After a few reforms in India’s power sector and green shoots in some developing countries, companies engaged in the power and engineering sector are witnessing smoother order flows. Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL) won two overseas orders worth ₹1,900 crore with the domestic sector, too, looking brigh. Speaking to Bloomberg TV India , KPTL MD Manish Mohnot says the company has targeted a margin growth of around 25 per cent for FY17. KPTL’s order book is now at ₹11,000 crore, he said. Excerpts:
Can you take us through the ₹2,000-crore order that Kalpataru won? When will the revenue start coming in from this project?
We have secured two orders — one from Senegal and the other from Afghanistan — totalling around ₹1,900 crore. The delivery period of these orders is 32-36 months. So the revenue may start flowing from the third quarter and go on for the next 6-7 quarters.
Both the projects are turnkey in nature. It includes everything in engineering, procurement, construction and design. Our typical margins have always been in the range of 10 per cent-plus at the operating level. This order will also have a similar margin.
What is your order book size for FY17?
The current order book is in the range of ₹11,000 crore depending on the final revenue for the first quarter.
What’s your international order book size? What kind of geographical concentration do you have in terms of your orders?
Our current order book mix-up would be 50 per cent international and 50 per cent domestic. Our international order book is in the range of $800 million now. More than 70 per cent of our international order book is from the African continent and the balance is from West Asia, CIS and few other regions.
In India, there is a renewed push from the Power Ministry for reforms and electrification. What type of opportunity do you see going forward?
We are seeing a lot of traction in Indian opportunities. In the last 3-6 months, we have won orders exceeding ₹2,000 crore in the domestic front. So we are seeing a lot of opportunities coming from Power Grid, State electricity boards and private players. I personally think, over the next two years, our domestic order book will grow significantly and there will be huge opportunities for us on the transmission side.
What’s your outlook for FY17 on the revenue and margin fronts?
For KPTL, on a standalone basis, we have targeted a margin growth of around 25 per cent on an annual basis; it may not happen on a quarter-on-quarter basis because a lot of orders have come around in the past 3-4 months.
So the first two quarters might not be so high, but we expect the third and fourth quarters to be very good. On a consolidated basis, which includes KPTL, JMC Projects and Shree Shubham Logistics Ltd, we are expecting a growth of around 15 per cent.