Despite Covid, Sterling & Wilson hopes to surpass FY20 order flow this year

The company, which is betting big on international markets, has so far won orders worth Rs 5,696 cr compared with Rs 828 cr during the same period last year

Sterling & Wilson Solar has so far won orders worth Rs 5,696 crore, more than half of its last year’s order inflow. Betting on international markets, the company is confident to show a year-on-year growth for new orders won in this financial year. 

“Order inflow for the current year till date has been extremely strong at Rs 5,696 crore as compared to Rs 828 crore during the same period last year and Rs 9,047 crore for the entire last financial year,” said Bikesh Ogra, Global CEO and Director of Sterling and Wilson Solar. “We have been strategically expanding our footprint in major solar power markets of Australia, USA and South America for last few years which has started bearing fruits.” 

The company has a presence in Australia, USA and South America, and plans to increase its manpower in Spain. “The European market has grown substantially the past few years and has excellent potential. We are considerably reinforcing our management teams in Spain, which will help us cater to this highly potential market as well,” Ogra added.

In terms of upcoming orders, the company looks to bid for 4-4.5 gigawatt of orders in the next quarter. Ogra added, “The tendering and award activities had slowed down but has started picking up recently. “

While the order inflow looks robust, the company’s is still to ramp up execution to pre-covid levels.

“We are now operating at efficiencies of 80-85 per cent, which would be gradually ramped up to 100 per cent. Having said that, we should be mindful that the second wave of Covid-19 can impact execution timelines,” the top executive said. He added that operation and maintenance activities, considered as essential services, continue to be running full steam.