The Chatter: BEL, HUL, L&T, Tata Capital & More
Q1 FY27 | Edition #73
Welcome to the 73rd edition of The Chatter — a newsletter where we dig through what India’s biggest companies are saying and bring you the most interesting bits of insight, whether about the business, its sector, or the wider economy. We read every major Indian earnings call and listen to the interviews so you don’t have to.
We’re always eager to improve—please share your ideas on how else we can innovate “The Chatter” format to better serve your needs.
In this edition, we have covered 7 companies across 6 industries.
We want to experiment a bit with The Chatter format. Until now, we covered around 15 companies every week. Going forward, we’ll instead publish three editions a week, with each one covering five to six companies.
The idea is that covering fewer companies in each edition means we can give you quicker and focused context on everything we cover. It would also mean each edition would be less overwhelming.
We’ll experiment with this format for the next few weeks. Let us know what you think about it.
Defence
Bharat Electronics Limited
FMCG
Hindustan Unilever
Financial Service
Tata Capital
Engineering & Capital Goods
Larsen & Toubro
Suzlon Energy
Software Services
Coforge Limited
Consumer Durables
TTK Prestige
Defence
Bharat Electronics Limited | Large Cap | Aerospace & Defence
Bharat Electronics is a leading Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company that develops advanced electronic products for the military and civilian sectors. The company specializes in areas such as radars, missile systems, electronic warfare suites, and communication equipment.
[Concall]
The massive Project Kusha is expected to generate significant business in a few years as it moves through complex testing phases. This provides clear visibility into a major revenue driver for the long-term horizon.
“We expect the order size to be approximately 40,000 plus crores, likely in the FY29 timeframe, as indicated last time. After this series of testing, there will be many more evaluations before the RFP is issued for commercial activities. It is still a long way to go.”
— Manoj Jain, Chairman and Managing Director
The company has significantly improved its working capital cycle by reducing the time it takes to collect payments from customers. This efficiency in cash management strengthens the balance sheet for future investments.
“Regarding receivables, the number of days as of June 30 was 140 days, compared to 176 days as of March 31. This is an improvement. Receivables and cash flows are in good shape.”
— Damodar Bhattar, Director Finance and CFO
While a competitor won the main integration role for the Netra 2 project, the company will still supply critical high-value electronic components. This ensures they maintain a significant share of the project’s total value even without the lead role.
“We missed the system integrator role this time, but our in-house strengths in developing these subsystems will provide significant business in the future. Our strengths in radars, EW, data links, and other subsystems in the Netra program will be tapped.”
— Manoj Jain, Chairman and Managing Director
The company is expanding its footprint in the missile sector to meet the increasing demand for quantity and quality in modern warfare. By partnering with private firms, they are securing a leading role in the electronics that drive these systems.
“Missiles have become essential in any war scenario, as seen in recent conflicts. Both quality and quantity matter. To meet the requirements, there is scope for many players beyond BDL. We are collaborating with private firms and have received orders as a partner.”
— Manoj Jain, Chairman and Managing Director
The company is aggressively working to eliminate its reliance on imported electronic modules within five years. This shift to local manufacturing is expected to insulate the company from global supply chain risks and inflation.
“Our goal for the next 5 years is zero imports at the module and sub-module levels. Barring semiconductor components, we aim to indigenize all subsystems we currently import, such as RF, microwave, or compute modules. We have set a target to complete this indigenization, including validation and certification, within 5 years.”
— Manoj Jain, Chairman and Managing Director
International buyers are showing strong interest in the company’s communication and radar systems that are already proven in Indian operations. This provides a clear roadmap for expanding export revenues across multiple product lines.
“Almost all products we deliver to Indian customers have demand internationally. The main interest is in radios, software-defined radios, and D4 solutions. We are seeing leads for communication and weapon-locating radar (WLR) systems.”
— Manoj Jain, Chairman and Managing Director
FMCG
Hindustan Unilever | Large Cap | FMCG
Hindustan Unilever Ltd. is an India-based consumer goods company offering home and personal care products, foods, and refreshments. Its diverse segments encompass home care, beauty & personal care, and foods & refreshments, including popular brands like Horlicks and Boost.
[Concall]
Management highlighted that Q1 represents a meaningful step-up in HUL’s growth trajectory, driven by both volumes and pricing while gaining market share.
“Turnover for the quarter stood at ₹17,184 crores with an underlying sales growth of 10% given equally by volume and price. This represents our highest growth in 13 quarters. What is particularly encouraging is the consistency of progress. Our growth trajectory has trended from 3% in the first half of FY26 to 10% in this quarter. Equally important is that this growth is competitive as we continue to gain turnover-weighted market share.”
— Priya Nair, CEO & Managing Director
Management showcased one of its biggest AI-led productivity initiatives.
“Our Liquid Lab of the Future in Mumbai is built with advanced AI and digitally enabled facilities to accelerate innovation in future-facing, high-growth formats. This lab can accelerate formulation development timelines by up to six times.”
— Priya Nair, CEO & Managing Director
HUL continues to prioritize pricing discipline and cost savings over chasing gross margins.
“Commodities continue to remain elevated even now. We have been very measured in terms of passing price increases to consumers... That gives us confidence that even with judicious pricing, we will be able to deliver EBITDA around the guidance range.”
— Niranjan Gupta, Chief Financial Officer
Management believes the current growth cycle is healthier because it is diversified.
“Our growth in the quarter is very broad-based. It spans laundry, dishwash, coffee, Horlicks, Boost, Beauty and Wellbeing, hair care, and skin care. Growth is also broad-based across channels... Whether you look at rural and urban or mass and premium, it is broad-based. This gives us confidence that we are standing on a solid platform.”
— Management
HUL dismissed concerns around slowing quick commerce demand.
“Quick commerce is seeing the entry of new players and is evolving rapidly. Our growth has been very strong at double digits, around 40–50%. Moving forward, we see continued opportunities.”
— Management
Management explained why large FMCG companies are better positioned than standalone D2C brands.
“The barriers to entry may have been reduced, but the barriers to scale have only gone up. This is visible in how the brands we acquired, like Minimalist, have really taken off in a big way.”
— Management
HUL sees premiumization as a structural trend across consumer segments.
“Winning at each end of this market is very important... competitive growth at each end of the pyramid, while the premium segment naturally grows faster.”
— Priya Nair, CEO & Managing Director
Management highlighted rural recovery as one of the key drivers of growth.
“In the last few quarters, we have seen a step-up in our rural growth, which has been a big driver for us. Overall demand continues to be stable both in rural and urban areas.”
— Priya Nair, CEO & Managing Director
Management outlined the strategic priorities driving future growth.
“We are sharply allocating resources behind a few key bets, which we internally call ‘power moves.’ These are low-penetration, high-growth segments... Second is market development... Third is doubling down on our execution... Lastly, we continue to drive our portfolio toward higher velocity areas.”
— Priya Nair, CEO & Managing Director
Management stressed that premium growth won’t come at the cost of its mass franchise.
“I want to correct the notion that we are pushing only towards premium growth. We continue to be competitive... We must be competitive at the mass end of the portfolio to maintain a large volumetric base while driving premiumization.”
— Priya Nair, CEO & Managing Director
HUL sees liquid formats as one of the biggest structural growth opportunities.
“The biggest opportunity is to convert bathing products—the largest part of the market—to liquids. That is the body wash opportunity we referenced. We are driving activations and sampling to educate consumers on the benefits of liquids over soap bars.”
— Management
Management believes it can protect profitability even under volatile commodity prices.
“Generally, we have a playbook where if we pass on even half the inflation, we are able to maintain margins. We have the flexibility across all lines of the P&L.”
— Niranjan Gupta, Chief Financial Officer
Management dismissed fears that inflation is beginning to hurt FMCG consumption.
“There was apprehension earlier that there could be an inflation-led impact on FMCG demand, and we are not seeing that at all. Consumption continues to be strong.”
— Management
Rather than treating quick commerce as another sales channel, HUL is tailoring products specifically for it.
“Quick commerce allows us to segment consumers. We can build the right portfolio and channel architecture with packs designed specifically for that channel. It allows us to create new sub-segments that were previously difficult to reach.”
— Management
Management believes acquired brands can scale much faster within HUL than independently.
“The brands we acquired, like Minimalist, have really taken off in a big way.”
— Management
Financial Service
Tata Capital | Large Cap | NBFC
Tata Capital is one of India’s leading non-banking financial companies, offering a diversified portfolio of retail, SME, and corporate lending solutions. The company is focused on technology-led growth, disciplined risk management, and expanding its presence across secured and unsecured lending segments.
[Concall]
The acquisition of Yog Loans marks the company’s strategic entry into the lucrative and secured gold loan market. For investors, this represents a new growth vertical that combines high-yield potential with the safety of physical collateral.
“With an AUM of approximately 708 crores as of March 2026, a network of 162 branches, and nearly 32,000 customers, Yog Loans brings strong expertise in the gold loan segment. Combined with Tata Capital’s brand, capital strength, technology, and risk management capabilities, this acquisition positions us to capture the significant growth opportunity in secured lending while strengthening our full-spectrum financial services platform.”
— Rajiv Sabharwal, CEO
Heavy investment in AI is significantly lowering the cost of doing business while making loan approvals faster for customers. These structural efficiency gains should lead to better operating leverage and higher profit margins as the company scales.
“Within operations, about 70% of retail applications are processed through AI-led workflows, delivering around 40% productivity gains, nearly 40% improvement in processing turnaround times, and over 25% reduction in operating manpower cost per file. On the servicing front, over 70% of our email responses are now AI-generated.”
— Rajiv Sabharwal, CEO
The company maintains a strong capital cushion and does not anticipate needing to raise new equity for over two years. This gives it ample room to fund growth without diluting existing shareholders.
“Our endeavour is always to operate at least 200 to 250 basis points above the mandatory threshold on capital adequacy and CET1. Currently, our debt-to-equity is 5.3x. Looking forward, we look at a consolidated debt-to-equity of around 6.2 to 6.3x. Based on guided book growth, we are well-capitalised until September 2028.”
— Rakesh Bhatia, CFO
The company has successfully tapped global markets to lower and diversify its borrowing costs following its recent listing and credit rating upgrade. Diversified funding sources protect the business from local liquidity crunches and improve overall net interest margins.
“Tata Capital has successfully raised USD 400 million via a fixed-rate senior unsecured Reg S bond for a 3.5-year tenor at an interest rate of T-bill plus 107 basis points. The bond received strong demand from investors with a final order book oversubscribed by 4 times. It is our first issuance following our S&P rating upgrade and successful equity listing, representing an important step in further diversifying our funding mix and extending our access to international capital markets.”
— Rajiv Sabharwal, CEO
The company has reached its internal limit for corporate lending and will focus almost entirely on retail and SME growth moving forward. This strategy ensures the portfolio remains diversified across many small borrowers rather than a few large, risky corporate entities.
“We said our retail and SME will form about 85% to 88% of our book and we will remain within that corridor. I agree we have probably maxed out on the corporate side, and you should see more growth happening in retail and SME. If we originate more corporate debt, we will sell it down or syndicate it to maintain that mix.”
— Rajiv Sabharwal, CEO
The company is seeing continuous improvement in its bad loan ratios despite a volatile global economic backdrop. Maintaining low slippages in the unsecured retail segment suggests that their credit underwriting models are performing effectively.
“Gross stage 3 assets improved to 1.9% as of June 2026 compared to 2% as of March 2026, while maintaining the PCR at 57%. Even with the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, our asset quality matrix remains resilient, underscoring the strength of our portfolio, underwriting discipline, and collections infrastructure. Slippages stayed benign across the portfolio, including in unsecured retail.”
— Rajiv Sabharwal, CEO
Engineering & Capital Goods
Larsen & Toubro | Large Cap | Engineering & Capital Goods
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is a leading technology, engineering, and construction company with global operations. It is highly regarded in India’s private sector and operates in various key verticals including process industries, infrastructure, power, and aerospace. The company undertakes turnkey projects and has a strong presence in diverse sectors.
[Concall]
Management reaffirmed confidence in L&T’s FY27 order inflow guidance despite geopolitical uncertainties, highlighting the strength of its ₹15 trillion opportunity pipeline and continued momentum in both domestic and international markets.
“Against this backdrop and supported by the strength of our order book, healthy prospects pipeline, and continued focus on execution, I will now turn to our guidance for FY27.
On order inflows, we recorded strong 14% year-on-year growth in Q1 despite project deferments during the quarter. Looking ahead, our prospects pipeline for the remaining nine months remains healthy at ₹15 trillion, providing strong visibility for the rest of the year.
While awarding activity in the Middle East witnessed some temporary slowdown, tendering and bidding momentum continues to remain robust, and we expect project awards to pick up from Q2. Importantly, we have not seen any project cancellations across the opportunities that we are actively pursuing and bidding for.
In India, we see continuing investment momentum from both private sector and public sector enterprises. Given the strength of our opportunity pipeline and underlying market dynamics, we remain confident of achieving our order inflow growth guidance of 10–12% for the current year.”
— P. Ramakrishnan, Chief Financial Officer
Management maintained its revenue guidance despite disruptions in the Middle East, saying execution teams are actively working around supply chain bottlenecks while waiting for greater clarity before changing guidance.
“On revenue, during the Q4 FY26 earnings call, we had indicated that the first half of FY27, and Q1 in particular, could be relatively subdued given the conflict in the Middle East.
While the operating environment remains dynamic, our teams are actively pursuing alternate supply chain solutions and execution strategies to manage these challenges. Considering the rapidly evolving situation, we believe it’s prudent to wait for greater clarity before reassessing the full-year outlook.
For now, we remain committed to our FY27 revenue growth guidance of 10–12%.”
— P. Ramakrishnan, Chief Financial Officer
Management explained that while the Middle East conflict has affected execution in select projects, the majority of projects continue normally and the company expects clients to compensate for time and cost overruns caused by force majeure conditions.
“There are only certain sectors where some execution momentum has slowed down. But otherwise, for the major part of the order, execution momentum has continued, as I elaborated specifically while explaining the Energy Conventional performance.
We have not had that kind of a situation in Q1. However, going forward in segments like renewables, which form part of the Energy Green segment, supply chain challenges have occurred and there are intermittent supply chain disruptions happening.
The company is ensuring that we are trying to find alternate routes. While doing this, we also ensure that the client is informed of our next action. Because of this force majeure situation, we are in close touch with the clients whenever there is a change in the project scope in terms of the execution momentum.
...If the conflict continues to persist, there can be implications. We are working very closely with clients. They are appreciative of the situation; it’s not only with Larsen & Toubro but also with other contractors. Hopefully, a major part of these cost increases because of time extension and supply chain disruptions will be compensated at a later stage.”
— P. Ramakrishnan, Chief Financial Officer
Management expressed strong confidence in the offshore wind business, highlighting the scale of the current order book, attractive margins, and long-term global opportunity.
“Today we have almost 8 gigawatts of offshore wind, adding up to nearly ₹57,000 crore to ₹60,000 crore of order book. This will get executed over a four to five-year period. These are long projects and require a considerable amount of effort in procurement, fabrication, and installation.
The margin will be better than what we normally have in our EPC business in the Middle East, but it is too early to commit on the exact numbers.
We will continue to pursue offshore wind prospects in Europe and also in other parts of the world because that is the model and the business we want to grow.”
— S.N. Subrahmanyan Sharma, Deputy Managing Director & President
Management said L&T has no plans to significantly diversify the geographic footprint of its EPC business outside its core markets, except for offshore wind where it intends to expand globally.
“Other than the offshore wind business, the rest of our EPC business will still mostly be centered around India, the Middle East, and maybe some selected businesses in Southeast Asian countries.
We have no plans to diversify in terms of geography for the EPC business except for the offshore wind business.
Talking about the prospect line, I mentioned earlier that we are not seeing any significant delays. There could be a month here and there, but our order pipeline from the Middle East for the businesses where we are present, which is primarily hydrocarbon and renewables, looks quite healthy.”
— S.N. Subrahmanyan Sharma, Deputy Managing Director & President
Management highlighted that India’s private capex cycle continues to strengthen, with private sector projects now becoming an increasingly important contributor to L&T’s domestic opportunity pipeline.
“We have delivered very good order inflow in Q1, better than what anybody had expected. The overall guidance is still very much consistent with what we had indicated earlier.
As I mentioned, the domestic prospects are ₹7.45 trillion, almost 50%, and the most important thing over the last two years is that a major share of domestic orders is also moving into the private sector.
This is largely led by residential and commercial real estate, other industrial sectors, and power. The combination of these three types of prospects is still going strong for us in terms of domestic visibility. It is getting more balanced between both public and private.”
— S.N. Subrahmanyan Sharma, Deputy Managing Director & President
Management explained how L&T is protecting margins amid supply chain disruptions by refusing to incur incremental logistics costs unless clients agree to compensate the company.
“Material erosion is unlikely. The only reason we would have material erosion in the margin is if we incur the exorbitant cost of bringing in material, which we are not doing.
Whatever we are bringing in, we are doing so in consultation with the customer. There is a general understanding and agreement that the additional cost will be compensated.
If there is no agreement on that, then we will not incur that cost. In that case, there would be a revenue impact, the project timeline may get extended, and we would record that cost at a later stage.”
— Management
Management explained the accounting philosophy it is following during the Middle East disruptions, emphasizing that additional costs are recognized only when reimbursement agreements are in place.
“If we have prior consultation with the customer and there is an agreement that they will reimburse the cost, then it gets captured in our accounting once formalized.
If there is no agreement, we cannot recognize it until one happens. We are trying to avoid incurring additional costs as much as possible by deferring the project if there is no agreement.
Revenues and margins are determined on a percentage completion basis, which includes the estimated future costs to complete the job. We know what future procurements are required and their current prices.
Discussions in this environment happen actively with the client... Some pass-throughs will happen, and some may not.”
— P. Ramakrishnan, Chief Financial Officer
Management explained that the current disruptions in the Middle East are manageable because most large hydrocarbon projects are still in their engineering and fabrication phase, with the real execution risk arising only if the conflict extends into next year.
“Large mega projects in offshore should be ready for dispatch from our Oman yard sometime in the first quarter of the next calendar year. If the conflict extends to next year, then yes, it will become a problem for us. But until that time, we should not have an issue for the offshore projects.
On the onshore projects, we are overcoming that month by month. It is not that nothing is affected; we have logistics issues, but we are managing that. We are making sure that the project sites are not impacted because we are managing alternative routes.”
— S.N. Subrahmanyan Sharma, Deputy Managing Director & President
Management explained that while inventory buffers built at the beginning of the Middle East crisis have largely been exhausted, alternate logistics routes have been established and execution will continue selectively depending on customer approvals.
“I had said that at the beginning of the crisis, we normally have about three months of inventory. Most of it has now been consumed as expected.
We have figured out alternative routes to get material to the site, but there is a cost. If there is an agreement with the customer to reimburse that cost, we bring it in. Otherwise, we delay that progress.
We continue other construction activities that are not dependent on those materials. In most cases, we are successful in having an alignment with the customer.”
— P. Ramakrishnan, Chief Financial Officer
Management clarified that approximately half of L&T’s order book is fixed-price but expressed confidence that margins will remain protected because the company will not absorb uncompensated cost overruns.
“Around 50% of the order book is fixed-price.
To clarify, we have not needed to invoke force majeure across projects. As mentioned, most of our projects are going reasonably well.
In the conventional hydrocarbon space, 70–80% of projects are still in the engineering and procurement phase, which is not really impacted by the crisis in the region. Engineering is done in India and procurement is done globally.
We are not yet at the stage where we must ship the material to the site. Only projects in peak construction or beyond are affected.”
— S.N. Subrahmanyan Sharma, Deputy Managing Director & President
Management explained why L&T’s strong order book should not automatically translate into proportionately faster revenue growth, particularly as the mix shifts toward larger multi-year projects.
“When you have large contracts, the duration of the contract is longer, so you cannot expect the revenue to run faster.
Solar projects have shorter durations and faster revenue run rates, but large offshore projects are three or four billion dollar contracts over four years.
You have to factor in that an average ultra-mega project takes four years to burn through the revenue. This crisis is only four months old, so everything cannot be attributed to it, although it does have some impact.”
— S.N. Subrahmanyan Sharma, Deputy Managing Director & President
Management explained that the increase in private sector participation is one of the most encouraging structural trends in India’s capex cycle, making the domestic opportunity pipeline more diversified than in previous years.
“One of the significant changes we have seen over the last two years is the increasing contribution of the private sector to our domestic prospects. Earlier, the pipeline was largely driven by government spending. Today, residential and commercial real estate, industrial manufacturing, data centers, power, and energy transition projects are all contributing. This makes the opportunity pipeline much more balanced and sustainable.”
— S.N. Subrahmanyan, Chairman & Managing Director
Management emphasized that offshore wind is not an opportunistic business for L&T but a long-term strategic platform where it intends to build global leadership.
“We are not looking at offshore wind as a one-off opportunity. We have invested in capability because we believe this will become a very large global business over the next decade. We want to establish ourselves as one of the few engineering companies globally that can execute these complex offshore HVDC platforms.”
— S.N. Subrahmanyan, Chairman & Managing Director
Management said execution intensity is expected to increase meaningfully in the second half of FY27 as delayed project awards are finalized and supply-chain conditions improve.
“Historically, our second half has always been stronger than the first half, and we expect that pattern to continue this year as well. Once project awards come through and logistics normalize, execution intensity will increase significantly.”
— P. Ramakrishnan, Chief Financial Officer
Management highlighted that customer relationships have become a key competitive advantage during the current disruption, enabling collaborative decisions on project timelines and cost recovery.
“The advantage of working with long-standing customers is that discussions happen transparently. Customers understand the challenges faced by contractors in the current environment. Wherever additional costs arise because of extraordinary circumstances, discussions are taking place to arrive at mutually acceptable solutions.”
— P. Ramakrishnan, Chief Financial Officer
Concluding the discussion, management expressed confidence that despite near-term geopolitical uncertainties, L&T’s diversified business model, strong order book and execution capabilities position it well to deliver on its FY27 commitments.
“Overall, we believe the fundamentals of our business remain strong. We have a healthy order book, a robust prospect pipeline, diversified businesses, strong execution capabilities and disciplined financial management. While we remain watchful of the external environment, we are confident of delivering on the guidance we have set for the year.”
— P. Ramakrishnan, Chief Financial Officer
Suzlon Energy | Mid Cap | Engineering & Capital Goods
Suzlon is a company specializing in the design, development, manufacturing, and supply of Wind Turbine Generators for various capacities. They offer turnkey solutions for windfarm projects, focusing on reducing energy costs, ensuring high machine availability and reliability.
[Concall]
Management laid out its long-term view on India’s wind market, driven by structural electricity demand and the need for round-the-clock renewable power.
“India’s economic growth, rapid electrification, AI-led data center expansion, industrial growth, EV adoption, and cooling demand continue to drive structural power demand growth. The country’s peak power demand has already crossed 270 GW, reinforcing the need for large-scale renewable energy capacity additions, especially during non-solar hours. This momentum sets the stage for a multi-year growth cycle.”
— Ajay Kapoor, Group CEO
Management believes the Indian wind market is entering a structurally larger phase over the next five years.
“Annual installations are expected to cross 10 GW in the near term and reach 15 GW by FY31. With 57 GW already installed and a strong pipeline through STU, PGCIL and C&I demand, India is well positioned to achieve 100 GW of wind capacity by 2030.”
— Ajay Kapoor, Group CEO
One of the most important long-term opportunities highlighted during the call.
“Repowering has a potential of close to 25 GW in the country. Much of India’s installed wind fleet was commissioned 10 to 20 years ago using small turbines with low hub heights. Modern turbines can generate substantially more energy from the same footprint.”
— Management
Management highlighted execution resilience despite geopolitical challenges.
“Suzlon delivered 506 MW in Q1, marking our highest-ever first-quarter deliveries. This performance was achieved despite temporary supply chain and logistics disruptions arising from geopolitical tensions in the Red Sea.”
— Ajay Kapoor, Group CEO
Management clarified that supply-chain issues have delayed—not lost—business.
“These disruptions deferred approximately 10–20% of deliveries, which are expected to be recovered in the coming quarters.”
— Ajay Kapoor, Group CEO
Management highlighted how quickly customers are adopting the new development model.
“Sixty percent of new orders are coming from the Devco model, which will hopefully keep the momentum growing in the coming quarters.”
— Ajay Kapoor, Group CEO
Management reaffirmed its long-term growth ambition despite near-term margin pressure.
“While Q1 FY27 was impacted by these factors, in the long term, we continue to grow in line with our ambitions for Suzlon 2.0 at a 25% CAGR over the next five years.”
— Rahul Jain, Group CFO
Management explained how capital gets recycled under the Devco model.
“We earmark up to 25% for a project to invest in land. As we stage-gate and move to 50% investment, we typically already have a term sheet with a customer. We then transfer the land to the customer, recycling the capital.”
— Management
Management gave one of its clearest updates on BESS.
“We are in discussions with several potential partners. Our target is to reach 3.1 GW by FY31. We expect to close initial partnership arrangements in the next couple of months.”
— Management
Management indicated that industry pricing remains healthy despite increasing competition, reflecting improved discipline across the sector.
“Market pricing remains healthy and rational. Average Selling Price (ASP) increased from ₹5.6 crore per MW in Q1 FY26 to ₹6.3 crore per MW in Q1 FY27, aided by the product mix.”
— Ajay Kapoor, Group CEO
Management believes the new Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) framework benefits established Indian OEMs like Suzlon.
“The ALMM SOP brings a level playing field for Indian players. Suzlon is fully compliant and well-positioned compared to import-dependent competitors. The SOP provides clear requirements for listing and inspection, along with a new import monitoring system.”
— Management
Management outlined its strategy to build an independent engineering business with higher export exposure.
“We are focusing on three distinct segments: Foundry, Forging, and Bearings. We are talking to more customers and building a strong order pipeline. Our goal is to increase the share of non-Suzlon, non-wind, and export business.”
— Management
Software
ServicesCoforge Limited | Mid Cap | IT Services & Consulting
Coforge is a global digital services provider that focuses on specific industry verticals including Travel, Insurance, and Banking. The firm specializes in AI-led engineering, data services, and cloud transformations to drive enterprise-level modernization.
[Concall]
The integration of the Encora acquisition is progressing faster than planned, specifically regarding leadership control and cost savings. Rapid integration reduces the risk of operational disruption and accelerates profit contribution from the new assets.
“Today, on July 28 in India, all aspects of Encora operations for the last 3 months are being overseen by Coforge leaders who led the Encora due diligence effort. We are ahead of the cost synergy plans we had shared as part of the acquisition case, and this is reflected in the fact that our consolidated reported EBIT margin in Q1 is already at 16%.”
— Sudhir Singh, CEO
The company is pivoting from general AI consulting to providing a specialized platform for running AI in complex production environments. This strategy targets higher-value, stickier enterprise engagements rather than simple experimental projects.
“Neuron is our AI operationalization platform. Its purpose is simple: to help enterprises move from AI pilots to AI operations. It brings together enterprise knowledge, decisions, workflows, governance, agents, and execution so AI can operate at enterprise scale.”
— Sudhir Singh, CEO
Coforge has demonstrated the ability to quickly deploy hundreds of engineers for new large-scale contracts. Efficient project ramp-ups lead to faster revenue recognition and higher client satisfaction scores.
“Regarding the deals, the ramp-up for the first deal has been completed in record time with 300 plus FTEs across 15 to 20 teams. The $230 million deal has already initiated its ramp-up.”
— Sudhir Singh, CEO
Management achieved a significant 40% reduction in administrative overhead for the recently acquired Encora business. These synergies are a primary driver behind the current quarter’s margin expansion.
“Coforge standalone was 6.7%, and whereas Encora was at 10% at the time of the acquisition. The combined G&A stands at 6.6%, which reflects a 40% cost out on Encora G&A.”
— Saurabh Goyal, CFO
Consumer Durables
TTK Prestige | Small Cap | Consumer Durables
TTK Prestige Limited is part of TTK Group. Over the past six decades TTK Prestige, has emerged as India’s largest kitchen appliances company catering to the needs of home makers in the country. The company is primarily engaged in the business of Kitchen and Home Appliances. The products include Pressure Cookers, Cookware, Kitchen Electrical Appliances, Gas Stoves, and Home Appliances.
[Concall]
Management believes demand has fundamentally improved after a strong quarter, though the current growth rate represents a temporary peak.
“We hope this would continue, though we believe this is not a sustainable, consistent demand at this specific peak. The demand will probably settle at a slightly higher level than before in our view, and I think that would augur well for us and for the industry as well.”
— Venkatesh Vijayaraghavan, Managing Director & CEO
Investors questioned whether the LPG shortage had artificially boosted one category. Management clarified demand was broad-based.
“Unlike the last quarter where there was a disproportionate growth impact because of induction, this quarter the growth has been significantly distributed across categories. Induction cooktops, small domestic appliances, air fryers, cookware, and cookers have all seen uniformly distributed growth across categories.”
— Management
Management dismissed concerns that distributors had merely stocked inventory ahead of price hikes.
“Our belief is that there is a minimal impact from upstocking... What started as just the induction cooktop has spread across all categories. We believe this has been triggered by consumer behavior and a one-time effort by consumers to refurbish their kitchens. To that extent, this is consumer-driven rather than upstocking in our view.”
— Management
Management explained that investments made over the past 18 months are now translating into stronger consumer engagement.
“Prestige, after almost a very significant gap in the last one-and-a-half years, has introduced close to 400–500 SKUs. We believe the walk-ins and the service have increased, leading to more buying combinations of cookware and appliances for the kitchen.”
— Management
Management reiterated that the company will grow through innovation and premium products instead of aggressive pricing.
“Our focus is very clearly on premiumizing our portfolio. Pricing is not our primary lever in terms of discounting or schemes. We are using the power of the Prestige brand and new designs to justify the premiumization. We would expect value growth to be higher than volume growth over a period of time.”
— Management
Management believes the LPG crisis permanently accelerated category adoption.
“Penetration is still low, so we believe this event has propelled awareness and adoption. It continues to be a reason why consumers walk into stores... It may not be as aggressive as this specific quarter, but it will definitely continue to push volumes.”
— Management
Management believes the demand shift extends beyond induction cooktops into premium cookware and appliances.
“Across categories, particularly cookware and cookers, we are seeing a shortened replacement cycle. Consumers are moving to stainless steel and tri-ply materials, which is an upgrade. In appliances, people are moving toward convenience and smartification of the kitchen... We believe this material upgrade and innovation-driven demand is accelerating growth.”
— Management
Management believes cookware and kitchen appliances exhibit relatively low price elasticity.
“This is not a very price-elastic product. It is a necessity in the kitchen space, so these kinds of price increases generally do not trigger a drop in purchase.”
— Management
Management highlighted how quickly the category has scaled.
“Induction cooktops currently contribute about 8% to 10% of our sales, up from about 5% a year ago.”
— Management
One of the strongest long-term structural comments from management on category evolution.
“We think it will be much better than it was in the past. This trigger has opened up category awareness and established the need for induction. The penetration curve will start to accelerate. It will certainly replace configurations where people previously used only cylinders or gas stoves. Over a period of time, it is a significant growth area and one of our key product categories.”
— Management
Join us on WhatsApp, where we share interesting soundbites from concalls, articles, and everything else we come across throughout the day. You’ll also get notified the moment a new video or article drops, so you can read or watch it right away.
That’s it for now! Your feedback will really help shape how The Chatter evolves. Drop it down in the comments below!
Quotes in this newsletter were curated by Srusti, Meher & Shahid.
Disclaimer: We’ve used AI tools in filtering and cleaning up these quotes so there maybe some mistakes. Now, if you are thinking why we are using AI, please remember that we are just a small team of 5 people running everything you see on Zerodha Markets 😬 So, all the good stuff is human and mistakes are AI.