Radar is NTPC Green Energy, the NTPC's renewable energy arm, lists on the exchange at a mild premium and thereafter the stock surges to around 122 odd rupees versus a listing price of 111 rupees. As well, we have Mr. Gurdeep Singh, who is the Chairman and Managing Director of both NTPC and NTPC Green, joining in to discuss the company's post-listing strategies and the way forward. Mr. Gurdeep Singh, there has been a long journey. A lot of people on the street were pinning their hopes on this IPO. Not only has this IPO happened, the stock is listed and it's listed at a premium as well. So it's been a long journey. Congratulations on undertaking that. But what we know of the stock market, and as you would know from your stint at NTPC as well, that the journey in the markets is a lot longer, measured by every quarter that you have to report your numbers for. So let's get the regulation numbers out of the way. You've raised about 10,000 crore as a fresh issue. What does this number do to your balance sheet in terms of net debt and how much do you intend to save on interest costs as a result of this?
Thank you. Let me just mention here that we have raised 10,000 crore, but our growth plans are intact. Mostly we will be utilizing this money for funding our new projects, the capex requirement for the new projects. Let me share with you that at present we have more than around 13 to 16,000 megawatt of solar projects plus wind projects which are under execution, and we are going to commission 3,000 megawatt this year by March '25, another 5,000 megawatt by March '26, and another 8,000 megawatt by '27. So by March '27 we should be reaching 19,000 megawatt of commissioned capacity. And we have already declared that we will be reaching 60 GW, meaning 60,000 megawatt, by 2032. This whole money mostly will be required to be invested in the capex. There will be a timing where there will be some gap time where we'll have surplus cash which will go for optimizing the debt, but more or less we will be going for 4:1, meaning equity will be only 20% and debt will be 80%. As you know, NTPC has the rating which is AAA for domestic and BBB- which is as good as sovereign as far as international is concerned. So there is no reason that we will not be taking the advantage of our funding which will be at the most optimum price.
Hi Mr. Singh, good morning and good to see you. This is Nigel on this side. You know, with quite some vigor you were ringing that bell. I think the markets as well got quite excited. The stock opened up 2-3% and now it's flying away. But the street is listening into what you're saying. As you're saying that you're going to be commissioning capacities by 2032, you'll be 60 GW of renewable energy, which is a big number. Give us a few basic details. Absolutely, you raise some money to repay some debt. So what is the current debt post this repayment? Point number one. Point number two, as your capacity moves up, what is the peak debt level that we'll be seeing? Highlight the capex and peak debt level. Please go ahead.
Nigel is just explaining to you that it's not that there is a typical... We have a very strong balance sheet which is backed by NTPC itself, and our rating of this company, NGEL, is also AAA by the way. And we are in a position to raise not only from domestic sources but also from the international market. This is the company which is able to raise the funding at the most optimum level compared to any of the corporates available. Yes.
Yes, yes, Mr. Singh, we got that, Mr. Singh. But now I just want to know what is the debt currently? Sir, today, what is the debt?
See, the requirement of the capex is going to be, let's say, around 5 crore per megawatt for solar and 8 crore for wind. What we are planning is that our solar will be almost 80 to 90% and there will be 10 to 20% wind. So the requirement for the capex up to '27 itself is about 1 lakh-plus crore. And if you go to 2030, it will be 3.25 lakh crore for solar plus wind. But let me add here the more important part: there will be heavy investment in storage, which will be battery plus pump storage, and also going forward there is another one which is going to be the green molecule and its derivatives. So there will be a huge capex requirement going forward, and we will ensure that we are not going to cross the limit, and we will be having the kind of internal approvals as well as raising the debt.
You know, I was reading a note that came in from a brokerage, SBI Securities. They expect the company's revenue and profit to grow at a compounded rate of 79% over the next 3 years, revenue and profits at around 120% plus. Would you concur with that? Or do you think, if you could give us a reasonable growth outlook, do you think these are realistic projections?
See, what I would share with you: in the last, like FY22 to FY24, we have around 46% increase in case of EBITDA and almost around 90% in case of PAT. So we should be in a position to have the EBITDA margin per megawatt of about 65 lakhs per megawatt. So now you can start calculating rather than me giving the fixed numbers. I think the more important is that there should be a performance on the ground which will drive the numbers, rather than you give the number and then calculate backward.
So, by the end of the next three years, say FY26, FY27, and FY28, what would your capacity glide path be? Then we calculate: FY27 we will have 19 GW commissioned capacity, meaning 19,000 megawatt. So 65 lakhs per megawatt translates to around 11,000 to 12,000 crore. That is correct. But going forward, the growth rate will increase, we will accelerate our growth rather than staying flat. We have a different model than most other players, like joint ventures with state governments. We have 25,000 megawatt with Rajasthan, plus green molecule with Andhra Pradesh, 20,000 with two companies in Maharashtra, and recently 2,000 megawatt in Chhattisgarh. We are also talking to other states. The fundamental part of green energy is land and evacuation, in addition to equipment availability. If you have land and a large-scale project of 3 to 4 GW, the pooling station comes to that park rather than waiting for connectivity. So we are much more sound than any other business. We already have 1,200 acres for our NTPC Green Energy green hydrogen hub at Pudimadaka, where we are developing the green molecule.
Got it, got it, Mr. Singh. You know, you're very passionate about the business, but the stock market would like to know a few numbers. And you've given us one crucial one: 65 lakhs per megawatt. So in the last year you did little south of 2,000 crores of EBITDA. As you're saying, by FY27 you're going to be moving to 19 GW. So done the math quickly: 11 to 12,000 crores is what your EBITDA number should look like, which you concurred as well. You briefly mentioned that. And by 2032, since you're going to go to 60 GW, then back of the envelope calculation suggests that from 2,000 crores in the last year, you'll go to around 11-12,000 crores, which is five times EBITDA in the next three years, and by 2032 it could be more than 35,000 crores EBITDA. Rough calculation appears correct.
