Skipper Ltd, in a recent investor presentation, said that after a two-year lull, domestic power T&D activities are showing signs of rebound.
The integrated power T&D player noted that bunching of orders that remained postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to Rs.50,000 crore worth of Green Energy Corridor projects expected to come up for bidding, will provide much-needed boost to the domestic power transmission industry.
Meanwhile, Skipper Ltd, recorded a order inflow of Rs.875 crore in FY21 as against Rs.1,241 crore in FY20. Within FY21, order bunching was seen in Q4 (January to March) when Rs.381 crore worth of orders were booked.
Explaining the reasons for lower order inflow, Skipper said that a large portion of domestic power T&D orders are on “fixed price” basis. Given the current volatility in the commodity market, the company has been adopting a cautious approach while bidding for projects.
This order inflow relates to the engineering division that largely caters to the power T&D space. The company also has a polymer division that deals with polymer pipes and fittings. The engineering division focuses on power T&D hardware like power transmission towers, distribution monoples, tower accessories, etc.
Order book
As of March 31, 2021, Skipper Ltd had an outstanding order book position Rs.1,412 crore. Once again, this was with respect to only the power T&D-related business. Around 40 per cent of this represented orders from Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL). State power utilities accounted for 22 per cent of the order book while the remaining 38 per cent constituted export orders.
Integrated Operations
In March 2020, Skipper started operations at its transmission tower testing station that is spread over 14 acres of land in Howrah, West Bengal. This testing station has also been approved and recognized by Government of India’s Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR). The facility is designed to test all kinds of lattice towers, monopoles and guyed towers.
Equipped with this tower testing facility, Skipper noted that it had a distinct advantage over competition. Skipper also observed that it has turned into a fully-integrated T&D player with capabilities ranging from manufacturing, testing, and EPC of power transmission lines.
Featured photograph shows an aerial view of Skipper’s transmission line testing facility at Howrah in West Bengal.