Profit, product launch next year: Suzlon’s Tanti

Suzlon Group Chairman and Managing Director Tulsi Tanti is “100 per cent sure” that Suzlon Energy will make a net profit in 2015-16.

“We have a clear plan of reducing our debt and interest costs,” Tanti said in a chat with BusinessLine recently, without getting into details. For the six months ended September 30, Suzlon reported consolidated net loss of ₹1,385 crore on revenues of ₹10,051 crore, after incurring interest costs of ₹1,065 crore.

Tanti did not want to give any details of the possible fund raising and listing of Suzlon’s European arm, Senvion. The €1.34 billion acquisition in June 2007 of Senvion, formerly known as RE Power, imposed a debt burden on Suzlon, particularly because the company was not allowed to use Senvion’s €300 million cash reserves to pay off its Indian debts.

Suzlon will launch a new wind turbine, the 2.1 MW machine named ‘S 111’, in April 2015, said Tanti. Combined with the company’s newly-launched 120 metre hybrid tower, the machine is projected to give 20 per cent higher yield.

He said the new machine will make a critical one-percentage-point difference to the investor’s return (IRR), to 15 per cent. The machine would also open up hitherto unviable sites for putting up wind farms. He cited Suzlon’s upcoming wind farm in Rajasthan as an example.

“With this new machine 70 per cent of Tamil Nadu (for example) will become available for wind farms,” he said.

Asked if Senvion will form joint ventures for offshore wind farms, similar to Vestas with Mitsubishi and Gamesa with Areva, Tanti said Senvion intends to form joint ventures in Japan, China and Brazil. “(But) our strategy is different,” he said, stressing that Senvion does not need technology, nor expects funding from the partners. The role of the partners would be marketing in the respective countries and “strong government relationship”.

The Suzlon Group has begun the process of finding partners first in Japan, and will go to China next.

Asked if these joint ventures could come into being next financial year, Tanti said, “100 per cent.”