In FY25, we hope to continue with over 30% revenue growth, 18% EBITDA margin: RailTel CMD

Sanjai Kumar, CMD, RailTel, says LTE and Kavach put together, there is an opportunity of Rs 35,000 crore and we expect to get orders worth Rs 5,000-6,000 crore. Kumar also says:. “When we talk of volumes in terms of capacities, we are growing, but this year we have already planned some strategies and we are hopeful of at least double digit growth. We are trying to get 10% plus this year.”

Congratulations,you have surpassed your FY24 growth guidance by a big margin. What targets have you set for the company for FY25 and what kind of revenue growth are you expecting? Also, what margins do you expect in FY25?
Sanjai Kumar: Overall, we talk of annual performance. We are satisfied with the performance. We have grown by 31%. In 2024-25, we hope to continue with the same growth guidance in terms of revenue. It will be around 30%. The EBITDA margin, which was 18% last year, is expected to continue this year as well.

What is the current order book and what kind of inflows do you envisage for FY25?
Sanjai Kumar: Right now, we have a Rs 4,700-crore order book and we expect to have around Rs 4,000 crore new orders to be delivered in the next four to five years. We will do everything to get a good orders.

For the third consecutive quarter, the telecom business EBIT has been above the 20% mark. What led to that and going forward, can it sustain above the 20% mark? Also, the Indian Railways is looking to deploy LTE. What has been the progress so far? What kind of orders have come your way?
Sanjai Kumar: Yes, I believe so. Secondly, if we talk of LTE, yes, POC preparations are on, because we are dependent on many factors for POC, we are already progressing in that. I cannot say right now that any significant progress has been made, but whenever it is there, we will share with you. As for LTE tenders, already two tenders were carried out by the railways of roughly Rs 1700-1800 crore value. One is Rs 800 plus and the other is Rs 900 plus crores. We are working to participate in these tenders and we are hopeful of getting at least one order. But that depends on competition and other factors.

If we talk of the associated product, which is Kavach, we have already signed an MOU with the OEM. It was expected and this question was asked many times earlier also. Now we have come out with our partner and have signed an MOU. We are sure that we will do it in the Kavach segment also.

In the Kavach segment, are you expecting orders to pick up anytime soon?
Sanjai Kumar: See, tenders have not yet come out, but we are expecting that in the next two to three months, tenders should be out by railways and we will participate in those tenders.

What kind of order opportunity do you envisage for Kavach?
Sanjai Kumar: In the Kavach segment, we are expecting roughly Rs 3,000-4,000 crore overall orders over the next four to five years.

LTE and Kavach put together, this is an opportunity of Rs 35,000 crore and we expect Rs 5,000-6,000 crore orders out of that kitty.

How has been the performance of RailWire and how is your subscriber base improving there? What is the ARPU? Where do you see your subscriber base headed in the next one to two years as far as RailWire is concerned?
Sanjai Kumar: RailWire is a very tough market. We have been seeing a lot of churn and a lot of new customers getting added. . So, overall, we are close to 5.75 lakhs right now and because of differently bundled offerings, margins have also come down and ARPU is now around Rs 510 or so. So, this sector is going to be tough even in future years. We are continuously innovating new tariff options, new offerings and recently we have signed an MOU. It is a subsidy based model we have received from the Gujarat government where we are required to provide one lakh subscribers in the next one year. We are hopeful of adding good numbers this year.

The telecom segment growth was a bit sluggish this quarter. When do you expect it to recover? What should be a realistic expectation for the coming year?
Sanjai Kumar: In telecom, because of competition, there has been falling tariffs though demand is there. Telecom revenue includes RailWire revenue as well and other NLD point to point circuits and MPLS circuits. There is pressure on that. When we talk of volumes in terms of capacities, we are growing, but this year we have already planned some strategies and we are hopeful of at least double digit growth. We are trying to get 10% plus this year.