RattanIndia: Entry into renewables could be a natural extension for RattanIndia: Rajiv Rattan

Rajiv Rattan, Founder & Chairman, RattanIndia, says renewables could be a natural extension for the company and the cash coming out of the power business will give them the freedom to pursue anything related to energy. As and when they decide on that, they will announce to the markets. As the coal-based plant provides solid cash flows, that will give them the firepower to have a solid renewables pipeline too.

What do you believe is the story that everyone should watch out for as far as RattanIndia Group is concerned because leverage was an issue at one point of time but it looks like a good turnaround candidate? Talk to me about what is the roadmap and strategy you are working on currently?
Rajiv Rattan: Power sector debt was a key stress area about four-five years ago which we solved in one of our plants in December 19 and since then we have done refinancing and our senior debt is down to the sub-600 crore number compared with our EBITDA of about Rs 1,000 crore which has been stable for the last nine years ever since the plant got operational in 2015.So, power is a fundamental story. There was a time when we had a bit of excess in terms of capacity. All that excess has been absorbed. And the country is operating right at neck to neck with the demand which is forever growing. If India is going to be among the top three GDPs, a lot of power is going to be required for that. In India, baseload power is going to be provided by the coal-based plants for a long time to come. So, this is something which we are happy to be part of story, contributing to the national cause on this front.

On enterprises, we have businesses which are contributing to the nation’s progress. We have an electric motorbike called Revolt in India, one electric bike, we have e-commerce and drones and fintech.In terms of other businesses as well, what specifically will be the growth driver? You are there in e-mobility. What do you think will be driving the growth?
Rajiv Rattan: E-commerce is likely to grow 20-25% year-on-year. Our electric mobility will grow much faster than the past because that is something where the past year was spent on consolidation of the brand and the company which is Revolt. We were expanding dealerships. We were solving issues around supply chain, service, etc, all that has been done. Now we hope to have a steep growth curve on Revolt sales. And drones is something which is where we are extremely bullish. We have the products, we have the services, and we are working hard on that front as well and there is a clear focus from the government on having a very solid drone ecosystem in the country so that should also add to the growth.

I understand that you are running a profile of almost Rs 4,000 crore annually. Where do you see this number scaling up to, let us say, three to four years out? What is that target that you have set in terms of revenues and profitability for you, let us say, three years out?
Rajiv Rattan: Power company is something where we have not really announced what we are going to do beyond the thermal plants. But yes, renewables could be a natural extension for us and the cash coming out of the power business will give us the freedom to pursue anything related to energy and as and when we decide that, obviously, we will be announcing to the markets. But yes, renewables is something which is definitely at the top of our mind. As the coal-based plant provides solid cash flows, that will give us the firepower to have a solid renewables pipeline too.