Anant Raj Ltd's board approved a composite scheme to separate its data centre and cloud services business from its real estate and infrastructure operations, paving the way for two independently listed companies. The demerger will leave Anant Raj Ltd as the group's real estate and infrastructure arm while consolidating digital infrastructure operations into Ashok Cloud Private Limited. The change aims to let each business pursue independent growth and create long-term shareholder value.

Ashok Cloud Private Limited will provide data centres, co-location services, AI-ready cloud infrastructure and disaster recovery solutions. The scheme requires approvals from the National Company Law Tribunal under Sections 230 to 232 of the Companies Act, 2013, and from the Securities and Exchange Board of India, stock exchanges and other authorities. The company said the restructuring will simplify governance and speed decision making for the cloud business.

Upon the scheme becoming effective, eligible shareholders of Anant Raj Ltd will receive one fully paid-up equity share of face value Rs two each in Ashok Cloud Private Limited for every one fully paid-up equity share of face value Rs two held in Anant Raj Ltd. The company has said the demerger will not cancel its existing shareholding in Ashok Cloud and that the platform will remain a subsidiary. Management autonomy and separate market recognition are expected to help attract sector-focused investors and strategic partners.

Anant Raj has earlier signed a memorandum of understanding with the Haryana government for data centre and cloud expansion valued at Rs 250 bn and has proposed an investment of about Rs 45 bn in Andhra Pradesh for a new data centre and IT park. Amit Sarin, managing director, said the two platforms have distinct growth trajectories and that the composite scheme is intended to provide strategic focus and scalability for the cloud business. Shares of Anant Raj Ltd ended at Rs 609.60 on the BSE, down by Rs nine, or one point five zero per cent.