Suzlon can bounce back to again become the “darling” of Indian wind power and return to a market-leading position, claimed the turbine manufacturer's former CEO who left his job earlier this week.
JP Chalasani – who led Suzlon for almost four years before resigning on 6 July – claimed the company could regain traction in the Indian wind market after a restructuring of its massive debts, which had hobbled its ability to operate effectively.
“I personally feel it will be back and will become a market leader in the future as well,” Chalasani told an online seminar organised by India’s Free Press Journal after being asked if Suzlon could again be a “darling of investors” on the Indian financial markets.
Chalasani – who is staying on at Suzlon as an adviser – admitted the company had some “rough patches” over the last three years, but added that these coincided with a general downturn in the Indian wind market.
“I’ve interacted with the most of the clients as the CEO ... people love Suzlon. It will become again the darling,” said Chalasani, who claimed Suzlon has the “best products” in the Indian sector.
Suzlon was deposed by Siemens Gamesa as market-leader in India in 2019, according to BloombergNEF data.
The crushing pressure of the company’s $1.5bn debt pile severely restricted its ability to operate in the market, but the company this week said the restructuring, which sharply reduces cost of finance, would allow it to get “back to business”. The OEM has not yet named a replacement for Chalasani.
Suzlon – India’s wind power pioneer that at one stage had ambitions to be a world-leader – has seen its shares sink from around 25 rupees in 2017 to one-fifth of that level.
Analysts have said the company faces a tough battle to regain market share in a highly-competitive India market alongside global giants such as Siemens Gamesa, Vestas and General Electric.