Luminous Power aims to double growth in 4 years; to invest Rs 2,000 crore

Energy storage solutions company Luminous Power Technologies aims to double its growth in the next four years, and is looking at solar energy vertical as a major growth enabler, where it is investing substantially, CEO Preeti Bajaj said.

Luminous Power, now completely owned by French engineering company Schneider Electric, has plans to invest around Rs 2,000 crore in capacity expansion of its existing plants, a solar greenfield project, research and development (R&D), digitisation, brand building and channel engagements.

The company sees solar as a "growing market" and reach an "inflection" point in the next 2-3 years in terms of cost, as demand for clean energy sources is going to rise, where Luminous Power aims to be a leading company in this transformation journey here, she said. "Our vision is that solar will be a substantial part of our business," said Bajaj.

With the rise in per capita income and increase in power consumption due to multiple appliances in urban households, the demand is shifting towards higher capacity inverters, batteries and residential solar adoption.

It is in the process of opening a PV (photovoltaic) module factory at its Rudarpur plant in January, which will have 500 MW to 1 GW (expandable) solar production capacity.

"For the organisation, the growth engines to increase market capitalisation include a stronger focus on solar products. Solar is important towards sustainable and profitable growth," she said.

The company is making "forward-looking investments" to build capacity for solar products and create an ecosystem, which Bajaj sees "as a manufacturing imperative and an opportunity".

"We believe in this market and it is growing at 25 per cent. We want to play a part in that and to that effect, we are bringing new products to market," said Bajaj. Besides, Luminous Power in collaboration with its channel partners is providing solar solutions to its customers as well.

The company which has six plants at various locations, including Gagret and Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, Hosur in Tamil Nadu, and Haridwar in Uttarakhand, has acquired land at Angul in Odisha, where it is going to set up a new energy plant.

"We are making our investments to be a multi-model organisation which can provide full solar solutions, full inverter battery backup solutions to India and potentially the world to that effect," said Bajaj.

With its solar solutions, Luminious is also looking to expand its export markets, particularly from Africa. It has a presence in around 40 countries and expects one-fourth of its revenue to come from its international business in the next three years.

"We want the contribution to expand... If we are double the size of what we are today, I would like it to be 25 per cent of that total turnover," she added.

When asked about synergy with Schneider in the global markets, Bajaj said it exists. Schneider's access to 160 markets helps Luminous to have better knowledge about those places and accelerate into those markets.

"Those go-to market access opportunities are always available to us from our parent company. We want to be more globally visible and accessible," she said.

Luminous Power Technologies is engaged in manufacturing of products in the power backup and residential solar space. It is also engaged in the trading of a range of inverters, batteries and UPS.

Its consolidated revenue from operations in the financial year ended on March 31, 2023 was at Rs 4,231.34 crore, according to financial data accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler. This was 14.65 per cent higher than the revenue of Rs 3,690.52 crore recorded a year ago.

When asked about the mid-term outlook for the company, Bajaj said: "We want to continue to accelerate our capability in solar power electronics, solar PV assembly and solar ecosystem as a whole with the software capability as well to bring solutions that make energy transparent. We will continue to invest in R&D."

Last year, Luminous Power sold its home electrical business (HEB), which has a portfolio of fans, lights and appliances, to RR Kabel.

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