1. At a Glance
Nava Ltd is that rare Indian company which looks like a power utility, behaves like a mining company, and occasionally moonlights as an avocado farmer in Zambia. As of today, the stock trades at ₹561, down 2.8%, with a market cap of ₹15,904 Cr. Over the last one year, shareholders are sitting on a ~30% return, while five-year returns stand close to 80%.
The headline numbers look delicious: Operating margins of 41.5%, ROCE of 17.2%, ROE of 15%, and a Debt-to-Equity of just 0.20. But Q3 FY26 threw a small tantrum — PAT fell ~12% QoQ even as revenues grew 17.6% YoY.
So what do we have here? A company that prints cash, hates debt now, loves dividends, but operates in sectors where governments, coal prices, rainfall, and African politics all have voting rights. Curious already? Good. Let’s dig.
2. Introduction – From Ferro Alloys to Zambia Power Mafia
Founded in 1972 as a ferro-alloy manufacturer, Nava (earlier Nava Bharat Ventures) has evolved like that overachieving uncle who started with a kirana store and now owns half the district.
Today, Nava operates across power generation, mining, ferro alloys, agribusiness, and healthcare, spread across India, Zambia, Japan, and Southeast Asia. If diversification were an Olympic sport, Nava would at least qualify for nationals.
What makes Nava interesting is not just scale, but integration. Coal mine? ✔️ Power plant next to it? ✔️ Long-term PPAs? ✔️ Cash flows strong enough to nuke debt? ✔️
But diversification cuts both ways. You don’t just get upside — you also inherit regulatory drama, commodity cyclicality, forex risk, and the occasional ED headline (which, to be fair, is now behind them).
So the real question is:
Is Nava a disciplined capital allocator or just a very confident gambler who’s been lucky so far?
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Let’s simplify Nava like you’d explain it to a friend who thinks EBITDA is a crypto token.
Energy – The Cash Machine (75% of H1 FY25 revenue)
Nava runs 434 MW of thermal power in India and 300 MW in Zambia. Over 70% of power is under PPAs, which means predictable cash flows and fewer heart attacks during power price crashes.
PLFs are solid:
- India: 77.7%
- Zambia: 92.2% (basically running like a government babu chasing pension)
They’re also adding another 300 MW in Zambia with a planned capex of $400 Mn. Expensive? Yes. Strategic? Also yes — Zambia literally depends on them for power.
Ferro Alloys – Cyclical but Strategic (19%)
Two plants, 1.75 lakh TPA capacity, global exports. FY25 volumes fell due to shutdowns and weak realizations. This business behaves like your stock market friend — great in bull cycles, disappears in bear phases.
Mining – Coal With Options (6%)
Maamba Collieries in Zambia isn’t just a coal mine; it’s a geopolitical asset. 193 Mn tons of certified reserves,
