Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Vikram Solar Q1 FY 2027 earnings conference call. 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 this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Sheetal Khanduja from Go India Advisors. Over to you, ma'am.
Thank you, Ananya. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Vikram Solar earnings call to discuss Q1 FY 2027 results. We have the senior management with us on the call. We are joined by Mr. Sameer Nagpal, Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Ranjan Jindal, Chief Financial Officer; Mr. Arun Mittal, CEO of VSL PowerHive Pvt Ltd , spearheading the company's battery energy storage system business; and Ms. Rinal Shah, General Manager of Corporate Finance. We must remind you that the discussion on today's call may include certain forward-looking statements and must be therefore viewed in conjunction with the risks that the company faces. May I now request Mr. Sameer Nagpal to take us through the company's business outlook and financial highlights, subsequent to which we can open the floor for Q&A. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Sheetal. Good afternoon, everyone. As we gather in this auspicious month of Sawan, I extend a warm welcome to all our stakeholders, seeking Lord Shiva's blessing for his wisdom, strength, and sustained prosperity in our journey ahead. Before delving into t he details with respect to the performance of the company, I would like to give a context to the quarter gone by. Three things shaped this quarter. First, ALMM-II enforcement stayed unclear for most of the quarter before the mandate was implemented and then deferred to December 2026. That uncertainty held back buying decisions, and it showed up in our order flow. Second, the ongoing Gulf conflict pushed up the cost of metal through linked raw materials and freight.
Third, seeing the sheer volume of new module capacity that came on stream industry-wide, which made competition intense and did not allow a full pass-through of these costs, the impact of which you see in our numbers. The most important story is what we have accomplished, because underneath the margin optics, this was a quarter of building and repositioning. This quarter, we clocked our highest ever quarterly volume of 1,006 MW, up 32% on the same quarter last year. Revenue grew 38% year-on-year. Let me now talk about our commercial engine, where the repositioning is really happening. Our order book closed at 7.9 GW, and its composition is shifting towards a diversified customer base, which helps us improve price realizations. The large accounts non-DCR order book that includes utilities, IPPs, large C&I customers, still constitutes a lion's share of our order book.
On account of the ALMM-II deferment on July 18th, deals that have been sitting in limbo now are going to move forward. The 50 GW a year C&I demand that was waiting for policy clarity has resumed conversation. To serve the DCR side, the priority has been locking up cell supply. We have now multiple procurement partners for domestic sales, and the same reflects in our revenue mix starting this quarter. We have sold 76 MW of DCR modules this quarter, which exceeds the full-year number for the last fiscal. In the subsequent quarters, we expect the numbers to increase manifold. Increasingly, that volume reaches the market through distribution, a channel that used to be supplementary for us and is now becoming strategic.
Our monthly run rate has doubled in distribution from roughly 40 MW last year, and we now have a network of 119+ distributors and over 757 dealers across the country. That reach lets us tap into policy-driven installations under the PM Surya Ghar and PM-KUSUM Yojana. Our presence across 24 states and 500 districts gives us a real structural advantage in getting to those customers. Alongside distribution, we have been reshaping who we sell to, moving deliberately into the mid-market, where we have doubled our sales team this year. Vikram Solar has historically been a large account company, the right shape for a market with fewer larger customers. But the market has broadened. Mid-sized EPCs and mid-sized C&I clients are a growing share of the demand pool, and we are building the sales force to match where the customers are now.
It carries margin benefit too. We expect a roughly INR 0.50 / W higher price realization from this customer base. Taken together, the DCR supply, the July deferment, unlocking decisions, the distribution ramp-up, and the mid-market build-out. That is why we are confident about Q2, H2, and H2. We are restructuring how this business goes to market, and the shifts we are making now are what will carry us through in the next few quarters. This is the domestic picture. Alongside it, we are widening the aperture internationally. We are accelerating our global expansion with a dedicated international team. Global buyers are diversifying their sourcing and tightening supply chain flexibility, and a credible manufacturer with verifiable India-built provenance is exactly what that ship calls for. Having talked about the commercial engine, now let me move to project execution. We have stayed the course on our project expansion commitments.
On June 29th, the first module rolled out from our Gangaikondan facility on the date we had promised it would happen. On the cell line, Gangaikondan is on schedule. Civil and PEB works are advanced. Clean room and MEP plans are on track. The first cell remains targeted for Q4 FY 2027, taking us to roughly 70% into backward integration. The cell plant is really one piece of a larger design. We are building all three plants, ingot, wafer, cell, and module, inside a single fence at Gangaikondan, because the design itself is an advantage. The capacity here is modular. Ingot and wafer scale simply with the number of pullers and slicers we install. That lets us phase capital precisely to demand and to policy, and add capacity quickly once the enabling infrastructure is in place. That's the upstream story.
Downstream, at the module end, the technology has moved too. We have transitioned our module portfolio from M10R to G12R across the platform. Higher watt peak per module, lower conversion cost per unit, and it flows straight through to per watt economics. Both Vallam and Gangaikondan are built on substantially more automated lines than our legacy capacity. The operating metrics already bear that out. Manpower deployment has come down by around 40%, with a comparable improvement in line cycle time. Taken together, we expect substantial conversion cost optimization at these facilities relative to our older lines. The same volume that today carries a ramp-up penalty will, at full utilization, be produced at a structurally lower cost per watt than anything in our existing base.
Before I close, I will share one recognition from the quarter that means a great deal to us, because in our industry, trust compounds. Vikram Solar has received the EcoVadis Platinum rating second time in a row, placing us in the top 1% of the 200,000 companies assessed worldwide. It strengthens our standing with global buyers, lenders, and it supports the premium position we are building in the market in India, in the EU, and in the U.S. Let me close. Stepping back from the quarter optics, here is what actually happened in a soft market. We built our first module, rolled out of Gangaikondan on the date we promised. Our DCR supply is secure through the ramp-up. Wafer ingot breaks ground shortly. Cell plant is on track. Our go-to-market engine, distribution, mid-market and DCR, and now international, is being rebuilt for where demand is heading.
With this, I will hand over the mic now to Mr. Arun Mittal for an update on our BESS business.
Thank you, Sameer. Let me share the update on VSL PowerHive plan on BESS. VSL Powerhive has made a master plan of setting up 15 GW of integrated cell manufacturing and BESS assembly in two phases of 7.5 GWh each. The update on phase one is our 7.5 GWh BESS assembly plant is getting ready in Chennai. We ordered all the equipments around three months back, and the delivery of the equipments is planned in November 2026. The utilities are under installation. We expect the plant to get installed in the month of January 2027, and the target date for commercial operations is from March 2027. This is the update on the BESS assembly plant. We have also made significant progress on the phase one 7.5 LFP cell manufacturing plant.
We have shortlisted the land options in two states, and we are in active discussions with both the state governments on optimizing the incentive package. We are confident of finalizing the land and the incentives by September 26. We have also finalized the technology and manufacturing partner who will help us in setting up this, 7.5 GW LFP cell manufacturing plant. We are looking at LFP Gen 2 large format cells and not the Gen 1 format. The tentative commercial operation date we are targeting is Q4 of FY 2029. While all this is happening, also happy to share that we have launched the PowerHive brand for the C&I and the utility scale solutions. We have also executed our first order of 20 MWh utility scale solution. This is the update on the battery business of VSL PowerHive.
I will now hand over to Mr. Ranjan Jindal.
Thank you, Arun. Thank you, Sameer. Good morning everyone, again, and thank you for joining us. I am accompanied by Rinal Shah from our investor relations team and our advisors, Go India. Our Q1 earnings presentation is available on the exchanges and is also available on our website. Before the numbers, a quick word on the backdrop. The market around us kept expanding. India roughly added 12 GW of solar in the quarter, with a record rooftop contribution under PM Surya Ghar Yojana and storage building in parallel. The quarter also shaped two big policy steps. The ALMM-II cell mandate took effect on June 1, and on July 18, the Ministry issued the operating memorandum on ALMM-II, giving the C&I segment a calibrated relief. Much of the industry spent the quarter absorbing the change and customer decision-making moved accordingly.
Revenue the quarter was about INR 1,560 crores, up 88% sequentially and close to 38% year-on-year. We dispatched 1.06 GW broadly flat in line with Q4 and up nearly 32% on the same quarter last year, which is a scale our expanded capacity is now delivering. EBITDA for the quarter was at INR 126 crores at a margin of 8.06%, and PAT was at INR 19.78 crores. EBITDA is down on the quarter, and I want to be clear about the shape of it because it is not what the sector headlines would lead us to assume. This was not a broad margin squeeze. Two things actually went in our favor. Our realization improved. Every cost line below the gross margin improved. The entire movement sits in a single line, which is the cost of goods sold. Let me now take a turn of it.
Let us start with the realization again, because it is a standout for the quarter. Our per watt peak realization rose to INR 15.02/ W peak, up 8% sequentially. The driver here is a mix, not the price. As Sameer mentioned, we got about 76 MW of DCR modules in the quarter, because DCR product carries a materially higher realization, that lifted our overall blended number. With several domestic cell procurement agreements now in place, we expect the DCR mix to rise further in the quarters to come. It helps us to see the revenue led. Our IPP and utility business is the base load of the book, large steady volumes, but tighter margins. The foundation everything else sits on. Mid-market and the C&I sit above that. Smaller orders that price better and lift the blended margin.
The distribution segment is the fastest moving segment of the three and the richest on the gross margin. It was also our fast growing channel this quarter. As the mix tilts more towards the high margin layers and towards DCR product, the blended realization rises and that is what came through the INR 15.02 / W peak realization. Against that, our unit cost for the goods rose by INR 1.86 /W peak in the quarter, that single line is effectively the whole of the gross margin movement. Let me take you through what drove it, because the composition matters a great deal as to how this unwinds. A large part of it was war-related inflation in base metals. Aluminum and copper prices ran up sharply and those feed directly into our aluminum frames, our bus ribbon and our interconnect ribbon, constituting about 35% of the balance of raw materials.
With those metals move, a third of our input basket moves with them. On top of that, the spike in the crude oil fed into the EVA, a critical encapsulant, which is about 12% of our balance of raw materials, also saw an inflation. There is cell cost, which hit us in two ways. Chinese cell prices spiked in the previous quarter, because that closed for inventory, it was this quarter that took the burn of it. Taken together, the great majority of this cost increase is either input price driven, will ease as metals, crude and cell prices normalize, as older high-cost stock works too. We are not leaving that utilization alone. We have a deliberate program underway to bring conversion costs down.
Value engineering across the bill of materials, an alternate vendor procurement strategy to broaden sourcing and lower input costs, rationalizing logistics by aligning inbound and outbound movements to the production plan, moderating discretionary overheads, tightening the inventory cycle to release working capital and cut the carrying cost. Scale is what makes this program powerful. Each of these levers is a per watt saving, and with our volumes growing at pace as the new lines come in, every rupee takes out per watt multiples across a larger base. The absolute saving these initiatives deliver will be substantial and will build quarter on quarter. Some of this is already visible in the quarter numbers. Other expenses per watt came down to 6% and the finance cost per watt fell over 11%. Employees cost stepped up modestly and deliberately as we start the new lines ahead of the volume they will carry.
That absorbs as utilization builds in. These are early reads. The fuller benefit of the program will show through over the coming quarters as initiatives mature and the two ramping facilities fill out. Our balance sheet remains a genuine source of strength for us. We continue to carry no long-term debt even today. Working capital utilization came down over the quarter and the net debt to equity is almost negligible. We have not drawn on the sanctioned CapEx facilities as a drawdown in sequence to project milestones. On the build itself, we deployed approximately INR 500 crore of CapEx this quarter, 80% towards the module facility and the balance towards the cell plant, with both programs on the committed timelines. Let me now put the capital plan in a single frame because it is the heart of the overall investment case.
We are building a fully integrated platform at Gangaikondan in three stages. A six -gigawatt module facility, which is fully funded, a nine -gigawatt cell plant, currently in build, and a nine -gigawatt wafer and ingot facility, which received the board approval for increase from six -gigawatt to nine -gigawatt yesterday. We anticipate to deploy roughly INR 4,700 crore of rest of the CapEx in this year. By June 30, the Gangaikondan site will be live end to end. A policy aligned, margin accretive, made in India supply chain from ingot to module. Because of all three stages sit inside a single fence, core location lets us take a large part of the fixed overhead out. One utility base, one shared infra, no transport, and no handling stages. All of it stays inside our capital discipline framework. The committed capital does not breach our leverage guardrails at peak drawdown.
Growth will not come at the cost of balance sheet. Let us be rest assured. The integrated site is a compounding asset. Each stage we bring in house captures margin that currently sits with an external supplier and lowers the delivered cost of the stage below it. That is why we are investing now in the enabling infra, land, power, water, evacuation, ahead of the capacity that sits on it. When the wafer and ingot content made under ALMM firms up and our staggered wafer back DCR demand comes into the mainstream, we intend to be ready to deploy capital on augmenting wafer and ingot capacity quickly at lower incremental cost and in step with the policy. In effect, we are buying that opportunity now and buying it cheaply. We shared a formal outlook for FY 2027 on our 8th May call.
Given the shape of this quarter and the ramp ahead of us, we will revisit that outlook at our H1 results again. Let me leave with you four things to take away. One, pricing power in the non-DCR market is under pressure. Our answer to that is the mix. We are steadily shifting revenue towards the higher margin mid-market and the distribution channels and towards DCR product. The cost pressure is real. It is identified, concentrated in one line and largely transitory. The balance sheet is effectively debt free and the integrated platform we are funding is what converts this year's investment into a structurally lower cost base and compounding returns in the years ahead. We have moved through those cycles earlier. We know the discipline they require. With that, we'll now be happy to take your questions. Thank you.
Thank you. We will now begin with 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 the question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Deepak Purswani from Svan Investment. Please go ahead.
Yes. Hi. Good afternoon to you. Thank you for the opportunity. Firstly, wanted to confirm, what was the spread per watt during this quarter? Secondly, just wanted to understand, if I understand correctly from the cost inflation point of view, 88% of our order book had a cost escalation clause with the clients. What was the reason this was not passed on to the customers? If you can help us understand this and along with this, ALMM has postponed to December. Are we seeing stabilizing in the price now, and what is the current spread at this point of time?
Yeah. Hi, Deepak, and thanks for the question. If I answer the second part first, which is a critical concern for all of us to think about. Yes, our MSS do have the benefit of pass-through, but as we have told earlier and we have clarified during our earlier calls, this pass-through is only for the cell and not for the BOM. Between my as I mentioned, with the transportation and the cost of EVA and the cost of metals going up, the impact of increasing costs has also come in the BOM part, which was not been able to pass very well. Even on the cell front, with lot of oversupply, it was not fairly easy for us to get fully accommodated with the selling prices with the customers.
The increase in cost was not only compensated by the corresponding increase in selling price, hence the fall in margin. If I come back to your question one, it's plain maths to show that the EBITDA of INR 125 crores, over a volume of one gigawatt effectively delivered with INR 1.25/W peak.
Since ALMM has been deferred to December, we understand that now the non-DCR demand is again back into the system. In this context, where we are at current juncture on this spread part? Have we seen any hike in the spread?
As I mentioned, with the policy revisions to get fully streamlined, because the decision of the government on 18th of July to defer the date till 31st of August was not fully in place. Let us wait for one more quarter to see as to how the overall margins on the DCR, non-DCR panel, which will then help us formulate the yearly guidance better.
Okay. Second part of the question is on the order book front. Our current order book is somewhere close to, I think, 8 GW. How much of this is executable in this year? If you can also help us understand in terms of the volume for this year, how we are looking at the current juncture now.
Deepak, again, from the production point of view, as we told, on 30th of June, we have commissioned the Gangaikondan module plant. From capacity point of view, we are fully equipped to deliver 15.5 GW, which effectively can deliver 9 GW - 9.5 GW for the whole year. It will all depend on how the overall market pans out. Obviously, we will not be picking up orders which will have negative margins. We'll be conscious to see as to what the overall volume hits the top line.
Okay. How much is the order executable in this year?
Sorry, Deepak. Can you repeat that for me, please?
Can you please help us understanding, out of this 8 GW order book, how much is executable in this year, in the remaining nine months?
It will depend. Based on the plan, we did have some clarity, but now there are some change in the plans of the customers as well. Allow us one more quarter to have a better clarity on the year as a whole, both on volumes and the pricing front.
Okay. Thirdly, since we started for the DCR market and there has been some contribution on the DCR market this time. If you can help us, whether the spread for our DCR is similar to the non-DCR or it is lower than the DCR at this point of time for us?
Sure. This quarter, as Sameer mentioned, we delivered 76 MW. It's only the ramp-up. We have now started adding more volume to the DCR supplies. Yes, the DCR obviously delivers more than what a non-DCR product would.
Okay. Since we had some 2 GW kind of external arrangement with some third party. In that context, whether this 2GW would be entirely executable in this year and spread would be better than what we have seen at this point of time?
Yes.
Okay. Finally, if you can also help us on the cell line point of view. If you can just update us on the project trend point of view. Are we on track to start the cell line at the end of Q4?
Yes. Sameer here. Yes, we are on track for Q4 for sell-out and commissioning, and then thereafter ramp.
This entire 9 GW would come on stream during Q4?
No, entire 9 GW may not come during the Q4. It may spread over to the next Q1.
Okay. During Q4, what would be the kind of capacity which could come on stream?
The nine- gigawatt capacity will get commissioned during Q4, but the ramping up.
Yeah. Ramping up, from the commissioning point of view, we are on track, right?
Yes. We are on track.
Okay. I have follow-up. I will come in the queue. Thanks for clearing that. Thanks.
Thank you.
Thanks, Deepak.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Praveen Sahay from PL Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Thank you for taking my questions. Some more color on the spread, because in this quarter, we had seen a contraction in the spread as well as we had seen our DCR numbers as a contribution also has increased. You highlighted DCR has a better spread for you compared to the non-DCR. Can you give some more color on that? Because for DCR also you are buying from the outside market, the cell, and those cells we are looking at the companies and they are reporting they are a very high margin. How differentiation in terms of spread or DCR, non-DCR for you, is that big delta is there or just a few percentage point?
Praveen, as you rightly mentioned, yes, the cell manufacturers do retain the most of the margins. For us, the presence in the DCR market is what is important. Maybe I'll repeat, the DCR will deliver and does deliver margins more than what the non-DCR would be. Why we are refraining from giving you an annual number or a guidance for the next quarter or the quarters to come is that Q1 has just seen 75 MW of DCR. Serious volumes will now flow in, which will help us stabilize our EBITDA for working in a better form on the DCR front. Even on the non-DCR, as Sameer mentioned that the spillover of the previous quarter's inventory hit the non-DCR EBITDA for the current quarter. With the war, things now getting settled.
Even on the non-DCR front, we expect some rationalization and clarity on the margins better than what we saw in Q1, at least. Allow me to continue with this for the time being. Maybe in the next quarter, we will be more than keen to help you with better numbers.
Right, sir. One, on the volume side, like last two quarters, Q4 and then now Q1, we had done nearly 1 GW. Also we heard another player call, and they highlighted about the influx of a non-DCR module in the Q1 because of all regulation change. Is there any element to that as well reflected in your number, which is expected to normalize in the coming quarters?
Praveen, for us anyway, the split in the revenue mix was skewed towards the NDCR part this year. Having a C&I, which is 15 GW a year kind of a market, most of their volumes now shifting to non-DCR compared to the earlier estimate of a DCR, would reduce the overall country's consumption of DCR for the year. Earlier estimate was somewhere close to about 2025. Now that number will look closer to about 17, which is our estimate.
I'm just clarifying on the volume side more that, there is a rush of an influx of a non-DCR, and that's led to the very high volume of a 1 GW. Is there any element to that? Will this volume to continue or you expect to, coming quarters with the normalization it will come down?
Praveen, our volume per quarter are a function of the backlog, order backlog that we have, and our module plants are ramping up. We do not anticipate any slowdown in that. The C&I effect is yet to come and yet to be seen in the coming quarters. The country's consumption remains on point. We did 12 GW in the last quarter, it is not a one-off.
Okay. Nice to hear that. Second question is related to order book. Definitely that 7.1 GW is from the large accounts, and it's a mix of a DCR and non-DCR. How you are anticipating, especially the spread in these particular large accounts. Because if there is some big element to that of which is NDCR, Sir has already mentioned that only for the cell cost, there is a cost escalation clause, not for the other things. How you are looking at the spread, especially in the 7.1 GW, because the cost is still on the higher side for the related X of the cell as well.
Praveen, before I start, one factual correction. The 7.1 GW does not include any of the DCR business. As we mentioned, distribution is not part of our order book, and the DCR today is mainly to our distribution. The 7.1 is entirely NDCR from the order book point of view. On margins building point of view, again, as we saw that even if we anticipate or believe some margin to be restored there, it will all depend on how we are able to seriously get the first pass through implemented. As you rightly told that, yes, the country is flooded with 210 GW and there is a lot of oversupply. That is hitting us on the margins to some extent. Again, at the cost of repetition, allow us one more quarter to have better clarity on the margins, both on DCR and NDCR.
Okay, sir. Lastly, on the CapEx side, that is, you highlighted about the INR 4,700 crore for integrated facility. Can you give a timeline, like this year, next year? How much is the CapEx plan for you?
What we can do, Praveen, as we discussed, the year as a whole, we'll be delivering the nine -gigawatt cell line. The six -gigawatt module is fully funded. We will kickstart with lower commitments on the wafer and ingots project to catch the commissioning deadline somewhere in April 2029. As Mr. Mittal explained, we will commission the 7.5 -gigawatt module assembly, plus some contribution going towards the 7.5- gigawatt cell plant also. All going well, this year looks at an investment of about INR 5,000 crore, of which INR 500 crore has already gone, of which we've not taken any debt up till now. We'll start the disbursements somewhere in the end of this month. Major money is coming in from the debt to fund the project.
Okay, INR 500 crore you had already.
Sorry to interrupt. Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Praveen. Could you please rejoin the queue?
Oh, yes.
For any follow-ups?
Sure.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sahil Sheikh from Anand Rathi Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Sir, just a follow-up to the previous question where you said our entire order book is based on a non-DCR order book. I just had a question that, since we are tying up to procure external domestic cells, is that those DCR modules only servicing to your distribution network?
The DCR cells will primarily service distribution network, but some of it will also go towards mid-market in the months going forward.
Currently on the.
If I may add that once our cell line is commissioned or is closer to commissioning, we will start building order book for the large accounts.
Okay, sir. Sir, on the distribution side, in terms of realization, those DCR modules would be booked on the spot price. Am I correct in understanding that?
Yes, that's right.
Okay. Sir, what would be the difference in margin between your distribution segment versus your large account or mid-market segment?
Yeah. Our price realization ranges between INR 1-INR 1.5 better over key accounts or large accounts. That's all I can say right now.
Okay, sir. Thank you. That was helpful.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of [Bala Murali Krishna from Onum Investment Advisors]. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon. From the conversation, margins are hit this quarter. From the conversation, I think in the next quarter in Q2 also, it's unlikely to get the margin back to the 16% range. Is it so? Is it the way to look at the
Sorry to interrupt. Mr. Bala Murali, could you please come closer to the mic, or if you're using a handset, could you please fix it? You're not audible.
Yeah. Is it okay now?
A little louder.
Yeah. From margin point of view, from the conversation, I think getting the previous margin 16% is very unlikely in the Q2 also. Is it the way to look at this one, or do you have any thoughts on that one?
Bala, that will not be a direct conclusion. Yes, even Q2, we will have some hit of this impact of the prices not getting absorbed. As Sameer explained that the focus towards the channel market with more of DCR coming in will help us garner better margins in Q2. Let's wait for 90 more days and hopefully we'll be having a healthy discussion on that day.
Yes. I understand that ALMM-II extension could have caused some issue to the players who are very much strong in the DCR segment. As we are not in the DCR segment till now, and we are mostly purely supplying to non-DCR category. How this would have impacted us very badly as compared to other players, where they have reported only 1% or 2% drop in margins and our margins are almost hit by 50%. Could you please expand a little bit more on that?
The deferment has made the C&I segment active again on non-DCR procurements, that will help us increase the volumes in terms of order book and also get a little better price realization on the non-DCR segment. That will be the positive for us.
I understand that. That's what I also thought. It would be helpful for our organization as we don't have cell facility as of now. It could improve the non-DCR market. This margin front, how it impacted these margins badly to us as compared to other peers? That's been my question.
Bala, if I've understood you properly, you want us to get compared with the peers on the EBITDA margin front. This is nothing but an outcome of the captive cells coming in. With more of our focus presently towards shifting towards the retail channels, which helps us garner more profits, anyway, we don't have the cell till the end of this year.
Okay, understood. Okay, that's confirmed. Thank you.
Thank you. Reminder for all participants, please press star and one to ask a question. Participants who wish to ask a question may press star and one. The next question is from the line of Vishant Shah from Adani Properties Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Hello, am I audible?
Yes, you're audible.
My question is that when can we expect the normal range of EBITDA margin in the upcoming quarters and as compared to the peers, what is our future visibility?
Once our cell line is commissioned, I think the true peer comparison will play out only then. Different players are in different stages of their cell line commissioning, and there are also a lot of current module manufacturers who do not have plans to go into cell line. Any peer comparison at this point of time is very difficult to do.
Okay. What about the EBITDA margin normalcy?
Till our cell line comes up, our EBITDA margins will be determined by the non-DCR business. Once the cell line commissions and as we get into the DCR order book, the margins will show expansion because then it will capture the cell margins also.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Karan Gupta from Asit C Mehta Investment. Please go ahead.
Hello. Am I audible?
Yes, Karan, you're audible.
My question is on the ALMM side. How much is the eligible book size in the industry, which is allowing NDCR? Basically, your C&I and rooftop thing.
If you look at the grandfathered projects which were allowed for non-DCR, the estimate was around 80 GW. Now with the extension of the ALMM-II, the current C&I requirement will also shift to non-DCR. The eligible volume will get topped up.
In overall solar industry projects, what is the percentage of this C&I and your rooftop? That is something that I want to know. The order book, which is coming from the C&I and your rooftop in an overall project.
C&I, as a whole, and that includes the rooftop as well, rooftop C&I as well, is a 15-gigawatt- a -year kind of a market, of which roughly 6 GW-7 GW comes from rooftop and the rest is through open access and ground mounted roof. This compared to your overall country's consumption on an AC level of 45 GW-50 GW. That's the proportion of C&I as a factor of the entire consumption in the country.
Okay. On the cell side, have you worked on the numbers that what is the cost of cell production? Doing backward integration, ultimately your margins will move up and that will be comparable with your peers. Looking at the peers, consuming the cells in-house, whatever the margins right now they have, right? As and when the production of the cell or the facilities or the capacity is increasing, the margins benefit is not coming into the numbers. What's your analysis on that? Also what is the cell price that you are importing from China right now after the rebate they've revoked on their products for their export, what is the imported cell price right now, and what is the domestic cell price?
Let me answer the first part.
See, our cell lines are one of the most modern lines which have been put up. Our cost of manufacturing of cell will be one of the best in India. To that extent, we will get the benefit of margins based on that cell cost. The DCR module pricing is very different from non-DCR, and their margin comes into play because of the pricing impact as well in addition to the cell cost. That's on the DCR side. On the Chinese cell, if I've corrected numbers today are at INR 0.04 on landed price basis.
Sorry. I didn't get that.
Just mentioned the spot price for the Chinese imported cells is INR 0.04. Over that, there is of course, the BCD of 27.5%. That is the procurement cost as of today.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Siddharth from NAFA Capital Advisors. Please go ahead.
Hello there. My set of question is regarding the whole oversupply scenario that's being popped out. There's one set of argument that's being said where the most backward integrated players will be the ones who stand out, and there'll be a supply shortage wherein only the most backward integrated player right from the silicon wafer is who's gonna contribute to the future supply. I just want some light of you on the whole industry scenario that's going on, how it's gonna pan out. Second thing, what is your plans on your backward integration? Do you plan to integrate all the way till polysilicon, where the industry leaders like Waaree and Premier are planning to? Just want to get some light on it. It'll be really helpful.
See, the whole backward integration and Make in India is driven by policy. As policy progresses, we will keep pace with it. At this point of time, our cell line will get commissioned in Q4, as we have said. We will announce next month, groundbreaking for our wafer and ingots capacity, for which board has already given us approval. This will be nine-gigawatt . nine -gigawatt cell, nine -gigawatt wafer ingots, and 15.5 GW of module is where we are at this point of time. As the policy evolves, we will keep pace with the policy. I agree with what you said. Given the way the policy is taking manufacturing in India, those who are not able to backward integrate, that capacity will get consolidated or rationalized. As we go forward, we expect a much smaller capacity to serve Indian market.
By smaller, I mean adequate enough to serve Indian market, but not have very significant overcapacity as we are experiencing today. It's a transition which should get settled over next few quarters.
Understood. that's pretty much and wish you all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Bhagwat from Prosperity Wealth Management Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. You mentioned about the raw material cost improving in terms of EBITDA margins. your outlook on margin for the remaining quarters of the year, are we expecting similar margin of 8% approximately during this Q1 to continue for next three quarters of the year, till the time as our sale line would only come in Q4? also in line with that, if you could comment on the FY 2027 EBITDA guidance of INR 1,500-INR 1,600 that was earlier given.
With whatever I could gather, you are expecting us to give some clarity on the guidance. As I mentioned, let us reconnect again in the middle of this year with more clarity on the DCR pricing, with more of penetration into the distribution market and with the policy framework, which now has allowed non-DCR to get absorbed up till 31st of December. That I think will be a better way of consolidating us the whole year FY 2027.
If I may add, why we are saying that give us time, that we have seen a policy getting implemented and then getting deferred, because the reality of where our cell manufacturing is as a country was very different from what was the expectation. These conversations are still ongoing. There is further discussion going on if any further extension of ALMM-II timelines is required or not. Till those discussions get settled, we do not know how policy framework will work. That is the reason we are little waiting and to get clarity on this topic so that we can make better guidance for you.
Okay. Understood. If the current situation continues, can we expect the similar sort of margin, 8%, or do you expect the margin to go further down also?
This quarter has been impacted, as we said, both by forex, by Middle East war, cost escalations, et cetera. Some of these factors are continuing, some are moving. If there is no change in any of the environment, and competitive intensity remains where it is, we expect it to go down by the way, because of the extension. Margins should broadly trend in this space, but could be get better.
Okay. Thank you so much. Bye-bye.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mohammed Taha Ansari from Taha Capital Management. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon, and thanks for the opportunity. My very first question goes to, in Q1 FY 2027, the total sellable module stands to around 1 GW. In Q4 FY 2026, management has given a guidance for the production of module to reach around 7 GW-8 GW in FY 2027 end. Do we still follow that guidance only or if management will like to slightly change the guidance as per the current scenarios? That's my very first question of mine.
Yes. See, as we have explained, this ALMM-II policy changes have made our customers little tentative in terms of when they want to procure the modules. As I said, there is a grandfather list of projects which will procure non-DCR. They have two issues. One issue is around these policy changes make the prices in the market little more volatile, so they wait and watch. Second is they are facing their own challenges around the infrastructure, clarity, land, evacuation, et cetera, which is making the procurement a little slow. They're all working towards making it as fast as it can go. We are also watching to see how that pans out. Combination of these two factors, we are not updating any guidance at this point of time. We are waiting for clarity to emerge.
Okay. Got it, sir. The second one from my side is, sir, as part of what sales realization as I see in Q1 FY 2027 stands to around, I think INR 15 / W, north to INR 15 /W . That's really good when we compare to the whole financial year 2026. What's the reason for this good sales realization as well as in FY 2027, if you like to give any revenue or sales realization per watt electric, which can stabilize by the end of FY 2027.
Mr. Ansari, this is the realization of INR 15 /W peak for the quarter is a blend of DCR and non-DCR both. Wherein DCR, as you know, has fetched about INR 0.21, INR 0.22+. Going forward, it'll all be as to how the penetration into the distribution market will work out to be to see as to what the overall
Blended ASP for Q2 and the quarters to come would be. I would like to add that we expect our DCR business to grow 2x- 2.5x every quarter. That's the frame we have put together.
Okay. That's really good. Sir, the next one is on the EBITDA side. As we see that in Q1 FY 2027, EBITDA per watt decreased significantly, and you told the reasons for the same, and it's really fine. If you can give some light onto what EBITDA per watt we can achieve by the end of FY 2027 before the cell plant comes and accordingly, what the capacities we have as of now. Hello?
I'm sorry. As we mentioned, you'll have to bear with us for another 90 days for this. Let us have a clarity on overall business.
Okay. For EBITDA per watt by the end of FY 2027, or maybe next quarter, we can get a better idea for the same, I hope.
Yes.
Sir, the very last question from my side is about the cell plant. As you already said that cell plant might be coming by the end of FY 2027. Let's say if the cell plant gets commissioned on time, so what can be the capacity utilization in FY 2028 for the cell plant, if you can tell?
Yeah. Assuming a six months ramp, which is the standard industry practice. For the full year, the entire 90 MW available to us, the utilization that we are targeting is about 40%-50% for the first year, where six months will be spent in ramping up the line.
Okay, great. 40%-50% we can expect for cell plant.
That's for a year. Annual. Right.
For the full year, obviously. Ma'am, the very next thing is, let's say we have a DCR order book of around 2 GW as of now. For the same, we have partnered with one of the domestic player to supply, sell to us for the completion of that order book. I need to understand that, if you can tell what cost per watt or at what cost.
Sorry to interrupt.
Hello?
Sorry to interrupt. Hello. Yes. Could you please get in the queue for any follow-up questions?
Okay, sure. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ritesh Abbi from Kingsman Wealth Fund. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, everybody. My first question was obviously on the margins, which has already been answered by the management. I just want to understand what distinguishes Vikram Solar from peers that may struggle through this downturn, and why are you confident that the company will emerge in a stronger competitive position?
Sure. As we know that first thing is that the policy framework will guide which companies are successful in terms of which companies are able to adapt to the emerging policy framework. If I have to share what are Vikram Solar's key pillars, which we believe will help us succeed in a competitive environment, I will say there are four. One is best-in-class products. We have been in this business for 20 years. We have always been ahead in technology compared to the industry, and we plan to continue that way. Second is the integrated world-class manufacturing. We have already shared our backward integration plan. The module lines we have recently commissioned are all latest and India's best and most efficient, and same will be followed through in cell and wafer as well. Third, I will say, is cost-efficient structure.
We are a very cost-sensitive company, we are making sure that as we expand, the cost efficiencies are kept in mind the way we grow. Fourth, I will say, is a diversified customer base. We have spoken about it during this call. We want to work across spectrum of customer base on large accounts, mid-market, and distribution. I think that mix will help us in both with stable volumes base and better realization. Combination of these four will set Vikram Solar apart from rest of the peers.
Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of [Rishabh Modi from Ajay Aggarwal Family Office]. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, sir. I have only one question. What was the volume of modules we have produced in Q1 FY 2027?
Sorry, Ajay. You have to repeat.
I'm asking, what was the volume of modules that we have produced in Q1 FY 2027?
Production volume.
The production volume for this quarter also has been around 1 GW , 1,085 MW to be exact.
Okay. We have sold 100% of it?
Yeah. We sold.
Very close to that.
Yeah, very close to that.
Okay. Thanks.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Deepak Purswani from Svan Investments. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for the follow-up opportunity. I just wanted to confirm from the ramp-up point of view, as you mentioned, cell line will start from Q4 onwards. If you can also help us understand, have we started taking the orders for this DCR or we will take it at a later stage as and when we progress near to the commissioning of the plant?
Yeah. At this point of time, we are not taking orders for the DCR modules which helps made in our own plants. That process we will start maybe a couple of months from now, depending how the progress on the cell line execution is. Closer to once the cell lines are shipped and post that, we will start taking orders.
Okay. How does your pricing mechanism work in this DCR market there?
The DCR market pricing, depending on the customer segment, is varying. Distribution fetches you the highest margin, highest price, and large accounts which are talking in large volumes, their pricing is different. It's an evolving situation, depending on the policy and the cell capacities coming on stream in India. That's the reason why we are not taking orders at this point of time. We will take a few months from now.
From the price escalation, raw material escalation point of view, how does it close end-to-end there?
Since we are not taking the DCR orders yet, I cannot answer that question. Maybe in the next quarter, I will be able to say something on this topic.
Okay. Finally, if you can also help us understanding overall demand environment across the categories that is utility and then C&I segment as a whole, and then on the retail side, on the PM-KUSUM and PM Surya Ghar Yojana across the category. In the utility, whether the tendering has started picking up or not, what is the kind of annual absorption we are looking at? If you can just give the broad background about each of these categories, that would be really helpful.
Sure, Deepak. All the fresh tendering that has happened after the threshold date of August 2025 has been to the tune of 35 GW-40 GW. They are in different stages. Some tenders have already been submitted. These are tariff tenders that I'm talking about, which will come up for execution 18-24 months hence. The procurement decision for these large tendered quantities will happen in possibly H1 and H2 of fiscal 2028. That's the utility. Utility, we are very confident as a mix of the order backlog, the grandfathered backlog of non-DCR plus the DCR that comes up for execution is a 30 GW-35 GW AC kind of a market as of this year. C&I, like I mentioned, would be 15 GW that crosses across rooftop as well as ground mount.
PM Surya Ghar plus KUSUM combined would be to the tune of 14 GW or 15 GW.
Eventually from the growth perspective, where do we see this retail segment that is PM-KUSUM and Surya Ghar Yojana shaping up over the next two, three-year perspective?
We are still hearing chatter of PM Surya Ghar 2.0, PM-KUSUM 2.0. We will have to see how that plays out. Policy-driven installations are directly linked to what the government outlay is going to be. However, on the other side, on the utility side, there are a lot many levers that have panned out. A lot of states have announced data center policies, UP, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and AP to name a few, which is going to lead to setting up of data centers to the tune of 25 GW-26 GW in the next five years. That directly translates, if you assume 70%-80% of solarization of the load, that is a x 5 multiplier of solar demand that is created.
From the consumption point of view, I don't think we should view Indian market purely basis or the tendering activity that is happening. C&I data center plus green hydrogen combined is going to now anchor Indian demand in the next decade.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you for answering the question. Wish you all the best. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
The next question is from the line of Akshay Mane from Nuvama Wealth Management. Please go ahead.
Hey. I thank you for the opportunity. Just needed one small clarity. We have enhanced our wafer ingot capacity from 6 GW-9 GW. Previously we were talking about 12 GW of wafer ingot capacity. That was in two phases, which is 6 GW and then I think in FY 2029 again 6 GW capacity would come up. Right now, we are increasing the 6 GW-9 GW . Is it part of the same 12 GW, or are we actually increasing the capacity to 9 GW plus 6 GW to 15 GW? Just wanted that clarity.
No, it is part of the same 12 GW. We have just changed the phasing and the resizes for the risk version.
Okay. What will be the total CapEx for the total 12 GW capacity?
Sorry to interrupt. Mr. Akshay, could you be a little louder?
Yeah. Can you just tell me what is the CapEx, the total CapEx that would be required for 12 GW capacity?
As Sameer explained, we have trimmed down the wafer ingots plan originally of 12 GW to 9 GW . We have also kept the cell at 9 GW. For the 9 GW wafer ingot, the project cost will be about INR 5,600 crores.
Thank you. That's all.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sahil Sheikh from Anand Rathi Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Thank you, sir. Sir, I just wanted some clarity on our CapEx plan. Earlier, we were going to commission a nine- gigawatt cell plant by December and 3 GW by March 2027, but now we are commissioning a nine -gigawatt cell line in March 2027. If you can give clarity on when the next phase of the three -gigawatt cell plant would be commissioned.
Our plan for the three -gigawatt was always in FY 2028, not in 2027. That stays.
The three-gigawatt would be commissioned in FY 2028?
Yes. Three -gigawatt, I will explain to you. Three gigawatt we have kept for upgraded technology. Once we have settled down this nine -gigawatt, that is the time when we will start to work on the next phase of three -gigawatt, which will be at next level of technology and not the same TOPCon.
Okay, sir. Sir, if you can also share how the CapEx phasing would be across for our cells, modules, and DES combined over FY 2027, FY 2028, and flow over to FY 2029, if any.
As I explained, for FY 2027, we'll be spending about INR 5,000 crore. We'll see similar numbers in FY 2028 as well. Majorly, this will be backed with debt coming in. Financial closure of which is in process.
Okay, sir. How much level of debt are we expecting to fund this CapEx?
The plans going forward would be at 75/25. With the [ATAS] scheme to be in place, we will end up with a debt equity of 70/30.
Got it, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The last question is from the line of Vishant Shah from Adani Properties Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good results so far. Just wanted to check one thing. If you can just give us wider margin in terms of the DCR versus non-DCR sales in terms of at the EBITA margin.
After the quarter one, hardly you saw any volumes on the DCR front. It was only 75 MW out of 1 GW . We'll see more of DCR coming in Q2 and the quarters to come. With more volumes coming in, that will help us understand the clear segregation of margin for both these products separately.
If you can just guide, s orry.
No, the DCR obviously will deliver more than what the non-DCR module.
Okay. Any sort of wide volumes on a regional basis.
Sorry to interrupt. Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Vishant. Could you please adjust your handset or mic? Your voice is coming out with a lot of disturbance.
Yeah. Is it audible now?
Yes, please go ahead.
Yes.
Just if you can provide a very wide sort of volumes where you feel that the margins can stabilize for both these segments.
Can you please repeat the question?
At what volume you foresee that the margins can stabilize for these two segments in terms of your expectations?
It's not about the volumes, it is about once our cell capacity comes in. The industry is going from non-DCR to DCR over the next couple of years. There is no stable volume of non-DCR and DCR we can predict at this point of time. This is a policy-driven matter.
Thank you.
Thank you. That was the last question for today. I now hand the conference over to the management for closing remarks. Over to you.
I would like to thank everyone for joining us for today's call. We look forward to talking to you again next quarter. Thank you.
On behalf of Go India Advisors, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.