Detailed Rationale

Crisil Ratings has upgraded its ratings on the bank facilities of Oriana Power Ltd (OPL; part of the Oriana group) to ‘Crisil A-/Stable/Crisil A2+’ from ‘Crisil BBB+/Stable/Crisil A2’

 

The upgrade reflects a sustained improvement in the business risk profile of the company, supported by steady growth in revenue and operating profitability. Revenue recorded a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 117% over the three fiscals through 2025 and is projected to show a further on year growth of more than 50% during fiscal 2026. Revenue growth will be aided by solar project orders worth Rs 2,922 crore (as of July-2025) and Rs. 8,450 crores of orders in pipeline. Further, operating profitability improved to 22.61% in fiscal 2025 and is projected to sustain to over 18-20% over the medium term. This will be supported by healthy profitability expected from the end-to-end services for solar EPC projects beyond standard EPC services. Sustained improvement in the scale of operations while sustaining healthy margins would remain monitorable.

 

The ratings also factor in a healthy financial risk profile, supported by expected net worth of Rs 760- 780 crore and low gearing of below 1 time as on March 31, 2026. The net worth of the company strengthened to Rs. 520 crores in fiscal 2025 (Rs. 151 crores in fiscal 2024) led by higher accretion to reserve and fund raising through preferential allotment amounting to Rs 206.85 crore in July 2024 amidst steady business growth. Debt protections metrics remained comfortable in the past and shall continue to remain so over the medium term as well, amidst steady operating profitability and moderate reliance on external debt. Liquidity continues to be adequate, supported by moderate utilization of bank lines.

 

The ratings continue to reflect the extensive experience of the promoters, supported by strong customer profile and healthy order book position, healthy financial risk profile and healthy operating margins. These strengths are partially offset by significant portion of net worth invested in SPVs and susceptibility to risks inherent risks related to availability of cells and regulatory changes.

Analytical Approach

Crisil Ratings has moderately consolidated the business and financial risk profiles of OPL along with its subsidiaries/associates. In line with this, the equity requirement in under-implementation projects has been factored into the financials of the group.
 

Please refer Annexure - List of Entities Consolidated, which captures the list of entities considered and their analytical treatment of consolidation.

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description

Strengths:

• Extensive experience of the promoters, supported by strong customer profile and healthy order book position: The promoters' experience of over a decade in undertaking solar EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) projects, will help OPL focus on sustainable growth in the solar product engineering procurement construction (EPC) industry and healthy relations with suppliers and customers should continue to support the business over the medium term. The company has delivered over 400+ megawatts of solar projects, thus completing around 90+ EPC projects in a timely manner and within the stipulated cost (including projects such as floating solar plants and rooftop solar projects). The growth in the operations is also driven by strong customer profiles including both government and private parties. Further, order book comprising of solar projects of over Rs 2,922 crore as of July 2025 and orders of over Rs 8,650 crore in pipeline provide healthy revenue visibility for the medium term. With this, the operating income is likely to grow substantially in fiscal 2026 to around Rs 1800-2000 crore from Rs 1020 crore in fiscal 2025. Further, diversification into Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), CBG (Compressed Biogas) and Green Hydrogen verticals, wherein OPL has received significant orders, shall also support the growth in business profile over the medium term. Timely execution of the order book leading to sustained growth will remain monitorable.
   
• Healthy financial risk profile: The financial risk profile is likely to remain healthy, supported by the strong networth estimated at Rs 760-780 crores in fiscal 2026. The net worth of the company improved significantly to Rs 520 crore as on March 31, 2025, supported by additional fund raising in fiscal 2025 and higher accretion to reserves. On a standalone level, OPL is estimated to have minimal debt on books as on March 31, 2025. With this, the capital structure of the company has remained comfortable in the past and gearing shall continue to remain below 1 time as on March 31, 2026. Improving operating margin over the past few fiscals along with limited dependence on bank debt, has kept debt protection indicators healthy marked by expected interest coverage to be over 30 times for fiscal 2026 (22.40 times in fiscal 2025). In the absence of any debt funded capex plans in OPL, financial risk profile is expected to remain comfortable.
   
• Healthy operating profitability: The company offers end-to-end services for solar EPC projects, right from land identification to project commissioning. The company's service portfolio includes understanding client requirements and providing connectivity beyond standard EPC services. This led to an improvement in operating margins to 22.6% in fiscal 2025. The margin will be shielded against any sharp volatility in raw material prices as the company hedges its inventory requirement at the time of order booking. Operating efficiency margins are expected to remain in the range of 18-20% over the medium term. Going forward, with the commencement of operations in the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), the operating profitability is likely to improve on account of low operating expenses in the segment, however, the same shall remain monitorable.
   

Weaknesses:

• Significant portion of net worth invested in SPVs: OPL has invested a total of ~Rs. 381.38 crore (~73% of its net worth) of equity in its subsidiaries under the Independent Power Purchase (IPP) model in fiscal 2025. Going forward, the company is expected to invest another Rs. 140-150 crores in fiscal 2026 in its SPVs under the IPP model, making the total investment of ~Rs 526 crore (~69% of its net worth), funding for which will remain a key monitorable. The company is likely to continue to make investments in its SPVs with plans to set up new solar plants and diversification through Green Hydrogen and Compressed Biogas segment (CBG) in fiscal 2027 and 2028. Furthermore, a large part of the investments is in subsidiaries that are still in the construction phase. The company has also provided a corporate guarantee for the term debt of its subsidiaries. However, as a result of the company’s track record in completing previous SPV projects in a timely manner, Crisil Ratings expects OPL to complete these projects without any cost overruns and on time, mitigating the risk to some extent.
   
• Risks related to availability of solar cells and regulatory changes: China dominates the PV solar cells supply chain with a more than 70-80% share in the global market and signifies the importance of the supply chain in the solar power sector. Though, India has achieved self-sustainability for solar panels driven by the ALMM (Approved List of Models and Manufacturers) policy, the dependence on uninterrupted import of solar cells (raw material for manufacturing solar panels) continues to remain high. Any trade disruption on account of macro-economic factors shall have a direct impact on the OEMs and EPC players of solar panels. With this, the government directives and likely imposition of ALCM (Approved List of Cell Manufacturers) shall continue to tighten supply and potentially constrain contractors from importing cells. Therefore, the availability of raw material also remains vulnerable to changes in government policies and any disruption can cause an increase in the cost of solar EPC or have an adverse impact on timely execution of orders. OPL has a strong operational policy to ensure the availability of critical components for the execution of projects leading to timely completion of projects. However, the timely execution of orders amid sustaining profitability remains monitorable.

Liquidity: Strong

Liquidity should remain supported by the ample surplus available in cash accrual and bank lines. Bank limit utilization was moderate, averaging at 55% for the 12 months through July-2025. Cash accrual of over Rs 250-300 crore over the medium term will be sufficient against minimal term debt obligations. Unencumbered cash of Rs. 55-60 crores as on March 31, 2025, further support the liquidity of OPL. The current ratio remained moderate at 1.13 times as on March 31, 2025.

Outlook: Stable

The group will continue to benefit from the extensive experience of its promoters, horizontal business integration, enabling consolidation of resources for expansion within the industry, along with healthy order book.

Rating sensitivity factors

Upward factors:

• Sustained improvement in revenue above Rs 2000 crore and sustenance of operating margin more than 18%, leading to higher-than-expected cash accruals
• Sustenance of healthy financial risk profile
   

Downward factors:

• Higher-than-expected equity infusion in the SPVs impacting financial risk profile, including liquidity
• Decline in revenue or fall in operating margin below 12-13% leading to lower-than-expected cash accrual

About the Company

Noida (Uttar Pradesh)-based OPL was incorporated as private limited company in 2013 and reconstituted as closely held public limited company in 2023. Promoted by Mr. Parveen Kumar, Mr. Rupal Gupta, and Mr. Anirudh Saraswat, OPL, along with its subsidiaries, is engaged in two main business verticals: offering renewable energy solutions on a BOOT (build, own, operate, transfer) and EPC basis. OPL is listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) SME platform.

Key Financial Indicators

As on / for the period ended March 31	Unit	FY25^	2024
Operating income	Rs crore	1,019	377.31
Reported profit after tax (PAT)	Rs crore	163.34	55.13
PAT margin	%	16.02	14.61
Adjusted debt/adjusted net worth	Times	0.07	0.22
Interest coverage	Times	22.40	26.07

^Provisional

Key Financial Indicators – Moderately Consolidated*

As on / for the period ended March 31	Unit	FY25^	2024
Operating income	Rs crore	1,019	377.31
Reported profit after tax (PAT)	Rs crore	163.34	55.13
PAT margin	%	16.02	14.61
Adjusted debt/adjusted net worth	Times	0.07	0.22
Interest coverage	Times	22.40	26.07

^Provisional