Sterlite Technologies Lakshya FY29: ₹1,000 Crore Annual Capex and ₹20,000 Crore Revenue Target
Sterlite Technologies Limited (STL) has unveiled an ambitious growth roadmap called “Lakshya”, targeting a significant expansion in revenue, profitability, manufacturing capacity and technology capabilities by FY29.
At its Investor & Analyst Meeting held on September 3, 2026, STL management outlined a strategy focused on the growing demand for optical connectivity from traditional telecom networks as well as AI data centres, high-performance computing and data-centre interconnects (DCI).
The company has also announced a major capital allocation plan, with approximately ₹1,000 crore of investment annually over the next three financial years.
STL Lakshya: ₹20,000 Crore Revenue Target by FY29
One of the biggest announcements from the investor meeting is STL’s ₹20,000 crore revenue ambition for FY29.
The company reported revenue of approximately ₹4,750 crore in FY26. The FY29 target therefore represents an ambition to grow revenue by more than four times over three years.
Along with revenue growth, STL is targeting a significant improvement in profitability.
The company aims to increase its EBITDA margin from 13.2% in FY26 to more than 27% by FY29.
This represents an improvement of more than 1,380 basis points.
According to management, the strategy is not simply about increasing the size of the business but also improving the quality and profitability of revenues.
STL Capex Plan: ₹1,000 Crore Investment Every Year
STL has outlined a substantial investment programme to support its Lakshya growth strategy.
The company plans to invest approximately ₹1,000 crore annually over the next three financial years.
This implies planned investment of around ₹3,000 crore over the three-year period, subject to the company’s execution and capital allocation decisions.
The planned investments will primarily support:
- Preform capacity expansion
- Optical fibre capacity expansion
- Cable manufacturing capacity
- Downstream optical connectivity solutions
- Greenfield optical connectivity facilities
- AI data-centre connectivity
- Technology and innovation
- Next-generation optical technologies
The company plans to expand its preform, fibre and cable capacities by around 50% to meet expected demand.
Greenfield Optical Connectivity Facility in India
A key component of STL’s expansion strategy is a new Greenfield Optical Connectivity Facility in India.
The facility is intended to address growing demand from data centres and AI infrastructure.
STL expects the facility to support higher-density and integrated connectivity solutions for customers.
The investment is therefore not limited to conventional fibre and cable manufacturing. The company is increasingly looking to participate in higher-value connectivity solutions closer to the data centre and computing infrastructure.
AI Data Centres: A New Growth Engine for STL
STL management believes the optical connectivity industry is undergoing a structural change.
Historically, optical fibre demand was primarily associated with connecting people through broadband, FTTH, 4G, 5G and large telecom infrastructure projects.
The next phase of growth is increasingly being driven by the need to connect computing infrastructure and AI systems.
AI data centres require extremely high-bandwidth connections between large numbers of GPUs and other computing systems.
As AI clusters become larger and more complex, the amount of optical connectivity required inside data centres is also increasing.
Management highlighted the significant increase in fibre requirements at the rack level across successive generations of AI infrastructure.
This creates opportunities not only for fibre and cable manufacturers but also for companies providing high-density connectivity, connectors, assemblies and integrated solutions.
Data Centre Interconnect Opportunity
Another important opportunity identified by STL is Data Centre Interconnect (DCI).
As AI infrastructure expands beyond a single data centre, multiple facilities may need to operate as a connected computing environment.
The number of interconnection paths increases rapidly as more data centres are added.
STL therefore sees opportunities both inside AI data centres and between data centres.
This could allow the company to participate in a broader portion of the optical connectivity value chain.
India Data Centre Market Outlook
STL management also highlighted the growth opportunity in India’s data-centre infrastructure.
According to the company’s presentation, India currently has approximately 1.5 GW of data-centre capacity, which management expects could rise to around 10 GW by 2030.
The company sees this expansion as an important domestic opportunity, particularly as global hyperscalers continue investing in cloud, AI and data-centre infrastructure in India.
STL believes its local manufacturing footprint, engineering capabilities and existing customer relationships could provide an advantage as these investments accelerate.
STL’s Global Customer Opportunity
STL said it already supplies to almost all major hyperscalers globally.
This existing customer base could become strategically important as these companies expand their AI and data-centre infrastructure in India.
The company believes its global relationships provide an opportunity to extend existing partnerships into the Indian market.
This is potentially important because STL does not have to build its AI-data-centre customer ecosystem entirely from scratch.
STL’s ₹2 Billion Order Book Visibility
The company highlighted an open order book of more than $2 billion as an important source of revenue visibility.
Management expects continued growth in its core optical business while simultaneously increasing its participation in higher-value connectivity solutions.
The combination of an existing order book, capacity expansion and growing AI-related demand is expected to support STL’s Lakshya strategy.
However, investors should distinguish between the company’s current order book and its longer-term FY29 revenue ambition. The ₹20,000 crore target is a management ambition and depends on successful execution, capacity expansion, demand conditions and profitability improvement.
Technology Investment: Hollow-Core and Multi-Core Fibre
STL is also planning to invest ahead of market requirements in next-generation optical technologies.
The company highlighted development work in:
- Hollow-core fibre
- Multi-core fibre
- Co-packaged optics
- Near-packaged optics
- High-density fibre connectivity
STL is also developing capabilities for 13,000-fibre-count solutions, aimed at addressing increasing connectivity density requirements.
These technologies could become increasingly important as data-centre architectures evolve and optical connectivity moves closer to computing chips.
2% of Revenue Planned for Innovation
STL’s investment strategy extends beyond manufacturing capacity.
The company said it plans to commit approximately 2% of average annual revenue to innovation.
The objective is to develop technologies that can support future connectivity requirements and potentially improve growth, margins and returns on capital.
This makes technology development an important part of the company’s long-term strategy rather than simply an R&D expenditure.
STL’s Four Growth Drivers
Management identified four major drivers behind the Lakshya strategy.
1. Expansion of the Optical Market
Optical connectivity is moving into more parts of digital infrastructure.
At the same time, the amount of optical content required within each deployment is increasing.
2. Customer Co-Development
STL is increasingly engaging with customers earlier in the design process.
Instead of supplying only individual components, the company wants to participate in designing connectivity architectures.
3. Integrated Connectivity Solutions
STL intends to provide a broader connectivity stack covering fibre, cable, assemblies, connectors and systems.
This could allow the company to capture a larger portion of the value generated from each customer relationship.
4. Technology-Led Differentiation
The company is investing in next-generation technologies such as hollow-core fibre, multi-core fibre and co-packaged optics.
The objective is to remain technologically relevant as connectivity requirements evolve.
STL’s Manufacturing Advantage
STL highlighted its vertically integrated optical manufacturing capabilities as an important competitive advantage.
The company manufactures:
- Glass
- Optical fibre
- Cable
- Connectivity solutions
This vertical integration gives STL greater control over manufacturing, quality, innovation, cost and execution, according to management.
The company said it has approximately 9% of the global optical fibre market outside China, supported by a technology portfolio of more than 785 patents and over 10 advanced manufacturing facilities across key markets.
Management Commentary
STL Managing Director Ankit Agarwal said the optical connectivity industry is moving from a model primarily focused on connecting people and networks toward one increasingly focused on connecting compute and intelligence.
Management believes this transition is creating a larger and more diversified opportunity for the company.
The company also sees AI infrastructure as a structural growth driver that could make its revenue profile less dependent on traditional telecom investment cycles.
Group CFO Ajay Jhanjhari highlighted the two major financial objectives under Lakshya: increasing scale and improving profitability.
The company expects its combination of capacity expansion, higher-value solutions, operating leverage and better product mix to support the FY29 targets.
What Investors Should Watch
STL’s Lakshya strategy provides several important parameters for investors to monitor over the next three years:
- Progress toward the ₹20,000 crore FY29 revenue target
- EBITDA margin improvement toward 27%+
- Execution of approximately ₹1,000 crore annual investment
- 50% expansion in preform, fibre and cable capacity
- Progress of the new Greenfield Optical Connectivity Facility
- Growth in AI data-centre-related orders
- Data Centre Interconnect demand
- Development of high-density connectivity products
- Contribution from integrated connectivity solutions
- Order-book conversion into revenue
- Working capital and balance-sheet position
- Returns generated from the planned capex
Investor Takeaway
Sterlite Technologies’ latest investor meeting is significant because the company has moved beyond a broad growth narrative and provided a specific three-year roadmap covering revenue, margins, capacity expansion, capex and technology investment.
The most important numbers are the ₹20,000 crore FY29 revenue ambition, EBITDA margin target of more than 27%, approximately ₹1,000 crore annual investment for the next three years and 50% planned expansion in preform, fibre and cable capacities.
At the same time, the company’s increasing focus on AI data centres, high-density optical connectivity and DCI could provide a new growth avenue beyond traditional telecom spending.
The strategy is ambitious, and execution will be critical. Investors should therefore track quarterly progress on revenue growth, margins, capex deployment, capacity utilisation, order-book conversion and AI/data-centre customer wins.
Overall, STL’s Lakshya roadmap represents a major strategic growth announcement and is particularly relevant for investors tracking optical fibre, telecom infrastructure, AI data centres and digital connectivity companies.