ReNew Energy Global Plc (NASDAQ:RNW) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Amit Bhinde: Just anecdotally on this one now, the government is planning an 8-gigawatt auction on wind. So first thing that they also have this criteria that it should not be concentrated in some states. So it would be diversified across states where the wind variability could be more. So how do you see approximate tariff impact when you look at two aspects; one, wind PLS already — speed is already impacted and other you would have to diversify into a different state where the wind speed may not be very optimal for the auction, so how do you see that?

Sumant Sinha: I don’t think — yes. So look, I don’t think that will have any impact, frankly, simply because we are, for example, as a company already operating in most of these states, and so we have already good experience in terms of wind forecasting in all of those states. And look, eventually, even if the wind quality is lesser in one state compared to another, that gets reflected in the tariff that people bid because the tariffs end up being higher in the states that have normal wind speed. What the government intends to do is to bundle all the wind bids, all the wind projects together from across various states and offer a single pool tariff to the end buyers of the power. So it actually doesn’t matter at which state you put up the capacity in.

Amit Bhinde: Okay, perfect. And another question that I had was on this domestic manufacturing of modules. Now that the module prices sell and module prices are declining, if we look at the financial aspect of it, how much would be the differential, like how much would be the output — price of the output from our own manufacturing versus, say, imports plus custom duty, for example, like say, around $0.20, $0.25 for imported module with the custom duty and maybe, I mean, whatever is the price for the domestic one, how much would be the differential between the two?

Sumant Sinha: Yes, so I can’t give you an exact answer at this point, nor do I want to be very specific on this issue right now. I think the only thing is, as you know, that import duties are 40% and — on modules and 25% on sales. And any modules that we make in India ourselves that we make in India are going to be significantly less than the protection of the duty — that the duty provides. So I think that ultimately the comparison really, in some ways, is not through imports because those will always be more expensive with the duties. But in some ways, the comparable ratio really be with what is being manufactured in India otherwise by other companies. And I think in that respect, we will be very, very competitive simply because of our scale and also because of the fact that we have much more modern plants with the latest technology.

Amit Bhinde: Alright. That ballpark, it would be around $0.25 or something, the domestic manufacturing output, I know I mean, as you said?

Sumant Sinha: No, I hate to generalize because it really depends on, for example, the input cost of either cells or wafers depending on what you’re buying. And that price is moving around a little bit. So therefore, it’s hard to give us a fixed number on that at this point.

Amit Bhinde: Alright, got that. Those are my questions, thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from Puneet Gulati from HSBC. Please go ahead.

Puneet Gulati: Hi, thank you so much and best wishes. My first question is, you haven’t been very, very actively participating in the utility scale auctions. Is there a differentiated strategy that you are allowed to adopt focusing more on corporate than on utility scale?

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