Borosil Renewables expects solar glass demand to rise; margin to be under pressure due to rising input costs

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Pradeep Kheruka, Chairman, Borosil Renewables, said that demand for solar is visible across the world.

He said, “People do not see the price of oil or natural gas coming down in the near term, therefore solar energy would still give them a dependable source of supply at a more predictable price. So demand remains very strong.”

On rising input prices, he believes the situation remains dynamic.  Going ahead, he believes demand for solar glass will rise significantly. Kheruka also expects margin to be under pressure because of raw material cost inflation. Additionally, he shared that to tide over, the company is offsetting higher freight costs against lower glass costs.

“The cost of freight is high coming in from the countries that mainly compete with us in solar glass, such as China, Malaysia and Vietnam. So high cost of offsetting the cost of glass has declined a bit in the face of a strong increase in production vis-à-vis an increase in demand. So it is just a question of push and pull. I believe the demand for solar glass is going to be rising rapidly,” Kheruka said.

On the SG4 project, he said that it is likely to come up in April. He added that the company is still assessing avenues for raising funds for SG4. He further explained that they are currently focused on completing SG3 projects. He added that they plan to fund SG3 projects via a QIP of Rs 300 crore. Additionally, the plan is to utilise debt and internal accruals as well for the ongoing SG3 projects.

He said, “The SG4 will come from debt. We had announced that we would be raising capital. We are still exploring avenues which would be most suitable for raising capital and we have not taken a decision on that as yet.”