• Intelligent boilers: Thermax launched its i-Series, which monitors operating parameters and automatically adjusts performance. The company reported up to 10% efficiency improvement, with customer payback within months, and described it as a self-learning, self-calibrating and self-controlling boiler.
• Demand and biomass: Bhandari said demand remained very strong despite commodity-price and interest-rate pressures. Roughly 2/3rds of Thermax’s packaged-boiler business had shifted to biomass, and higher crude and fuel prices were increasing interest in biomass and green solutions.
• Orders and execution: Bhandari said Thermax grew orders roughly 30% last year and that its current India and export pipeline was the largest he had seen in his 7 years at the company. He was more concerned about converting orders into revenue, citing customers’ equipment-pickup difficulties, shipping constraints and higher shipping rates.
• Middle East outlook: Part of the order pipeline had slowed as customers faced uncertainty and local demand paused in some places. Bhandari viewed this as temporary, expected investment to pick up after the war, and said Thermax would maintain customer service and relationships.
• Q1 performance: Bhandari called Q1 the absolute bottom, citing a roughly ₹90 crore hit from a large project and shipment-related issues. He said the one-time project hit should not repeat, delivery issues were ongoing, and the large backlog should support an upward trend as it converts into revenue.