margin profile should improve going forward because the capacity addition and the strong balance sheet from the particularly the past recent track record which is there will come into play. Particularly for Sterling and Wilson, we'll say the strong parentage which we had earlier from SP Group and now both SP Group and Reliance put together as our promoters, which provide a lot of confidence to the banks, investors and IPPs. It will help us not only domestically and globally as well. We'll be able to take bigger orders and we'll be considered by all international players which are coming to India and all the mega projects, corporates, which we will be setting up in India, we'll be considered favorably for that, and margin profile should also change.
Perfect. Just I'm slipping in last one more question.
Please, go ahead.
Sir, incrementally, we are seeing a lot of bids coming in on hybrid tenders.
Yes.
How are we as experts in solar, how do we co-work or how will the EPC work in such tenders be structured? Thank you very much.
Actually, we have announced that earlier that was part of Sterling and Wilson Group, but now a couple of quarters back, that business was moved to solar. We already have skills, skill set and IP in that particular area. We have strong teams and we are further building on teams to handle the BESS part of the projects in India. We are already working on multiple bids, not only in India, globally in Australia, UK and Europe, with respect to BESS projects. We'll be handling, as we are handling the solar, the EPC part of that. We'll be taking on both, with or without, the supply of batteries as per the business model of a particular geography demands.
Perfect, sir. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one. The next question is from the line of Abhinav Bhandari from Sohum AMC. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. Just couple of questions. One is, do the current results contain any component which would get reimbursed back because of the indemnity agreement? Secondly, as of 30th June, how much amount would be there on the balance sheet which would get liquidated on 30th September, once the settlement is done under the agreement? Thanks.
The results do not include any amounts which are reimbursable under the indemnity agreement because the company had already made all the provisions two quarters ago to reach INR 300 crores. So it has not taken anything into account as such because it will be a pass-through. The money will come against the offset of liquidated damages, et cetera, which have already been paid for by the company. The crystallized amounts, Abhinav, are still in process. Thirtieth September is the final date wherein the crystallized amounts will be worked out and sent out to the erstwhile promoters. On that basis, they have about one month to make payment against that. It is right now a moving and accumulating target. I've not been in a position to give a singular number at this point in time.
Okay. Fair to assume that it would be that amount sitting on the balance sheet would be more than INR 300 crore at this point? A broad idea on that understanding.
Yes. It is more than INR 300 crore which the company has to bear.
Okay. Fine. That's all from my side. Thank you, and wish you the best.
Thank you.
Thank you, Abhinav.
Thank you.
Participants, reminder to all the participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Abhishek from Emkay Global. Please go ahead.
Hello. Thanks for taking my question. I have two questions. Can you elaborate on the region-wise pipeline of the projects? My second question is, what are you expecting in terms of the overall inflow for the year?
Okay. As far as the region-wise bid pipeline is concerned, approximately both U.S. and Australia, the pipeline is 3 GW each. MENA region is right now without considering mega projects in question is 2.5 gigawatts. Africa is 1.5 gigawatt. Latin America is 2 gigawatt, and Southeast Asia is 1 gigawatt. Total we are talking about international pipeline of 16 gigawatt and a domestic pipeline of 7,500 gigawatt, making to approximately 23 gigawatt of the total bid pipeline, which we are working on at this point of time.
Australia and U.S., both you told 6. India is 7,500 gigawatts, correct?
Yeah. India is we are expecting because of the multiple projects by PSU and private players announcing, so we expect a pipeline which is our addressable market is close to 7.5 gigawatt.
Your addressable market, but with the pipeline is for India 7,500, correct? Am I right?
My pipeline is my addressable market, that is what? 7.5 GW, which we'll be bidding for.
Okay. 7.5 gigawatt. Okay. Africa, you told, 1.5. Latin America, I was not able to capture the figure.
Latin America was 2 GW and Southeast Asia is 1 GW.
Southeast Asia is 1 gigawatt. Okay. What expectation in terms of overall inflow do we have?
We are expecting the order inflow of in excess of both the markets put together close to $1 billion both international and domestic put together. It is going to be lumpiness in the order booking, so we can't forecast, like, as we have said, the major order booking is going to happen in H2 this year, and there will be lumpiness. There can be few big orders in the, like, third quarter or fourth quarter, but the total, like, expectations is around $1 billion this fiscal year.
That will FY 2023, you are expecting $1 billion, correct?
Yes, that's correct.
FY24, we can expect the same run rate of $1 billion?
Will depend. Like, at this point of time, I will not like to forecast, but the way market is growing, we are expecting the market is growing at the rate of 15% CAGR annually. We see the even Indian market will be growing at much more robust rate. We can expect, we will follow the market trend. The way market is growing, we'll also grow at least in the similar proportion.
Yeah. Okay. Thanks. I will go. Okay. Thanks for the answer.
Thank you.
Thank you. Before we take the next question, a reminder to all the participants to press star and one on their touchtone phone. The next question is from the line of Mohit Kumar from DAM Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Two questions, sir. Firstly on the green hydrogen side, one of the slides talks about a lot of multiple projects on the gigawatt scale. Is there something which you believe which can get fructify for us in terms of opportunity in the next 12-18 months? Given especially Australia is, I think there are a lot, number of projects which are coming from Australia, which are very, very large.
Give you a perspective that all the big players which we work with all the global customers and the biggest IPPs across the globe, they're very bullish on green hydrogen and working on green hydrogen project across the world, though the projects only in Australia is getting more visibility at this point of time. The projects are getting announced, big projects in UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and one of the biggest projects in the globe with respect to green hydrogen has already started, is under execution in Saudi Arabia. As we see, the projects are already materializing and taking off from the ground.
We see that, considering Australia, the size of the projects which have been announced in Australia, next 18-24 months we'll see start, there is proper movement on those projects. It can be definitely in the Middle East also. There can be movement on the green hydrogen projects into, like, I can say 18-24 months period.
Is there any strategy to, you know, to talk to the large players and get some sense of, you know? Is there any chance that we will have some kind of lumpy order inflow from this green hydrogen in the next 18-24 months? Do you think that you are targeting?
Yeah, there is always a likelihood because we are, some of our clients, already existing clients are in this business, and they are going to set up the plants. As far as Australia, where most of the projects are getting announced, we are the number one EPC in that market. Despite all the difficulties and headwinds which are faced by EPC market, we are perhaps one of the players which have delivered even in the COVID period, despite the commodity cycle, this commodity super cycle. We are on course to deliver all our projects, which have created a very, very strong brand for us in the market. With the Reliance coming in as one of the promoters, we have the financial strength and the financial, I would say, credentials to associate with developers on the project of that scale.
That places us favorably to work on those projects. As you know, the projects are in initial stages. We're identifying, we have started discussion. Exactly how the things develop can be predicted in next 18-24 months period.
Sir, the last one, the cash flow side, given the nine months, next nine months, I think, do you see any stress or, yeah, or any need to raise capital or debt over the next nine months to tide over the lack of, you know, revenues?
Yeah. Bahadur Dastoor will take that question.
The company is actively engaged in raising debt for a short-term period to meet its cash flow mismatches on account of the losses that have been faced in certain projects. We expect that this will be for a short-term period of about 18 months or less. Right now that is being looked upon with various bankers and financial institutions which the company is engaged with.
Understood, sir. Thank you. Abhi, thank you.
Thank you. You may press star and one to ask a question at this time now. The next question is from the line of Bala from Arihant Capital Markets Limited. Please go ahead.
Yes. Good morning. How do you see competition from Chinese players? Because they were occupied lower-rated countries like in Middle East, and they have supplied lower prices in some projects. In Australia and Europe they have minimum base contract. How they are dominating, how they are competing in these countries?
If I have understood correctly, because the audio quality was still not good, that you want to understand the impact or how the Chinese competition in various markets which we are present in. I would say that the maximum intensity of Chinese competition was faced by us in Middle East and Africa market. Australia, Europe and USA, there was no significant competition from Chinese players. As far as the way Chinese contractors and Chinese vendors, they have not lived up to the contracts which they signed for. A lot of contracts were damaged. In Middle East mega projects, what we are witnessing that the performance is not up to the mark. The projects are running behind schedule.
There is, I think the confidence which was there on China is coming down and all the big IPPs are looking for alternate EPCs to work on mega projects, even in Middle East and Africa market. We see the change in trend coming forward in next few quarters and the competitive intensity, even in the Middle East and Africa market will come down, and we'll be better placed and be considered favorably by major developers.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Reminder to all the participants to press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Faisal Hawa from H.G. Hawa & Co. Please go ahead.
You know, changing our bankers and, you know, getting some more bank guarantee limits, and how are we actually now going to hire? You know, if you are saying that you have, there's no demand for the 3,000 engineers from your end. What is our hiring plan for the coming year, and how many engineers do we plan to hire for our EPC groundwork?
I will take the first question on the bank guarantee part. Company is actively engaged with its consortium of bankers to increase its limits. It does have spare limits available right now to take care of any short-term requirement, but it is engaged for a much enhanced number, taking into account what we will require for FY23 and FY24. Bankers are looking at it very positively, and we expect to meet our requirement once the assessments are complete. I will let Amit take the second question.
To address the global and domestic markets, we are taking an initiative of capacity building in the organization, and we expect to add close to 1,000 personnel to our project management, engineering, procurement and other execution teams, which we'll be building gradually. That's the plan to address the increase in order book and the mega projects, if they come our way that they can be addressed properly.
Solar modules, we are now quoting for any new tenders according to the price which is as presently being charged. There could be a possibility that in six months, seven months, when the solar modules market becomes flooded with more supply and we actually get them at a much lower rate, and that could add to the bottom line. Is that the correct way of thinking?
Yeah. There is always a possibility of that happening. That has happened in the past when we cashed in on downward trend in module prices. It is cyclical and with the whole kind of module capacity addition coming online, that's always a possibility. When that's the part of the business cycle we have suffered on the negative side, of course, we'll be entitled to take the positive side of it as well.
In solar modules costing according to what is, presently being charged by the.
Pardon? I didn't get your question. Could you repeat that again?
We are costing out solar modules at their present rates only.
Absolutely. What are the current rates in the market and which is backed up by the bids from tier one contractors? If we commit anywhere, it will be as per prevailing market prices only.
Can you feel that the competitive intensity could reduce in your international tenders which are being sent out?
See, because-
EPC players have suffered losses.
I would say with the market size going up, the multiple bids coming down and the limited number of EPC players in the market, we can see the competitive intensity going down because order books, people will be booking orders. As and when the capacities get booked, naturally of course, the market will correct itself and there will be reduction in competitive intensity.
Is there any thinking within the management to also, you know, bid for larger ticket size orders?
Come again, please. Again, I could not hear you properly. Hello?
One minute. Can you hear me now?
Yeah, much better. Thank you so much.
Yeah, I just tried something. You feel that, but we will now be bidding for much larger ticket size contracts as well?
Yeah, we were doing that in past as well. As you know, we had executed one of the biggest project in the world at that point of time. That's rather the largest commission project till recently. We had participated in such bids earlier, and based on how strategically well-placed we are, we'll continue to do that.
Is there now more clarity on whom we will report to in Reliance? You know, with, are we now, you know, having some kind of structure of, communication to-
No, no. Sterling Wilson remains to be a professionally run company, and we report to the board. All the policy decisions are taken in the board and we report to the board and run by the board of the organization.
You feel that we can go back to the ROCE and the ROE that we used to have like, you know, three to four years back just before the IPO and, you know, that could be back again here?
Definitely. We are on path of recovery, and we'll be there. We'll update you during our next investor call how we are progressing on that route.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Abhishek from Emkay Global. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for taking my question. In terms of the pipeline-wise, region-wise pipeline of projects, you had told India 7.5, Australia was 6. I think somewhere one of the management team had mentioned 16. Just wanted to know 16 gigawatt break up, how does it come to arrive to? Because excluding India it is 13, if I'm right, gigawatt.
No, no. Excluding India it is 16. We have stated that total pipeline is around 23 GW, out of which 16 is the international pipeline, around 15.6, and 7.5 we have stated is the India pipeline. USA, if you want the exact number, USA and Australia is around 6 GW. Europe is 2.5 GW. MENA is 3 GW. Africa is 1.5 GW. Latin America is 2 GW. Asia is 1 GW.
Okay, Southeast Asia is 1, Latin America is 2, Africa 1.5, Middle East 2.5, and Europe is 2.5. Correct?
Yeah.
Hello?
Yeah, that's correct. Yeah, that's correct.
Yeah.
U.S. and Australia put together is 6 gigawatt. Yeah.
Six. I think the total comes to around 15.5, no? I think one more year and that is it.
Yeah.
Yeah. Okay.
15.6 and 7.5, so that takes it to 23 GW.
Sorry. Can you repeat that? I didn't hear it.
15.6 for international and 7.5 for domestic. That takes 23.1 gigawatts to be precise.
23.1. Okay. Yeah, thanks. You have 15.6. It is. Europe is 2.5 or 2.6?
Europe is 2.5.
Uh-
MENA is 2.5.
Yeah.
Australia and U.S. put together is 6.1, if you'd like exact number.
Okay. Yeah.
Yeah.
Fine. Okay. Yeah. Thanks.
A reminder to all the participants to press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Harsh Jhawar from Centrum PMS. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. I just wanted one clarification.
As I understand, when we book an order, we do back-to-back booking of all the modules and inputs which are required. How do we benefit if the PV module prices are going in downward trend? It is done back-to-back now on the same time. We have fixed our spread, right? How do we benefit out of if it goes up?
Once we are bidding, we approach multiple tier one suppliers and based on that, we bid to our customers. If between the time we bid and at the time of award of the contract, if there is a downward movement, by the time we are placing the orders, if there is a downward movement, we are able to take benefits of that particular aspect. Otherwise, we'll go on back to back basis.
Okay. Understood, sir. Generally, how much is the time gap between bidding and awarding of contract in general?
That depends on customers, so it can be like 3-6 months.
Okay, understood. My second question was also more of a clarification. The order book which we already have will continue to have negative gross profit margins and the new order books, yeah, new orders which we win, that will have normalized 10%-12% kind of gross margins. Slowly we'll see the trend of gross margin percentage going from negative to positive in FY 2023 by the end of FY 2023. Is that understanding correct?
Bahadur Dastoor will provide you more details on that one.
See, it is not that the order book which is now executable has a negative gross margin because all the impacts of the negatives have been taken majorly up to March and whatever new items came in in June. The order book carries a positive gross margin, which is a low single-digit margin. Future orders will come at our normalized margin. Therefore, going forward, if one looks at it, the margins are expected to be positive.
Okay, understood, sir. Understood. Thank you so much for clarification.
Thank you. As there are no further questions, I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Amit Jain for closing comments.
Thank you. With the robust backing of Reliance Group and Shapoorji Pallonji Group, we endeavor to accelerate our growth trajectory by aggressively pursuing our international markets, where we foresee a huge potential of growth. India, too, has reached an inflection point from where we anticipate the growth of solar power industry to garner further pace and momentum. With our deep-rooted client relationship, global presence, ability to provide customized solution, strong track record of executing complex and large-scale projects supported by a robust balance sheet and strong parentage of Reliance Group and Shapoorji Pallonji Groups, we are confident of regaining our leadership position. I would like to thank everybody for joining the call. I hope we have been able to address all your queries. For any further information, kindly get in touch with Sandeep Thomas Mathew and our Strategic Growth Advisors, our investor relations advisors.
Thank you once again and have a great day. Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.