Union Budget 2026: Anant Raj Ltd. Poised for Data Center Boom with Tax Holiday

Union Budget 2026: Anant Raj Ltd. Poised for Data Center Boom with Tax Holiday

The Union Budget 2026, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has introduced a significant policy measure that directly impacts India's burgeoning data center and cloud services ecosystem. The proposal of a long tax holiday until 2047 for foreign companies providing global cloud services from data centers located in India, coupled with a mandate for Indian reseller engagement for domestic customers, signals a strategic push to establish India as a global digital infrastructure hub. This announcement has generated immediate positive sentiment for companies like Anant Raj Ltd., which is strategically expanding its presence in the data center sector.

Budget's Catalyst for Data Center Growth

The core of the budget's impact on the data center sector is the extended tax holiday. This incentive aims to attract global cloud giants, known as hyperscalers, to establish and expand their operations within India. By lowering the effective tax burden and providing policy certainty for over two decades, the government is signaling a long-term commitment to this capital-intensive industry. For Anant Raj, a company aggressively building data center parks in the Delhi NCR region, this translates into a potentially significant increase in demand for its infrastructure. The condition requiring foreign cloud providers to route services to Indian customers through an Indian reseller entity also fosters domestic participation and could create new opportunities for Indian players within the cloud services value chain.

Anant Raj's Strategic Pivot and Capacity Expansion

Anant Raj has been proactively diversifying its business mix, transitioning from a pure real estate developer to a player with high-margin infrastructure, data center, and cloud verticals. The company has set an ambitious roadmap, aiming for a developed data center capacity of 63 megawatts (MW) by 2026 and a long-term vision to reach 307 MW by 2032. A crucial aspect of this strategy is the commitment to utilize 25% of its future 307 MW load capacity specifically for its own cloud services, exemplified by the recent launch of 'Ashok Cloud,' a sovereign cloud service. This vertical integration positions Anant Raj to capture value across the data center and cloud service stack, directly benefiting from the budget's supportive policies.

Broader Infrastructure and Real Estate Tailwinds

Beyond the direct data center incentives, the Union Budget 2026 also provides broader tailwinds for Anant Raj's core real estate and construction business. The government's proposed increase in public capital expenditure to Rs 12.2 lakh crores for the financial year 2026-27, up from Rs 11.2 lakh crores in BE 2025-26, indicates a sustained focus on infrastructure development. This general uplift in infrastructure spending, coupled with a focus on developing