Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Waaree Energies Limited Conference Call hosted by MUFG Intime India Private Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touch-tone phone. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Prathamesh Parab from MUFG Intime India Private Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, [Vikra]. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Q2 FY 2026 Earnings Call for Waaree Energies Limited. From the management, today we have with us, Mr. Amit Paithankar, Whole-Time Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Sonal Shrivastava, Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Abhishek Pareek, Group Head Finance, Mr. Neeraj Vinayak, Vice President, Investor Relations, and Mr. Rohit Wade, General Manager, Investor Relations.
Before we proceed with this call, I would like to give a small disclaimer that this conference call may contain certain forward-looking statements which are based on beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the company as of date. A detailed disclaimer has also been given on the company's investor presentation, which has been uploaded on the stock exchange. I hope you all had a chance to go through the same. Now, I would like to hand over the call to Mr. Amit Paithankar for his opening remarks. Over to you, sir.
Thank you very much. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining us for the Q2 FY 2026 Earnings Call of Waaree Energies Limited. I shall be referring to the presentation that has been uploaded on the stock exchanges yesterday. If you have the presentation handy, it will be helpful to follow the conversation. Let's start with slide number three. Waaree Energies Limited has delivered yet another record-breaking quarterly performance. Our revenue for the quarter has recorded a growth of 70% year-on-year. EBITDA grew 155% and PAT for the quarter grew 134%, setting a strong tone for the fiscal year ahead. Our total module capacity has touched 18.7 GW, and our cell capacity is now fully functional and operational at 5.4 GW, the largest cell manufacturing facility of its kind in India. Our order book continues to be strong at INR 47,000 crore as of September 30th, 2025.
We will talk more about our CapEx program as we move forward in the presentation. We are on track with all of our projects and maintaining a very healthy ROCE and ROE of 41.8% and 34.8%, respectively. Moving to slide number four, which highlights our performance for the quarter, with the highest ever module production of 2.6 GW, o ur cell production for the quarter stood at 0.6 GW. The production is ramping up, and we expect it to further improve in the second half of the year. We already spoke about order book. It stands roughly at 24 GW, of which approximately 60% is overseas and the balance 40% is domestic. Our order pipeline remains healthy at around 100 + GW . The revenue contribution of the domestic market was 53% for the quarter. On slide number six, we talk about demand. This is where our confidence truly stems from.
The demand of solar panels remains exceptionally robust, supported by strong policy tailwinds and accelerating capacity additions both in India and globally. India's solar capacity is projected to more than double, from 127 GW to around 280 GW by 2030. A lot more solar farms and solar projects need to come up to reach that number. The momentum is clearly visible. In H1 2026, India has already added 22 GW of solar capacity. GST cut from 12% to 5% is expected to reduce module and component prices, improving affordability and driving stronger customer demand. Several states are pushing solar adoption aggressively, notably Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, which have announced strong incentives under PM Surya Ghar and PM-KUSUM Yojana.
The regulatory environment continues to be conducive, with initiatives like the extension of ALMM for cells since June 2026 and for ingots and wafers from June 2028, aiming further strengthening India's domestic value chain from ingots to modules and reduce reliance on imports. These measures, along with increased state-level allocation under schemes like PM Surya Ghar and PM-KUSUM Yojana are expected to further boost domestic manufacturing and DCR adoption. All of this taken together augurs extremely well for India businesses. Internationally, the U.S. is also witnessing strong traction, with solar capacity expected to reach nearly 500 GW by 2030, supported by the continuation of 45X tax credits. Demand for data centers in the U.S. is projected to surge from 33 GW- 176 gigawatts by 2035, driven by a rapid expansion of cloud computing infrastructure and AI infrastructure.
This exponential growth will significantly increase electricity consumption, creating a strong opportunity for solar energy, the most cost-effective and scalable source of power, and i It will play a pivotal role in meeting the rise of this demand. Convergence of domestic and global growth factors reaffirm our confidence in the sustained expansion of the solar ecosystem, and Waaree is well- positioned to capitalize on that. Moving to slide number seven, I'm pleased to mention that the board has approved an interim dividend of INR 2 per share, reaffirming our commitment towards rewarding our shareholders. To maximize the industry momentum, we have undertaken several key initiatives this quarter. We have successfully commenced and commercialized an additional 2.75 GW of module manufacturing capacity at our Chikhli facility. Our overall CapEx program continues, with additional INR 8,175 crores approved by our board of directors.
We are augmenting our battery energy storage system capacity from 3.5 GW-hours to 20 GW-hours. The electrolyzer manufacturing capacity is being augmented to 100 MW, and the inverter manufacturing facility from 3 GW to 4 MW. We've also made three strategic acquisitions. Smart meters are going to be extremely important components of renewable value chain, and hence, we have announced a 76% stake in Racemosa Energy India. We have acquired a 64% stake in Kotsons Private Limited, which marks our entry into the world of transformers. Recently, we have acquired solar manufacturing assets of Meyer Burger in the U.S., further strengthening our hold in this market. On slide number eight, we show continuing focus on adjacencies within the solar value chain. Our investments in modules and cells are well established. We are now steadfastly moving towards ingots and wafers.
We already have a strong EPC and O&M presence through our subsidiary, Waaree Renewable Technologies Limited. The energy storage business, as mentioned earlier, is being scaled up and we are actively adding other components of the renewable energy ecosystem. As we build our integrated capability, Waaree is emerging as a comprehensive solutions provider for our customers. Moving to slide number nine, we show an updated view of our present and future capabilities. Our module capacity in India is now 16.1 GW, a 2.8 GW increase over the last quarter. Our U.S. capacity, following the acquisition of Meyer assets, now stands at 2.6 GW. With this, our total module capacity stands at 18.7 GW. We intend to operationalize the remaining module capacity expansion in FY 2026 to take it to 26.7 GW.
Further, by 2027, we intend to scale up our cell capacity to 15.4 GW, and the ingots and wafer facility of 10 GW by 2028. Slide 10 outlines our clients across adjacencies. Battery energy storage system, we said, will now be GW- hour. Inverters will be 4 GW per annum. First 3 GW will be operational within this fiscal, and the remaining 1 GW in the next. 100 MW of green hydrogen capacity is expected to be operational in 2027. We have signed PPAs worth 413 MW and secure,d connectivity of 6.1 GW. All in all, we are making steady progress in the build-out of our broader energy portfolio. Further, on slide 11, we are speaking about new segments. The battery energy storage system industry, which is witnessing remarkable transformation globally and in India, is emerging as one of the fastest-growing industries for us.
With rapid renewable energy expansion, supportive government policies such as the PLI and Viability Gap Funding, and continuous advancements of battery technology, the sector is poised for exponential growth. Global battery storage capacity is expected to grow five-fold by 2030, reaching over 1,800 GW-hour. In India, the government's ambitious plan is set to develop 236 GW-hours of cumulative energy storage by 2032, and that underscores the strategic importance of storage. It is therefore the right time for Waaree to enter this important segment, and hence, we are making an investment of INR 8,000 crores in this area. Slide 13 talks about our corporate social responsibility.
At Waaree, we believe in contributing meaningfully to the society we live in. Our corporate social responsibility initiatives range from educational support, tree plantation drives, and cyclone relief efforts. We have supported schools' educational programs benefiting more than 8,200 students. Our partnership with IIT Bombay will train over 3,000 individuals in deep technology and advanced solar cell technologies, particularly the perovskite technology. Through these initiatives, we are contributing to 13 sustainable development goals as defined by the United Nations.
On slide 14, we can see that Waaree's sustainability remains at our core. We are progressing towards net zero for scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, and scope 3 by 2040 through 100% or 80%, whichever is being allowed by the respective states that we are going to be in for renewable energy sourcing, improved process efficiency, and sustainable supply chain practices. We take pride in being the first Indian module manufacturer to receive EPD certifications. Our efforts have also been recognized globally with a gold medal for EcoVadis Sustainability Rating, reflecting our commitment to minimizing environmental impact and maintaining sustainability standards across our value chain. With that, I now hand over to Sonal.
Thank you, Amit. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to our Q2 H1 FY 2026 Earnings Call. I'm pleased to share that the company has continued its strong growth trajectory, and delivered yet another quarter of stellar performance. Let me now take you through the consolidated performance for the quarter. Revenue for the quarter ended September 2025 stood at INR 6,226 crores, with a growth of an impressive almost 70% versus the previous quarter. We have reported an EBITDA of INR 1,567 crores for this quarter, of course reflecting a very strong growth of 155% year-on-year basis. Our EBITDA margin has also expanded to 25.17% versus almost 17% year-on-year basis. Profit after tax stood at INR 878 crores versus INR 376 crores in the last quarter, year-on-year [crosstalk].
Further, one point that I would like to mention is that, in compliance with the minimum public shareholding norms, Waaree Energies has completed its divestment of about 8.82 [lakh] equity shares of Indosolar through OFS. This has generated a profit of about INR 523 crores, and this has been classified as other equity in the consolidated balance sheet. Now, looking at the H1 numbers, so the first half recorded a revenue of INR 10,823 crores, against INR 7,160 crores last year roughly. EBITDA of course stood at INR 2,735 crores, reflecting another growth of 118%. EBITDA margin also expanded for H1, from 17.5% to about 25%+ , and the reported PAT stood at INR 1,651 crores . Now, I will hand it back to Amit, please.
Thank you very much, Sonal. Great set of numbers. Let's bring it home now. C oming to slide 17, i t's a pleasure for all of us at Waaree Energies Limited to present yet another record-breaking performance. We have recorded the highest ever quarterly production of 2.64 GW. Total income for Q2 has reached a record of INR 6,226 crores. PAT has touched the highest mark of INR 878 crores, and our order book is strong at INR 47,000 crores and that's equivalent to 24 GW. All of our projects are progressing as planned. All in all, ladies and gentlemen, we reaffirm our FY 2026 EBITDA guidance in the range of INR 5,500 crores and INR 6,000 crores. I would like to seize this opportunity also to wish everybody a very happy and a prosperous, and importantly, a safe Diwali. With that, I hand it over back to [crosstalk].
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 touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Ladies and gentlemen, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone telephone. The first question is from the line of Anupam Goswami from SUD Life. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Congratulations on the great numbers. Sir, if you can give a light on how the realization trend has been, given now we are also moving towards [ALMM], how the realization are you seeing right now both from your ALMM module, and a little touch on how it will affect our margins going forward?
Thank you very much, Anupam. I would love for Sonal to address this question.
If you look at the results that we have shown, the margins continue to be stable, and they in fact are increasing versus the trailing quarter as well. As we look forward, it is important to see that we are always managing Waaree at the gross margin level, because the input cost, as you know, also trends in the direction of the prices. When the prices are going up o bviously surely some materials go up over a period of time. Maybe there's a small lag effect, but not really. If it's coming down, we also manage the sourcing in a manner that we would like to maintain our gross margins. On the gross margin level also, if you see the results, it is pretty much stable. In fact, it has increased also versus the trailing quarter. That's how we continue to monitor the margins or manage the margins.
I mean, having good orders and sourcing back to back as much as possible, and also looking at our manufacturing costs. That's point number one. Now, of course, looking at the orders, we in Waaree, we like to maintain our segment mix, which is having retail segment and having the export, as well as the domestic market and EPC. That very much is the goal. However, it can be a little different from quarter to quarter, and you will see the last two quarters, we have been pretty heavy on exports. Normally, it kind of tapers to around 20%, 25% and that's what we would like to keep, a more diversified segment, so that we can manage the profitability accordingly.
Okay. If you can also touch upon our spread on the DCR, non-DCR, and export.
Basically, obviously, DCR has higher margins than the non-DCR, and it is pretty much similar to the margins that we have in, let's say, the export market. What is happening is that we are just growing this segment. It was a pretty small segment because we didn't have our own cells, and now our own cells are ramping up. This segment will grow for us. Certainly, from the normal segment, this segment does enjoy a higher margin. If we look at the normal segment, that's what we have said earlier, j ust to give you a kind of a delta spread, it happens n ormally, I'm just giving you. I f a segment has about 18%- 19% margin, this will typically be another 300+ . That's the kind of spread we get, 300- 350+ basis points .
Okay. [crosstalk], under the supply of the cell capacity that is coming, how do you see these prices and the realization going forward, let's say next year?
Next year, our expectation is that it will trend in a very similar direction as we are today. The demand and supply situation is not going to be dramatically different. The important change that is going to happen is from June 2026 onwards. ALMM for cells will kick in. That will have a positive impact overall on our business.
Okay, thank you so much. I'll turn it back. Thank you.
Thanks. Thanks, Anupam.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Amit [crosstalk] from UBS. Please go ahead.
Hi. I just have two questions. First, can you just help us understand the order book breakup between farm and frame? I just want to understand how much of the order book in export and domestic market is deliverable in 2026 particularly. The second question is more on the cash translations. I think H1 has seen a significant iteration. Is this because of shipments postponed to October? Any clarification on the cash flows? Thank you.
Sure. Amit, thank you very much for your questions. Order book breakup perspective, typically, we are in the zone of 60-40, where 60% is overseas and 40% is India. That's typically our order pipeline. Our sales could not necessarily mimic that. That keeps changing based on, you know, in that particular quarter, which are the customers that we need to service? That changes kind of from quarter to quarter. This quarter, if you see, we were almost 50-50. Almost 53% was domestic, and overseas was about 47%. You know, that's the breakup of the order book.
Can I ask a question? Yeah, pardon me, my question was [crosstalk]
The other interesting part, sorry, Amit, continuing on the same lines, retail is also an important component of our overall breakup, which we have not shown here directly. You know, that's a segment which is actually increasing. The reason why I mentioned that is because it has got a bearing overall also on the profitability, because these are segments. I mean, export segment, retail segment are inherently segments which have slightly better profitability than the rest of the business, and b ecause of GST changes and all of that we will see, that portion of the business also keep going up over the next few quarters, which will also have a positive bearing on the profitability. On the cash translation, I'm requesting Sonal to jump in.
Yeah. The main reason for the cash that you see, you will see the CFS statement, that my inventory has gone up. This is typically because part of my export orders, which I have actually shipped out, it has not reached the customer. I don't recognize that sale, and that's showing up as an inventory in my books. What's going to happen is that it's going to translate into revenues in the coming quarter, and you will then see that bump down eventually. It's a little bump up, which will come down. It's not structural, number one.
Number two, typically in the range, I mean, GIT, what we call goods in transit, typically ranges between INR 300- crores-INR 400 crore, apart from the other inventories I'm talking about. This is finished goods, but this time there's a bump up to almost INR 1,300 crore. You see that will taper out, and you can see that the export is a little heavy in our initial quarter. That's the reason. Nothing structural. It's a phasing issue, and we'll come back to the cash generation.
Yeah. Cash flow, I understand. I can see the inventory. Coming to my first question, let me maybe ask it differently. In INR 248 billion domestic order book and $222 billion export order book, if you can mention the advance that is sitting in the balance sheet, that would be helpful. Thank you.
Yeah. Typically, the advance which is sitting on the balance sheet, roughly is about INR 3,200 crore. It has come down a bit from the last quarter in March as well. What we are seeing is that as we build our order book for the future, again, there are two element. We will be looking to obviously ramp up after all the storm and [ everything] is gone, ramping up the order booking, which we are ready for. We expect more advances to come in. Second, also the retail order which will be there, there's advance and fulfillment. Advance and fulfillment, that's how we will go. That book is also that segment. That book is growing.
Okay. Can I ask one more question, if I may?
Yes, please.
Yeah. If I remove the IRA benefits of $1.6 billion, the quarterly margin is broadly around 21%. I understand cell ramp-up is very, very low right now. U tilization of your cell plant is less than 10%, around 15%, I understand. How do you reference fiscal 2026 cell integration-based profitability? You know, you've given the guidance on EBITDA, but I was more particularly keen to understand for investors' benefit, how should we look at fiscal 2026 EBITDA margin, [excluding] IRA? Any number on the imports of cell in H1 total that we have, or any imports overall in H1 data that you're going to share with us? Thank you.
Just two things. Of course, I will answer your margin question. However, I would not like to exclude the IRA, because the IRA is very much my production and sale-related income that I'm getting. It' s part of my operations. A s the U.S. operation will ramp up, this number will be there continuously for at least 2030, number one. It' s really part of my operations, and it's not a one-off. It's not that I have it this time and I won't have it next time. It' s important to look at all my subsidiaries when they start to ramp up. I need to look at the overall profitability because my operations are in the U.S., it's in India. In India, my new subsidiary will also start. I would like to look at the solar operation in totality as of now, pending when other businesses ramp up.
That's point number one. Now, when we look at the margins per se, you're very right. As the cell ramp-up happens and my own internal cell ramp-up happens, which we are expecting in H2, the whole segment will be focused on the DCR segment, which is a domestic segment. That of course will give a fill-up to my margins surely. In the first two quarters, we were stabilizing, and the next H2 is where the big ramp-up will play out.
The last part on the margins, which I also want to say, is that you've seen a little bump up in my SG&A, the other costs that you see. That is also a little kind of a phasing issue or whatever you want to call it, because of exports, there's an element of duty which is there. As my mix changes, that also will come down to the normal margin that I have, which is about 6%-6.5%. Overall, very positive outlook that we have to maintain our margin.
Sure. Thank you very much, Amit.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of [Pashkar Chakraborty from Jasarees]. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much. This is a renewal mix of second quarter. Like you said, 47% was contributed by the overseas order book. How is it looking for the second half of fiscal 2026?
Quarter- on- quarter, so quarter three could be sort of similar. Like I said, an important difference will be the retail section bump up, and so that will kind of shift the numbers a little bit, more skewed towards domestic. I would say it would kind of be range-bound in this area, maybe ± 5%, 10% at the most. These trends will continue over the next couple of quarters. It will certainly in Q3 for sure.
Okay. You don't have visibility on four Q yet?
Q4, again, I mean, very difficult to predict at this point in time. You know, our business, what happens is that really a lot depends on the readiness of our customers. We have a robust order book, but the customers need to be ready with their premises, with their readiness to take the material. It kind of gets into the whole planning phase of, which are the customers that need the material at that point in time? Difficult to predict in exactitude, how much will it be? G eneral trends will be similar.
Understood. This 45X benefits that you have recorded, is that already received or do you have a confirmation that you will receive this?
We [crosstalk] have firm customers for this, and therefore, yes, we know that we will receive it.
Okay. Can you [show] any light on this ABCVD investigation about your, you know, cells that you might have used, which they are claiming that you have used from business sources, which are supposed to have been duty by the U.S., etc. or i s that something you cannot comment on right now?
What I can say is that, I definitely confirm that the probe is on. Now, it's early days for the probe, so we really don't know in which direction and what manner will it proceed? I think we will have to wait and watch from that perspective. The one important part there is, whatever is being asked of us, we are furnishing it forthwith. We want to make sure that we are abiding by all the rules, regulations, and laws that are governing in the United States, as far as these aspects are concerned.
Today, when you are supplying your U.S. order book, are you on sales to the U.S. to make those modules, to have a clear non-China or whatever supply chain?
Our supply chain is being configured in such a way that it is in complete alignment, first of all, with the prevailing laws and rules, which include FEOC conditions, e ntity of concern is what the United States calls it. Our supply chain has to be free of all of those, which we have ensured, number one. Number two, we have also configured it in such a way that the tariff problems associated with that are the lowest.
Okay, great. I mean, you didn't tell me whether you are using your own domestic cells for your U.S. modules.
At this point in time, no. [Pashkar], no. At this point in time, no. My apologies. At this point in time, no, we are not using our own domestic manufactured cells for the United States, because that would attract tariffs much higher than if we source it from some other country. We are not using India cells for that.
Understood. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ketan Jain from Avendus Spark. Please go ahead.
Yes. Good morning, sir. Thank you. Just to follow up on the question asked by the previous participant on the U.S.A. exports, I wanted to check, how are we currently catering to the U.S.A. order book? Is it from the [plant] from India or is it from the U.S.A. facility? As you mentioned, that there is a tariff impact, is that passed on to the customer or how is it?
Right. Two parts to your question. How do we cater? As you might have seen and also heard me in the front part of this earnings call, we are shoring up our manufacturing facilities in the U.S., and so more and more of U.S. demand will eventually be catered to from our facilities in the U.S. Having said that, there is a fair mix at this stage. A fair bit of U.S. orders are fulfilled from India, and a reasonable number is also catered from the U.S. That's the sort of way in which we are going about that. Your second question, just remind me, what was the question around?
The tariff, maybe if you're shipping.
Yeah, the tariff.
Who pays the tariff? Yeah.
Yeah, the tariff. First of all, we try to minimize the tariff because you know, if you buy cells from specific geographies, you are actually able to limit the amount of tariff that you need to pay. Who pays the tariff? Typically, it is a negotiation between us and the customers. In many cases, there are change of law clauses. In many cases, you know it's a matter of negotiation. Again, at the end of the day, we would like to make sure that we fulfill the requirements of our customers, at the same time meet our EBITDA numbers. That's the way we are going about fulfilling these promises.
Understood. The next question I had was on the domestic order book or the domestic sales mix. If you could provide the split of domestic order book into retail, IPPs, CNI into these segments.
I'll give you a very, very broad spread. About 19%- 20% is retail, and the rest is large institutional customers, roughly.
This is of the domestic, right?
This is sales, not order book.
Okay, so of the domestic sales, right?
Of the domestic sales, but t hat's directional. We normally don't declare those numbers, but that's directionally what it is.
Just to add on here, in the order book, you will not see the retail orders, right? R etail is cash and carry in the sense like I take the advance, I fulfill. I include that in my order book. As you can imagine, that is also a significant segment because now it's almost 20%+ for me, 20%+ of my revenue. Part of my revenue will never be in my order book. Is it clear?
Understood.
It's a big number.
Understood. Just one last question. Currently in India, average realizations for a non-DCR module is around $0.16- $0.17. How does this compare to a module made in the U.S. facility, the realizations and cost on an average?
In the U.S., typically, we have about anything between $0.28- $0.30. That's the range which is ongoing.
That is manufactured in the U.S., 20-30 U.S. orders?
Yes. U.S. orders. Actually, it's a little bit both sides, but yeah.
Yeah, realization in the U.S. is generally in the region of around 26- 30.
Is the cost also higher than India or compared to India, h ow much would be the cost?
The cost of course tends to be higher. That's why, you know, overall realization is also higher, but the profitability of that segment is pretty high.
Understood. Thank you. I'll go back to the queue .
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management will be able to address questions from all the participants in the conference, kindly limit your question to two per participant. Should you have a follow-up question, please rejoin the queue. The next question is from the line of Akash Mehta from Canara HSBC Life. Please go ahead. Akash, your line is unmuted. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. I just wanted to, in terms of the overall supplies that have been happening or that should come up over the probably next one or two years in terms of modules and n ow ALCM is also in place. Given the announcements that have come up in terms of even the cell manufacturing, how do you see the overall demand supply space, at least in the domestic markets, let's say after the next couple of years, given that the demand will be broadly around 40 GW- 45 GW range and the supply even on the cell front would probably cross that? How are you looking at the export markets? Anything that you all would be probably exploring outside the U.S., maybe in some other markets? L ike one of three competitors has entered into its testing space in some other country, so p robably you are looking at something like that?
Akash, thank you for your questions. The first one relates to, you know, what is the demand- supply situation evolving in India? I think the first thing that we need to understand, and when we put all of these numbers in place, there is a DC capacity and then there is an AC capacity, and what we need to provide to go to the grid. That has about anywhere between 1.3x- 1.4x difference. Let's say I need to add 40 GW on the grid, i t actually translates to around 60 GW- 65 GW of solar panels. When you convert it into, let us say, capacity utilization of a typical plant, you have to add another factor of somewhere around 15%- 20%. You are already hovering around from a module perspective, a demand translated into capacity terms, around 70-odd, 75 odd GW. That's number one.
Number two, in the out years, if you consider 237 odd GW of solar that we need to deploy by 2030, the demand is actually going up. In the out years, you will see that it is actually going to go to 50, 60, maybe even higher in terms of gigawatts. What is not factored in there is the potential rise which will be caused because of two factors. One is data centers, and the other one is green hydrogen. That is going to add to the demand further. If we look into the crystal ball, the demand is actually going to be much higher than what we see at this point in time. That's the demand side. Now, on the supply side, most of these projects will demand cells, which are made in India, and increasingly ingots and wafers, which are also made in India, right?
The market dynamics is going to be completely altered. The companies which are more and more backward integrated will have the highest chance of success as we move forward, because as a nation, we are moving towards Atmanirbharta. That is the first part. From our exports, the second question that you asked was on exports, and are we looking at other geographies? The answer to that is an absolutely emphatic yes.
We closely are looking at the geopolitical developments and areas where India is going to go and sign FTAs with, whether it's the European Union, it's Great Britain, Australia, the GCC countries in the Gulf area, Africa. All of these potentially are areas where we are having a close eye on. Waaree Energies Limited as a parent solar company in particular, as well as the Waaree Renewable Technologies, where we are looking at Middle East as a potential market, t he answer to that question is yes. We would definitely like to globally expand our reach.
Sure, I think that's helpful. Any progress or anything that you can share in terms of other geographies, or it's still a way like, I mean, in terms of maybe probably in 2026 or 2027, or any progress has been made [crosstalk] .
Ye,ah. Akash, it's going to take time. That thing is going to take a little more time. No sooner there is any change in that, we will be very, very happy to come and talk to you about it.
Sure, o kay. Those were the questions from my side. Thanks a lot, y eah.
My pleasure. Thank you very much, Akash.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Subramaniam Yadav from SBI Life Insurance. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Sir, if you can give us a detail of exports, how much have we sent from India, and what was the production in the U.S. module?
Yeah. W e are just quickly looking at the numbers here. I would say directionally, just give me a second here. We're trying to get the numbers here. I think, Mr. Subramaniam, we will get back to you with the exact. I'm seeing some set of numbers here, but we will get back to you with the exact numbers for this.
Okay. Sir, a second thing.
I would like to just tell you broadly, you know, that mix honestly does not matter a whole lot to us from a business perspective. I think that's the very important part. You know, whether we manufacture in the U.S. for U.S. market, or whether we manufacture for India for the U.S. market, our broad numbers don't really majorly change.
Okay. Sir, what I understand is that the higher other expenses this time around were largely related to the increase in the exports. Is it that we have paid a higher duty, and that has gone out of our pocket and that would continue in next quarter also?
Yeah. The duties that we have to pay, I mean, the timing of the duty may change, but the quantity of duty will not change. The amount will not change as a percentage of sales. The timing may change, which means that we may have to pay the duty earlier, but the gross numbers and amounts will not change.
You mean to say next quarter, the other expenses would be lower in that case?
Yeah. Sonal here. Just what I want to say is that, of course you have seen a bump up in that number in this quarter. Yes, you're absolutely right, i t's driven by the export. Whatever duty element is there, as per our contracts, we pass it on. That's what we have done, and we'll continue to do that. You will see also the realization bumps up and then the duty cost also bumps up. We see that in tandem. Obviously, you know, that will play out till we have exports. However, the way Waaree looks at it is that, you know, I have U.S. plants and I have my India plants. I will always play with the mix, depending on how I'm able to maximize my bottom line.
Okay.Also, i f you can guide us how the margin would be looking ahead in H2, because our cell capacity is also coming up, so the realization that we are currently getting would be a slight bump up in the next two quarters?
Really, I cannot comment on the margins on what will happen in H2. T hat's really forward-looking. Two, three things I can give you. EBITDA, what will happen is the impact on my EBITDA is, my cell is going to ramp up. That benefit will flow in. My retail is expanding, so t hat benefit will flow in. I have my U.S. operations ramping up, so t hat benefit will flow in. We are very, very much on track with our EBITDA forecast that we have given out, and i t will be between INR 5,500 crores and INR 6,000 crores.
Mr. Subramanyam, the North Star for us is the EBITDA guidance. We want to make sure that we land between INR 5,500 crores and INR 6,000 crores. That's our North Star.
Okay, t hank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Naman Jain from Kotak Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
[crosstalk] Hello.
Yes, you are audible. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Actually, I wanted to understand the plan on BESS, because we'll be investing nearly INR 10,000 crore on the facility, right? What all are we looking at? I n FY 2027, we expect to do 3.5 GW- hours. Have we already finalized our technological partner? There must be someone we must be collaborating with to manufacture cells in India. Number two, will we be setting up assembly plants first and then move on to cell manufacturing? If you can just elaborate on your BESS investment and the potential timeline, that would be useful.
Yeah. I'll give you a broad overview for that. Yes, the first phase is 3.5 GW- hour. We will be starting with assembly first, but cells will follow in quick succession. The manufacturing plant is already being erected as we speak. In 2027, actually both the phases, the packs as well as the cells in close succession will be seen. I would like to hand it over also to Abhishek, to maybe add a little more color on that.
Thank you, Amit. Hi, Naman.
Hi, Abhishek.
Amit has rightly mentioned that the first phase is 3.5 GW-hours, for which construction is already underway. In fact, in our presentation also, we are trying to capture some glimpse of it, so that you can actually see what's being built now. Phase one, as anticipated, is expected that within the next financial year, there's commercial production. Similarly, the next phase of it is expected in over the next 12 months of time from the first commercial operation.
By FY 2028, both the phases should be live and have commercial production from the factories. This includes pack line as well as the cell line. The India [crosstalk] to start whatever is possible. I think the best line takes a few different times. Maybe the best line starts in the beginning of the time. Cell may also start for these. We treat it as one timeline for both the phases. Like for phase one, if it is, let's say next year, it would include both the pack line as well as the cell line. Similarly, this for the phase two.
Got it. Thanks, Abhishek. Secondly, see, I understand BESS is going to play out similarly to the way module and the whole supply chain s are. Do you expect some sort of, you know, policy coming in BESS soon, like ALMM?
Yeah. Naman, you are absolutely right. I think again, I don't want to speak on behalf of the government, but at the same time, I can tell you some of the discussions and dialogues that are going on in the industry. S olar has been a template for the country. How do you move in the path of atmanirbharta or self-reliance, right? A very similar template is being thought about for battery energy storage systems, which includes PLI, which includes Vability Gap Funding, which includes all the other aspects like tariff and non-tariff barrier. In close, quick succession, we will be seeing these coming up as well.
Understood. Last question, a re we moving towards more of an integrated manufacturing plus IPP model? I see PPAs signed for 413 MW. Plus, we are acquiring NL also. Are we also moving towards that bit [CapEx] heavy business? Yeah.
Naman, we as Waaree, would want to be an integrated renewable energy play, all the way to manufacturing most of the important components required in that chain, all the way to deploying connectivity and power. The answer to that question is yes.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Aritra Banerjee from Nomura. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Thank you for taking my question, and congratulations on another fantastic quarter. I just wanted an update regarding the PLI, CapEx, and what is the sort of PLI incentives that we're baking in for FY 2027 and for FY 2026? I f you could give a flavor on that.
All our PLI projects are actually moving pretty well. Overall, you know, so PLI, we have actually won for 6 GW of ingots, wafer cells, and modules. You must have seen that we have actually upped our capacity from 6 GW- 10 GW for ingots and wafers as well as for cells. Those projects are moving right on schedule and on time for cells 2027, and for ingots and wafers 2028 completion. They are moving well on time. We typically don't bake in PLI in our overall plans. It's going to be a cherry on the top as we move forward.
Understood. On the overall CapEx funds, you said you have announced a INR 25,000 crore CapEx plans. For FY 2026 or 2028, could you give the rough breakup of the annual CapEx that we'll be incurring each year?
Directionally, I can tell you that it will be more back-end loaded than front-end loaded. In the current fiscal, two quarters remain. Time moves very fast. Suddenly, a month is almost gone. Two quarters more or less remain, and we will see that there will be some CapEx spent, but the heavy Capex expenditure is actually going to be next fiscal.
Got it. One last question, w ith all this new business that we're entering into, like the BESS and other similar avenues that we are venturing into, so by when can we expect a material revenue contribution from these new verticals going forward? Will it be beyond FY 2028, or will we see some amount of contribution starting from FY 2028 itself?
Basically, as you've seen, every quarter you see we come up with the completion of the CapEx that we have undertaken over the last two years. This should continue for the next few quarters, be it solar, be it our energy storage manufacturing line, and the inverters or transformers. The overall CapEx, broadly INR 25,000 crores to be spent over the next 24 months time, will give you enough headway, that every quarter, you foresee some new commissioning happening.
The actual benefit, if you ask me, on the announced CapEx, since the last leg of CapEx is getting completed in FY 2028, so FY 2028 onwards, you will see the complete benefit of the announced CapExes so far. Certainly, quarter- on- quarter, you will see the previous CapEx getting closed out and benefits start coming in the financial chains. There will be progressive developments.
Understood, t hanks. That was very helpful. All the best for the coming quarters. I'll go back in the queue.
Thank you very much, Aritra.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Akshay Mane from Nuvama Wealth Management. Please go ahead.
Hi. I just have one question. Basically, we had previously announced our CapEx of around INR 15,000 crore over a two to three-year period, right? Now with this additional Capex being announced on the expanded capacities for BESS, inverters, as well as electrolyzer manufacturing, how should we look at the overall CapEx for the next two to three years? If possible, can you break it down by yearly? I mean, what would be the CapEx for FY 2026, FY 2027, and FY 2028? That would be really helpful.
Yeah. I will kind of give a broad color to it, and then I'll hand it over to Abhishek here to take you through some of the details. Like I said to Aritra, the CapEx spends will start getting more and more intense next fiscal year onwards. The next fiscal and the year after that, is where the bulk of the CapEx will be spent. In terms of the details, you know, we may not be in a position to give you the exact numbers, but broadly, that's what the mix is going to be. Abhishek, you would like to add some more color to it?
Yeah. Basically, like current FY 2026, if you see our balance sheet numbers you have from March 2025 to September 2025, you'll see there's an announcement on the overall gross assets that we have. There's a substantial asset on the CBP as well. If you had to broadly break the CapEx over the next two years of time, you can expect around 10%- 15% happening this year and 10%- 15% over the next two quarters. Around significant 50% of the CapEx is expected in FY 2027, and balance will lie down in FY 2028. That's how you can expect the CapEx outflow to happen. As far as the overall support on the CapEx side, you see a substantial amount of cash lying in the balance sheet even today. The earnings that we are forecasting should add up to that to be able to do the entire CapEx.
Also, as you know, our balance sheet discloses a few borrowings that we have taken from the bank, but the drawdown has not happened. That should also enable and fuel our overall Capex outflow, because we already always try to do the financial closures much ahead of the CapEx that we do. The incremental CapEx along with the earnings forecasted, should be helping us to chalk out the plan that we just mentioned to you in a very steadfast way [crosstalk].
Okay. Thank you so much. That was helpful. That is all from my side. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Akshay.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Deepak Krishnan from Kotak Bank. Please go ahead.
Hi, team. Am I audible?
Yes, you are audible. Please go ahead.
Yeah . Just maybe one follow-up on the INR 162 crores. If I take $0.07 and you take an effective conversion rate, this translates to roughly 300 MW. Is that like the first nine-month production that we've sort of booked this quarter? Just the thought process of, if I look at First Solar, you know, they book the discounted amount. Essentially, you know, if it's 100% tax credit based on whatever transferred, 90%- 95% is booked as other income in their number. Should I take this INR 162 crores as that discounted value that you will sort of, you know, get when you sort of transfer the tax credit? Is that understanding correct?
Yeah. Actually, that INR 162 crores corresponds to 90%. We booked 90%, not 100%, and so the expenses are also accounted for in that sense, so w hatever expense we will have for that selling of that credit, number one. Number two, yes, the megawatts, you can calculate backwards because it's really not only for the last six months, but some small spillover we've had from last year because last year, also we can count that production. It's very small in amount. As we now go ahead, each of what we produce and ship out will be eligible for that 90% of the $0.07.
Sure. Maybe just on your inverter expansion, given that the minister himself has announced an ALMM policy for inverters, how does this policy sort of work [crosstalk]? In terms of integration, what are we doing? Are we doing for several assembly-level integration, or will we get into manufacturing of inverter components? Secondly, just on your views on the ALMM for ingot, wafer, the timelines of June or FY 2028 essentially, or calendar year 2028, what do we think in terms of, how should we [complete that] ? Would it be 15 GW ? Maybe just thoughts on these two areas specifically.
Sure. No, Deepak, these are all deep questions and very important questions for us from a strategy perspective. Inverter, it's one of those very, very key components in the value chain. The reason why it's very important, is because that's where you collect most of the data and that's where you can control things. For instance, if I have access to an inverter, I can actually switch on or switch off power to anybody's house. I will know exactly what the consumption patterns are. Those become very, very important elements in the value chain where Atmanirbharta is extremely important or self-reliance is extremely important.
All the initiatives by the government around ALMM for inverters are geared towards that. Having that data within the country, generated within the country, kept within the country and controls are also within the country. From a cybersecurity perspective also, it's an important element. That's the reason why, pretty much like the solar chain, we will see for inverters also, that will continue. Your question on what level of manufacturing we will be getting into, it is going to be well beyond assembly. We are actually having proper electronic manufacturing e quipment, you know, again, clean rooms that are required for doing that. It's not just assembly. It is actually a proper assembly of components and related manufacturing. It's serious manufacturing that we are getting into.
Sure. You referred to the policy and the timelines over there. Maybe just to [crosstalk].
Yeah. I think, Deepak, that's really where it's extremely important for us to be a part of the broader value chain, because the direction is very clear. In two to three years' time, you know, the manufacturers that have ingots and wafers facility are the guys who will be, so to say, ruling the roost. The reason for that is they have a full value chain, and are able to participate in 9,500% of the business that the country has to offer.
If you don't have ingots and wafers manufacturing at that stage, you may or may not be in a position to actually be a part of the overall project's mix that the country has to offer. Therefore, yes, we would be definitely one of the top guys who would be reverse integrated to ingots and wafers, and are fully participating in all the potential business that the country has to offer.
Sure. Maybe just one final question from my end. On Meyer Burger, I see the Chapter 11 trade bankruptcy sale was done at $29 million, where we have paid $18 million for module and the other companies paid $11 million for cell. A ny reason why module has been higher, and any reason we didn't go for the cell, given that it would give us access to HJT?
I'm requesting Abhishek to comment on that.
Deepak, I think the numbers that you have mentioned for Waaree, like around $18 million that they have paid it for, you know, it includes the entire manufacturing facility, a s well as some good amount of inventories of sales as well. Ours does not only include the manufacturing facility, but along with it, the reasonable amount of quantity of sales as well.
Sure. Any reason we didn't take up the sale HJT cell line? It was available for $11 million.
No, so the amount that you see largely is for the inventories of sale, not the cell line.
Sure, o kay. Yeah , those are all my questions. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Deepak.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Balas ubramanian from Arihant Capital. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, sir. Thank you so much for the opportunities. You have made several strategic acquisitions like Kotson, Racemosa, Meyer Burger, and how are we going to integrate to achieve faster ROI targets compared to organic builds? Secondly, INR 25,000 crore CapEx plan is only for greenfield CapEx, or it's included these acquisitions funds also?
No. Your first question is how to integrate. I think these are all adjacencies. From a business perspective, all of these businesses have a big customer. That is a big internal Waaree as a customer. That's where the synergies immediately play out, and that's where the alignment also immediately plays out. In terms of whether our INR 25,000 crore CapEx includes these, the answer to that is no. That is over and above.
Okay, sir. Sr, th e U.S. facility is completely booked. What is the margin difference between India chapter models and those manufactured in the U.S.? The models manufactured in the U.S., its entire value chain is from the U.S. only, or are we sourcing from other countries? You have mentioned, we are not supplying from India.
Let me broadly give you an answer to the margins. I'm going to let Sonal talk about that. From an overall supply chain, we source cells from all across the world for the U.S. facilities, which first of all pass the test of U.S. law. There are FEOC requirements which we need to take care of, right? Supply chain is aligned in that manner, number one. Number two, I don't know if I made it very clear, but we do manufacture panels for the U.S. from India, as well as from the U.S.
In terms of margins, I would like to defer to an important statement. The way we manage it is, we manage it to our North Star or EBITDA, INR 5,500 crores- INR 6,000 crores, and t hat's how we would like to deal with it. From an exact, whether I want to do it here or I want to do it there, there are many reasons why we would, let's say manufacture in the U.S. for some customers and there will be reasons why we would like to do it in India. At the end of the day, margin will be an important determinant of that.
Actually, may I ask a small question, o ne more?
Yes.
Sorry to interrupt, Balas ubramanian. There is a disturbance from your line.
Okay, madam. Sir, I think ALMM is being effected from June 2026. I think we have the first mover advantage with the 5.4 GW of cell capacities. If you could share what kind of addressable domestic market we can be able to do that, and what kind of market share we can be able to target over the next two to three years' time frame, h ow will this impact our blended model margins?
Great question, Mr. Balas ubramanian. Yes, it's a pretty large addressable market, because the whole PM Surya Ghar as a market, I would say has just begun. Last year, it was 3 GW, t his year, 10 GW, n ext year, probably much more than that. Our attempt is to capture a fairly large element of that. I don't want to put an exact number to it, but it would be safe to say that I would like to be somewhere between 25% and 30% of the market share for that, so a fairly large component. All the major government contracts, all the major contracts under PM- KUSUM under PM Surya Ghar will necessarily need to have DCR sales. Since most of the value chain would be Indian value chain, we will see that the margins in that segment will be healthy.
Got it, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of [Harshmithra] from Bernstein. Please go ahead.
Hi, am I audible?
Yes.
You are audible.
Hi. Thank you for taking my question. Congrats on the great set of results. I just have two questions. The first is for the U.S. Could you share anything on the status of the anti-dumping investigation on India? The second is for the India market. What are the market price and trends you see in the DCR versus non-DCR market? Those are my two questions. Thank you.
Sure. Thank you very much, Harsh. I did talk about both of these in some earlier discussions, but I will definitely repeat it. From an ADD perspective, the probe has just begun, and so it'll be incorrect. Oh, you mean in ADD for sales in India, i s that what you meant?
Yeah.
ADD for sales for India market? Is that what you meant?
[crosstalk] anti-dumping for U.S. investigation, so the one you commented on , I want the U.S. investigation [crosstalk].
Got it. Yeah, that probe by CBP has just begun, and so i t'll be incorrect for us to really comment on potential likely outcomes. Our internal review suggests that we may not be facing a whole host of liabilities as far as that is concerned. It's best that we wait,, and understand as the ADD investigation goes ahead. W hat was the second one, the price trends that you asked for, correct?
Yes.
Yeah. Pricing in India, I would say, the number of module manufacturers are increasing, but at the same time, the number of cell manufacturers is also increasing. The good part is that the addressable market is also going up from a DCR perspective. All in all, I would say pricing will keep changing. I think it might go down a little bit as manufacturers get better and better in their efficiencies and their own costs kind of go down. From a margin perspective, I think we will continue to be in the similar range as what we are at this point in time.
Okay. T he same for the non-DCR, w ill the margins remain the same?
Yes, absolutely , in the similar range.
Okay. Yeah, t hose are all my questions. Thank you so much. All the best for the next quarter.
Thanks, Harsh and thanks for the compliments.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Arun Kailasan from Geojit Investments Limited. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, Dr. Amit and Sonal. Thank you for taking my call. I just wanted to get into those numbers of module production and cell production once again. I see that there is 0.6 GW of cell production, and it was clarified that the cell production wasn't really for the U.S. modules per se. Is it safe to assume that this 0.6 GW is purely for DCR market here in India?
Yes. All the cells manufactured in India are primarily for the DCR market in India.
Okay. On a profitability basis, if you look at it, the Indian DCR modules would be far more profitable than in comparison with the U.S. ones. Am I right to assume that?
They're profitable. I would not go so far and say that profitability is higher in India. I would not say that.
Okay. It might be depending on which client you are probably [facing], right?
That's exactly right.
Okay, t hanks. Now that we are planning to go backward, integrate, what is the kind of margin expansion that you'd be really happy with when you target this backward integration journey that you're doing? I just wanted to know, what kind of expansion are we targeting?
Yeah, I'm just requesting Sonal to talk a little bit about margin expansion that we are baking in.
Typically, I think I've said it in many earlier calls as well. On a long-term basis, if you want to just look at long-term basis, the margins on module have ranged between 18%- 19%, just the normal modules. With the advent of cell, so that's going backward and of course means a little bit more CapEx than what you would put in a module. The margin should bump up between 300 basis points- 350 basis points. Overall, on a sustained basis, and of course you can play with a mix of exports and retail, etc., so anything between 22%- 25% is a good margin to look at on the backward integration as well. That's what we really want to maintain at around more like 22%, 24%, around 24%, 25%, yeah.
All right. Now, coming to my second question. U sually, there is a nameplate capacity and there is a new capacity that you're effectively able to utilize. What percentage of this particular nameplate capacity would be safe to assume that going forward, that would be the effective capacity?
A thumb rule for that, for modules, it is going to be in the region of 80%- 85%. For cells, it will be say, 85%- 90%, t humb rule.
Okay, o f the effective capacity.
Nameplate capacity.
Nameplate capacity, a ll right. If I look at it, right now TOPCon is the cell technology that is pretty much prevalent in the market. We are also seeing that this XBC and HJT technologies are also slowly gaining market share. Do we have any plans to get into those technologies going ahead? You know [crosstalk].
We already are in HJT. We have actually supplied several of these HJT modules. The Meyer Burger facility that we have actually acquired in the U.S. is an HJT facility. We are already there, as far as that is concerned. Our production line is fairly flexible to take different kinds of technologies as well. From a sales perspective, we definitely constantly keep evaluating all technologies. We know that what exists today, in three years' time, is going to change. We have been very nimble in adapting to get to the next new, more efficient technology as it comes and sees the light of the day. We're also, by the way, actively investing in research in some of these domains, so that we are ahead of the curve.
Understood. That'll be all from my side, sir. Thank you for taking the call, and all the best.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Chirag Shah from White Pine. Please go ahead.
Thank you for this opportunity, and congratulations for the set of numbers and an aggressive CapEx plan on BESS in general. I have a slightly different question. It's more from the corporate structure. Now that you have acquired a lot of companies or created a lot of separate companies, and of which two of the companies are listed, two of the subsidiaries are listed, can you just indicate, in one of which is, in a sense, making modules, which is what even Waaree does, [Amazon] or Indosolar?
Can you just talk about over long term, how you're thinking, especially where a business is doing similar things that Waaree is doing? For example, Indosolar, are you looking to merge it with yourself or is it its own growth plan? It's a very small capacity in overall scheme of things, and so is the case with many of the subsidiaries on a related basis.
Chirag, great question. You know, for any organization which is growing at the pace at which we are growing, we will have subsidiaries and step-down subsidiaries which get created. Over a period of time, we might actually think of consolidating some of them as well. At this point in time, predicting how it is going to be would not be a good thing to do. I think internally, those discussions will continue to keep going on. Whenever there are concrete decisions made, we will come back to you and we will talk about it.
Thank you. Just one thing, if you would like to talk about the module expansion in Indosolar that we are looking at or what we are looking at Indosolar as such, a fter the acquisition that you have made over there?
Yes, t hank you for the question. Sonal here. I think Indosolar is a great opportunity for us. Right now, what we are totally focusing on is how to ramp up the capacity. A lot of ramp-up left. Second is, as you know, it is located in a market where it can easily access retail sales. It's almost in the market plan for us. We are right now focusing on optimizing the operations and increasing the profitability. Any subsequent [back], like Amit said, we will come back.
Would you like to call out, what is the utilization currently?
Utilization of the facility is in the region of around 75%.
Of Indosolar. Okay, great. That's it. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nidhi Shah from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead. Nidhi, your line is unmuted. Please go ahead with your question. Nidhi Shah, your line is unmuted. Please proceed ahead with your question.
Do you want to take the next question and perhaps get back to Nidhi afterwards?
Sure, sir. As there is no response from the participant, we'll take the next participant. The next question is from the line of [Karan Saval from Nibshiver]. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hope I'm audible.
Yeah.
Yeah, you are. Please go ahead.
Yeah, g reat. Thank you so much for the opportunity and answering so many questions very patiently. Congratulations on the results as well. I wanted to understand like, we touched upon expanding our capacity at Indosolar. If you would highlight, what is the reason of such high margins in that company? Is it more because of the retail focus that we have, we are enjoying those margins? Are those margins expected to maybe stay the same or reduce in the future? If you can comment on that part.
Yes, certainly, retail is one answer. There are some good orders that we are executing in Sangam Solar. These two elements are helping us, and we will see how it goes. Plus, there's a lot of efficiency work that we have to do there.
Understood. Also, regarding our shelf facility at Chikli, if you could highlight, what is the current capacity utilization and could we expect to be at optimum by maybe the next quarter or so?
Yeah, we were waiting for a very important event, where the capacity would jump. That event has happened. We will make sure that now the amount of production jumps quite dramatically. Yes, within this quarter, we will see that it kind of gets to the 80%-85% utilization pretty quick.
Understood. One last question, y ou highlighted the increase in other expenses. If you could again add it, I actually missed that part, w hy have the other expense increased significantly this quarter?
Yeah, I had also answered this earlier. Basically, the other expense also consists of freight and duties. We have a good mix of our exports this time, so that has come into play. Normally, you will see when there is a normal spread in terms of the segment, it ranges about 6% and 6.5%. Now, this quarter, it is 9%. Of course, we eventually expect it to come down.
Understood. Thank you so much for the opportunity and all the very best.
Thank you, Karan.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nirali Gopani from Unique PMS. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Thanks for the opportunity, and congratulations on excellent set of results. I have a few questions on the battery energy storage systems. I just wanted to understand, how is the technology evolving there? As you said in module and cells, technology changes every three, four years, and you depreciate, that's it? Is it similar when it comes to battery energy also? Secondly, if you can also explain some financial metrics there, will it be similar to what Waaree Energies do today margin-wise, return ratios-wise? Something on that side will be very helpful.
Nirali, thank you very much for the question. Let me address the first part of the question, and then I'll hand it over to Abhishek for the financial piece. From a technology perspective, Nirali, it's very, very similar to solar. It's a continuously evolving technology. The key pacing item as far as battery technology is concerned is the energy density. How much energy can you pack in a given volume? That keeps getting better and better and better. That's why you are seeing that smaller, lighter batteries can actually hold the same or more power than yesterday. That is going to be constant. Also, the battery chemistry itself changes.
The chemistry of cathode, the chemistry of anode that go into it itself also changes. The line that we have is actually fairly ambidextrous. It's able to take care of many of these components of technology. In fact, it's configured for lithium-ion, but we may have a situation where it might move to sodium-ion. In those times, we would actually be in a position to move it to sodium-ion as well. That's the kind of construct we have used. For the various ratios that you are talking about, will it be similar to what we have in Waaree Energies at this point in time? I'm going to have Abhishek join in.
Yeah. Nirali, thanks for this. Basically, on the financial matrices, as you see, whatever CapEx that we announce, it goes to the board and post the deliberation, it gets approved. In general, our paybacks are always in between the three to five years range of whatever CapEx that we do on the manufacturing front. We believe this should be no different than what it is today. You may continue to see the similar range of ROCE and ROE that you see over a period of time at Waaree Energies level. The financial matrices should not significantly change as far as return ratios are concerned.
That's great to know. That's it from my side. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management will be able to address questions from all the participants in the conference, kindly limit your question to one per participant. Should you have a follow-up question, please rejoin the queue. The next question is from the line of [Shrini Mehta from IndoElse Wealth]. Please go ahead.
Hi. My question is more about the long term. You're getting into a lot of different parts of the value chain, away from just a solar module manufacturer. In the next three to five years, how do you see yourself evolving as a company? What is the vision? What are the components that will be a significant part? How do you see, this will be a $10 billion company, $20 billion company? How do you see yourself in the next three to five years?
Shrini, great question by the way. From a vision perspective, it's very clear. We want to be the energy transition major of choice, right? Whatever technology, whatever components, whatever ideas are required for energy transition, we should be there and we should be the supplier or vendor of choice. That's the vision. That's where we start with solar. We go into existencies of battery energy storage systems. We go into hydrogen, the component levels like transformers, smart meters, inverters, and many more to come. That's the grand vision. Now, in terms of numbers, I would love to have a crystal ball with me and tell you, but I don't have the crystal ball. Unfortunately, I'll not be able to tell you.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Digant Mehta, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello. Am I audible?
Yes, you are.
Good afternoon. Congratulations to the company for an outstanding Q2 performance. I just wanted some clarification regarding the standalone cash flow statement on page 5 of the financials. On the cash flow from operating side, I assume the profit on sale of investment refers to the profit of Indosolar OFS. The same has been reduced from the operating activities. C ash flow from investing activities, the proceeds from sale of the [same] investment in subsidiary has been shown as an outflow. Can you please elaborate on the same? Thank you.
No . Basically, of course, whatever we have sold in our subsidiary is an inflow, but outflow for subsidiaries, that's the investments that we've made in our subsidiary. It's not one-to-one.
No, that is shown under the different head investments in subsidiary at [INR 300 crore]. I'm talking about the line item above that, the proceeds from sale of investment in [subsidiary]. That is [INR 532 OCR]. I assume that is the profit from and the proceeds from Indosolar OFS, correct?
Yes . Basically, it's a reclassification because we start from the cash flow of the operating profit, which includes this non-operating income as well. We reclassify it from the operating and take it in the investing activities.
Correct. You are rightly classified as a negative figure in the operating section. In investing activity, it should be an inflow, right? It should be on the positive end, if I'm not [crosstalk].
Yeah, you are right. You are absolutely right.
Does the cash flow statement change accordingly, or it remains the same?
No, t hat will not change. The cash flow, the net investing activity remains the same.
Okay.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Amit Agicha from HG Hava. Please go ahead.
[crosstalk] hello, good afternoon. Am I audible?
Yes, Amit. You are very much audible. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity, and congratulations for a great set of numbers. My question is, what are the top three risk management is closely monitoring?
Amit, great question. You know, we have all seen what has happened to Jaguar Land Rover, and cybersecurity tends to be one of the very important discussions that we have internally, to ensure that it is taken care of. ESG and the various elements that go with it is the second risk that we track. The third risk is the regulatory environment changes that happen all around us and have a direct impact on us. These are the risks that we closely monitor, and ensure that we deal with it.
The second question is like, how is the company preparing for margin normalization risk once PLI incentives taper off?
The way in which we actually have configured most of our models is, we don't take PLI at all. Up until now, the PLI actually has not kicked in. Whatever you are seeing is without the PLI. Even after PLI kicks in, like I said in one of my earlier questions, it's going to be a cherry on the top. It's not going to be the main business. It's not the main course.
Understood, sir. Thank you, and all the best for the future. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Amit. Thanks for the compliments that you hear.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of [Amit Kumar Singh from VVID]. Please go ahead.
Yeah, h i. Am I audible?
Yes, Amit.
Yeah, hi. I have two, three things. One is, sir, for your present cell capacity, that cell capacity with respect to your module, are they going to become equal, that the number of cells and the number of the gigawatt, they both will match? Second is, how are they going to impact the margin?
Sorry to interrupt, Amit. If you had a follow-up question, then rejoin the queue.
[crosstalk] .
[crosstalk] question .
Directionally, Amit.
Yes, sir.
Directionally, Amit, yes, you know, we would definitely like to keep investing in a manner in which our supply chain is completely balanced. The answer to your question is yes, we would like to move in that direction. Margin impact is always going to be very favorable because when you make a very large investment and a large portion of your raw material actually comes from in-house, the margin expansion will most certainly happen.
Likely, we see that there is a 30% [fat] margin in some of the cell manufacturing companies. You mean to say that in that 30%, when it comes to module, it becomes half because your top line increases. That means that approximately 15% impact should be there in the overall margin, whatever is it as of now, like say 15%- 20%, s o 20% plus 15%. Is it going to be that?
No, I'm not sure where the numbers are coming from. Again, go back to this question that I've answered previously. What's the sustainable margin, what we call on the modules and composite aspect? We are looking at a margin up to 25% to be sustained even when the cells come into play. Of course, module is going to be ranging between something like 18%- 19%, and then plus a kicker for the cell. The cell today is going into a DCR segment, and you know that segment will grow. It will become the full market in India soon enough next year. That's the kind of a margin that we are looking at from our cell perspective as well.
Yeah. There 300, 400 is what we are looking at, Amit.
Okay. [crosstalk].
Margin up to 300, 400 [crosstalk].
Sorry . Please continue. I did not hear. Sorry to interrupt.
No, g o ahead. You had a question, p lease.
Yeah . I said that, just to sense it ahead, that there will be some 6% - 7% only the margin improvement because of this solar cell addition.
[crosstalk]. Hello.
Yeah.
Yeah, if you have a follow-up question, then please rejoin the queue. Sorry to interrupt again.
No, there's no follow-up. This is the continuation of that. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of [Bharat Seth from DY Investments]. Please go ahead.
Yeah, t hank you for taking my question. My question is, I would like to just understand about this solar cell ALMM, which is going to be effective from June 2026. Correct me if I'm wrong, I think that cell capacity would be around, say around 40 GW or thereabouts by March or June 2026. All the projects under solar, new projects which are going to commission after June 2026, under the PM- KUSUM or even otherwise, they have to buy these cells and modules only from the ALMM list guys? Is it correct to understand that? If you can throw some light on this.
Yes, Mr. Bharat, that is absolutely right.
I mean, what's the expected figure of solar cell capacity by March or June 2026 overall?
Yeah. We are right now at around 20 GW- 25 GW, and as you said, it will be in the region of 35 GW- 40 GW by that time.
Okay. The guy who are able to successfully commercialize cells by June or thereabouts, June 2026 or thereabouts, would be at a clear distinct advantage. Is it correct to assume that?
That is absolutely right, y es.
Okay, t hank you so much. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of [Siddhant from SK Securities]. Please go ahead. Siddhant, your line is unmuted. Please proceed ahead with your question. Since there is no response from the participant, we'll take the next participant. The next question is from the line of Arun from Sima Wealth Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Am I audible?
Yes, Arun, you are audible. Please go ahead.
Yeah, regarding this battery energy storage system, I would like to know, what will be the potential revenue in the next two years coming in, because we are going to be 20 GW-hours in the [F (E)] 2028 regulation. What will be the maximum potential revenue from this segment?
Arun, it's a little early in the cycle of the business. It's a very nascent business. To really predict and put a number there and give a forward-looking statement to that effect will not be appropriate for us at this stage.
Okay, t hank you. Thank you very much. That's the only question.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Shrey Gandhi from CR Kothari Stock Broking. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. My question is regarding the capacity utilization which we are having currently at Indosolar, and how do we plan to ramp it up by this year [crosstalk]?
Mr. Gandhi, thank you very much for the question. I answered this question a little earlier as well. Our capacity utilization is in the region of around 70%- 75%. Typically, the way you ramp up is, number one, as your people get more and more trained and understand how to manufacture, it goes up. Training is a very important component of that. Retention of talent is a very important component of that. The whole talent piece is a very important piece.
The second is fine-tuning of the equipment that you have, making sure that that is working. The third thing, which is a very Noida-specific thing, is you have a situation where there are lots of power outages there. How do we ensure that from the grid itself, we get some help from local government there to stabilize the supply? At the same time, we make our own arrangements to have some bridge power supplies as and when the supply goes down. It's a permutation and a combination of all of these that will help us ramp up.
Okay. My second question is regarding, like if we have any future plan regarding capacity expansion at Indosolar from current company to maybe double it or whatever.
At this point, it'll be a forward-looking statement. Since we have not talked about it in the past, it'll be difficult for me to foretell the future. The moment we have any of those thoughts, we will get back to you.
Okay. What kind of realization are we seeing?
Sorry to interrupt. Shrey. If you have a follow-up question, then please rejoin the queue. Thank you.
Okay.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraints, this was the last question for today. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Amit Paithankar for closing comments. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for being a very, very patient listener and sticking around with us for almost two hours. We really appreciate that. We really appreciate all the questions that you have all asked. It shows the desire for all of us to know about the business more, to participate in the business, to understand the business and to invest in the business. We really, really are very happy for all of you folks to have participated. I would like to seize the opportunity once again to wish a very, very happy Diwali to everybody.
Yeah, and again, happy Diwali, safe Diwali, prosperous Diwali. If at all there are any questions left out, we don't want anybody to feel that we have not answered your question. Please send them out to our IR department, and you can find the email address on our website. We'll be more than happy to address any questions. Once again, thank you very much. Happy Diwali, safe Diwali, and a very, very prosperous new year ahead.
Thank you very much, sir. On behalf of Waaree Energies Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.