Netweb CMD: AI Boom Just Beginning in India, No Crash in Sight
Sanjay Lodha, the chairman and managing director of Netweb Technologies, has a clear message. He says the artificial intelligence revolution in India is not slowing down. In fact, he believes it is only just getting started.
In an exclusive interview, Lodha dismissed any talk of an AI crash. He pointed to strong and growing demand across the country. "We are seeing a lot of clients talk about AI spending," Lodha stated. "It is only in the past few months that India has begun seriously spending on AI infrastructure and services."
Sustained Growth from Sovereign AI
Netweb Technologies is banking on this demand to fuel its growth. The company expects to maintain a strong compounded annual growth rate of 35-40% over the next three to five years. Lodha attributes this confidence to rising government initiatives and the push for sovereign AI.
The company recently secured a major government contract. It earned ₹450 crore last quarter under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's India AI Mission. This mission has a total outlay of ₹10,372 crore. In September 2025, Netweb also notified a ₹1,734-crore order under the same scheme.
Lodha explained how the company manages these strategic contracts. "We have segregated our revenue as core and strategic," he said. "The AI Mission’s earnings are of a different kind. They have smaller margins due to the nature of government contracts, but they are strategically very important."
Financial Performance and Market Position
Netweb Technologies is on a strong financial trajectory. The company's operating revenue jumped to ₹804.93 crore in the December quarter. This marks a massive 165% sequential rise. For the full fiscal year, Netweb is on track to surpass ₹1,500 crore in annual revenue for the first time.
The company's share price reflects investor optimism. As of Monday's close, the stock is up 55% over the past year. Since its listing in July 2023, the share price has risen 3.8 times.
However, the company's profit margin has seen a slight decline. It fell to 9% in December 2025, down 1.3 percentage points from the previous quarter. Lodha linked this drop directly to the large, low-margin government contract. He assured that rising global component costs have not yet impacted the company.
"We have very strong long-term relationships with our component suppliers," Lodha noted. "We play a key strategic role for them because of our position in the India market. We’ve managed to maintain a steady margin of 9%."
Strategic Partnerships and Client Base
Netweb's strength lies in its strategic partnerships. The company is Nvidia's only original equipment manufacturer partner in India. It also has collaborations with AMD and Intel. These partnerships provide early access to the latest chips and architectures, often 12 to 24 months ahead of the market.
Analysts at ICICI Securities highlighted this advantage in a recent note. They called Netweb "India’s only full-stack hardware provider." The note said these collaborations allow continuous updates and enhance Netweb's product offerings.
The company serves a diverse client base. In the private sector, clients include Zoho Corp., Infosys's AI platform Topaz, and Yotta from the Hiranandani group. For public services, Netweb provides cloud platforms and GPUs to organizations like the National Payments Corporation of India and the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Risks and the Road Ahead
Despite the bullish outlook, analysts have flagged some risks. They point to Netweb's reliance on mega deals and the non-recurrent nature of its business. There are also broader concerns about the return on investment from AI projects.
An IBM 2023 report indicated that returns on AI investments range from only 5.9% to 10%. The ICICI Securities note cautioned that simply building AI infrastructure without proper strategy may not generate desired returns. Strong data quality and a clear AI plan are crucial for future success.
For now, Sanjay Lodha remains confident. He sees the current AI conversations in India as just the beginning. With government support and growing enterprise demand, Netweb Technologies is positioning itself at the heart of India's AI revolution. The company believes the real growth story is still unfolding.
