Sona Comstar order book reaches Rs 25,100 crore after wins

SONA BLW Precision Forgings Ltd. (Sona Comstar) added Rs 3,600 crore of new business in Q2 FY27, its third-highest quarterly order addition, taking its net order book to Rs 25,100 crore. Management said the wins covered electric-vehicle, internal-combustion-engine and railway products, rather than depending on one unusually large contract.

How did Sona Comstar expand its order book in Q2 FY27?

Sona Comstar expanded its net order book to Rs 25,100 crore after winning Rs 3,600 crore of business in Q2 FY27. Management described the quarterly addition as its third highest by value and said the closing order book was the second highest in its history. Unlike earlier high-addition quarters, management said the new business was distributed across several programmes.

The new wins included differential assemblies, differential gears, traction motors, controllers, starter motors, sensors and railway products. Management said this mix broadened the order book across powertrains, geographies, customers and product categories. The transcript does not provide individual contract values, customer names or production-start dates for the orders.

Sona Comstar also secured four new Electric, Personalised, Intelligent and Connected, or EPIC, programmes in Q2 FY27. Three were battery-electric-vehicle, or BEV, programmes and one was in intelligent and connected solutions. At the end of H1 FY27, Sona Comstar had 75 EPIC programmes across 37 customers, including 44 in production and 31 yet to start production.

Which EV orders contributed to Sona Comstar's new wins?

Sona Comstar's EV-related wins included a helical limited-slip differential, a rear radar sensor, an integrated motor controller and higher traction-motor volumes. The helical limited-slip differential was ordered by an existing EV customer and extends Sona Comstar's presence into another geography, according to management. The product improves traction by limiting excessive speed differences between the two driven wheels.

The rear radar sensor order came from a new Indian two-wheeler customer. Sona Comstar said the sensor can warn a rider about a potential rear-end collision or a vehicle in a blind spot, adding radar sensing to its two-wheeler portfolio of traction motors and controllers. The integrated motor-controller programme came from an existing EV customer.

An existing customer also issued a revised purchase order for additional traction-motor volumes. Management said traction-motor demand rose almost 50% quarter on quarter, while Q2 FY27 BEV revenue increased 129% year on year. The higher traction-motor share changed Sona Comstar's product mix and contributed to lower margin percentage despite higher absolute earnings.

What did Sona Comstar add in ICE and railway products?

Sona Comstar added ICE and railway opportunities alongside its EV programmes, including its entry into differential assemblies for ICE passenger cars. The order came from an existing differential-gear customer becoming a differential-assembly customer. Management said the initial order may appear small but opens a larger addressable market for a product already supplied in EV applications.

The company also cited a starter-motor programme for an existing customer and several differential-gear programmes in North America and India. Differential assemblies and differential gears together grew 37% year on year, management said. That growth indicates that established driveline products continued to expand as BEV products accounted for a larger share of automotive sales.

In railways, Sona Comstar commercialised air springs in Q2 FY27, one of three new products introduced during the quarter. Air springs act as secondary suspension between the railway coach body and bogie, helping maintain ride height and isolate body movement. The other two commercialised products were the helical limited-slip differential and rear radar sensor.

What financial performance accompanied the order additions?

Sona Comstar reported Q2 FY27 revenue of Rs 1,546 crore, up 35% year on year and 18% above the previous quarterly record of Rs 1,310 crore in Q1 FY27. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, rose 23% to Rs 356 crore. Profit after tax increased 29% to Rs 223 crore.

The Q2 FY27 EBITDA margin was 23%, down 2.3 percentage points year on year. Management attributed the decline mainly to a product-mix shift and higher prices for steel, copper and oil derivatives. It also said freight rates had nearly doubled from the preceding quarter, while operating leverage partly offset those costs.

For H1 FY27, revenue rose 43% year on year to Rs 2,857 crore and BEV revenue increased 119% to Rs 1,042 crore. BEVs represented 48% of automotive product sales in H1 FY27, compared with 30% a year earlier. In Q2 FY27, the BEV share reached 51%, the first quarter in which it exceeded half of automotive product sales.

How is Sona Comstar supporting product expansion?

Sona Comstar generated Rs 594 crore of cash from operations in H1 FY27, equal to 90% of its Rs 659 crore EBITDA for the half year. A Rs 44 crore release from working capital supported cash generation despite the 43% revenue increase. After capital expenditure of about Rs 148 crore, free cash flow was Rs 446 crore, more than 50% above the amount generated in FY26.

The company ended September 2026 with cash and investments of Rs 1,966 crore. Other H1 FY27 cash movements included Rs 224 crore of additional borrowings, Rs 108 crore from employee stock-option exercises, Rs 112 crore of dividend payments and about Rs 32 crore of finance income. Management said net debt to EBITDA remained negative.

Product development remains part of the expansion plan. Sona Comstar said traction motors and suspension motors, both developed in-house during the past four years, had a combined annualised revenue run rate of Rs 1,400 crore. Management compared that run rate with the company's entire FY21 revenue, illustrating the scale reached by the two newer products.

Conclusion

Sona Comstar's Rs 3,600 crore of Q2 FY27 order additions lifted its net order book to Rs 25,100 crore through EV, ICE and railway programmes. The quarter's main distinction was the distribution of wins across traction motors, controllers, differentials, starter motors, radar sensors and railway products, while BEV revenue growth of 129% accompanied a 2.3-percentage-point EBITDA-margin decline.

The next issue to watch is the conversion of the 31 EPIC programmes that had not started production at the end of H1 FY27. Management also identified traction-motor mix, input inflation linked to steel, copper and oil derivatives, and higher freight rates as factors affecting near-term margin predictability.