The new order inflow for GE Power India Ltd (GEPIL) in FY23 was more than twice its level in FY22, according to a company investor presentation.
GEPIL said that the new order inflow in FY23 stood at Rs.1,635 crore in FY23, registering a growth of 116 percent over its comparable level of Rs.753.7 crore in FY22.
A large part of this order inflow was achieved by the mega Rs.863.40 crore order for the Saundatti hydropower project in Karnataka. This order was placed by the Greenko Group in the early part of FY23.
As of March 31, 2023, GEPIL’s outstanding order book position stood at Rs.3,615.30 crore.
The Saundatti hydropower order influenced the company’s order mix in FY23. Largely due to this order, the share of “new build” in GEPIL’s FY23 order inflows grew to 63 percent as against 16 percent in FY22. Also “EPC” orders accounted for 53 percent of the order inflows in FY23 as against nil in FY22. Likewise, the share of the private sector grew to 88 percent in FY23 as against 41 percent in FY22.
The investor presentation observed that while the FGD (flue gas desulphurization) market did grow in FY23 as compared with FY22, it was still much lower than the company’s expectation. Also, the pipeline of opportunities for FGD converting into orders is much slower than anticipated, the company presentation said.
Performance in Q4
In Q4 (January to March) of FY23, GE Power India won some FGD-related orders against none in the same period of FY22. The overall order inflows in Q4 of FY23 stood at Rs.227.7 crore, up nearly 65 percent from Rs.138.2 crore in the like period of FY22.
Also read: GE Power India Attains Self-Sufficiency In FGD Business
Impact on FGD business
It may be recalled that in February 2022, parent company GE Steam Power decided to gradually reduce its stake in GE Power India and eventually “deprioritize” it over the next 36 months. This in turn followed an announcement by GE to completely exit the coal business worldwide.
This will potentially impact GE Power India’s capacity to bid for and execute FGD-related orders. However, GE Power India is building its competency to independently execute FGD projects. In the first half of FY23, GEPIL announced that it was qualified for independently bidding for an executing FGD order by state government utilities. The next step now would be to achieve the same competency for all FGD tenders, especially those floated by Central government entities.
