ETMarkets Management Talk | From real estate to digital infrastructure: Anant Raj's 357 MW data centre growth roadmap

As Anant Raj expands beyond its traditional real estate business, the company is placing a significant bet on digital infrastructure, data centres and cloud services to drive its next phase of growth.

In an interaction with Kshitij Anand of ETMarkets, Amit Sarin, Managing Director of Anant Raj Limited, outlines the company's roadmap to scale its data centre capacity from 28 MW currently to 63 MW by FY27 and eventually 357 MW by FY32, while focusing on disciplined execution, operational efficiency and growing demand for cloud and AI infrastructure. Edited Excerpts -

Q) Anant Raj reported around 5% revenue growth and 13.25% profit growth in Q2 FY27. What were the key drivers of margin expansion, and how sustainable is this improvement?


A) The improvement in profitability reflects a combination of operating efficiencies, better price realisation, project mix and continued focus on cost management. During Q2 FY27, EBITDA grew 18% year-on-year to ₹198 crore, ahead of revenue growth, while the EBITDA margin improved by 330 basis points to 29.9%. We remain focused on disciplined execution and operational efficiencies to support sustainable profitability as the business grows.

Q) EBITDA margins have improved. How do you see margins evolving as the data centre business scales up and depreciation increases?

A) Our focus is on building a scalable business while maintaining operational efficiency and disciplined capital allocation. As data centre capacity expands, the revenue and cost profile will evolve with the commissioning of new infrastructure, customer onboarding and utilisation levels. Depreciation will reflect the growing asset base, but we will continue to focus on operating efficiencies and a balanced approach to long-term profitability rather than guiding to a specific margin range at this stage.

Q) The company raised around ₹1,100 crore through a QIP. How much has been utilised, what are the key projects earmarked for the remaining proceeds, and what returns do you expect from this capital deployment?

A) The QIP proceeds are being deployed towards data centre development, construction of ongoing and proposed projects, land acquisition and general corporate purposes. The remaining proceeds will be deployed for the purpose it was raised but primarily for ongoing expansion of Data Centre & Cloud facility.

The deployment of additional capital in data Centre will be help us to have large capacity, thus, increased revenues and profitability.

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Q) How does Anant Raj differentiate itself from established data centre operators and global cloud providers?

A) Our approach combines our established infrastructure capabilities with a growing focus on digital infrastructure and cloud services. We have operationalised two data centre campuses with targeted capacity of 357 MW of combined IT load across four locations and our Ashok Cloud platform is fully operational and catering to enterprise cloud solutions for Public and Private Sector enterprises.

Our collaboration with Orange Business Services, along with our focus on sovereign cloud and AI-enabled infrastructure, will help us address the evolving requirements of government and enterprise customers.

Q) What are the key risks or challenges that could affect the company's data centre expansion plans through FY27 and FY32?

A) Our expansion roadmap is supported by a phased approach to capacity creation, with a focus on infrastructure readiness, power availability, technology capabilities and customer acquisition.

We are working to align these requirements with the commissioning schedule and evolving demand for cloud, colocation and AI infrastructure. Our current focus is on reaching 63 MW of IT load by FY27 and scaling towards 357 MW by FY32, while maintaining execution discipline.

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Q) What revenue contribution do you expect from data centres, cloud and allied services over the next two to three years? When do you expect this business to make a meaningful contribution to profitability?

A) The data centre and cloud business is moving into an important expansion phase. We currently have 28 MW of operational IT load and are targeting 63 MW by the end of FY27, with a longer-term capacity roadmap of 357 MW by FY32. As additional capacity becomes operational and customer utilisation increases, we expect the business to make a progressively larger contribution to revenue and profitability.

Q) What is the rationale behind the proposed composite scheme involving the merger of Anant Raj Cloud into Anant Raj Limited and the subsequent demerger of the data centre and cloud business into Ashok Cloud Limited?

A) The proposed restructuring is intended to create a focused structure for our data centre and cloud services business. Bringing the undertaking under Ashok Cloud Limited as a separate entity will enable greater strategic and operational focus, support dedicated business planning and provide a clearer view of its performance and growth potential.

The scheme is subject to the requisite regulatory, shareholder, creditor and NCLT approvals.

The requisite formalities have been completed, including the receipt of the necessary in-principle no-objection certificates/no-objection certificates from all the Banks and submission to the Stock Exchanges/ the Securities and Exchange Board of India (''SEBI''). The Company expects to receive the requisite NOCs from the Stock Exchanges/SEBI shortly.

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