BBajel ProjectsExecutive Cockpit

CFO — Finance, Cash & Capital

Quality of earnings, 13-week cash, covenant runway, working-capital unlock and the value levers behind margin expansion and working-capital discipline.

Bajel Projects Limited · FY26 (Mar'26, standalone audited anchor)
Bajaj Group's power-transmission & distribution EPC and tower/monopole manufacturing arm
1,400 employees · 1+ plants & units · 6 export markets
Executive read· the answer, then the moves

Net debt of ₹163 Cr sits at 1.30× EBITDA against a comfortable ~3.0x ceiling (CRISIL A+) — conservative leverage held while ₹367 Cr of working-capital borrowings fund the growth. Working capital is the heavy story: normalizing debtor days to 170d releases ≈ ₹337 Cr and clears ₹336 Cr of overdue receivables, while cash of ₹200 Cr plus ₹3,500 Cr of bank lines carries the working-capital-heavy T&D execution cycle.

5 of 8 headline metrics improving vs prior · still off target: Revenue (FY26) ₹2,792 Cr vs ₹3,200 Cr, EBITDA ₹125 Cr vs ₹160 Cr, EBITDA Margin 4.4% vs 6.0%

Do now — ranked by urgency
  1. 1
    Working capital heavy — 214 debtor daysAct now
    Why it matters

    Tighten milestone billing & collections; target debtor days 214→170 to turn FCF positive.

    What's driving it
    • Debtor Days
    • Signal: Alert
    FYI

    Receivables ~₹1,636 Cr tie up 214 days; borrowings jumped ₹15→₹367 Cr to fund working capital.

  2. 2
    DSO 214d over 170d targetAct now
    Why it matters

    Each day of DSO ties up working capital that could fund capex & deleveraging.

    What's driving it
    • 205→214d
    • Signal: Threshold
    FYI
    • Receivables ~214 days — the heavy working-capital driver and central cash/risk story (₹1,636 Cr in AR).
    • Owner: Treasury
  3. 3
    Pull working capital — drive debtor days 214→170dWatch
    Why it matters

    Closing the debtor-days gap releases ≈ ₹337 Cr of one-time cash and is the single biggest lever to turn FCF positive; ₹336 Cr is already >60 days overdue and at collection risk.

    What's driving it
    • Debtor days 214d vs 170d target
    • Overdue (>60d) ₹336 Cr of ₹1636 Cr AR
    FYI
    • Capability-level unlock to a 170d stretch ≈ ₹398 Cr
    • Owner: Treasury & Investor Relations
  4. 4
    Thin, expanding margin — EBITDA 4.4%Watch
    Why it matters

    Margin-improvement program + steel/zinc hedging + higher-value 765 kV AIS/GIS mix.

    What's driving it
    • EBITDA Margin
    • Signal: Alert
    FYI

    EBITDA margin 2.99%→3.43%→4.4% (FY24-26); PAT only ₹27 Cr; management flagged FY27 commodity-cost pressure.

EBITDA
₹125 Cr
+39% YoY · 4.5% margin (thin, expanding)
Cash & bank
₹200 Cr
≈ 3 wks disbursements + ₹3,500 Cr bank lines
Headroom to ~3.0x covenant
₹213 Cr
≈ 1.8 yrs of growth funding (WC + ₹170 Cr Ranjangaon)
Working-capital unlock
₹337 Cr
Debtor days 214→170d target
Quality of earnings

Revenue → EBITDA → PAT

Reported op-profit ₹118 Cr → adjusted EBITDA ₹125 Cr → run-rate ₹140 Cr (₹7 Cr add-backs); the honest thin-margin walk from ₹2,792 Cr revenue to ₹27 Cr PAT.

Driver bridge

EBITDA — FY25 → FY26

Revenue-growth & execution volume and margin expansion (3.43%→4.4%) and higher-value 765 kV / substation mix, against the steel / zinc commodity-cost headwind.

Treasury

13-week direct cash flow forecast

Above minimum

Net weekly cash (bars) and ending cash (line) vs. ₹120 Cr minimum. Forecast trough: ₹150 Cr.

₹200 Cr
Opening cash
₹717 Cr
13-wk collections
₹763 Cr
13-wk disbursements
₹154 Cr
Closing cash
Capital structure

Leverage runway vs. covenant

Net Debt/EBITDA against a comfortable ~3.0x ceiling (CRISIL A+) — wide headroom as borrowings fund the working-capital-led growth.

Headroom = growth firepower

Growth capacity

Net-debt headroom to ~3.0x
213 Cr
1.8 yrs of growth funding (WC + ₹170 Cr Ranjangaon)
Net Debt / EBITDA1.3x
Covenant Headroom1.7x
DSCR2.2x
Free Cash Flow₹-90 Cr
Where the cash is trapped

Working-capital cash unlock

398 Cr opportunity

Normalizing laggard capabilities to 170-day debtor days releases ~₹398 Cr of one-time cash.

765 kV Transmission Lines220d
192 Cr
Lattice Towers210d
99 Cr
765 kV AIS Substations215d
49 Cr
Monopoles & Tubular Poles205d
29 Cr
400 kV GIS Substations220d
27 Cr
Data-Centre GIS Substations180d
2 Cr

Concentrated in the newer, higher-value capabilities (765 kV lines, AIS/GIS substations and international EPC) where milestone billing and long execution cycles lag the mature monopole & galvanizing lines — the fastest cash win this fiscal year.

Order-book quality

Order book & margin

The all-time-high order book, its transmission mix and cover, and where thin-but-expanding EBITDA margin is generated.

Order Book
₹4,055 Cr
▲ 35.9% vs priorTarget ₹4,500 Cr
Transmission Mix
82.0%
▲ 2.5% vs priorTarget 80.0%
Order-Book YoY Growth
15.0%
▲ 50.0% vs priorTarget 18.0%
Order-Book Cover
145.0%
▲ 5.1% vs priorTarget 150.0%
Order book

Order-book walk

Trend

Order-book trajectory

By segment

EBITDA margin by segment

Collections

AR aging

Total AR ₹1636 Cr

Current days620 Cr
1-30 days380 Cr
31-60 days300 Cr
61-90 days200 Cr
90+ days136 Cr

Overdue (>60d) = 336 Cr at collection risk.

By account

Receivables & credit watch

Accounts ranked by DSO and credit/churn risk.

AccountRevenueDSORepeatCredit/Churn
EETC (Egypt) / International₹152 Cr260d104%Medium
State utilities (MPPTCL·KPTCL·MSETCL·HVPNL…)₹600 Cr240d108%Medium
KPTCL & other STUs₹340 Cr230d106%Medium
Power Grid Corp (PGCIL)₹1150 Cr180d115%Low
Adani Energy Solutions₹300 Cr160d110%Low
Data-centre & new-segment₹250 Cr150d112%Low
Capabilities

Capability & product-line economics

EBITDA growth, debtor-days normalization and margin capture (as-scaled → current).

Capability / lineSinceRevenueEBITDADebtor daysDigitalCaptureStatus
Lattice Towers2001₹900 Cr8 54 Cr240210d100%92%Integrated
Monopoles & Tubular Poles2007₹300 Cr10 22 Cr230205d100%88%Integrated
Galvanizing Services2010₹240 Cr12 20 Cr12090d95%85%Integrated
765 kV Transmission Lines2011₹1400 Cr6 64 Cr260220d90%82%In progress
765 kV AIS Substations2016₹400 Cr8 24 Cr250215d85%78%In progress
400 kV GIS Substations2019₹200 Cr7 14 Cr245220d78%70%In progress
Data-Centre GIS Substations2025₹90 Cr5 6 Cr200180d60%55%In progress
Supply

Supplier terms & risk

Input & commodity (steel / zinc / aluminium) spend, DPO (working-capital lever), delivery and risk.

SupplierCategorySpendDPOOTIFScoreRisk
Steel — angles, plates & tubes (towers / poles)Steel (primary input)₹1450 Cr160d90%84High
Subcontractors — erection, civil & foundationsSubcontract & erection₹320 Cr170d88%82Medium
Aluminium & conductors (ACSR / AAAC)Aluminium & conductors₹260 Cr155d89%83Medium
Zinc — special high-grade (galvanizing)Zinc & galvanizing₹180 Cr150d92%85High
Hardware, insulators & fittingsHardware & fittings₹150 Cr150d91%84Low
Power, stores & MROPower, stores & MRO₹95 Cr140d94%82Medium