[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Thank you, Rituja. Good evening, everyone. Thank you all for joining us today. I am hopeful that I am audible to all of you very clear. Coming to the results, Q2 FY27 was a landmark quarter for Vedanta Power, with the business delivering record quarterly revenue and EBITDA, supported by stronger volumes, improved operating performance, and continued progress across our portfolio.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Revenue for the quarter increased 38% YOY to INR 2,908 crores, while EBITDA more than doubled to a record INR 421 crore, an increase of 122% in EBITDA YOY basis. Profit after tax, before exceptional items improved to INR 101 crores. Operationally, we sold 5,593 million units, which was 36% up on YOY basis. The improvement was broad-based across our operating portfolio. At Talwandi Sabo, power gen reached 2,945 million units during the quarter.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): The plant also continued to create value from by-products with ash revenue increasing from INR 1.6 crores in Q2 FY26 to INR 8.7 crores in Q2 FY27. At Jharsuguda, plant availability reached 98%, compared to 48% in the same quarter last year. The plant delivered its highest-ever quarterly EBITDA of INR 478 crores, which included recovery of INR 58 crores of legacy asset disposal cost following a favorable ORC judgment. Meenakshi Energy continued its strong ramp-up.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Plant achieved its highest-ever quarterly sales of 1,417 million units, up 112% on YOY basis, and delivered EBITDA of INR 101 crores compared with INR 28 crores in Q2 last year. Importantly, domestic coal constituted 87% of coal consumption during the quarter. The transition towards domestic coal in Meenakshi remained an important lever and helped us save INR 127 crores as compared to imported coal, if we could execute that.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): We also achieved an important milestone at Sakti, with unit 1 now successfully synchronized on grid on 25 October 2026. This following the completion of the restoration program by teams on ground, which restores a significant operating asset to the portfolio as unit 2 overall project progress stood at 70% at the end of Q2. With planned startup of unit 2 by Q4 FY27, the commissioning activities will start.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Fuel security remains one of our key priorities. Across Vedanta Power, approximately 85% of coal requirement is secured through long-term linkages, which provides stability to the business outcome. Our focus remains on maximizing linked coal, diversifying domestic sources, and reducing dependence completely on imported coal in this year. On power sales, our portfolio remains predominantly contracted.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Approximately 74% of our capacity is tied up through long-term PPA across our portfolio, and our strategic focus is on securing 85% to 90% of the capacity under long-term or medium-term PPA, while retaining flexibility to participate in short-term market, which is very favorable looking at the shortage across India. On ESG and community, which remains core to our operations, our specific freshwater consumption stood at 1.64 meter cube per MW hour, which is one of the lowest across the industry.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Local procurement reached 53%, and local employment stood at 76%. During H1 FY27, our CSR program reached 48,331 beneficiaries across sectors of healthcare, livelihood, education, integrated village development, community infrastructure, and skill development. Looking ahead, our priorities are clear. Stabilize and ramp up Unit 1 at Sakti Thermal Power Plant. Commission Sakti Unit 2. Strengthen Meenakshi domestic coal security and convert Meenakshi to 100% domestic coal usage.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Improve plant availability, and maintain discipline around contracting, cost, and capital allocation. At the same time, we continue to evaluate the long-term growth opportunity for Vedanta Power. India's growing electricity requirement and increasing requirement for reliable baseload power provides a strong structural backdrop for efficient thermal generation. Our approach to growth will remain disciplined, linked to secure fuel, strong offtake, and acceptable returns.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): With a stronger operating portfolio, improving fuel security, and return of the Sakti back into operation, we believe Vedanta Power is well-positioned to build on the momentum achieved during the quarter and deliver sustainable long-term value for our stakeholders. Thank you. I will now hand over to our CFO, Mr. Pankaj Jha, to take you through the financial performance in greater detail.
Pankaj Jha: Thank you, Abhijit, and good evening, everyone.
Pankaj Jha: As highlighted by the CEO, Q2 FY27 was a strong quarter financially, with improvement across revenue, EBITDA, underlying profitability, and leverage. Let me begin with the income statement. Revenue from operations increased 38% YoY to INR 2,908 crore compared with INR 2,104 crore in Q2 FY26. This was supported by a 26% increase in sales volume to 5,593 million units. Improvement in NSR to INR 5.2 per kilowatt hour from INR 4.7 in the corresponding quarter last year.
Pankaj Jha: EBITDA increased 122% YoY to INR 421 crore, compared with INR 192 crore in Q2 FY26, and was also 45% higher sequentially compared with INR 291 crore in Q1. The year-on-year EBITDA improvement was supported by higher volumes, better NSR, improved operating performance across the portfolio. An important contributor was Meenakshi, which generated INR 101 crore of EBITDA during the quarter.
Pankaj Jha: The increasing share of domestic coal is an important part of our effort to make this performance structurally more sustainable. Below EBITDA, finance cost was INR 200 crore for the quarter, compared with INR 172 crore in Q2 FY26. The increase is due to capitalization at Sakti and Meenakshi. Consequently, PAT before exceptional items improved to INR 101 crore compared with a loss of INR 142 crore in Q2 FY26.
Pankaj Jha: Exceptional items net of tax were INR 18 crore during the quarter, resulting in reported PAT of INR 83 crore. This translated into our first positive quarterly EPS of INR 0.21 paisa. Turning to the balance sheet, our focus on deleveraging and liquidity remains unchanged. Our balance sheet and liquidity remains strong with cash and cash equivalents at INR 1,063 crore and net debt reducing to INR 7,444 crore from INR 7,704 crore a quarter ago.
Pankaj Jha: Our net debt to EBITDA ratio improved materially to 4.47x from 9.82x a year ago. Our credit profile also remains strong with ICRA and CRISIL rating of AA- with stable outlook. At the half-year level, revenue increased 35% YoY to INR 5,515 crore, while EBITDA increased 14% to INR 712 crore. Meenakshi sold 2,820 million units in H1 and delivered stellar half-yearly EBITDA of INR 213 crore. PAT before exceptional items improved to INR 42 crore, compared with a loss of INR 54 crore in H1 FY26.
Pankaj Jha: Our priorities for the second half are straightforward. Convert to operational recovery into sustainable cash earnings, maintain discipline over working capital and balance cost, continue reducing leverage, and ensure that growth capital is deployed against projects which secure offtake and appropriate returns.
Pankaj Jha: With the improvement in our operating portfolio, strengthening balance sheet and the return of Sakti Unit 1, we enter the second half of FY27 from a stronger position. With that, I am handing over to operator for any questions.
Operator: Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touch telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use hand raise while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Participants to ask questions, please press star and one now. The first question is from the line of Kirtan Donga from Leo Capital. Please go ahead.
Kirtan Donga: Hello. Yes. Good evening. Good evening, sir. Congratulations on the spectacular numbers.
Kirtan Donga: I had a couple of questions. First was for a brownfield expansion, if we get coal linkage from Coal India, what is this cost likely to be for the incremental capacity that we set up in terms of cost per unit on variable cost and total cost basis?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Ritesh, basically, this brownfield expansion, we are planning to bring somewhere near the pit head and the incremental cost from the Coal India, because the SHAKTI scheme is there for the IPP units. We are expecting in the range of INR 0.80 per GCV, which translates to around INR 2 per unit, and the variable cost will be another INR 0.50. So INR 2.50 is the expected COP we can expect from that brownfield expansion company.
Kirtan Donga: Okay. What sort of market price would we need to ensure that we make a reasonable return on equity for this expansion?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): See, if you see the recent tender in the market of DBFOO, all are trading at a price of 6 or a bit higher than that. Down the line, 4 years or 5 years, we believe that 6 will be your base average for the pricing. Anything above 6, we will be at a comfortable ROE and a payback of less than 6 years.
Kirtan Donga: Okay, thank you. Second one, sir, what is the status of this expansion, and by when do we expect to get approvals to initiate CapEx?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Basically, like we have always said, it is our aspiration to go up to 13 gigawatt. We are still under the discussion and identification of the land. Matter will be discussed in the board and an appropriate announcement will be made in the correct time.
Kirtan Donga: Okay. So right now it is discussion under board only.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Yes.
Kirtan Donga: Okay. My last question was, for the incremental greenfield expansion, what will unit economics be like? What sort of CapEx per MW do we expect, and what sort of ROE or payback period do we expect for this expansion?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Actually, if you look at our expansion plan, we have always said that our first focus of expansion is on brownfield at our available lands across all the sites. Once we exhaust that, then only we will think about the greenfield. I think our presentation has very well captured earlier that Sakti is our priority. It is there to pre-site and then we have land available at Meenakshi, Talwandi, and other locations, and then we will accordingly take up.
Kirtan Donga: Okay. In general, sir, are we likely to go in the direction of long-term power purchase agreement or are we choosing to be a merchant power producer?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): We are definitely participating in all the DBFOO tenders which are up in the market. We are one of the shortlisted contestants in UP tender. We are definitely looking DBFOO as one of the pillar of our growth. Second pillar remains in merchant power. It will be mix of both.
Kirtan Donga: Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much, sir. That's all from my side.
Operator: Thank you. Next question is from the line of Aniket Mittal from HDFC Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Aniket Mittal: Yes, thank you. Just wanted a clarification. What's the EBITDA for H1 for Meenakshi?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): For EBITDA?
Aniket Mittal: For Meenakshi, what is the overall EBITDA for the H1?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): This quarter it is INR 101 crore and INR 112 crore for Q1. If we add up, it is around INR 213 crore for the H1.
Aniket Mittal: Okay. Sir, I am just trying to understand, what is the reason why the EBITDA for Meenakshi is sort of flattish on a sequential basis? In that context, I just want to understand what is driving the sequential growth in EBITDA.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): The EBITDA has been growth because of our other units. Our Jharsuguda unit has had the best ever availability of 98%. There we have improved NSR. Our Talwandi Sabo unit has grown. At Sakti also we have been able to materialize couple of the units, and the better pricing in the market is helping me to arrive that growth.
Aniket Mittal: Okay. Because I thought the other units are much more sort of in a steady state regulated, right? I mean, both Talwandi Sabo and Jharsuguda are more a regulated model. So there, I am assuming the EBITDA should have been much more sort of steady.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): At Jharsuguda the EBITDA was steady, but there was a realization of couple of some legacy as matters of around INR 50 crore to INR 60 crore, which was materialized during the quarter. So that has also added up.
Aniket Mittal: Okay. And just on Sakti, how do I look at the overall spreads now? Maybe if you can give some color on realization and with domestic costs also coming in. What is the sort of broad spread in terms of realization variable costs that we are seeing, sorry, at Meenakshi?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): At Meenakshi, my overall realization is around INR 6 for the quarter, and the overall cost is INR 5, because we have migrated from imported to domestic. At an imported coal, at a current level, the cost would have been at INR 7. I think this quarter we have saved around INR 127 crore by not using imported coal for VLCTPP design. And I think the team has done a wonderful job of shifting to maximizing the Indian coal, which has given a stability in terms of cost benefit. And also now in September, they have consumed 95% of Indian coal, and they are very near to reach 100% number now.
Aniket Mittal: All right. So roughly, we are currently at an 87%. We are making on the dark spread would be about INR 1 per kilowatt hour. That is the roadmap.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Yes.
Aniket Mittal: Okay. Just to understand on Sakti, have we started supplying this on a commercial basis? When do we start supplying Sakti commercially into the grid? Just some clarity on that, and how do we look at the ramp-up over there?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Aniket, we have started on 25 September, and ramping up is going on. I am sure there will not be much time needed here in Sakti because DC was already commissioning kind of stabilized before the incident. So Sakti is now supplying to a medium-term tender of Tamil Nadu, and we have a tie-up with Maharashtra and other states at a better improved realization because the market rates are really going up. We have seen there is a huge uptick in the market pricing. So the open quantity of 100 MW at Sakti now will be selling in the open market at a better rate, which is moving around INR 5 to INR 6 and above continuously.
Aniket Mittal: Okay. Just to get a clarity, the gross sales that we did in Sakti this quarter, this was based on power that we purchased from the grid, is it? So what did we purchase it at? What did we sell it at? Just to understand how much EBITDA did Sakti give this quarter.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): During the quarter, Sakti, it was a flattish because the number of units or volume is around 300 million units. It has been purchased at INR 4 and supplied at INR 7. But for the profitable part, there were some other costs, which made it a flat level.
Aniket Mittal: Understood. Given that you have already started supplying on Sakti, what are the sort of spreads that we are seeing over there? Is coal availability any problem that you see on ground, and what is the variable cost that we are seeing at Sakti right now?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): At Sakti, my overall COG will be around INR 2.5. INR 2 will be the coal cost, INR 0.5 will be my non-coal cost. That is what we are looking at Sakti.
Aniket Mittal: Okay. Realizations under the Tamil Nadu contract are close to 5, is it?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): It is INR 5.5.
Aniket Mittal: Got that. Just one clarification. Unit 2, when do we expect that to start? When will that get completed and start supplying to the grid? Hello?
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question, please press star and one. Press star and one.
Operator: You can press star 6 to unmute.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question, you may please press star and 1 now. Participants who wishes to ask a question, please press star and 1 now. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question, you may please press star and 1 now. The next question is from the line of Abhishek Poddar from Citadel Enterprises. Please go ahead.
Abhishek Poddar: Yeah, thank you for taking my question. Sir, regarding this second unit of Sakti, what timelines are we looking at, and how to think about the power sales for that in the medium-term contract or anything that will be entered? Hello.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Sorry.
Abhishek Poddar: Am I audible?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Abhishek, am I audible?
Abhishek Poddar: Yeah. Now we can hear.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Abhishek, can you hear me?
Abhishek Poddar: Yeah.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Okay. No, Abhishek, just to respond to your point. Sakti unit 2, we will be starting the commissioning activity for the plant by end of this year. That is the guidance we still hold onto, and we look it very confident that we should be able to do that. Coming to second unit tie-up, that will only happen once you synchronize it on the grid, Abhishek.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): You cannot tie up anything on medium-term, long-term until and unless the unit is synchronized. For some time, as this year, we will be feeding into the exchange, which is definitely fetching us the better prices, looking at the shortage across India and the market demand increasing. Then we continue to scout for all the tenders, market tenders, which comes up for long-term and medium-term.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): By that time, we want to focus on covering the balance capacity, which is Meenakshi and Athena, which is open capacity in the market. We should be able to tie up by that time.
Abhishek Poddar: Understood. So maybe by April, this would start getting synchronized. April 2027.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Yeah.
Abhishek Poddar: Understood. Regarding this point you made on the UP, you are also shortlisted. Just trying to understand, given our balance sheet, how big budgets can we take now, and also what is the timeline we are thinking of this?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): See, basically, if you see our net debt to EBITDA, like you touched that balance sheet, it is 4.47. See, we have to understand that the CapEx follows the operation. Last year when my CapEx was there, but plant was not in operation, it was around 10x. Once it is in operational, it has reduced to 4.4x. Once my unit 2 is in operation, this will further improve to around 2. So if I talk around my balance sheet, up to 10 or 12, if I take a leverage, I can put up around 4 units of 800 MW.
Abhishek Poddar: Okay, understood.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): And in the UP tender, we have bid for-
Abhishek Poddar: Okay, so we will not be shy-
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): of 800 MW.
Abhishek Poddar: Okay. Two units of 800 MW is where we are bidding. When do you expect this outcome?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Yes.
Abhishek Poddar: Understood. Regarding your Okay. Understood. This could be at the brownfield expansion at Sakti only that you could look at.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Yes. That is the strategically best location available, with the cheapest source of power, which you can build there because the coal mining is hardly within the range of 60, 70 kilo.
Abhishek Poddar: Understood. Given the current challenges around the sourcing of BTG equipment, how do we tie up for those, if we get chosen?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): That is something which is a common issue for all the participants in the market. We are also working with the Indian OEMs to supply us and back up for all the tenders which we are participating. We have a commitment from the Indian OEMs also when we are participating back to back.
Abhishek Poddar: Understood. There are also bids for other states. Are you also looking to bid for those?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): West Bengal is open. We are participating. This is something which we just want to tell you, we will be looking at all the opportunities for growth since after demerger. That is a single focus which we keep at Vedanta Power. We want to grow from fifth largest private sector player to third largest within next five years.
Abhishek Poddar: Yeah, very clear. Just last question, sir. I think your group company, Vedanta Aluminium, they were speaking about the aluminum expansion, where they did point to power getting sourced from the group company. Is that a possibility that we could be doing power for them as well?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): It is definitely a possibility, and when it materializes, we will definitely come and brief that. But yes, it is a possibility to answer you.
Abhishek Poddar: Okay. Thank you, sir, and all the best.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Thank you.
Abhishek Poddar: Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. Next question is from the line of Aniket Mittal from HDFC Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Aniket Mittal: Yes, thank you. Sorry, I think I got cut off over there. One thing I wanted to understand is, in terms of both unit 1 and unit 2 of Sakti, what is the pending CapEx?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Around INR 1,200 crore is the pending CapEx. We will be spending this in H2 and some part by Q1 of next year.
Aniket Mittal: Okay. I missed out on the UP front. How large is the overall size over there? You mentioned about 2 units and the conclusion for the sale.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): 800 MW of 2 units. Around 1,600 MW is what we have bid for.
Aniket Mittal: What is the overall tender size?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): I think it is for 4,000 MW.
Aniket Mittal: Okay. When do you expect this to conclude?
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Maybe down the line two months, the results should be out.
Aniket Mittal: Okay. Fair. Thank you. Those were my questions. Thank you.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Thank you.
Operator: Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. Members of management, on behalf of Vedanta Power Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.
[Company Representative] (Vedanta Power): Thank you.
