Nazara Tech Arm Gets Interim Relief From Calcutta High Court In Rs 846 Crore Tax Dispute

Nazara Technologies Ltd.'s subsidiary, Openplay Technologies Pvt., has announced that the Calcutta High Court has granted interim relief regarding a tax demand worth Rs 846 crore. Openplay Technologies had received a show cause notice from the Director General of GST Intelligence, Kolkata, concerning a liability of Rs 845.72 crore for the period from 2017-18 to 2022-23 in July, as per an exchange filing on Saturday.

The company had filed a writ petition before the Calcutta High Court, challenging the above demand, the filing said.

The Calcutta High Court has granted interim relief to Openplay, directing that no effect shall be given to any order passed by the Tax Authority in relation to the show cause notice for the above demand without the leave of the Calcutta High Court.

Leading online gaming company Nazara Technologies has been on an acquisition spree over the last six months and has set an Ebitda target of Rs 300 crore to be achieved by fiscal 2026-27, up from an Ebitda of Rs 129 crore in fiscal 2023-24. 

"The company is on track to achieve its target of Rs 300 crore in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation by fiscal 2026-27 on the back of recent acquisitions. The target looks realistic," Joint Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Nitish Mittersain told NDTV Profit on Sept. 17. 

Shares of Nazara Technologies closed 2.59% lower to Rs 954.15 apiece, compared to a 0.93% decline in benchmark NSE Nifty 50 on Friday.

It has risen 16.35% in the last 12 months and 11.83% on a year-to-date basis. The total traded volume so far in the day stood at 0.58 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 45.09.

Six out of the 11 analysts tracking Nazara Tech have a 'buy' rating on the stock, one recommends a 'hold' and four suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential upside of 7.2%.