Absolute Projects (India) Limited IPO

01At a glance

What the company does: executes power EPC projects (substations, distribution lines and loss-reduction work for electricity utilities), makes electrical and structural components for those projects and for other customers, and provides civil construction and operation-and-maintenance services (DRHP p.32, DRHP p.280).

Who pays it: mainly government utilities; the document names Power Grid Corporation of India, NTPC, Uttarakhand Power Corporation, Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam, Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation and Nepal Electricity Authority (DRHP p.207). The top ten customers were 94.98% of revenue in the six months to September 2025 (DRHP p.36).

Why it is raising money: ₹406.56 million for machinery at its two plants and for EPC equipment, ₹491.11 million to repay borrowings, ₹400.00 million for working capital, and the rest for general purposes (DRHP p.168).

How fast it has grown: revenue from ₹1,410 million in FY23 to ₹3,067 million in FY25, and ₹1,358 million in the six months to September 2025 (AP p.6).

The one thing to understand: growth paid for with borrowed money. Over FY25 and the six months to September 2025 the company booked ₹304 million of profit but used ₹962 million in operations, and borrowings rose from ₹310 million to ₹1,009 million (our arithmetic, AP p.6).

02The business, in plain words

A power-distribution contractor wins tenders from electricity utilities to build substations and lines or to cut losses on overloaded networks. It designs the work, procures equipment, installs and commissions it, and is paid in stages.

A distribution utility in Rajasthan tenders a loss-reduction package under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme → Absolute Projects wins it → it procures equipment, uses its own towers, structures and panels from Roorkee, and builds the network → the utility pays as milestones are certified.

Projects run across Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Odisha and Ladakh, and in Nepal, where the company has a branch office (AP p.3). Manufacturing Facility I at Roorkee has run since 2008; Manufacturing Facility II there was set up in 2026 and had not started commercial operations at filing (DRHP p.284).

Earnings equation: Profit ≈ contract value executed × (contract price − materials, subcontract and site cost) − interest on working capital. EBITDA margin was 10.51% in the six months to September 2025 (AP p.7).

03Where the money comes from

Source: DRHP p.32. Converted from ₹ lakh. H1 FY26 is six months.

Source: DRHP p.36.

04The growth record

Source: AP p.6, AP p.7. Converted from ₹ lakh. H1 FY26 is six months.

05What the growth is made of

Mostly Power EPC work, which more than doubled from FY23 to FY25, while manufactured-component revenue rose from ₹298 million in FY24 to ₹583 million in FY25 (DRHP p.32). EBITDA margin rose from 4.32% in FY23 to 10.51% in the six months to September 2025 (AP p.7).

The order book was ₹7,475.30 million at 31 December 2025, 2.4 times FY25 revenue, and 85.35% of it was Power EPC work (our arithmetic, DRHP p.32, DRHP p.58). Five projects made up 67.94% of it (DRHP p.33):

Source: DRHP p.33. Converted from ₹ lakh.

The two Nepal packages for the Nepal Electricity Authority are 23.60% of the order book (our arithmetic, DRHP p.33).

06Earnings quality

Profit has not turned into cash. From FY23 to September 2025 the company booked ₹479 million of profit and used ₹915 million in operations (our arithmetic, AP p.6). Raw materials and project inputs were 90.49% of total expenses in the six months (DRHP p.37). The statutory auditors expressed no qualification, reservation, adverse remark, emphasis of matter or other observation (AP p.9). Trade receivable days were 85 in FY23, 25 in FY24, 79 in FY25 and 112 in the six months to September 2025 (DRHP p.199).

07The balance sheet

Source: AP p.6, AP p.7. Converted from ₹ lakh.

Net worth rose ₹465.5 million in FY25 while profit was ₹210.0 million, and equity share capital rose from ₹73.62 million to ₹82.58 million that year, so new shares were issued before the IPO (our arithmetic, AP p.6). The pages read do not give the terms.

08What the money is for

Source: DRHP p.168. Converted from ₹ lakh.

The named objects total ₹1,297.67 million (our arithmetic). Part of the machinery money replaces equipment at Facility I that the company says has reached the end of its optimal economic life; the rest starts operations at Facility II (DRHP p.295).

09Who is selling

Nobody. The offer is a fresh issue only, of up to 20,000,000 shares of ₹2 face value (AP p.1).

Source: AP p.8, AP p.9. Vaishali Ola's average cost is ₹5.40 (AP p.9).

10Promoters

The promoters are Ranjeet Singh Ola, Deependra Singh Ola, Monika Bhukar Ola, Sunita Ola Dhaka, Kamla Devi Ola and Vaishali Ola (AP p.5). Ranjeet Singh Ola, chairman and managing director, has been with the company since incorporation, was a technical assistant in the electrical department of Shriram Fertilizers & Chemicals from 1982 to 1993, and has over 41 years of experience, 31 of them in EPC power projects (DRHP p.343). Deependra Singh Ola, whole-time director, has been a director since September 2011 and chief executive since June 2024, holds an engineering degree from the University of Rajasthan, and has 22 years in EPC power projects (DRHP p.343).

11Who already owns it

Source: AP p.5.

The six promoters hold 72.00% (DRHP p.358). Other holders above 1% are Comercinate Enterprises Private Limited with 3.09%, Technopolis Innovations LLP with 1.33%, Shree Bhagwan Misra with 1.33% and High School Investors LLP with 1.21% (DRHP p.159).

12What changed just before the IPO

• Share split: shares of ₹100 were sub-divided into shares of ₹10 on 10 May 2025, and shares of ₹10 into shares of ₹2 on 18 November 2025 (DRHP p.135, DRHP p.137), with a record date of 21 November 2025 (DRHP p.207).
• Preferential allotment: 3,45,137 shares at ₹350 each on 23 July 2025, the last allotment before the offer (DRHP p.135).
• Auditor: Avan & Associates gave way to Maheshwari & Co, appointed on 27 May 2025 to fill a casual vacancy and again on 30 September 2025 (DRHP p.111).
• Public company: the company became a public limited company in February 2005 (DRHP p.2), and proposes no pre-IPO placement (DRHP p.114).
• New shareholders: share capital rose in FY25 and again by September 2025 (AP p.6).
• Chief executive: Deependra Singh Ola became chief executive in June 2024 (DRHP p.343).
• Second plant: Facility II set up in 2026, not yet operating (DRHP p.284).
• Cash: operating cash flow negative in FY25 and the six months (AP p.6).

13Capacity and expansion

Facility I has installed capacity of 6,520 tonnes a year; utilisation was 51.44% in FY23, 48.79% in FY24 and 85.87% in FY25 (DRHP p.39). For the six months to September 2025 the document gives 55.86% and says the figure is annualised, but 3,642.20 tonnes produced in six months is 55.86% of the full-year capacity, which would be about 112% if annualised (our arithmetic, DRHP p.39). The proceeds fund new machinery at both plants and equipment for EPC sites (DRHP p.168).

14Market size and industry structure

The Dun & Bradstreet report cited in the offer document says India's peak power demand reached about 256 GW in FY2025, and places power EPC within the transmission and distribution infrastructure industry (AP p.3). newboard has not tested the report's statements.

15Competitive position

What the document claims, and what it rests on:

• A track record with government utilities in India and Nepal (DRHP p.207).
• In-house manufacturing of towers, structures and panels used in its own projects (DRHP p.281).
• An order book of ₹7,475 million (DRHP p.58).

Against that: a handful of customers, a handful of projects, and working capital that has been funded by debt (DRHP p.33, DRHP p.36, AP p.6).

16Peers the company named

Source: DRHP p.209. Converted from ₹ lakh. Peer P/E uses prices on 24 March 2026 (DRHP p.208).

The document notes that Rajesh Power Services reports under a different accounting framework, so the comparison is not like-for-like (DRHP p.208). No P/E is possible for the company until a price band is set.

17Risks, in plain words

• Customers. Ten customers were 95% of recent revenue (DRHP p.36).
• Projects. Five projects are 68% of the order book, two of them in Nepal (DRHP p.33).
• Cash. Operating cash flow negative in three of the last four periods (AP p.6).
• Materials. Raw materials are about 90% of expenses (DRHP p.37).
• Suppliers. Ten suppliers were 60.03% of purchases in the six months, and 89.09% in FY24 (DRHP p.38).
• Execution. Delays or cost overruns on large projects (DRHP p.33).

18Litigation and regulatory matters

Source: AP p.9, AP p.10. Converted from ₹ lakh.

19Related-party transactions

Not read in detail for this study.

20What the offer document does not say

In the sections read for this study, the document does not give:

• Who the largest customer is, at 36% of recent revenue.
• How long utilities take to pay, in the pages read.
• The terms of the shares issued in FY25 and FY26, in the pages read.
• What the criminal and eight regulatory proceedings against the company concern, in the pages read.
• Why the six-month utilisation figure is labelled annualised.
• The price band, lot size or issue dates, which is normal at DRHP stage.

21Five questions for management

1. Which customer provided 36% of revenue in the six months to September 2025?
2. Why has operating cash flow been negative while profit rose, and when does that reverse?
3. How are the two Nepal packages paid for, and in what currency?
4. Who took up the new shares issued before the IPO, and at what price?
5. What do the criminal and regulatory proceedings against the company and its promoters concern?

2Sources and cited facts

This study was read from 2 documents the company filed. The 73 figures it cites are listed under the document each came from, with the page and the sentence as printed.