A look at the results of three players who operate across different segments of the power value chain offers some clues about trends across the sector. ABB India is a key player in the electrical goods and services space; Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (Powergrid) dominates transmission; and Tata Power, a major player in generation, which also has experience in transmission and distribution (T&D), module and cell manufacturing, and project execution.
Together, they offer a broad view of the power landscape.
ABB India
ABB India has 18 divisions. Key end-markets include industrial facilities, data centres, metros and railways, renewables, waste and wastewater, automotive, logistics and infrastructure. It is working to increase penetration in Tier II and Tier III cities. The company also has an export profile, in part as the local arm of a large MNC.
ABB India’s performance in the January-March 2025 quarter (Q1 CY25) was disappointing. (ABB India has a January-December accounting year.) Its revenue for Q1 CY25 stood at Rs 31.6 billion, reflecting a marginal year-on-year increase of 3 per cent. Segment wise, its robotics and motion division reported revenue of Rs 12.4 billion, up 11 per cent year on year; electrification products business reported Rs 13.6 billion (up 5 per cent year on year); while process automation was at Rs 5.8 billion (down 19 per cent year on year).
The poor performance in process automation was due to deferred deliveries and delays in the finalisation of orders. Margins were good due to softer commodity prices, increased localisation, effective supply chain optimisation and improved capacity utilisation.
The earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at Rs 5.8 billion (up 3 per cent year on year). The EBIDTA margin stood at 18.5 per cent, and the company thinks it can maintain these margins.
ABB India received new orders worth Rs 37.5 billion. Growth in orders was led by the robotics segment, with the order book up 114 per cent year on year. Meanwhile, process automation disappointed, with a 16 per cent year-on-year decline in orders.
The total order book stands at Rs 99.6 billion, about 80 per cent of the company’s revenue over the past 12 months. Management expects to execute two-thirds of the orders in CY 2025. Orders for ABB India grew by 4 per cent year on year in Q1 CY25while ABB Global posted a 1 per cent year-on-year growth. In terms of customer segments, data centres, renewables and electronics have witnessed the highest growth in orders.
The management sees a breakup of future revenues roughly as follows – products will contribute 73 per cent, projects 13 per cent and services 14 per cent. Segment wise, electrification will contribute 42 per cent, motion 34 per cent, process automation 19 per cent and robotics 5 per cent.
The management thinks a base order run-rate of Rs 35 bilion or so per quarter is sustainable and hopes to push it to Rs 40 billion per quarter by end CY26. Another target is to raise high-margin services revenue to 15 per cent of sales (the current contribution is 12-13 per cent). Export orders grew 40 per cent in Q1 CY25 and there hasn’t been a slowdown in exports.
In terms of profits, the guidance is for a profit after tax (PAT) margin of 12-15 per cent. The current PAT margin is 15 per cent, but there are concerns about delays in large orders and also a likely compression of margins due to
long-cycle business.
The company has a cash surplus of Rs 57 billion, which is being invested in capacity expansion as well as in meeting its takeover targets. Willingness to invest in capacity expansion and geographic penetration suggests confidence. The big growth areas in terms of orders – renewables, data centres and electronics – also mirror broader trends in the economy.
Powergrid
Powergrid closed FY 2025 with a profit of Rs 155 billion, which is flat year-on-year growth. Returns were impacted by weak capitalisation, which stood at Rs 90 billion in FY 2025. Capex at Rs 262 billion was up 110 per cent year on year, with capex guidance of Rs 280 billion for FY 2026 and Rs 350 billion for FY 2027. There were record project wins of Rs 920 billion, with works-on-hand amounting to Rs 1.55 trillion. Management hopes capitalisation will hit Rs 280 billion in FY 2026.
The Q4 FY 2025 results reported a consolidated PAT of Rs 41.4 billion (down 0.6 per cent year on year), despite higher consultancy and telecom revenues of Rs 5.2 billion (up 120 per cent year on year) and Rs 3 billion (up 21 per cent year on year), respectively. Powergrid’s joint ventures (JVs) (including EESL) reported a loss of Rs 296 million, in comparison to a profit of Rs 617 million in Q4 FY 2024. Transmission revenues of Rs 115 billion rose 1.7 per cent year on year.
During FY 2025, Powergrid reported revenue of Rs 460 billion (up 1.8 per cent year on year), EBITDA of Rs 393 billion (flat year on year) and PAT of Rs 155 billion (down 0.3 per cent year on year). Further, it incurred a capex of Rs 86 billion (up 79 per cent year on year) in Q4 FY 2025, taking the total annual capex to Rs 262.5 billon (up 110 per cent year on year). By FY 2028, capex could rise to Rs 450 billion. The FY 2025 capitalisation at Rs 90 billion (up 18 per cent year on year) was half of the guidance of Rs 180 billion. The challenges were land acquisition and poor manpower availability.
The excellent project wins of Rs 920 billion are a bright spot. Projects in-hand stand at Rs 1.55 trillion, including Rs 47 billion of regulated return projects, Rs 1.05 trillion of tariff-based competitive bidding projects and the remaining in cross-border, data centres, smart metering, etc. Of the current order book, 30 per cent is attributable to regulated tariff mechanism projects, which yield a return on equity of 15 per cent.
Missing capitalisation guidance by 50 per cent is a concern. While right-of-way and land acquisition issues have been obstacles, management believes these challenges will ease as states adopt revised right-of-way compensation guidelines.
The transmission segment contributed 96.95 per cent of consolidated EBIT while telecom contributed 1.96 per cent. In Q4 FY 2025, the JVs reported aggregated losses of Rs 290 million, taking the total loss to Rs 1.1 billion for FY 2025, compared to a loss of Rs 190 million in FY 2024.
The company added 645 ckt km of transmission lines and 12,000 MVA of transformer capacity in Q4 FY 2025. The telecom division added 75 new customers and reported total income of Rs 11 billion for the year.
Tata Power
Tata Power’s consolidated revenue rose 8 per cent year on year to Rs 171 billion in Q4 FY 2025 while PAT surged 25 per cent year on year to Rs 13 billion. EBITDA grew 39 per cent year on year to Rs 32 billion. The company added 1,026 MW of renewable capacity in FY 2025. Its 4.3 GW module and cell facility is running at 90 per cent utilisation. In FY 2025, 3,300 MW of cells and modules were supplied and the FY 2026 guidance is for over 3,700 MW. The solar EPC order book stands at Rs 114 billion for utility-scale projects, Rs 8.64 billion for rooftop and Rs 10.4 billion for third-party rooftop projects.
Generation revenue increased 9 per cent year on year to Rs 53 billion. The plant load factor (PLF) for thermal generation declined to 73 per cent in Q4 FY 2025 as compared to 74 per cent last year. The PLF for solar generation stood at 25 per cent in Q4 FY 2025 (up from 24 per cent last year) while wind PLF was 13 per cent (down from 14 per cent last year). PLF for Mundra increased to 73 per cent in Q4 FY 2025 (up from 60 per cent last year). The hydro PLF declined to 30 per cent in Q4 FY 2025 from 36 per cent last year.
Revenue from renewables was stable at Rs 35 billion. Revenue from transmission and distribution rose 6 per cent year on year to Rs 96 billion. Another 5.5 GW of capacity is expected to be commissioned in the next 6-24 months.
In FY 2025, consolidated revenue increased 6 per cent year on year to Rs 654 billion, while EBITDA stood at Rs 139 billion. Reported PAT was Rs 39.7 billion (up 7 per cent year on year). The company incurred a capex of Rs 162 billion, less than the Rs 210 billion guidance. In Q4, renewable energy capacity addition was 166 MW, less than the 600 MW
guidance.
Tata Power Solar reported revenues of Rs 31.1 billion (down 27 per cent year on year, up 78 per cent quarter on quarter), with a margin of 7.1 per cent and EBITDA of Rs 2.2 billion. The company aims to achieve 15GW of renewable capacity by FY 2027 and has capex plans of Rs 842 billion for FY 2024-27. It is currently implementing 2.8 GW of PSP projects.
The Odisha discoms saw PAT increasing 3x to Rs 2.75 billion. Tata Power is also interested in bidding for Uttar Pradesh discoms. For FY 2026, the capex target is Rs 250 billion with 60 per cent allocated for renewable energy expansion and 30 per cent for T&D. Guidance is for 2.5-2.7 GW of new renewable capacity in FY26. Bidding for state discoms in Uttar Pradesh may be a new trigger for growth in the segment.
The Mundra cluster reported Rs 1.7 billion PAT versus a Rs 400 million loss in Q4 FY24. All five units are running under Section 11. The aggregate transmission capacity, including ongoing projects, is slated to reach over 7,000 ckt km with 2,414 ckt km under construction. The 600 MW Dagachhu hydro project in Bhutan has started, with completion due by November 2029.
Conclusion
The three companies discussed above did not post extraordinary results in FY 2025. However, they all have large order books and they continue to invest in capacity. This is a sign of confidence in the future. Their presence across a broad spectrum of power-related activities suggests that the power sector is healthy.
Devangshu Datta