India’s largest gaming company, Delta Corp, has put on hold plans to take its online gaming division public amid ongoing uncertainty around how the sector will be taxed moving forward.
According to local media group moneycontrol, which covers the Indian economy and financial markets, a planned IPO has been postponed while Delta Corp awaits further clarification around a proposed 28% tax on the turnover of online gaming companies, horse racing and casinos.
The GST Council, which announced the tax on 11 July, is due to meet today with the industry anxiously awaiting further clarification.
“The investing community obviously would want absolute crystal clarity when it comes to online gaming and they would want a clear picture as to what the way forward is and without which, nobody is going to put $1 into any new investment, especially in a sector which has this kind of overhang,” said Delta Corp CFO Hardik Dhebar.
Excluding GST, Delta Corp’s online gaming segment, which includes poker and rummy site Adda52, contributed 15% of the company’s net revenue in 2Q23 although Dhebar described it on a segment revenue basis as still negative.
“We are hoping to turn [(online gaming revenue] positive in the third quarter,” Dhebar said, as per moneycontrol.
Despite the uncertainty around online gaming, Delta Corp last week reported its highest ever quarterly consolidated gross revenues of Rs 338 crores in 2Q23, buoyed by strong results in its land-based and offshore casino business.
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