Tejas Networks in green

Tejas Networks edged higher today, with the stock hovering around Rs 468-474, up about 1-2 % from the previous close, even as it remains nearly two-thirds below its 52-week high of Rs 1,346 and just above its 52-week low of Rs 456.

The immediate trigger is the company’s disclosure that it has won IP routing equipment purchase contracts for 7 of the 12 BharatNet Phase-III packages announced so far, making it the single largest supplier by number of packages in this leg of the government’s flagship rural broadband programme.

Under these awards, Tejas will deploy its TJ1400 family of next-generation IP-MPLS access and aggregation routers across nine states and five Union Territories, with more than 50,000 routers slated to be installed in about 57,000 gram panchayats and 2,000 blocks.

This builds on Tejas’s earlier role in BharatNet Phases I and II, where its GPON/TJ1400 platforms were used to roll out one of the world’s largest rural broadband backbones and earned it “best performing equipment partner” recognition from the Centre.

Strategically, the fresh win reinforces Tejas’s positioning as a domestic OEM for critical telecom gear at a time when the government wants to localise core network equipment under PLI and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” policies.

Financially, though, the announcement comes after one of the toughest quarters in the company’s recent history. In Q2 FY26, Tejas reported revenue of about Rs 262 crore and a net loss of Rs 307 crore, hit by a sharp YoY collapse in sales after the one-off spike from BSNL’s 4G rollout in FY25 and heavy provisions of roughly Rs 190 crore for manufacturing process losses, warranty and inventory obsolescence.

The order book at the end of Q2 stood near Rs 1,200–1,250 crore, down from over Rs 9,000 crore at the peak of the BSNL/BharatNet cycle, indicating that while visibility remains, the company is transitioning from a hyper-growth year (FY25 revenue estimated around Rs 8,900 crore) back to a more normalised base.

For investors, today’s move is therefore less about a sudden turnaround and more about reassurance that Tejas is still winning large strategic mandates in its home market despite recent execution setbacks. BharatNet Phase-III contracts should support utilisation of the TJ1400 platform and stabilise revenue over the next few years, but the equity market is likely to remain cautious until the company demonstrates that it can execute this and other orders without further quality-related provisions, rebuild a diversified order book beyond one or two government anchors, and return to sustainable profitability, especially given the current negative trailing EPS and the sharp drawdown from peak valuations.