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Informist, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026

 

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--Skipper director: Plan greenfield plant to diversify operations
--CONTEXT: Comments by Skipper Director Devesh Bansal in an interview
--Skipper director: Eyeing Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh for new plant
--Skipper director: Plan to announce new greenfield plant in Q3
--Skipper director: Aim 50% revenue from exports in next 3-4 years
--Skipper director: Aim INR 65 bln revenue in FY27
--Skipper director: Aim 15-20% revenue growth in coming 3-4 fiscal years
--Skipper director: Will focus on developed countries for export orders
--Skipper director: Plan to incorporate new US subsidiary in next 2 months
--Skipper director: US subsidiary to handle all orders for North America
--Skipper director: Aim 12-13?ITDA margin by FY28 from current 10.5%
--Skipper director:Aim INR 3-4 bln capex for next 2 FYs sans greenfield plant
--Skipper director: See order book position at INR 100-110 bln in FY27

 

By Avishek Rakshit

 

KOLKATA – Skipper Ltd., which targets an on-year revenue growth of 15-20% every year for the next three-four financial years, plans to scale up its global operations considerably. While the company plans to derive 50% of its revenues from exports from current contribution of 15-20%, it is in advanced stages of incorporating a new subsidiary in the US that will handle its operations in North America. 

 

The listed company, which majorly focusses on manufacturing products used in power transmission and distribution projects, telecom towers, and polymer pipes, has six plants and transmission line testing stations in West Bengal and Assam. In the June quarter, the company reported a 4.5% on-year revenue growth to INR 13.1 billion and a 26.5% on-year net profit growth at INR 564.7 million. 

 

At the same time, as part of its diversification journey, the Kolkata-based company is considering acquisitions in India and is in advanced stage of talks with three state governments to open a greenfield unit that will manufacture products as part of its new adjacencies foray. 

 

"We would like to see 50% of our revenues come from exports, and out of that, at least half of it coming from developed economies like North America, Australia and Europe," Devesh Bansal, director at Skipper Ltd., told Informist in an exclusive interview.

 

Bansal's optimism to grow the export revenues stems from developed countries considering India as an alternative sourcing destination amid the global volatility and companies looking at a China Plus One strategy. This business strategy refers to business plans formulated by companies in developed economies to de-risk themselves from their current exposure to China. Given the politico-economic situation, companies are looking to source products and capital goods from countries other than China which presents considerable opportunities for companies from India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and others. 

 

"The world is a very, very China Plus One kind of a market wherein most of these developed economies prefer to have an alternative to China. They have far more comfort of working with an Indian company than a Chinese company, and in some economies, the Chinese don't have a presence," Bansal said. "Now out of all the other countries, India, and specifically Skipper, is the largest player in those markets."

 

Bansal said the company is focussed on "alliance format" kind of contracts, which allow Skipper to develop long-term relationship with its clients. As Skipper's clients start to execute projects in developed economies, a long-term "alliance" relationship makes those companies prioritise sourcing their materials from Skipper. 

 

"A lot of these engagements that we have with all the orders that we are also getting right now are more of alliance contracts which are going to continue rather than being a one-order kind of a situation. So it's taken us many years to get here. But now we have these customers, and these are huge customers who have now gotten into alliances with us," Bansal said. 

 

While keeping its focus on major export growth, Skipper also plans to diversify its business further and enter new categories which will open new revenue streams for the company. Bansal said the company is in advanced stage of discussion with state governments in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh for a greenfield project. Although investment in the new project is yet to be finalised, Bansal said investment in the plant will be made in the coming financial year.

 

"In terms of diversification, there are some very interesting opportunities in power transmission and distribution sector as well as in the water sector and we are evaluating some of those," Bansal said. "In power transmission, our customers in North America keep asking us if we can offer and supply something else as well such as wires, conductors, hardware. So, all of these categories we keep looking at."

 

Below are the edited excepts from the interview where Bansal speaks about the company's order book, the growing focus on exports, the company's future roadmap, and its diversification plans. 

 

Q. You ended the last financial year with lower-than-expected order inflow of around INR 57 billion. So, how is the order inflow this year?

A. Last financial year, order inflows were slightly muted because domestic ordering was delayed and exports were affected because of various factors, but this financial year, it is very, very robust, and we expect this financial year to be one of the strongest order inflow years for us. We expect INR-7,500-crore (INR-75-billion) new orders this financial year.

 

Q. In the targeted order book of INR 75 billion, what is the sectoral break-up of orders going to be? Will it mostly be in transmission and distribution projects?

A. It is a mix of supply orders as well as EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) orders. I would say more than 95% is from transmission and distribution. Of the projected orders inflow for this year, we are expecting around INR 1,500 crore (INR 15 billion) to come from exports, which would be around 20-25% of the order inflow. Of the targeted export orders, at least 50% will come from developed countries. 

 

Q. What is the current order book size and how much do you plan to execute in this fiscal? 

A. Current order book has recently just crossed INR 10,000 crore (INR 100 billion) for the first time ever and our revenue target for this year is close to around INR 6,500 crore (INR 65 billion). We have order visibility for revenue growth for at least 18 months from now, and with the new orders that will come in this year, it will only become even longer. 

 

Q. So, by the end of this FY where would the order book position be considering order execution and inflow of new orders? 

A. I would say our order book will be around INR 10,000 crore to INR 11,000 crore (INR 100 billion-INR 110 billion) because our order inflows will be larger than the executions.

 

Q. Is global commodity price volatility affecting your margins from order execution?

A. Our basic two raw materials are steel and zinc and most of our sourcing happens domestically. Anyways, our raw material makes up only about 15-16% of our input cost because we are quite vertically integrated. So, little bit of fluctuation does not really affect us too much. Also, out of our overall order book, 50% are variable price contracts and rest 50% are firm price contracts. 

 

Our margins have consistently improved over the last couple of years, and we expect these to continue improving. You should see our earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation margins improving to 12-13% in the next couple of years from the current 10.5%.

 

Q. How do you plan to improve the EBITDA margins if 50% of your contracts are firm price contracts where you need to absorb any input cost inflation? 

A. The scale of operations is increasing, benefits of higher economies of scale will come into play and we are adding more production capacity. But most importantly, it's our entry into the developed markets like North America, Australia, Europe, which has a better margin profile. So, as the proportion of orders from these markets go up, it will also lead to a lot of increase in our margins at a consolidated level.

 

Q. You will continue to focus on transmission and distribution (T&D) projects in export markets or will you also consider new growth vectors?

A. There are some opportunities which have come up in the renewable space, solar structures and all, but that makes up a small percentage of the overall portfolio. So, 90% of the orders are in T&D. There are some opportunities coming up in wind towers also, but I would say T&D will continue to be the bulk of the portfolio. 

 

Q. What is your medium-term target to grow exports? 

A. A few years back, export orders were almost 40% of our revenues. But because our contracts are very bulky, some large contracts can really change the composition. Last financial year, exports was around 15-20%.

 

In the medium term, over the next three-four years, we intend to take it up to 50%, and out of the 50% exports, at least half of it will come from developed economies like North America, Australia, and Europe.

 

Q. When you say 50% of your revenue will come from exports, what is the consolidated top line you have in mind? 

A. We are growing at roughly 15-20% every year and we would like this pace of growth going forward. Although we are getting larger, we want to grow faster.

 

Q. You need to cover a huge ground for the export target. How will you do it?

A. The reason for our confidence and optimism is the fact that the world is a very, very China Plus One kind of market, wherein most of these developed economies prefer to have an alternative to China. 

 

A lot of these engagements that we have with all the orders are more of alliance contracts which are going to continue on rather than being a one-order kind of situation. It has taken us many years to get here. But now that we have these customers, and these are huge customers who have now got into alliances with us.

 

So, the order book that we are talking about this financial year is only the first step into multiple orders that we expect to receive from them going forward.

 

Q. For such alliances to practically work, you will need to have an office there as well. Do you plan to open new entities in export countries? 

A. It is always preferred that in any large market, we should have some local presence because customers over there also get much more comfort in dealing with a local entity rather than an overseas entity.

 

In Brazil, we have one entity now for the Latin American market and in Dubai, we have one for the Middle-Eastern (West Asian) market. We are in the process of incorporating a wholly-owned subsidiary in Houston in Texas for our North American customers. This subsidiary should be the one signing contracts with the end customers in North America. Hopefully, in the next couple of months, the US subsidiary will be operational. 

 

Q. Don't you feel the necessity to set up such similar subsidiaries in Europe and Australia where you expect order inflows?

A. Right now, it is the US only where we are working on, but we are always open to an entity in Europe, where we feel is going to be possibly the next one. Australia is more project specific, but we might have an entity there also in future.

 

Q. What is your current production capacity and how do you plan to increase it?

A. This financial year, we will have 250,000 tonnes of production capacity, which is by far the largest in India and one of the largest in the world. We have plans to take this to 600,000 tonnes in the next couple of years, at which point, we will probably be the largest T&D structure manufacturer in the world.

 

Q. What is the capital expenditure involved in this capacity upscaling and how will you fund it?

A. Our capex (capital expenditure) this year is around INR 300 crores-INR 400 crores (INR 3 billion-INR 4 billion) and similar capex outlay for the next couple of years. We are reasonably well-funded, so it will be a combination of internal accruals and some amount of debt. The liquidity position of the company is very strong, so raising debt is no challenge at all, and we have a very strong track record with the banks.

 

Q. Is diversification also in the works? 

A. In terms of diversification, there are some very interesting opportunities in both the power T&D sector as well as in the water sector, and we are evaluating some of those. 

 

In power transmission, our customers in North America keep asking us if we can offer and supply something else as well such as wires, conductors, hardware. So, all of these categories we keep looking at.

 

And we are also looking at mergers and acquisitions options apart from some greenfield options while trying to figure out how we can do this effectively.

 

Q. Are you looking at acquisitions in India or abroad?

A. We feel the amount of engineering talent that we have and the cost structure in India, it is a good place to manufacture. In terms of acquisitions, some options are coming in from outside India, but I think it will largely be in India if we opt for the merger and acquisitions route. 

 

Q. Where is the greenfield project coming up? Have you narrowed down on anything? 

A. We are in discussions and considering states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh. All our units right now are in West Bengal except one in Assam. 

 

We are expanding capacities in West Bengal, but we are considering the greenfield unit in a separate state from the point of view of diversifying our supply chain.

 

Q. Is state incentives the prime factor for deciding on the greenfield project or there are other factors?

A. Incentives are one part of it, but largely, it is also the availability of skilled manpower, power costs, raw materials and proximity to ports, because we export a lot. So, a lot of those factors come into play when we decide on a location.

 

Q. What is the status of discussions with the state governments and by when will you finalise on the greenfield plant? 

A. It is difficult to predict, but we are very keen to do it quickly and are actively working on it. Maybe we will have some announcements in the next quarter or so.

 

Q. Does the greenfield plant involve the planned capex outlay or the project is outside the planned capex?

A. It is excluding the planned capex outlay. Once we finalise everything, we will be in a position to talk about the capex for this plant. It depends on the size of the land that we get. 

 

End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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