Anant Raj Ltd ANANTRAJ

Summary

Anant Raj is a Delhi-based real-estate developer (incorporated 1985, promoted by the Sarin family) with a ~330-acre fully-paid land bank across NCR, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, spanning residential townships, IT parks, SEZs and hospitality assets. Since diversifying into data-centre and cloud infrastructure, it has become one of the more developed colocation-landlord stories in this report: ~28 MW of IT load was operational across Manesar and Panchkula as of the most recent rating action (Infomerics, 5 May 2026), with disclosed plans — varying somewhat by source and date — to scale toward 63 MW by FY27 (CRISIL), 117 MW by FY28 and 357 MW by FY32 (tradebrains.in), across additional sites in Rai, Sonepat, Gurugram and Andhra Pradesh. RailTel Corporation of India is a named, confirmed lessee of Anant Raj's passive data-centre infrastructure under RailTel's own "hybrid" DC model — a direct, concrete tenant relationship, not an aspirational one, and a cross-link this report also documents from RailTel's side.

The single largest event in this profile is structural: on 21 July 2026, Anant Raj's board approved a scheme of arrangement to demerge its entire data-centre and cloud business into a new, separately listed company, "Ashok Cloud Private Limited" (named for founder Ashok Sarin), with a 1:1 share allotment to existing Anant Raj shareholders. Multiple outlets described the outcome as "two focused, independently listed companies" — one real estate, one data centres/cloud — a genuine value-unlock catalyst that Managing Director Amit Sarin has explicitly framed as enabling dedicated strategic investors to back the DC platform directly. Ashok Cloud's disclosed portfolio at announcement (Gurugram 21 MW certified; Sonepat ~200 MW hyperscale under construction; Panchkula 57 MW edge-hub retrofit) sits alongside a ₹4,500 crore Andhra Pradesh 50 MW data-centre MoU and a separately announced ~₹25,000 crore Haryana DC/cloud investment plan (2 June 2026) — real, if not fully reconciled, capital commitment to the growth story.

Set against this is a live, unresolved legal overhang: the Enforcement Directorate searched Anant Raj's Delhi office on 24 April 2026 in a money-laundering case, triggering a same-day ~9% stock decline and, on 5 May 2026, Infomerics placing both the company's long- and short-term ratings on "Rating Watch with Developing Implications," citing the ED action explicitly. This report found no rating action or public disclosure resolving that watch as of the research date — this is a live, material overhang, not a historical footnote. Separately, CRISIL's "BBB" long-term rating and Infomerics' "A-" long-term rating — nominally for the same credit group — sit roughly three notches apart, an unreconciled gap this report flags rather than averages; and the standalone P/E of 70.9x versus a consolidated 37.6x (trailing) / 26.8x (forward) is a large, non-trivial gap that must be stated explicitly rather than quoted selectively.

Net: a HOLD. Sell-side coverage is uniformly Buy across at least seven named brokerages, but targets have been falling for well over a year (Motilal Oswal ₹1,100 → ₹807 → ₹663 → ₹710, December 2024–July 2026) and most specific target data points predate the April 2026 ED news — this report treats pre-ED targets as stale. The DC/cloud growth story and the Ashok Cloud demerger are genuine, and closer to "material and growing" than some other data-centre exposures in this report — but an open, rating-agency-flagged legal matter is not a reason to upgrade to a clean BUY; it is a reason to wait for clarity.

• A genuinely material and growing data-centre platform, not a slide-deck aspiration. ~28 MW operational (Manesar + Panchkula) as of May 2026, scaling toward 63 MW by FY27 (CRISIL) and management-cited targets of 117 MW (FY28) and 357 MW (FY32) — this is closer to "material and growing" than some smaller data-centre exposures elsewhere in this report.
• The Ashok Cloud demerger is a real, board-approved value-unlock catalyst. Approved 21 July 2026 with a 1:1 share allotment, it separates the DC/cloud platform into its own listed vehicle, explicitly framed by MD Amit Sarin as enabling dedicated strategic investors and cleaner, more focused governance for each business.
• A named, confirmed anchor tenant. RailTel Corporation of India leases passive data-centre infrastructure from Anant Raj under RailTel's own disclosed "hybrid" model (Q1 FY27 earnings call) — a concrete customer relationship this report can independently cross-verify from the counterparty's own disclosure.
• Genuine, multi-agency-corroborated deleveraging. Standalone borrowings fell from ₹1,021 crore (FY23) to ₹323 crore (FY26); consolidated gearing fell from 0.19x (FY24) to 0.12x (FY25); CRISIL explicitly cited "further deleveraging" in its September 2025 rationale.
• Uniformly positive, broad sell-side coverage. At least seven named brokerages — Motilal Oswal, Nomura, Emkay Global, LKP Securities, JM Financial, Nuvama and Jefferies — carry Buy ratings, a materially fuller picture than the "2 analysts" some aggregator tools suggest.
• Continued capital commitment to the DC story. A ₹4,500 crore Andhra Pradesh 50 MW data-centre MoU and a separately announced ~₹25,000 crore Haryana DC/cloud investment plan (2 June 2026) both point to scale ambitions well beyond the currently operational base.

• The Enforcement Directorate's search of Anant Raj's Delhi office remains unresolved — the dominant reason for this report's HOLD, not a clean BUY. On 24 April 2026, the ED searched the company's Delhi office in a money-laundering case (other developers, including Raheja Developers, were reportedly searched in the same window); the stock fell ~9% the same day. On 5 May 2026, Infomerics placed both Anant Raj's long- and short-term ratings on "Rating Watch with Developing Implications," explicitly citing the ED action and stating the watch would be resolved only once there is "further clarity on the ED's action and the potential implications." This report found no subsequent rating action or disclosure confirming resolution — treat this as a live, material, open legal matter, not a historical footnote.
• CRISIL "BBB" versus Infomerics "A-" is an unreconciled, roughly three-notch rating gap between two agencies nominally rating the same credit group — a genuinely unusual divergence this report flags explicitly rather than silently averaging or picking a side.
• Standalone P/E of 70.9x versus consolidated 37.6x (trailing) / 26.8x (forward) is a large gap, not a rounding difference. FY25 standalone PAT (₹219cr) is roughly half FY25 consolidated PAT (₹426cr), and the gap has widened, not narrowed, into FY26 — any valuation citing one multiple without the other risks materially mischaracterising how expensive the stock actually is.
• Sell-side targets have been falling for well over a year, mostly before the ED news. Motilal Oswal's target fell from ₹1,100 (December 2024) to ₹807 (July 2025) to ₹663 (January 2026) before a partial recovery to ₹710 (July 2026) — and nearly every specific brokerage target this research found predates or barely postdates the April 2026 ED search. This report treats those pre-ED targets as stale, not current.
• At least four different data-centre capacity figures appear across sources gathered for this report — 28 MW operational (Infomerics, May 2026); a 3→6→28 MW build-out to a 63 MW FY27 target (CRISIL); 117 MW FY28 / 357 MW FY32 targets (tradebrains.in); and a Gurugram 21 MW + Sonepat 200 MW + Panchkula 57 MW (=278 MW) Ashok Cloud portfolio disclosure (July 2026) — unreconciled in the sources this research reached, alongside an internal inconsistency over whether Anant Raj retains a stake in Ashok Cloud post-demerger or the split is clean.
• Modest return ratios despite strong headline profit growth. ROE of ~7% and ROCE of ~8% are notably low for a company reporting strong consolidated PAT growth, reflecting a rapidly expanded equity base from capital raises (₹2,762cr FY23 → ₹5,061cr FY26) — return ratios have not kept pace with the profit narrative.

• Resolution of the ED matter and the Infomerics Rating Watch with Developing Implications — the single most important item for this stock, by this report's own weighting.
• The Ashok Cloud scheme-of-arrangement filing and NCLT approval timeline, including clarity on the post-demerger ownership structure.
• Whether CRISIL places a parallel rating watch, and any eventual reconciliation of the CRISIL/ Infomerics rating gap.
• DC capacity delivery against the 63MW FY27 target, and any brokerage rating or target revisions made after the April 2026 ED news (most current targets predate it).

• Legal/regulatory risk (dominant). The ED matter is unresolved and could escalate; a rating watch already reflects agency-level uncertainty.
• Demerger execution and timeline risk — completion depends on NCLT and other regulatory approvals with no confirmed date, and could be delayed or altered by the ED matter's outcome.
• Rating-gap/credit-uncertainty risk — the unreconciled three-notch CRISIL/Infomerics gap signals genuine disagreement about credit quality.
• Valuation-basis risk — the standalone/consolidated multiple gap makes headline P/E comparisons unusually easy to misstate.

We value Anant Raj on FY26 consolidated PAT (₹557 crore, stockanalysis.com, +30.81% YoY) divided by the implied current share count (market cap ÷ CMP = ₹21,814cr ÷ ₹606 ≈ 36.00 crore shares), rather than on disclosed standalone or consolidated EPS directly, because the standalone/consolidated gap documented above is effectively a scope/share-count normalisation issue that needs to be made explicit, not a literal dilution event. This gives an implied FY26 EPS of ~₹15.47 — broadly consistent with, though not identical to, the ~37.6x trailing consolidated P/E reported elsewhere, allowing for TTM-versus-FY26-year-end timing differences. Applying an indicative 22% forward-EPS growth assumption — well below the 30.81% consolidated PAT growth just delivered and far below the 41-72% standalone multi-year profit CAGRs, moderated specifically to reflect Nomura's own June 2026 commentary on cloud-ramp and project delays and the unresolved ED overhang — gives a constructed FY27E EPS of ~₹18.87. We apply a target multiple band set below, not above, the current consolidated trailing multiple, reflecting the open legal matter and the rating-agency watch:

Base case rounded to ₹585. Named brokerage targets found in this research (Motilal Oswal ₹710, ~23 Jul 2026; Emkay Global ₹800, reaffirmed ~8 Aug 2025; Nomura Buy with a cut but unspecified target, ~24-25 Jun 2026) sit above our base case — but every one of these data points predates or only barely postdates the 24 April 2026 ED search, and this report treats them as stale rather than current. All identified brokerage coverage is Buy-only, with no Hold or Sell rating found from a named brokerage — a gap this report treats as evidence that the Street has not yet fully repriced the ED overhang, rather than as evidence the overhang is immaterial.

*Full-year FY26 consolidated EBITDA was not separately disclosed in sources this research reached; the ~26% margin is the 9M FY26 run-rate (Infomerics, 5 May 2026: 9M FY26 EBITDA ₹488.25cr on revenue ₹1,864.79cr, 26.18% margin), applied here as an approximation, not a confirmed full-year figure. Consolidated figures are the primary basis for this valuation (see Valuation section); standalone figures (FY26: revenue ₹1,492cr, PAT ₹298cr, EPS ₹8.29, per screener.in) are shown separately above because the two bases are not interchangeable and press coverage in this research pass used both inconsistently. Source: Infomerics Ratings press release (5 May 2026), stockanalysis.com (20 Sep 2026) for full-year consolidated figures, and screener.in (20 Sep 2026) for standalone figures.