ETMarkets Management Talk | Nuclear, data centres, hydrogen: DEE Development Engineers maps its next growth phase, says Shikha Bansal

India’s engineering and manufacturing landscape is opening up a new phase of growth, with rising opportunities across power, oil & gas, refining and exports, alongside emerging areas such as nuclear, data centres and green hydrogen.

For DEE Development Engineers, the focus is now shifting from a largely capex-led expansion phase towards capacity utilisation, execution, asset turns and stronger operating cash flows.

The company’s Vision 2030 targets revenue of more than ₹2,500 crore, with EBITDA margins above 19%, as it looks to leverage capacities added over the past few years.


In an interaction with Kshitij Anand of ETMarkets, Shikha Bansal, Executive Director at DEE Development Thailand, said the company expects its next phase of growth to be driven primarily by better utilisation of existing capacities, higher-value applications and a stronger order pipeline.

She highlighted the ramp-up of the 30,000 MTPA Anjar facility and 7,000 MTPA seamless pipe plant, along with opportunities in nuclear piping, data centres, green hydrogen and semiconductors.

Bansal said the company expects FY27 core revenue of ₹1,400–1,500 crore, with order inflows expected to exceed ₹2,000 crore, while exports could account for around half of overall order inflows.

With the order book at about ₹2,435 crore as of August 31, 2026, the focus now is on converting this visibility into revenue and improving profitability.

The company is also evaluating a proposed nuclear-piping joint venture with a global partner, which could further expand its capabilities in specialised and overseas projects. Edited Excerpts –

Q) DEE has laid out Vision 2030 with a target of over Rs 2,500 crore in revenue and EBITDA margins above 19%. What are the three biggest assumptions behind this target—capacity utilisation, new order inflows or margin expansion?

A) The biggest opportunity is that the capacity we have invested in over the last few years is now positioned to support the next phase of growth. With Anjar and the seamless pipe facility operational, we are well placed to grow volumes and improve utilisation.

The demand environment also remains encouraging, particularly across power, oil & gas, refining and exports, with newer segments such as nuclear and data centres adding to the opportunity.

We expect FY27 order inflows to exceed ₹2,000 crore, with an indicative 60:40 mix between power and oil & gas, while exports are expected to contribute around 50% of overall order inflows. This gives us good visibility as we scale the business.

Together, these factors give us a strong foundation to deliver growth while steadily improving profitability.

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Q) FY26 revenue stood at around ₹1,142 crore. To cross ₹2,500 crore, the company needs to more than double its scale. Where will this growth come from—existing capacities, new facilities, acquisitions or new business segments?

A) The path to ₹2,500 crore is primarily through better utilisation of the capacity we have already built, supported by new business opportunities. The Anjar pipe fabrication unit has been scaled to 30,000 MTPA and the seamless pipe plant has commenced commercial production with 7,000 MTPA installed capacity.

We expect the Anjar facility to reach around 60–65% utilisation during FY27 and The seamless pipe plant has already secured its first commercial order of approximately ₹58 crore, scheduled for execution through Q4 FY 27.

It will serve both DEE’s internal piping requirements and third-party customers, creating an additional source of revenue while improving integration and margins.

Alongside these capacities, we are expanding into higher-value applications where our existing capabilities can be leveraged. Nuclear piping is an important medium-term opportunity with discussions underway with a global partner for a proposed joint venture.

The venture is expected to require approximately ₹100 crore of initial investment and is targeted to be finalised by December 2026.

Data centres are another opportunity where we have already secured our first core-piping order, while semiconductors offer another specialised application for our piping capabilities.

We expect FY27 core revenue of ₹1,400–1,500 crore alongside approximately ₹80 crore from power and biomass-pellet operations.

Q) The factsheet suggests DEE has significantly expanded capacity across Anjar, seamless pipes and other facilities. DEE has invested heavily in manufacturing capacity. Has the company now moved from a capex-heavy phase to an execution and utilisation phase?

A) FY26 saw the completion of several major capacity investments across the business. During the year, we scaled the Anjar Pipe Fabrication Unit to 30,000 MTPA, commissioning the 7,000 MTPA captive seamless pipe manufacturing plant and setting up the 72,000 MTPA biomass pellet facility.

With these investments substantially completed, the focus now is on ramping up utilisation, normalising working capital, improving asset turns and generating stronger operating cash flows. Beyond FY27, capex is expected to be limited largely to completion and maintenance expenditure, indicating annual maintenance capex of approximately ₹15–20 crore.

Our capex approach from here will be disciplined, with priority on completion and maintenance spends, while any incremental capacity will be evaluated against clear business visibility and customer demand.

Separately, the proposed nuclear piping JV is expected to require initial investment of approximately ₹100 crore. As the JV remains at a preliminary stage, this would be a specific strategic investment rather than part of routine manufacturing capex.

Q) DEE has transformed significantly over the past few years—from an engineering company into a much larger integrated manufacturing platform. Where is the next phase of expansion coming from?

A) The next phase of expansion will come from deepening our integrated manufacturing platform and moving into higher-value opportunities.

We have built scale across process piping, induction bends, modular skids, seamless pipes and heavy fabrication, supported by seven manufacturing facilities across India and Thailand and a dedicated engineering division in Chennai. Total installed capacity now stands at 93,500 MTPA in piping and 32,400 MTPA in heavy fabrication.

Within this network, Anjar will play an important role. Its proximity to Kandla and Mundra ports reduces inland transportation costs and transit time, while its automation-led layout supports productivity, quality and cost efficiency. Anjar is increasingly carrying oil & gas and export execution, allowing Palwal to focus on higher-margin power-sector work.

At the same time, nuclear piping, data centres, green hydrogen, carbon capture and industrial gas systems are emerging as important future growth areas. The proposed nuclear JV would help the company obtain the additional technology and international qualifications required for overseas nuclear projects, while Molsieve Designs extends DEE’s platform into nitrogen, oxygen, ammonia-cracking and hydrogen-purification systems.

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Q) DEE ended FY26 with an order book of around ₹1,940 crore, up 58% year-on-year. How much of this order book is executable within FY27 and FY28?

A) The order book gives us strong visibility for the next phase of execution. At the end of FY26, our closing order book stood at around ₹1,940 crore, up 58% year-on-year. Currently, we maintained a cumulative order book of ₹2,435 crore as of August 31, 2026. More recent, our order-book indicates a further strengthening of the pipeline, with a diversified mix across power, oil & gas, exports and domestic customers.

Our immediate focus is to convert this order book efficiently through FY27 and FY28, with a FY27 core revenue target of ₹1,400–1,500 crore, while reaching ₹1,800 crore by FY28. We expect the order book to support revenue growth over the next 12 to 18 months, while also improving execution visibility across our core piping business.

Q) DEE describes the seamless pipe plant as a major backward integration step. What strategic problem does this solve—cost, supply-chain dependence, margins or product differentiation?

A) The seamless pipe plant is an important backward-integration milestone for DEE. It reduces dependence on external suppliers for critical seamless pipes, strengthens quality control and improves our ability to meet customer timelines for high-specification applications.

The plant has commenced commercial production at Anjar on March 2026 with 7,000 MTPA installed capacity and is designed to manufacture heavy-wall seamless pipes using trepanning, pull-boring, push-boring and hot-expansion processes.

This capability is relevant for large power projects, subsea customers and other specialised engineering applications and has already secured a first commercial order. Strategically, it gives us better control over inputs, improves product differentiation and should support margins as utilisation improves.

Q) Which of these three sectors—data centres, semiconductors or green hydrogen—do you believe could become the biggest growth driver over the next five years?

A) Of the three, data centres, green hydrogen and semiconductors represent important opportunities for DEE as we expand into new and specialised applications. All three sectors require high-quality process piping, engineering and manufacturing capabilities, which are areas we have built significant expertise in over the years.

Data centres are already giving us an opportunity to demonstrate this, with our first core-piping order secured from a private data-centre customer. The same capabilities are relevant to the green hydrogen ecosystem, particularly across hydrogen purification, ammonia cracking and industrial gas systems.

Our process piping and modular systems capabilities, together with our stake in Molsieve Designs, give us exposure to these applications. These capabilities are also relevant to the emerging semiconductor ecosystem, where specialised, high-reliability piping is required.

Q) With geopolitical shifts and companies diversifying supply chains, do you see Thailand becoming an important beneficiary of the China+1 strategy? How is DEE positioned to capture that opportunity?

A) Our Thailand facility is an important part of DEE’s international manufacturing footprint. The Bangpakong facility gives us proximity to Southeast Asian markets and supports our ability to serve global customers across regions including the US, Africa, Southeast Asia and other export markets.

The company reported approximately ₹70 crore of Thailand order inflows in March 2026, which it described as evidence of strong Southeast Asia traction.

As customers increasingly look for reliable, diversified and quality-certified supply-chain partners, having manufacturing capability across India and Thailand strengthens our ability to respond with flexibility.

The Thailand facility also complements our India operations and helps us serve multinational OEMs and EPC customers with a broader geographic manufacturing base.

(NOTE: The journalist was invited for the interview)

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