Good evening everyone, and thank you for joining us today to discuss the Q1 FY27 business performance of Sarda Energy & Minerals Limited. We have with us Mr.

Pankaj Sarda, Managing Director; Mr. Manish Sarda, Deputy Managing Director; Mr.

Padam Kumar Jain, Director and Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. Nilay Joshi, Executive Director.

Before we proceed with this call, I would like to mention that some of the statements made in this call may be forward-looking in nature and may involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect developments that occur after the statement is made.

Documents related to the company's financial performance, including the investor presentation, have been uploaded on the stock exchanges and company website. I now hand over the conference to Mr.

Pankaj Sarda. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Thank you, Parth. Good afternoon and thank you all for joining us on the Q1 FY27 earnings call.

I hope you have had a chance to go through the financial results and investor presentation uploaded on the exchanges and our company website. Q1 FY27 stands as testament to the series of decisions we have taken over the last few years to build a diversified, integrated business model, one that has continued to help us navigate external challenges.

Following a record FY26, we have begun the new financial year with continued progress across our strategic priorities: strengthening our integrated business model through disciplined execution, strengthening expansion pipelines through disciplined capital allocation, and improving efficiencies. Let me now walk you through the key highlights of the quarter.

Despite a combination of planned maintenance shutdowns, unplanned outages, and seasonal factors, Q1 FY27 financial performance remained robust, with the highest ever quarterly EBITDA and PAT. Q1 total income stood at Rs 1,717 crores, EBITDA at Rs 762 crores, and PAT at Rs 478 crores, a growth of 9.4% YoY.

Net profit included a one-time net benefit worth Rs 110 crores, mainly relating to the regulatory approval of final project cost for 113 MW Sikkim hydropower plant. Moving to the operational performance.

Our energy business remained the key growth driver, contributing nearly 70% of consolidated EBITDA and providing stability to overall earnings. We have secured medium and long-term power supply agreements for over 380 MW out of the total 710 MW saleable power capacity, which meaningfully improves revenue visibility and earnings stability for our power business going forward.

During the quarter, generation at the 600 MW thermal power plant continued to be steady during the quarter with an average PLF of 85.9%. Generation across our small hydropower plants was affected by delayed monsoon conditions during Q1.

However, we are encouraged by the early trends in July and are hopeful of a better momentum in Q2. Separately, as previously announced in stock exchange intimation, our 113 MW Sikkim hydropower project was shut from 18th June to 5th July following the collapse of a transmission tower caused by heavy rainfall and landslides.

The plant has resumed operations fully and is functioning at normal level. On the metals front, while iron ore pellet production supported our operating performance, but the consolidated revenue for the steel and ferroalloys segments declined QoQ as the production was impacted by several plant outages.

Firstly, the planned replacement of 30 MW captive power plant unit at Raipur, along with improvements works across steel and ferroalloys facilities, temporarily impacted production. This resulted in a temporary YoY decline in production of billets, wire rod, etc.

However, the new 30 MW unit is ready for trial operations. We expect stable commercial operations to begin by the middle of this month.

Secondly, at Vizag, the captive power plant underwent scheduled maintenance for 23 days, affecting ferroalloys production. Additionally, one of the ferroalloys units at Siltara was also under shutdown for 53 days for refurbishment.

On the realization front, the steel prices remained largely range-bound with a mild negative bias during the quarter, while ferroalloys prices saw a modest improvement. The price realization from sale of power was lower YoY.

Moving on to the updates on our ongoing capacity expansion. Execution across our major expansion initiatives continues to progress as planned.

The regulatory approval process for expanding our thermal power capacity at SKS from 600 MW to 1,200 MW is on track. The brownfield expansion remains one of the most capital-efficient growth opportunities available to us, backed by existing land, water, material handling system, and evacuation infrastructure.

Approval process for our three small hydro projects in Chhattisgarh, 74 MW aggregate, is progressing as scheduled. Commissioning of our 50 MW captive solar power project has been delayed due to right-of-way issues on the transmission line.

We now expect commissioning before the end of the next quarter. For our recently acquired 66 MW hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh, most key statutory approvals are in hand and critical land acquisition is complete.

Work for approach road started. We remain confident of hitting our planned timelines on this project.

On mining, development of the Shahpur West high-grade coal mine remains on schedule, with commissioning targeted before the end of FY27. The Bartunga Hill coal mine is expected to be opened by the end of next financial year, while regulatory approvals for the Gare Palma IV/5 and Sinduri coal blocks continue to progress as planned.

Additionally, as part of our sustainability agenda, we are investing approximately Rs 300 crores. The project includes a waste heat recovery power plant at Vizag with an aim to improve energy efficiency and resource utilization.

As committed earlier, we continue to be very prudent about our balance sheet while undertaking all these expansions. All ongoing expansion projects continue to be funded through internal accruals.

We are now net-debt-free on both our standalone and consolidated basis, with a strong balance sheet and healthy liquidity of more than Rs 2,500 crores as of 30th June 2026, giving us significant flexibility to execute our long-term growth plans. Looking ahead, our focus remains on disciplined execution of the expansion pipeline, timely commissioning of ongoing projects, deepening the integration from mining to energy to metal, and further strengthen the balance sheet.

We are confident these initiatives will continue to enhance earnings visibility, improve operating efficiency, and support sustainable value creation for all our stakeholders. With that, I'll hand over to Mr.

Manish Sarda to walk you through the industry environment and outlook.

Good afternoon everyone, and thank you for joining us. Manish...

Good afternoon everyone, can you hear me? Hello?

Can you hear me?

Energy sector demand... Not audible.

Let me go ahead then. India's power generation grew 9.4% year-on-year to around 523 billion units...

Talking about energy sector demand, India's...

Hello?

Nilay, are you there?

I'm there, very much there.

I can hear both of you actually.

I can hear.

Talking about energy sector demand...

I think they are unable to hear us.

Hello? Am I audible?

Yes, you are audible, but voice

Manish,

Manish bhai. Hello?

India's power generation grew 9.4% year-on-year to around 523 billion units during the quarter. Thermal generation grew 7.5% and continued to account for close to 70% of the country's total generation, while renewable generation, including large hydro, grew approximately 15%.

Delayed monsoon conditions weighed on hydropower, with small hydropower generation declining roughly 30% year-on-year and large hydropower generation declining 7%. This was more than offset by a sharp 45% increase in solar generation.

Average prices on the day-ahead market held broadly stable at Rs 3.85 per unit, compared to Rs 3.92 per unit in the corresponding period last year. However, prices in July have moved up from Rs 4.19 to Rs 5 per unit year-on-year.

The government continues to prioritize energy security by promoting domestic energy resources and reducing dependence on imported coal and oil. Reflecting global supply disruptions, higher logistics cost from geopolitical tensions, and Indonesia's export restrictions, the Indian Coal Index for June 2026 was -21% higher than June 2025 and -11% higher than March 2026.

Steel sector: India continued to outperform major global steel producers through the first half of calendar year 2026. Domestic crude steel production grew over 7.5%, even as China and several other major producers saw declines.

The weak domestic Chinese real estate demand continued to push exports into global market at about 10 million tonnes per month. Amidst this, India's apparent steel consumption grew year-on-year, though momentum moderated sequentially.

Imports have once again exceeded exports after two quarters, partly on the back of free trade agreements with partner countries. We welcome the government's anti-dumping investigations, which should help address unfair imports and support domestic producers.

The ongoing conflict in West Asia has raised input costs and created supply chain disruptions. Elevated oil prices could inflationary pressure and affect demand in certain end-use sectors, including steel.

While we remain in a wait-and-watch position, given India's predominantly domestic demand-driven economy, we expect the overall impact to remain manageable. Government initiatives under Viksit Bharat 2047, Make in India, and Atmanirbhar Bharat continue to drive investment across manufacturing, logistics, electronics, semiconductors, data centers, and industrial infrastructure, creating sustained, long-term demand for reliable, competitively priced power, as well as metal sector.

How is SEML positioning? Against the backdrop, we believe SEML is well-placed to capture these structural opportunities through our integrated presence across mining, energy, and metals.

Our diversified and calibrated expansion pipeline is well-aligned with India's long-term priorities of energy security, manufacturing-led growth, and economic self-reliance. With plans to quadruple our mining capacity and double our energy generation capacity, we are entering the next phase of growth with a strong balance sheet, improving operating momentum, and clearly defined roadmap.

We remain confident that our integrated model, disciplined capital allocation, and continued execution focus will drive sustainable growth and enduring value for all stakeholders. With that, we'd be happy to take your questions.

Thank you.

Hi. Thank you for the opportunity.

See, my first question is on our IPP, the power sale and power realization. If I just back-calculate the numbers, in this quarter, we earned almost Rs 8 a unit on our power sales.

Now, I heard on the call that almost 370 MW of our capacity has, we have some long-term PPAs or mid-term PPAs for that, and I'm sure the rates for PPAs would be between Rs 5 to Rs 6. Is it fair to say that going ahead, as more and more PPAs are signed by us, the revenue per unit of power will keep declining?

Hello? Am I audible?

Yes, you are audible.

Yeah.

Just hold on. I think Raipur disconnected.

Can you connect them please, operator?

Hello. Can't hear you.

you do one thing. You maybe...

Are they on mobile?

Are they on mobile or are they on landline? No, no, see,

you connect on the mobile. I'll just give you the number, wait.

Just...

This is Digant Haria. Should I ask my question?

Yes, please.

Sir, my question is on our power business. See, when I back-calculate, I get that we have earned around Rs 8 a unit on an average for this quarter, which is quite a good realization.

I heard on the call that almost 378 MW of our power plant capacity is going to be on long-term PPAs, and the rates there maybe in that Rs 5 to Rs 6 unit. Would our revenue from this power plant keep declining as we sign more and more long-term PPAs?

Hello.

I think there is some understanding gap. Our current period income also includes the previous year adjustments, the average realization calculated by you is not a correct one.

Okay.

Your calculation will not work because we have certain income for the previous period also.

Got it. Sir, but then going ahead, we should generally assume for the full year Rs 5 to Rs 6 a unit on whatever electricity is generated and sold by us?

Yes, yes.

Okay.

It will be in between this. Got it.

Got it.

Over a period of time, it will go up. For a period of time, as the inflation goes up and peak demand goes up, this will increase, particularly for the hydropower side.

Okay. Sir, and just, I think this summer, it's said that there was a lot of solar power in the daytime, and which is why the daytime rates did not go up at all despite very high demand.

As Sarda Energy, how do you see this whole situation of excess solar capacity coming and will it hit us or that is precisely the reason why we are doing these long-term PPAs?

No, as the solar is increasing, at the same time this BESS is also coming up. There will be certain policy changes at the government level also when they may also give concessional power tariff during day hours to the industry or maybe charging stations and all those things, policy initiatives will also happen.

Over a period of time, things will get balanced. Yes, definitely for the present time, during day hours, because of solar, power is excessive and during peak hours, the gap has gone up.

We are getting much higher prices during peak hours, and peak hour period has gone up from 5 hours to maybe 8 hours, 10 hours like that. Got it.

Got it,

got it. Okay.

In case of our hydropower, wherever our hydropower projects are, is there enough water? Has it rained in the reservoirs which are there around our hydropower plants?

In case of our large hydro power plant of 113 MW, we have generated higher than the last year. We are at par even after closure of the unit for almost 13 days.

Indirectly, we can say that we have generated better than the previous year. In case of small hydropower plants, there was a shortfall of water because there was a delay in the rainfall.

Right, right, right. Overall, see

our generation was hardly 1% lesser than the previous year.

Yes, sir. Sir, but the next quarter, this quarter is the largest for our hydropower, I was just checking if the rain...

Just a sec. Just a sec.

Please repeat your question. Hello?

Yeah.

Please. Hello?

Can you repeat your question?

My question is that, see, quarter 2 is the largest quarter for our hydropower generation, I just wanted to ask if have the rains come and is the water adequate in the reservoirs from where this hydropower will be generated?

Rains are good and July we are getting far better rains in the small hydro power projects also.

Okay. Got it.

My last question will be for this year, which is financial year '27, what will lead to say a growth in revenue or EBITDA? Because whatever projects we have on the coal mining side or in the power side, a lot of them are probably going to come later on.

Can we expect any growth in this current year?

One will definitely be the improvement in the power price realizations. Another is improvement in the power capacity utilization in our IPP.

These are two primary factors. With the commissioning of our 30 MW power plant, there will be improvement in the generation.

Of metal steel. Okay.

Sir, you don't see any improvement on the metal side, any...

Metal side, production will go up with the commissioning of the 30 MW new power plant. Our captive power generation will go up, that will definitely help in increased production of the steel side.

Okay. Sir.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi. Very good evening and thank you so much for the opportunity.

Sir, my first question is pertaining to the Rs 110 crore impact on the net profit that we have witnessed this quarter. Just wanted to get a sense of if you could give me the number of what the actual impact was on the top line and on the EBITDA level?

In the top line, in the revenue, it was Rs 162.64 crores was added in the revenue side.

On EBITDA?

There was an increase of about Rs 18 crores on the other income in the form of interest.

That's helpful.

At EBITDA level, I'll just give the figures. Before tax, you can directly add up 25% to the Rs 110 crores, that is the EBITDA level effect.

Net of tax, right?

Net of tax.

Got it. Just a follow-up, this Rs 18 crore is the only number which is coming in to the other income?

Because sequentially, we have seen a good jump in the other income from roughly Rs 4-5 crores, so...

No, Rs 18 crore is basically interest awarded along with the tariff, so that is added in the other income.

Oh, okay. Got it.

Sir, that is quite helpful, yes, thank you. Second question, sir, comes pertaining to the PPAs.

Out of 380 MW of PPAs that we already have in place, what megawatt capacity would it be pertaining to SKS? Roughly 200 MW, if I'm not wrong?

No, 330 MW approximately.

Okay, 330 for SKS. Would you be able to give us a sense on what the tariff would be?

Tariff is in between 5 and 6.

Between Rs 5 to Rs 6. The maximum capacity that we are looking for PPAs for SKS, is it going to be 400, 500, or are we going to keep something as, probably open quantity over there as well for sale?

Maximum saleable quantity is 540 MW.

Okay. Saleable.

Now,

it's a call we have to take to what extent we have to commit.

Oh, okay. Sure.

Got it. That is helpful.

Sir, one last question I had was on the mining front, the PPT states that we are going to be reaching a coal mining capacity of 7.1, which includes the 2.1 from Bartunga. My question arises, the 5 5 million tonne target that we plan to achieve, what all mines would be there?

Is it Gare Palma IV/7 is what to be aiming for? If you could also give me the timeline at which what procedures will we go from 1.8 to 5?

Gare Palma IV/7 is 1.8 million tonnes.

Yeah.

0.6 million tonne will be from Shahpur West. Shahpur West.

Okay.

0.6 million will be from Sinduri, approximate. This is provisional because it is under exploration, that may change.

Assuming on the initial side, 0.6. And 2 million will be from IV/5.

IV/5. It

has been given in our presentation also. In our presentation, slide number 22, all these details are made available.

Yes, no, that I'm aware of. I wanted to get a sense of, because you were planning to expand Gare Palma IV/7 from 1.8 to 5, I just wanted to get a sense of how that expansion is going to take place.

No, as of now, we are not considering in the immediate future that because we have got new mines with a better quality of coal as compared to the Gare Palma IV/5 so IV/7. For the time being, we are focusing on the new mines.

Okay. These new mines will be operational only post FY28, right?

Not prior to that.

No, Shahpur will start by end of current financial year, FY27, by end of current financial year, FY27.

Okay. The coal from Shahpur West will be usable for our SKS power plants or no?

No, that will be for our sponge iron and ferroalloys plant because that is high-grade coal. For power plant, we don't require high-grade coal.

Okay.

Just to clarify, Manav, all the new mines, they are all high-grade coal mines.

Got it.

Shahpur, like already told, is starting in the current financial year, and Bartunga, we will open in the next financial year, end of next financial year.

Okay. Thank you so much, Nilay ji.

That's quite helpful. Yeah.

That's all from my end. Yeah.

Hi, Pankaj sir. Could you share the latest Hello?

Yes, we can hear you.

Hi, Pankaj sir. Could you share the latest update on the environmental clearance for the 600 MW brownfield expansion for SKS, and when do you expect construction to commence?

The study that is required to submit our TOR is already over. We are in the final stages of making TOR, and as soon as we submit it, maybe in another three months, they will accept it, looks like.

Then maybe we have to go for a public hearing, and post public hearing, maybe we have another six months to eight months to get our final environment clearances. Post that, in this six to eight months, we'll appoint our consultant also for the same, and then all the procedures will start.

Okay. That was helpful.

Thank you so much.

Yeah.

Good afternoon, sir. Yeh jo naya plant hai sir, usi ko main continue kar raha hoon woh madam ke question ko.

Yeh hum kab tak expect kar sakte hain sir ki complete hoke power generation shuru ho jayega? Sir, jaisa last concall mein bataya tha,

we are expecting to complete by FY31.

Oh, FY31? Yeah.

Okay. Toh then we expect our turnover to be more than double, sir?

Should be by that time.

Am I audible?

Yes.

Yes. My question was regarding the Sikkim project.

That was disrupted due to the transmission line. Was it normalized post the restoration of the transmission line?

Also, do you expect any residual impact during Q2? Expected residual impact on Q2?

Yes, we are producing at full capacity.

Okay. Is there any residual impact during Q2?

Expected residual impact on Q2?

No, sir, doesn't look like.

That's it. That would be it from my side.

Thank you.

Hi, good afternoon. I just had one question.

Steel prices remained range-bound during this quarter while ferroalloy prices had improved modestly. How do you see the pricing environment evolving in the second half of FY27?

Both steel and ferroalloys prices, we personally believe that they will be stable, and the margins may look to be a little more decent in terms of ferroalloys, and steel, it looks that it will be stable. If so that we have a complete settlement in the West Asia region, we might see prices also going up because there will be demand pick up and more stable production centers in West Asia region as well.

Understood. Also, I had one more question.

What were the specific right-of-way challenges for the 50 50 MW solar project, and is there any execution risk beyond the revised commissioning timeline?

Hello, ma'am. There is a railway line coming in that region for which they are acquiring a lot of land.

We assume it has been notified already in that area. They are acquiring land, and I think so in next one to two months, we should get permission from the railways for the same.

Okay. One one last thing, I wanted to understand guidance for PAT and EBITDA for FY27, if you could just help with that as well?

Generally, we don't give any forward guidance. We have given the industry scenario and our position is already stated.

The current quarter prices are also better. As stated in our opening address also, July prices in the power have been better.

We are in a volatile market, giving any guidance on the specific numbers is not advisable.

Understood. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Hello. Firstly, sir, congratulations on good set of numbers, and thank you for the opportunity.

I have a couple of questions. First is, excluding the impact of one-off items during quarter 1, how should we think about the normalized quarterly EBITDA run rate over the balance of the FY27 as operational?

Second quarter is definitely better because of hydro generation, and as stated, power prices have been better in July at least. Water has already gone up, gone.

As against last year's Rs 4.20, this year it was Rs 5 in IEX itself. We expect the power prices to be better.

Beyond that, it's very difficult to comment on the profitability side. Otherwise, as already stated, with the commissioning of the 30 MW power, our steel volumes will also go up.

Okay. Sure.

Sir, my second question is, with improving power demand and additional PPAs, how do you see PLFs and merchant realization evolving over the next few quarters?

If you see PLF at the annual level, PLF for the whole year for IPP shall be better than the previous year. This is what we expect.

Last year, I think we had 415 crore units or so. Mhm.

This time, we should be able to cross that with a reasonable margin.

Okay. Sir, could you quantify a little bit about this?

Pardon?

Could you quantify, as in just surpass or with a healthy growth?

As I stated, in case of IPP, last year we had generated about 415 crore of units. This year generation will be better than the previous year.

Okay.

In case of captive power plant also, with the commissioning of the 30 MW new generator, our capacity utilization will be better as compared to the previous year. In case of hydro, it depends solely on the rainfall, and as of now, June, our generation was almost at par with the previous year.

Sir. Sure, these answers my questions.

Thank you so much.

Hello. Sir, with most of your major projects progressing as planned, what do you see as the biggest execution risk to achieving your FY30 growth roadmap?

What is the biggest risk?

As of now, there is no material risk we see, except there may be slight here and there because of the regulatory approvals. Otherwise, more or less the things are moving as what we have planned.

Sir. This answers my question.

Thank you so much.

Hello. Thanks a lot for the opportunity.

Hi. I just had two questions.

One was now since everything is on track, like the 30 MW turbine replacement is commissioned, the Sikkim hydro project resumed normal operations, and the maintenance shutdowns have also concluded. What do we expect earnings in Q2, the becoming half-yearly for FY27?

As stated, we don't give any forward-looking profitability because it depends on a variety of factors: rainfall data, power demand-supply, there are multiple, and in case of steel also, prices are volatile because of the West Asia developments. Giving any specific number will be very difficult.

What we have already stated on the operational front, we have already clarified. Operationally, it should be better.

This is what we can tell.

Okay. Also on the steel prices, steel prices remained range-bound during the quarter, while ferroalloy prices improved modestly.

Going forward, how do you see the pricing environment evolving in the second half of FY27?

The prices will remain stable for both ferroalloys and steel, and in fact, the margins may be a little higher in the ferroalloys segment as we are seeing some softening of raw material prices. For steel, I think once the West Asia matter is completely settled and they have a peace accord which is in reality in place, then we might see some uptick in the steel pricing as well.

Great. Plus

overall, the steel demand looks to be very good because of domestic developments as well. We have very strong and robust domestic demand, and with new developments of data centers and many other infrastructure projects, especially after monsoon, we see that the prices go up.

Understood. Got it.

Thanks a lot, sir. That's all from my side.

Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity on giving this call.

I wanted to ask you on the Arunachal project. Actually, the most of the approvals has been received for 66 MW.

When do you expect construction to begin, and what will be the expected timeline for it?

We are undergoing all the drilling and soil investigation, and we have also appointed a consultant. As soon as those data are available, detailed engineering will commence.

Do you expect from this year or from beginning of next year?

This year itself.

This year itself. This year itself.

Right. Okay.

I think that's pretty cool. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello. I'm so sorry.

Thank you for having me. I'm sorry if this question has been asked already, but I wanted to know that regarding the transmission tower that was recently lost, what is the loss that has been incurred in electricity generation pertaining to this, and consequently, what is the additional cost that was incurred to build it again?

Are there any, let's say, steps in place to prevent this from happening again?

There is no material cost incurred on the restoration of the tower. Nominal cost is incurred and most of that will also be covered, except the minimum excess clause that will be covered through insurance.

Yes, but whatever generation we have lost for a few days, that was the real loss what we have incurred, which is already covered in the first quarter results broadly, because 6th or 6th started again. There is an impact of 5 days' generation in case of July, otherwise everything is already covered.

Amount is not substantial. Restoration cost is negligible and that is also fully covered in the insurance.

Got it. Thank you.

My second question was regarding the mineral wool project. What was the revenue of the mineral wool, and what is the sales and EBITDA target of mineral wool for the Q2 and the full financial year FY27?

Manish.

Manish ji? Haan ji?

[unclear] Can you repeat the question, please?

Sure. My second question is regarding the mineral wool project.

What was the revenue of mineral wool, and what is the sales and EBITDA target for the same for Q2 and the full financial year 27, FY27?

We have started and we've been ramping up our production in the mineral wool, and in mineral wool, we are now touching almost 60-65% of our capacity. Once we achieve the full capacity in the coming year, in the next 3 to 6 months, we'll be achieving that full capacity, we should be able to give out the exact numbers.

Right now, we are still identifying few issues, and we are trying to resolve those issues. Right now, the project is not making any profits at the moment.

Got it. Is it making sales or not at this moment?

We are doing sales. There is a huge demand, and we are making good sales.

In fact, we are lagging in sales. The demand is more and our production is not ramping up due to certain imported equipments and machineries, which are stuck due to West Asia crisis and all.

We should be getting that in order, and probably in the next 6 months, we should be achieving full production.

Okay. Do we have any revenue figures right now?

We're expecting '27, for the year '27, we should be achieving around Rs 90 crores.

90. Okay.

For Q2?

For Q2, it's very difficult to comment right now.

Okay. Got it.

The projection is the capacity utilization should ramp up

from 50 to 65%... Ramp up in next two two quarters, and we should be able to achieve in FY27 anywhere between Rs 90 to Rs 110 crores.

Thank you.