Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Waaree Energies Limited Q1 FY 2027 earnings conference call hosted by MUFG Int ime. 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 Mr. Irfan Rahim from MUFG Int ime. Thank you. Over to you, sir. Irfan, sir, can you hear me? You're not audible. Irfan, sir?
Hello, are we audible?
Yes, sir. The management line is audible. I can't hear Irfan, sir.
I'm with the management only. I'll read out. Hello?
Yes, sir.
Yes. Thank you, Nicia. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I welcome you all for Q1 FY 2027 earnings conference call of Waaree Energies Limited. To discuss this quarter's performance, we have from the management, Mr. Jignesh Rathod, Whole-time Director and CEO. Mr. Abhishek Pareek, Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Varun Goenka, President, Growth and Strategy. Before we proceed with this call, I would like to mention that some of the statements made in today's call may be forward-looking in nature and may involve risks and uncertainties. For more detailed disclaimer, kindly refer the investor presentation and other filings that we have uploaded on company's website and stock exchanges. Without further ado, I would like to hand over the call to Mr. Jignesh Rathod-ji for his opening remark. Over to you, sir. Thank you.
Thank you, Irfan. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us in this earnings call. Our Q1 FY 2027 results were announced yesterday, and I hope you had a chance to go through them. I will share a broad view of the environment on our business, and Mr. Pareek, our CFO, will take you through the financial performance in detail. Let me say one thing upfront because it frames everything that follows. Our order book stands at approximately INR 61,500 crore, the highest in our history, up from INR 50,000 crore just a quarter ago. With about INR 16,000 crore in new orders won in this quarter alone. Whatever else we discuss today, that is the market's verdict on Waaree. Let me start with the world around us. The global energy transition is no longer a projection.
It is the single largest capacity addition story the power sector has ever seen, and solar sits at the very center of it. At the same time, the map of solar manufacturing is being redrawn in real-time. The U.S.A. and Europe are moving decisively to de-risk their supply chains, and their policies increasingly reward suppliers who are trusted, transparent and non-China. Very few companies anywhere in the world can serve that demand with proven scale, bankable quality and clean, verified supply chain standing behind every single module. Waaree is one of them. Today, the largest non-Chinese module manufacturer in the world. What reads as trade turbulence in the headlines is, for us, a structural tailwind. At home, the momentum is even stronger. India's energy demand keeps rising with its economy, and the Government of India's push for solar is consistent, deliberate, and long-term.
From domestic content requirement in ALMM to its rooftop program, getting solar into crore of households. India is at the very same time becoming a serious manufacturing base for the world. Policy, demand, and manufacturing depth are all moving in one direction, and that is exactly the direction we have been investing in for years. This is not a cycle we are riding. It's a runway we helped to build. Against this backdrop, Waaree enters the year on its strongest-ever foundation. We carry India's largest module manufacturing capacity, and India's largest cell capacity will be once our 10 GWh cell line will be up and running. Our backward integration into cells is as per plan. Our manufacturing platform in the United States. is growing, and our quality is independently validated year after year by the toughest names in the business like RETC, PVEL.
Our brand today stands for one thing above all, quality and reliability. In the market that is maturing quickly, customers want a supplier who is on the ground, proven, and will be there for the life of the asset. That is precisely why the Waaree brand strengthened visibility again this quarter. This trust has been earned through the technology leadership, not just the scale. We were first to commercialize flexible modules way back. We were among the earliest anywhere to commercialize 700-W + modules. We built edge-weighted modules back in 2019, years before rest of the industry turned that way. We own a world-class laboratory that lets us test, validate, and certify to the most demanding global standard in-house on our terms and our timelines. The ultimate proof is not just the lab report. It is in the field.
Over 35 GWh of Waaree modules deployed and performing every single day in every kind of terrain and climate. This is the difference between a vendor and a partner. It is why the customers do not just buy from Waaree once. They stay with us. Let me share the key strategic initiative of the quarter. On the capacity, we commissioned an additional 3 GWh of module capacity at our Samakhiali plant, Samakhiali, Gujarat in April 2026. Waaree Energy Storage Solutions commenced the automated BESS container production at 5.15 GWh, nearly one and a half times the 3.5 GWh we had originally planned. Waaree Transpower commenced commercial production of its 17.6 MVA inverter duty transformers, taking that business from qualification to revenue. WRTL completed the acquisition of an approximately 55% stake in Associated Power Structures for approximately INR 1,225 crore, extending our reach decisively into transmission and distribution.
Separately won a 1.5 GWh of BESS EPC orders and signed the early contractor involvement agreement for utility-scale solar plus BESS project in Australia and New Zealand market. In the United States, WSA secured 125 MW orders of HJT modules, which will be supplied from Arizona plant. This is one more validation of our technology leadership in the market, where quality and traceability matters as much as price. These are not isolated wins. They are proof points across the capacity, storage, transmission, EPC, and international markets, all moving in the same direction, in the same 90 days. That breadth of execution is why our conviction in the coming quarters is not sentiment, it is evidence. I am pleased to inform you that we are standing at highest ever order book in the history of Waaree, of INR 61,500 crore. Two engines deserve the special mention here.
Our retail revenue more than doubled this quarter, up 130% year-over-year, and our franchise and general partner network widens and deepens, taking Waaree into towns and villages where solar demand is not only just beginning and where brand trust alone decides the sale. We expect retail to be INR 10,000 crore business this year. Alongside it, our e-commerce business is scaling fast, reaching households, installers, and small businesses directly with the convenience this industry has never offered before. Together, those two engines give us a granular, high-quality demand base that is genuinely hard to replicate, and they come with the better realization and deeper, stickier customer relationship. Remember, our cash and carry retail orders are largely not even counted in the INR 61,500 crore order book. This is how a market leader compounds its leads.
On execution side, Waaree has consistently delivered its key expansion projects in line with its strategic roadmap, and I'm glad to report our projects are on time. New cell capacity at Unn plant is ramping as per plan and expected to be operational within this current financial year. All 10 GWh equipments are in our premises now. Our cell-to-module integration is expected to grow roughly threefold, which contributes directly to the profitability in the coming quarters. Our further backward integration into ingot and wafers raises the capital barrier around our position and deepens our competitive advantage. Our new lines in the United States are expected to begin commercial production in the next few months, and our transformer, electrolyzer, inverter facilities are on track to their stated timelines.
Let me equally direct about what did not go our way this quarter, and more importantly, why each of these reverses in the quarters ahead. First, raw material cost rose globally, driven by the metal indexes and price movement out of China, and that compressed margin across our industry, and we were not immune. The structural answer is already running. Our captive cell lines nearly doubled output within the quarter. Every captive cell replaces the purchased one at a meaningful saving. A structural company-wide cost leadership program is in execution with a dedicated program office. Its first initiative are being implemented this quarter, not next year. Second, our export mix was softer as some shipments and clearances took longer than we would have liked. The hardest part behind us. From August, our new U.S. lines also mean a growing share of American demand is sold from American soil.
Third, a portion of our capacity ran ahead of dispatch-ready orders since this year's book is weighted onto the second half. Here, the recovery is contractual, not hopeful. The order book you see in our presentation converts into the confirmed dispatch schedules that take capacity coverage to near full level throughout the second half. The inventory built in Q1 is mapped into those firm schedules. Let me close where I begin. The world needs trusted solar manufacturing at scale. India is its natural home, and Waaree is India's most proven name in it. Waaree Energies is not merely participating into energy transition. We are enabling it, building the manufacturing scale, technology capabilities, and integrated value chain needed to accelerate the adoption of clean energy.
Our integration across the entire energy value chain along the structural demand is expected to double our total addressable market from approximately $1 trillion today to approximately $2 trillion by 2030. It is on this trend that we affirm and reaffirm our 2027 operating EBITDA guidance, what we have stated in our last call. Demand tailwinds are strong. Our record order books keeps building. Our retail and e-commerce engines are compounding. Our expansion projects are on schedule. The actions on cost and mix are in motion, not merely planned. Every quarter of rapid growth brings its own challenges. This one was no exception. The direction of this business and the scale of the opportunities in front of us has never been clearer. With that, I will hand over to our CFO, Mr. Pareek, to take you towards the financial performance in depth. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Jignesh, and good morning to everyone on the call. Let me take you through our quarterly performance in detail with our strategy roadmap and way ahead. To start with, I would request you all to have your presentation uploaded on Exchange handy. Starting from slide number four, I am pleased to share that our Q1 FY 2027 consolidated highlights. Our revenue from operations for the quarter grew 79.2% year-on-year to INR 7,932 crore worth of revenue. Operating EBITDA came in at INR 1,440 odd crore, up 44.4% year-on-year, adding up operating EBITDA margin of 18.2%. Our profit after tax for the quarter stood at INR 892 crore, up 13.4% year-on-year at a margin of 11%. Our order book stands strong at approximately INR 61,500 odd crore.
Our module capacity continues to be at 26 GWh, making us the largest non-Chinese module manufacturer in the world. Our cell manufacturing capacity remains at 5.4 GWh, looking ahead to add another 10 GWh over next six months of time, making us the largest cell manufacturer as well outside of China. On our return ratios, we continue to run a net cash balance sheet with a net debt-to-equity of -0.0x as on June 30, an ROCE of 28.5% and ROE of 24.8%. On slide number five, we look at the quality of our revenue mix. It continues to be healthy and well-diversified quarter-on-quarter.
In Q1 FY 2027 utility, IPP, C&I contributed around 39.7%, retail 30.2%, overseas 21.2%, EPC, O&M and services 8.9%. Our module volumes sold during the quarter grew 89% over the prior period from 1.9 GWh- 3.6 GWh. Within our overseas revenue of approx INR 1,609 odd crore, our domestic U.S. business has approx INR 1,322 crore and direct export at INR 287 crore, a direct reflection of the ramp-up of our U.S. manufacturing footprint. On retail specifically, the traction in our B2C segment continues to be very strong. Retail grew 130% year-on-year from INR 995 crore- INR 2,289 odd crore of revenue this quarter.
We're looking at this segment heading towards a range of INR 9,000 crore-INR 10,000 crore for the full year FY 2027. On slide number six, we look at how we are growing scale while deconcentrating at the same time. Our revenue mix continues to shift with the utility IPP and C&I share modulating from 50%-52.1% in FY 2025 to 39.7% this quarter. Retail rising to 30.2% from 20.8% in FY 2026. Alongside, our customer concentration continues to reduce. Our top five customer share has now come down from 33% in FY 2026 to around 27.1%. Our top ten customer sales came down from 47% to around 37.1% in Q1 FY 2027. This is a very healthy sign of broadening and de-risking customer base.
Rather than just depending on handful of large accounts, it supports the stability of both revenue and margin over time. I should also speak about the DCR integration which Waaree is undergoing and is going to play a big role over next two to three quarters for current financial year, taking to next financial year as well. On slide number seven, our order book continues to expand. Our total order book has grown from approximately INR 47,000 crore at end of FY 2025 to INR 53,000 crore last financial year and now INR 61,500 crore as on 20th of July 2026. Taking our total order book of module in gigawatt terms to 25.2 GWh. In terms of geographical mix, it is well spread with domestic India at approx 40%, domestic U.S. at approx 36%, and export from India at approx 24%.
In terms of movement during the quarter, we added net INR 16,000 crore of new orders while executing around INR 7,300 crore of orders. New order inflow comfortably outpaced our execution, which is exactly what you see in a growing franchise. On slide number eight. Now let me walk you through the strong capacity ramp-up that continues to power our growth. Our modules in India capacity stands at 24.2 GWh running at an annualized utilization of around 50% this quarter. On cell manufacturing in India, installed capacity 5.4 GWh running at an annualized utilization of approx 62% at quarter level. In the U.S., our module capacity of 1.6 GWh is running at an annualized utilization of around 59%, which expected to move between 75%-80% in upcoming quarters.
This ramp-up in utilization, particularly in the cell and in the U.S., is central to the margin trajectory we are building towards. Since we have meaningful headroom to grow output from these assets we have already built and paid for. If you look at the current run rate also, we are manufacturing around 400 MW+ of cell every passing month, which gives us a headroom of 1,100 MW-1,200 MW worth of cell output in the current quarter, moving towards 1,500 MW+ output over next Q3 and going ahead more above that. On slide number nine, let me walk you through some of our key customer updates from this quarter, company updates from the quarter. On capacity, we commissioned additional 3 GWh of module capacity at Samakhiali in Gujarat in April 2026.
Energy Storage Solutions, our subsidiary, has started automated BESS container capacity at 5.15 GWh. Waaree Transpower received approval and started production of 17.6 MVA inverter duty transformer. Our EPC and service arm, Waaree Renewable Technologies, received 1,520 MWh of BESS EPC order. Also signed an ECA agreement for utility scale solar PV project with BESS in New Zealand. This is in line with our strategy to penetrate newer markets. On the other updates, the Waaree Group secured its first large scale HJT order of 125 MW under Waaree Americas. Waaree Renewable Technologies acquired 55% stake in Associated Power Structures for approximate INR 1,225 crore, extending our reach in T&D sector as well. Taken together, these are proof points across capacity, storage, transmission, EPC, and international markets.
It is exactly this breadth of execution that gives us the confidence to reaffirm our operating EBITDA guidance of INR 7,000 crore-INR 7,700 crore over FY 2027. On slide 13. We've already discussed in the previous call about our journey from Waaree 1.0- Waaree 2.0. We will discuss about the progress of this journey in next couple of slides. On slide 14, let me walk you through how we deploy capital, because this discipline is what anchors our margin recovery and our margin expansion in upcoming quarters. Our announced CapEx programs totals around INR 31,500 crore, of which we have already deployed around INR 9,450 crore as of 30th of June. It is phased around 30% in FY 2027, roughly 40% in FY 2028, and around 30% in FY 2029, which is milestone gated. ROC and ROE accretive and backed by strong order visibility.
We are not just deploying capital in one large risky way, we are actually phasing it out in the demonstrated market and clear policy visibility. The same deployment is precisely what drives our margin improvement. Let me be very specific about it. As our cell capacity comes on stream, our cell production ramps up sharply through the year, from around 800 MW in Q1 FY 2027 to around 1.2 GWh in Q2, around 1.5 GWh in Q3, and over and above in Q4. Our module ramp-up of around 3.6 GWh we get in Q1, and we're expecting this capacity utilization going ahead into Q3 and Q4, ranging in the range of 70%-75% odd percent of the nameplate capacity.
This rising captive cell throughput, it moves a progressively larger share of our volumes into higher realization DCR market, which is the single biggest lever on the margin in this year. Alongside, our new lines carry the latest, more efficient technology as they ramp up. They load our unit cost conversion and lift yield in cell manufacturing as well. On slide 15. Let me take you through this phasing completely by showing you exactly what gets built in each of next three years, because this is what converts the capital story into margin story. In FY 2027, which absorbs around 30% of overall CapEx, we have added 2.6 GWh. We shall be adding 2.6 GWh of module capacity in Waaree Americas, 10 GWh of solar cell capacities in India. That KTPA of T&D EPC is already acquired.
20 GVA of transformer capacity, 4 GWh of inverter, and 1 GWh of electrolysis capacity. All of this coming through loud and clear in FY 2027, giving us a great headroom for FY 2028 and onwards. FY 2028 also captures around 40% of the further incremental CapEx, anchored by 10 GWh of ingot and wafer. The capacity construction has already started in Nagpur in Maharashtra. The deep backward integration step, which shall also add up, which shall be followed by solar glass and BESS capacity. FY 2029 completes the program with 2,500 TPD of solar glass and 16.5 GWh worth of BESS plant supported with equivalent capacity of BESS cell, BESS pack, and BESS containers. This strategic intent is very clear. We're not just adding capacity, but we are integrating deeper into the solar value chain and adjacent value chain ahead of demand.
The cell and ingot wafer line strengthens our supply security, enhances cost competitiveness, help us to expand on our margin fronts, positions us to capture a larger share of India's rapidly expanding solar opportunity, and benefits becoming increasingly visible as these capacity ramp up. Slide 17. On solar demand, the long-term outlook is set for sustainable stability. Globally, the annual additions are expected to grow from 698 GWh in 2025 to 993 GWh by 2035, roughly 4%-5% CAGR. With global capacity having crossed 3 TW already in 2026, India additions are growing much faster, from 38 GWh in 2025 to around 100 GWh by 2035, 10% CAGR over next 10 years. With India adding around 26 GWh in first half of this calendar year against 18 GWh a year earlier. Energy transition, data center, grid investments are the common drivers on both the sides. Slide 18.
On policy, the tailwinds continue to favor integrated local manufacturing. In India, the PLI incentive, the ALMM list, ALMM 1, 2, and now 3. A 20% custom duty on imports. Demand schemes like PM-Surya Ghar Yojana, PM-KUSUM Yojana, all of this support domestic manufacturing and integration. Globally, in our U.S. facilities, the IRA, the UFLPA, FEOC rules combined together are driving traceable non-Chinese supply chain for our U.S. clients, which plays directly to our U.S. footprints. While Europe remains a structural opportunity for competitive manufacturing outside of China, we are looking towards these markets and looking forward for large order pipeline from Europe, Middle East, as well as Australian regional markets. Slide 19. If we look at our domestic positioning, we are differentiated by depth of our vertical integration. We already have our largest module capacity outside of China. A track record of expanding ahead of competition.
Scale that acts as a moat, driving procurement advantages, operating leverages, and bankability. Critically, our integration runs from module and cell through ingots and wafers, and a strategic polysilicon stake in United Solar Holdings in Oman for traceable FEOC compliant supply chain. Slide 20. Our cell integration. This is the single largest lever for margin expansion in the business in current financial year. As our Indian cell capacity scale up from 5.4 GWh current to 15.4 GWh against 24.2 GWh of module capacity in India.
Our cell to module integration ratio is going to rise from roughly around 20% currently to around 65% in next two to three quarters, close to a threefold increase. Every GWh of module we supply from our own cells rather than buying externally adds margins. The remaining 4GWh- 6 GWh of supply chain of module help us to sell through the export markets, supplying the non-DCR markets, supply to markets like Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Australia. Thank you so much for your continued trust and for being with us on this journey. With that, I would now like to request the operator to open the floor for questions.
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 the touchtone 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. The first question is from the line of Vishal from ValueQuest. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. Basically, we wanted to understand your expansion plan in a bit detail. What we understood, we are coming up with 10 GWh of cell and wafer along with batteries. If you can give some guidance in terms of how to think about when this commissioning will happen, how production ramp-up will happen in FY 2028, FY 2029, to understand more long-term journey about Waaree, it will be really helpful.
Yes, Vishal. This is Varun here. Thank you for asking this question. I know all of us are bound to have questions around this quarter and all that, I think we shouldn't miss forest for the trees. This is very important that we understand that at the end of FY 2027, Waaree completes a very large portion of the entire CapEx plan. At the end of FY 2027, we will be close to 28 GWh of solar module, close to 15.4 GWh of solar cell. We will complete our first phase of inverters, 4 GWh of inverter, and it doesn't stop there. 20,000 MVA of transformers, 1 GWh of electrolyzer. That you know. This itself provides us a very big step jump in FY 2028.
FY 2027, you could say, is CapEx working on operating efficiencies, and later during the call, we'll also share as to what we are working in terms of efficiencies. FY 2028, if we're talking about close to INR 7,000 odd crore of EBITDA this year as guidance ballpark, this is when our cell capacity, the 10 GWh additional, includes barely a gigawatt contribution from there. FY 2028 is when the entire 15.4 GWh will be operational, and we could look at close to 10 GWh of production from cell. Close to 16 odd GWh of module, 16 GWh-18 GWh of module, and 10 odd GWh of cell production, is what we are looking at in FY 2028 as a very big step jump. I wouldn't get into realizations. I think that you understand very well.
This is the core module and cell business, and then you have the other equipment, power electronics business. Plus EPC will also have a big step jump because of the APSL acquisition. Right. Abhishek, please add. FY 2029, of course, we have battery also goes live, 5 GWh goes into full production. The second phase, 16 GWh, is in FY 2029. Let's focus first on FY 2028 and then we can discuss FY 2029.
Understood. Our 5.4 Yeah, Abhishek, you were saying something.
No, I just wanted to add that on 10 GWh cell capacity, the equipment are already gated in the factory. We have also applied for the ALMM 2 for the cell capacity. We are very near to going live on the commercial production as well on the entire 10 GWh facility out there.
Understood. Second question on margins, if you can give some idea what happened in this particular margin. Our gross margins have gone down at the module business level. If you can give us some understanding over there.
Yeah, Vishal. To explain it, I think we'll have to look it into different segments. For example, we have manufactured around 800 MW worth of DCR cell this quarter. Balance of these sales in India includes the non-DCR, small component from export, and U.S. local manufacturing. The cell integrated lines continue to show the margin profile of 35%-40%. The U.S. local manufacturing now going up quarter-on-quarter. However, in Q1, a major portion of U.S. dispatches have also come in from the OEM manufacturing in U.S., leading to a lower IRA realization. In Q2 onwards, when our 1.6 GWh capacity additional in U.S. goes live, this should add up to our ability to generate more IRA incentive as well as structurally cut down on our operating cost in the U.S.
In India also, the non-DCR market, wherein the ALMM 2 facility came in in 1st of June, the order came in effective in 1st of June. Now that government has given a window for around next five to six months of time, we are looking at large offtake from the customers. There was a delay in offtake from many developers in this quarter, leading to a lower realization on the on-spot market supplies that we have done. However, in Q2 and Q3 onwards, we're looking large offtake against those contracts for which we have built the inventory. This will again structurally land up in a point wherein we'll be able to get benefit of higher realization as well as get the benefit from the current spot prices of the cell and other equipment.
On export front also, this quarter, the dispatches were softer because the clearance in the U.S. took more than required time than it would generally take. From August itself, we are again starting our export supplies from Indian facilities. This should also add up to the revenue profile and the margin effectiveness. In terms of DCR also, as I mentioned earlier, that 800 MW of capacity production of DCR in Q1 expected to go up from 1.1 GWh, 1.2 GWh in Q2 and moving towards 1.5 GWh quarterly trajectory from Q3 and Q4 could be little higher. These are three to four levers. The most important is the DCR production. Second is the U.S. local production scaling up with the new capacity, 1.6 GWh. Third is exporting. Export starting off from Q2.
Fourth is the non-DCR market offtake going to increase from Q2 onwards with the six-month window. By that time we land up in December, till which the extension is live. We should also be having start off with our facility of 10 GWh in Gujarat, solar cell manufacturing, which should give us complete integration of module with the cell capacity for Indian markets. That is where the structural change of margin happens.
Understood. Last question from my side. Our current 5.4 GWh of cell capacity for which G2L conversion was going on, I think that we have already completed, and our ramp-up already started in the month of June, July also, we can see. How we can see the production number from this particular facility, if you can give some idea?
As I mentioned just now that from the same facility, we are already starting to see around 400 MW of monthly production. This can go between 420 MW- 430 MW of monthly production, leading to a quarterly ramp-up of around 1.3 GWh- 1.4 GWh from the same facility. On top of it, the 10 GWh facility should start adding up from Q3 itself.
Understood. All the best for future. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Harshita Surana from UBS. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity. My first question was, could you help us with the module realizations across DCR and non-DCR and exports for this quarter? Next would be like, while we understand that Q1 was the first quarter where we have seen a meaningful ramp-up in the modules manufactured in the U.S., going ahead, how should we think about the profitability in the U.S. operations and also the cash flow from operations for this quarter?
If you look at the realization across DCR, non-DCR and exports market, the export market, whatever we have exported, the realization is between $0.25-$0.26 per watt peak basis. The DCR market continues to sell across $0.24-$0.25 per Wp basis on realization terms. The non-DCR market realizations continue to range between $0.13-$0.14 per Wp . In terms of the cash flow, like quarter one itself, our operating cash flow has been far better because of controlled inventory has continued. Our production also now moving to a scenario wherein the uptake has started happening from the non-DCR community, which was little softer in Q1. With the extension of six months for the non-DCR market, we are starting to see larger uptake starting from Q2 itself.
Miss Harshita, I would request you to rejoin the queue for a follow-up question. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all participants in the conference, please limit your question to one per participant. Should you have a follow-up question, we would request you to rejoin the queue. The next question is from the line of Kunal Shah from DAM Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thanks for a lot of clarification. Just wanted to understand, post the tariff implementation by U.S., our commentary was around that the export business would remain unaffected as you'd sort of procure sales from non-tariff nations and sort of service that piece of order book, yet the revenues today are like one-third on a YOY basis, right? You did give some clarity that clearances took more time, but what gives us the confidence that would be expedited going ahead? And just a related question here is, today 25% of our order book is U.S. exports. Again, what is the confidence to sort of service this piece, and at what margins? Thank you.
Thank you for that question. If you look at the overall export, like in terms of megawatt, it's lower compared to previous quarters. The good news here is that our 1.2 GWh local capacity in U.S. is ramping up and catching up soon. This gives us confidence that the dispatches to our local U.S. clients can continue to happen from our local facility. Also, in terms of the vital supply chain that we have been able to adopt, we have been able to now start shipments to U.S. markets from Q2 itself. Since there were some orders leading to a delay in supplies across U.S. markets, and with the newer supply chains that we've been able to tap in, our dispatches are now going to start from Q2 itself.
Just to add here, if you track the U.S. market, there was a lull for six months in terms of installations because of a lot of tariff confusion. Developers and utilities were trying to wait it out before. If you see recently, Waaree itself has got a lot of orders in the last few weeks itself. You'll suddenly find, either related to data centers or otherwise, other alternate sources of energy have very long backlogs, long lead times. The focus has again shifted back to solar plus BESS. Again, order flows and interests and inquiries in U.S. have significantly gone up.
Understood. Just one, if I could squeeze in. The module production that has sort of declined to 3.2 GWh this quarter versus, let's say, 4.2 GWh in last quarter. This decline, would it be largely attributable to the domestic non-DCR market? Is that the piece that has been under a margin pressure during the quarter? Would that be right to assume?
Like uptake by the clients in India certainly has got deferred by a quarter, leading to lower uptakes in this quarter. Also, comparatively lower export in this particular quarter has led to lower uptakes. The important point here to understand is from quarter three onwards, our cell integration is going up from around 20% currently to around 25%-odd, which is more than sufficient for our overall domestic market supplies that we've been doing.
Mr. Kunal Shah.
I'll just try to complete. The six-month extension by the government of the non-DCR markets gives us the confidence that the uptake is now going to ramp up starting from next month.
Mr. Kunal Shah, I would request you to rejoin the queue for a follow-up question. The next question is from the line of Sahil Sheth from Anand Rathi Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Hi, this is Sweta here. Sir, wanted to understand the margin profile for the U.S. business. One is when you're exporting it from India, and the second is when we're actually manufacturing in the U.S. and then selling it there. The second is the retail segment that we are operating in India.
Sure, Sweta. If you look at the pure play exports market, in terms of the cents per watt peak basis, around $0.25 is the realization on a standalone basis. Against that, $0.04-$0.05 worth of EBITDA margin or margin is a good number to assume. In terms of the local manufacturing in the U.S. to the similar set of customers, there are two points. One is the margin from the operation, which with the new capacity in the U.S., is bound to go up Ready, as well as there is $0.07 per Wp of incremental generation under the U.S. IRA program. Around $0.07-$0.08 worth of margin, a per Wp basis in the U.S. from local U.S. facility is a reasonable assumption against $0.04-$0.05 of exports from India.
So-
In terms of this market. Yeah.
Sorry to cut you there. $0.07 of margin is completely a kind of benefit that's adding up to the margin then?
Yeah. Out of $0.07, there are expenses that has to be borne while you get the net realization around $0.055- $0.06 only. Balance is the operating margin. When we see 1.6 GWh of new capacity in U.S. adds up, our structural cost of $0.06 per Wp of conversion in U.S. is expected to go cut down by $0.01- $0.02, which will give us an additional flip in the margin profile for the U.S. local manufacturing. That means our overall realization or net EBITDA margin from U.S. facility can reach somewhere between $0.07- $0.08 per Wp basis.
Sorry to interrupt you, ma'am. I would request you to rejoin the queue for follow-up questions. Ladies and gentlemen, I request you to limit your question to one per participant. The next question is from the line of Praveen Sahay from PL Capital. Please go ahead.
Sir, my only question is related to the cell pricing. If you can give the imported cell price versus the local India manufacturer cell prices currently.
If you look at the current import price of around $0.04-$0.045 per Wp basis. In local markets, our manufacturing cost is around $0.07-$0.08, and the market pricing in terms of the DCR market is around $0.12-$0.13 per W.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sabri Hazarika from Emkay Global. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good morning. Just wanted to get some color on the BESS business, how much volumes you are expecting this year or any meaningful earnings contribution from the same. Thanks.
Thanks for the question. If you look at the 5.15 GWh worth of container line, which has gone live this year, we are starting to add up our order book as well. In FY 2027, 2028, we are looking at reasonable output from this facility because we are also adding 3.5 GWh of BESS cell in current financial year and 5.15 GWh of pack capacity. That will integrate our entire BESS facility, wherein 3.5 GWh of cell and 5.15 GWh of pack and container is going to start the dispatches. We are starting to see the commercial supplies and from starting from this quarter itself, and we are already started to build our order book as well for the Energy Storage projects.
We are not just limiting our markets to domestic; in fact, there's a large traction from the overseas markets as well, like the large set of market in U.S. which is asking for FEOC compliant supply chain for E nergy Storage. Also, the market from Europe, they're asking for a non-Chinese supply chain for larger orders to supply for. The subsidy has recently entered into an ECA agreement to supply large scale projects delivered with BESS supplies in New Zealand and Australia. That also gives us confidence that BESS market, in terms of the market diversification, has larger markets to sell for. Apart from India, U.S., Europe, Australia, and New Zealand markets seem to add up a lot for our BESS optics.
Right. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Suyash Kela from Singularity AMC. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. First of all, thank you for the disclosures incrementally that you're doing. Helps bring a lot of clarity as we are understanding the business a little bit better. If you can talk about the planned QIP, what was the strategy behind it? What kind of amount is actually needed, which is the requirements of the business, and what are more methods of strengthening the balance sheet? That understanding will be very helpful. Thank you.
Suyash, if you look at the approval that we've taken from board and shareholders to have around up to INR 10,000 crore worth of fund raised through various channels, including equity. Right now, our balance sheet stands at around INR 7,000 crore worth of cash available as of 30th of June. Our this year CapEx outflow is around 30%odd. Majority of portion is already happened, and over next two to three quarters, we'll have incremental outflow.
Our total balance CapEx of INR 22,000 crore over next three years, if we dissect it year-on-year level, around 40% is happening in FY 2028 and around 30% balance is happening in FY 2029. Our own EBITDA guidance, which we've given at start of this year, is broadly sufficient to fund for these projects. In order to strengthen our balance sheet, we continue to look out and wait for the right time to hit the market in terms of the approval that we have taken for the QIP.
The next question is from the line of Nirmal from Aditya Birla Sun Life. Please go ahead.
Hello. Thank you for taking my question. Sir, I had a question. We had an effective installed module capacity of 16.7 GWh in FY 2026, but the capacity utilization was 71%. I assume it was the result of gradual ramp-up that happened from 11 GWh- 16.7 GWh throughout the year. Is this understanding correct? Now that we have an effective capacity of 24 GWh in place, do we expect it to run at full capacity, or how much of the existing order book of 25 GWh would we be able to deliver this year? Thank you.
On an ongoing basis, our module capacity, if you look at past track record also on effective basis, around 70%-75% utilization has been there. We assume the same to continue, but with more cell integration happening over the next two to three quarters, we are also assuming we have module offtake going up from 70%-75% to around 80%-85% over the next two to three quarters of time. That not just help us to expand in terms of module offtake in India as well as to expand on our margin profiles with more cell capacity coming up in Q3 and Q4.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Prakhar Porwal from Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity. My question is on the U.S. IRA incentives. You are booking these $0.07 of incentives. What would be the cycle for payment of these incentives by U.S.? Just a color on that.
There are two options. Either you file return, you take the refund from the government. Other way is to sell the IRA incentives. We are already in discussion with large players in the U.S. to sell off the IRA incentives. You can assume that on a quarterly basis, we can start receiving these IRA incentives starting from Q3 and Q4 onwards. That will result into an ongoing cash flow basis, the accruals that we do every quarter.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Anupam Goswami from SUD Life. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Sir, two questions. One is that on the export front, this quarter, we had a little lower softer export. Going forward when we have U.S. plant now ramped up, how do we see the margins going forward in the overseas market? Should we take lower margins because from India export is going to be lower and more on U.S. domestic will ramp up? That is first, sir.
As I have explained earlier also that U.S. domestic margins are far superior because of the local incentives also, U.S. IRA incentives, which is $0.07 per Wp basis, while we are accounting at around $0.055-$0.06 only net of expenses. In our U.S. manufacturing, like this quarter, we have accumulated around $12 million-$13 million worth of IRA incentives on account of roughly 230 MW of production. Going ahead, we are looking the same production go up between 400 MW-500 MW starting from Q3 onwards. That gives us a big headroom to accumulate more incentives and enhance our margin profile for the U.S. business. Our exports continued to sail around $0.04-$0.05 worth of margin, though dispatches were lower in Q1.
Starting from August and September, we are seeing larger dispatches because of the wider and spread supply chain that we have established for the U.S. markets. It's not just about U.S. going ahead alone anymore. In fact, there are new markets which have opened for us to supply. Recently, we are signing a few contracts. We are in process to finalize contract for supply into European markets also. The moment that adds up to our exports, you can see a further enhancement in the overall export supplies quarter-on-quarter basis.
Okay, sir. Next question is. Now that the ALMM has also been extended under conditions, do we see any pricing movement or discounting, any disruption in the prices of non-DCR?
If we look at the order book also, like this quarter, we have added a substantial order book and largely on account of the DCR driven order book as well as the export order book. When we see the realization for this order book also, the realization is still ranging in between $0.24-$0.25 for next couple of quarters. For long range DCR orders, we are looking at price of around $0.21-$0.22. We really don't see much of a change in the realization, at least for next few quarters.
Mr. Anupam, I would request you to rejoin the queue for a follow-up question. Ladies and gentlemen, I request you to limit your questions to one per participant. The next question is from the line of Venkatesha R.J., an individual research analyst. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. My only question is, suppose if we don't have PLI, DCR, ALMM, how are we ready to compete with other markets like China and other tariffs? That is the only question what I have, sir.
Yeah. I'll try and address that. I understand where you're coming from, I think that question was probably relevant maybe four or five years back, where we used to have this concern. Let me take you back into a little bit of history of Waaree. All these regulations with respect to ALMM came in in June 2022.
If you see, Waaree has a 10-year financial track record publicly available. In our investor event, Abhishek had also shown in one of the slides our last 10-year financial history that's available on the exchanges. Even before these policies came in, Waaree was doing over 20% CAGR in terms of growth and in terms of return on capital, which was very healthy. Not as high as today, but still very healthy. While theoretical, if you say India is today already competing with respect to module cost with China. Our real competition is not China, though. It's more Southeast and other nations which are able to either export to Europe and U.S. Within India is landlocked, and India is one of the largest markets today.
If India did 60 GWh of solar and let's say approximately INR 2 crore per megawatt realization, that's around INR 1,20,000 crore of domestic market available for domestic manufacturers only. It's hypothetical that we have to really compete with China, not really. Even if I have to answer that, India is at a barely $0.025-$0.03 differential in module cost versus China because it is one of the largest manufacturing capacities out of China. In cell also, we will move towards at par or near about cost to China. The third point, most important, is with respect to dealing with exports. Today, with U.S. and Europe, FEOC compliance becomes important. In U.S., FEOC compliance. In Europe, soon the non-Chinese demand is also opening. Mind you, in FY 2029, which is post 2028, entire India market becomes, so to say, DCR.
Entire module, entire cell, and eventually when wafer policy comes in from June 2028, even wafer integration. India becomes almost completely self-dependent and fully backward integrated. Yeah.
To add up to this, what Varun said is, if you look at the Waaree's presentation also, we have got an PLI approval of INR 1,920 crore also for the full integrated wafer cell module capacity. Once the wafer capacity goes live next year, it's also eligible for this approx INR 2,000 crore worth of PLI incentive over next four to five years. On top of it, there are other state incentives also which adds up. In our internal decision-making for any project, we really don't account for these subsidies, but certainly they are optionality of adding up on top of our own guidances of margins and EBITDAs. This continues as a optional upside for our guidances.
For the benefit of larger audience, just one point. These tariffs that you see are not non-tariff barriers also, like ALMM. They are not temporary measures. They are measures to create the whole ecosystem for manufacturing independence. This has nothing to do with renewables. The same policies are happening across defense, electronics, across all critical manufacturing areas. I wouldn't say these are protections.
Not only India, even other countries are erecting these tariff barriers or non-tariff barriers for home production. In fact, in inverter, there has been a recent policy where the data that was flowing to countries which share border with India now is getting restricted. One is manufacturing independence, second is data integrity, and the third is supply chain independence. You do not want to be completely dependent on time lags and supply chain dependence on foreign countries. You want to have just-in-time supply chain here.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nitin Kaushik from Afin Capital Private Limited. Thank you, and over to you.
Good evening, everyone, and thanks for the opportunity. Sir, my question was, after this ingot and wafer and whole that cell CapEx, what kind of margin expansion should we expect since after all that we would be completely backward integrated? Should we expect any margin expansion from here on?
As we have earlier discussed also on the call, when the cell integration comes up, it really helps us. One is to look at the margin expansion because of the further integration in upstream manufacturing, as well as it also helps us to support more offtake through various channels that we have. To answer your question, of course, yes, the cell integration certainly adds up to the margin profile and that too with a very wide range. Yeah.
Sir, could you quantify that expansion?
We really don't guide on specific segment, specific margin. One thing that I can tell you is, compared to module only supplies in India, module plus cell integrated supply, the margin profile generally is between 35%-41%.
Okay, sir. That's it from my side. Thanks a lot, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Kaushal Sharma from Equinox Capital Venture. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Very good afternoon. Am I audible?
Yeah.
Yeah. My question is on your solar glass capacity expansion. We have a plan of 2,500 TPD, with an investment of INR 3,900 crore. Is it a greenfield plant or we are looking for an acquisition?
We have taken already an approval from the board to look out for the 3,500 TPD worth of glass capacity, all in for captive purposes. At the same point in time, we remain positive on the CapEx, as well as signing up for the overall supply for glass that we have for next two years. Our intent here is only to look at the supply chain for our manufacturing in India as well as manufacturing in U.S. To secure a supply chain, we are looking at this CapEx. For next one quarter, you should expect some update on the CapEx as well as on the supply chain security as we are looking out for our glass supplies. Because apart from solar cell, glass is the second largest element in terms of the value of the module.
I just want to get the clarification on this. We are open for the acquisition as well in this regard, right? Is it both technically accretive option?
Right now, as I said, our board has approved to look out for the greenfield expansion, we're continuing to remain open for the supply security for our glass through various channels.
Mr. Kaushal, I would request you to rejoin the queue for a follow-up question. The next question is from the line of Sumit Kishore from Axis Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, thanks for the opportunity. I wanted to understand your BESS capital allocation progression between phase I and phase II better. What exactly has been achieved with the INR 1,400 odd crore CapEx so far, for your 3.5 GWh, phase I, what sort of contract visibility are you sort of building up, in terms of initial revenue bookings that could pan out here the next fiscal?
Sumit, I think seeing is believing. We need to come down to our factory to see it, yes.
Yes, I think that is required, maybe, for the time being.
Sure. Maybe I'll answer that. Our CapEx of our BESS cell manufacturing along with pack and container is well in shape and as per plan. We're already at the verge of starting our cell production over next two quarters. Within FY 2027, our entire 3.5 GWh of cell of BESS facility is expected to start commercially. We have done more than 90%-95% worth of site construction. All the equipment have already arrived either at the site or are lying at the ports. We have control of all the equipment, which is the best news here. We have recently started the container line, which should also follow the pack line over next 60 days at the same facility. In terms of market for this particular line, I think I'll take a step back and try to explain it in a deeper way.
One is the container and BESS solution available for the Indian markets, at large scale for utility. Second is the retail kits for the rooftop program. Recently, PM Surya Ghar also gave a signal that there could be a PM Surya Ghar along with the BESS pack manufacturing. Pack and container line have larger market optics in India, Indian market. We have, for example, our Waaree Renewable Technologies subsidiary has recently got an opportunity of 1,500 MWh worth of EPC contract for the BESS supply. This gives a clear indication that a single orders in BESS itself can take care of the entire year's production. For the cell manufacturing specifically, we are building this line for the global markets, including the U.S. and Europe, wherein the FEOC compliant supply chain is very lucrative and margin accretive.
In terms of the realization per MWh basis for the cell, for the FEOC compliant, the numbers are around 25%-30% higher than a Chinese cell pricing. Currently, $50- $55 per kWh is the price of a Chinese cell. Against it, the non-FEOC market is ranging between $75-$80. The margin profile for FEOC compliant market also is very superior, compared to a pure play, BESS solution and the pack manufacturing. There are two markets for Waaree. One is Make in India for overseas market from the cell manufacturing. Second is Make in India for BESS solution for India and rooftop as well as export from India. There are two different revenue streams for the BESS cell manufacturing. Hope this helps.
Make in India for India, is it getting any sort of incentives from the government that you're expecting?
Right now, there are no announced incentives as such. Certainly there are indications that Make in India campaign or Make in India likes of policy for BESS is already expected soon.
Okay, thank you so much, and I'll take on the offer to visit the plant. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in the interest of time, that was the last question. I would now like to hand the conference over to management for the closing comments.
I'll just add a few points, continuing from what Abhishek said. Waaree is building for five major markets. Make in India, sell to utilities, sell to C&I. C&I is a very large budding market, basically for large corporates and mid-size corporates. They add for captive renewables or group captive. The third being retail. I think in this call we haven't got too many questions on retail, but like Jigneshbhai and Abhishek emphasized, our retail business is going to be north of INR 9,000 crore, between INR 9,000 crore and INR 10,000 crore. How many consumer companies have this kind of size, scale, depth, distribution? This is just a beginning. Our retail is yet to see the benefit of battery getting added. That would add to a whole new growth lever. The second being, there are significant industry consolidation tailwinds that are available ahead of us.
We saw the benefit of ALMM, then now ALCM. The entire market will become FY 2029 onwards DCR. The way things are happening on the data center side, hopefully it should add, and this is guess estimate, 15 GWh- 20 GWh of additional solar and BESS demand driven by data center. FY 2028, June 28, ballpark, is when the wafer policy is supposed to come in. This will, like China, become a 10, 12, or a few player market. Such a large domestic market, plus the ability to export.
Make in India for utilities, C&I, retail, and there are two additional markets which very few companies like Waaree are building for and ready at scale is exports and make in U.S. and sell in U.S. Final point, like Abhishek emphasized, our FY 2027 guidance, that remains. More important point is our aspiration, vision, and execution towards in less than, or maybe in four years or less than five years, the near INR 1 lakh crore vision is what Waaree is building towards. Jigneshbhai, any closing comments?
Thank you so much everyone for trusting us, keep continuing the trust. Thank you so much. Have a good day.
On behalf of MUFG Int ime, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, you may now disconnect your lines.