The year 2025 is turning out to be a harsh reality check for investors in Anant Raj Limited. The stock, which was a stellar performer in the previous two years, has witnessed a dramatic and painful reversal of fortune. It is on course to record its most severe annual decline since 2018, erasing a significant portion of its previous gains and putting shareholders under considerable pressure.
From Market Darling to Underperformer: A Sharp Reversal
This stark contrast in performance is jarring. After delivering a massive 190% return in 2024, which itself followed an impressive 163% gain in 2023, the Anant Raj share price has succumbed to intense selling pressure in the current year. So far in 2025, the stock has crashed by 35.5%. This puts it on track for its steepest annual fall since 2018, when it had plunged 49.3%.
The decline was particularly brutal at the start of the year. The shares began 2025 on an extremely weak footing, sliding a cumulative 46% in just the first two months. While a partial recovery was staged in the subsequent months, the rebound proved to be short-lived and unsustainable. For context, this downturn follows a phenomenal one-way rally between June 2022 and December 2024, during which the stock delivered a staggering 1,757% return.
What Triggered the Crash in Anant Raj Shares?
The sharp correction in the Anant Raj share price gained momentum after a significant development in the global artificial intelligence (AI) landscape. The emergence of China's sleek and low-cost AI model, DeepSeek, triggered widespread concern among investors. It raised serious questions about the massive capital expenditure already consumed by data-intensive AI models.
This is critically important for Anant Raj because the company's future growth is heavily tied to its foray into data centers, which are intrinsically linked to the AI ecosystem. The competitive and technological dynamics of the AI sector directly impact the prospects for data center businesses, leading to a reevaluation of Anant Raj's ambitious plans in this space.
Long-Term Vision: Data Centre Expansion and Analyst Confidence
Despite the short-term market panic and stock price weakness, Anant Raj's management remains steadfast in its long-term strategy. The company, a notable player in the NCR real estate market since the 1970s with developments spanning residential complexes, affordable housing, hotels, and IT parks, expanded into data centers in 2021.
The firm aims to aggressively scale up its data center capacity from 28 MW to 63 MW by FY27 and to a massive 307 MW by FY32. This expansion, focused on locations like Manesar and Panchkula, is reportedly on track. Furthermore, its wholly-owned subsidiary, Anant Raj Cloud, is leading the charge in expanding data center, colocation, and cloud services, targeting a total IT load of 117 MW by FY28 with full capex funding secured.
The revenue ambitions are equally grand. The management targets scaling data center revenues to ₹1,200 crore by FY27 and a colossal ₹9,000 crore by FY32. To support these plans, the company successfully completed a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) of ₹11 billion, receiving strong participation from both foreign and domestic institutional investors.
Analysts, while acknowledging the near-term pain, see long-term value. They point to the company's diverse portfolio across housing, commercial, hospitality, and data centers as a well-balanced growth engine.
- JM Financial maintains a 'buy' rating with a target price of ₹844 per share.
- Motilal Oswal also has a 'buy' call, with a target of ₹793. The brokerage expects material growth in data center revenue as capacity expands from 6 MW in FY24 to 307 MW by FY32.
According to ICRA estimates, India's overall data center operational capacity is expected to surge to 2,000–2,100 MW by March 2027 from about 1,150 MW in December 2024, indicating a robust industry tailwind that Anant Raj aims to capture.
