Renu Baid Pugalia, Senior VP-Research at IIFL Institutional Equities, expressed optimism about Thermax's recovery prospects, highlighting the company's research and development strength in coal gasification and bio-CNG - cleaner-burning natural gas produced from agricultural or municipal waste. According to reports from CNBC TV18, Pugalia noted that Thermax has spent the last three years stabilising these newer technologies and is now positioned to capture rising demand as the market for green industrial solutions opens up. She acknowledged that Thermax's main recurring issue has been a gap between its numbers, delivery, and performance, especially on the profitability side, but expects the company to return to double-digit margins in the next two years.
Pugalia pushed back against the market's focus on HVDC as the primary growth driver for the grid equipment sector, emphasizing that the real bottleneck in the supply chain has been in transformers, which has also spilled over into the switchgear market. As reported by CNBC TV18, she highlighted that CG Power has aggressively expanded capacity in these areas, including a new greenfield facility set to be commissioned in September. Pugalia noted that CG Power's growth story increasingly depends on its ability to penetrate export markets, citing a notable $9 billion order from the US data center market last quarter, with the US and Middle East as key focus regions going forward.
According to reports from CNBC TV18, Pugalia highlighted that ABB is well positioned in the power grid value chain due to its cost leadership in transformers across voltage levels. She emphasized that ABB's positioning allows it to benefit from the broader grid modernization trends, particularly in areas where it maintains competitive advantages in cost and technology leadership.
Pugalia expressed optimism about Dixon Technologies, stating the company is well positioned to benefit from the growing focus on energy efficiency. As reported by CNBC TV18, Dixon's portfolio spans drive systems used in manufacturing, renewables and power generation, as well as automation technologies for data centers. While she expects cost pressures to keep margins under strain in the near term, she sees profitability improving from the current 12.5-13% range to 15-16% by the second half of the year as those headwinds ease. Regarding the proposed Vivo joint venture, she noted that the deal is already largely reflected in market expectations, with an earnings upgrade of less than 5% for the current fiscal year if approval comes through in the next 7 to 10 days.
