Suzlon faces Adani, JSW challenge as wind energy market heats up; Q2 margins take a hit

Suzlon Energy is banking on a rapidly expanding wind power market to defend its position against competition from Adani and JSW Energy, even as pressure on turbine margins exposes the challenge of converting higher sales into stronger operating profits.

The wind turbine maker said it retained a 28-29% share of the Indian market by orders in the first half of FY27, while its share by deliveries stood at about 23%. Group CEO Ajay Kapur acknowledged the entry of new competitors but argued that the industry's growth would allow multiple players to expand.

Also read: Suzlon Energy Q2 Results: Profit plunges 69% YoY to Rs 394 crore due to one-time deferred tax


"You're right. We have Adani, JSW, and many other competitors in the Indian wind sector," Kapur said during the company's Q2 FY27 earnings call on Thursday.

"The good news is the sector is expanding," he said, citing demand of close to 8 GW between January and September.

Kapur also argued that Adani and JSW have large captive platforms that can absorb a substantial portion of their wind equipment production, distinguishing their business models from Suzlon's.

The comments come as India's wind industry enters a period of potentially faster capacity additions, supported by a growing project pipeline, transmission infrastructure investment and demand for renewable power.

Market growth offers room, but competition is intensifying

Suzlon reported an order book of about 6 GW at the end of September, with order intake exceeding 1.5 GW in the first half of FY27. The company said its backlog provides around 18 months of delivery visibility.

Deliveries reached 710 MW in the September quarter, up 40% sequentially, while commissioning rose to 454 MW from 269 MW in the June quarter. For the first half, deliveries increased 21% year on year to 1,217 MW and commissioning reached 723 MW.

The company's ability to sustain this momentum will depend on execution, customer wins and its capacity to manage costs as competition increases.

Suzlon is also expanding beyond turbine supply through its DevCo model, under which it takes on a broader role in project development. Management said around 900 MW of orders had been secured through this model in H1 FY27.

The company has earmarked Rs 500 crore in total capital allocation for DevCo, with net deployment of around Rs 125-130 crore so far, according to the earnings call.

Margin squeeze clouds revenue growth

The competitive push comes as Suzlon faces pressure on operating profitability.

Revenue rose 26% year on year to Rs 4,869 crore in Q2 FY27, but EBITDA remained almost flat at Rs 720 crore against Rs 721 crore in the year-ago quarter. The EBITDA margin contracted to 14.8% from 18.6%.

Management attributed the pressure to changes in customer and project mix, commodity and foreign-exchange volatility, and additional expenses linked to the Suzlon 2.0 strategy.

Chief financial officer Rahul Jain said commodity and foreign-exchange movements together had an impact of about 50 basis points. The company also incurred around Rs 50 crore in branding, travel and related expenses associated with Suzlon 2.0, which management expects to taper in subsequent quarters.

Kapur said the company was accelerating cost-optimisation initiatives and expected higher volumes in the second half to provide operating leverage.

The near-term test for Suzlon is therefore twofold: maintain its position as competitors enter the market and improve the profitability of the business as deliveries increase. A larger industry may create room for more players, but sustained growth will also require stronger margins and timely project execution.