Online Gaming Bill 2025: Why Nazara Tech, Delta Corp shares are in focus today
Nazara Tech has investments in PokerBaazi. Delta Corp, on the other hand, is the only listed company engaged in the casino (live, electronic and online) gaming industry in India.
- Aug 20, 2025,
- Updated Aug 20, 2025 9:24 AM IST
Online gaming platform Nazara Technologies and casino operator Delta Corp came under investor focus on Tuesday after the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the Online Gaming Bill, which makes online betting a punishable offence. The bill is expected to introduce in Lok Sabha today. No bank or financial institution will be allowed to permit transfer of funds for online money gaming, sources told Business Today. The legislation also proposes a prohibition on advertisements of real money gaming, while promoting E-sports and skill-based non-monetary online games.
This could have significant implications for Nazara Technologies and Delta Corp. India’s digital gaming market is divided into Real Money Gaming (RMG) and Non-Real Money Gaming (Non-RMG). In RGM, players can win money in games like poker and fantasy sports. Non-RMG is purely for entertainment, and esports and includes competitive gaming and live streaming.
In the case of Nazara Tech, the company's only indirect exposure to RMG is through its 46.07 per cent stake in Moonshine Technologies Private Limited (PokerBaazi). The company, however, clarified that: "As Nazara does not hold a majority stake or exercise control, Moonshine’s revenue is not consolidated in the company’s financial statements and has no impact on the company’s reported revenue or Ebitda. The contribution to PAT by Moonshine as share of profit & loss by associate is negative in Q1-26."
Delta Corp, on the other hand, is the only listed company engaged in the casino (live, electronic and online) gaming industry in India. "The proposed Online Gaming Bill, aimed at banning money-based gaming transactions, may weigh on gaming names, though companies like Delta Corp and Nazara Tech could benefit in the longer run if regulatory clarity improves," said Hariprasad K, Founder - Livelong Wealth.
In the recent earning conference call, Nitish Mittersain, CEO & JMD - Nazara Technologies said: "And as you know, with a lot of these skill-based real money gaming platforms, liquidity on the platform is a very large moat and I believe PokerBaazi has kind of got that significant advantage and that's what you're seeing when even at a large scale, the year-on-year revenue growth being significant."
PL Capital in a recent note suggested that PokerBaazi was unlikely to achieve profitability in FY26E but could have turned profitable in FY27E.
Online skill gaming is a sunrise sector with over Rs 2 lakh crores enterprise valuation, with over Rs 31,000 crore in revenue and over Rs 20,000 crore in annual direct and indirect taxes. There were projections of the sector growing 20 per cent CAGR to reach and double by 2028.
The total number of Indian oniline gamers grew from 36 crores in 2020 to over 50 crores in 2024. India's gaming industry attracted FDI of over 25,000 crores till June 2022. The industry currently supports over 2 lakh direct and indirect jobs.
Online gaming platform Nazara Technologies and casino operator Delta Corp came under investor focus on Tuesday after the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the Online Gaming Bill, which makes online betting a punishable offence. The bill is expected to introduce in Lok Sabha today. No bank or financial institution will be allowed to permit transfer of funds for online money gaming, sources told Business Today. The legislation also proposes a prohibition on advertisements of real money gaming, while promoting E-sports and skill-based non-monetary online games.
This could have significant implications for Nazara Technologies and Delta Corp. India’s digital gaming market is divided into Real Money Gaming (RMG) and Non-Real Money Gaming (Non-RMG). In RGM, players can win money in games like poker and fantasy sports. Non-RMG is purely for entertainment, and esports and includes competitive gaming and live streaming.
In the case of Nazara Tech, the company's only indirect exposure to RMG is through its 46.07 per cent stake in Moonshine Technologies Private Limited (PokerBaazi). The company, however, clarified that: "As Nazara does not hold a majority stake or exercise control, Moonshine’s revenue is not consolidated in the company’s financial statements and has no impact on the company’s reported revenue or Ebitda. The contribution to PAT by Moonshine as share of profit & loss by associate is negative in Q1-26."
Delta Corp, on the other hand, is the only listed company engaged in the casino (live, electronic and online) gaming industry in India. "The proposed Online Gaming Bill, aimed at banning money-based gaming transactions, may weigh on gaming names, though companies like Delta Corp and Nazara Tech could benefit in the longer run if regulatory clarity improves," said Hariprasad K, Founder - Livelong Wealth.
In the recent earning conference call, Nitish Mittersain, CEO & JMD - Nazara Technologies said: "And as you know, with a lot of these skill-based real money gaming platforms, liquidity on the platform is a very large moat and I believe PokerBaazi has kind of got that significant advantage and that's what you're seeing when even at a large scale, the year-on-year revenue growth being significant."
PL Capital in a recent note suggested that PokerBaazi was unlikely to achieve profitability in FY26E but could have turned profitable in FY27E.
Online skill gaming is a sunrise sector with over Rs 2 lakh crores enterprise valuation, with over Rs 31,000 crore in revenue and over Rs 20,000 crore in annual direct and indirect taxes. There were projections of the sector growing 20 per cent CAGR to reach and double by 2028.
The total number of Indian oniline gamers grew from 36 crores in 2020 to over 50 crores in 2024. India's gaming industry attracted FDI of over 25,000 crores till June 2022. The industry currently supports over 2 lakh direct and indirect jobs.