It is a weird time for the casino business in India. If you’ve been watching the Delta Corp share price, you’ve seen a chart that looks less like a steady climb and more like a stomach-turning drop on a roller coaster. As of January 18, 2026, the stock is hovering around the ₹70 mark, specifically closing at ₹69.95 in the most recent session. It’s a far cry from the triple digits investors were used to.
Honestly, it’s easy to look at the screen, see the red numbers, and think the house is losing. But the story isn't just about a ticker symbol. It’s about a company caught in a pincer movement between aggressive tax authorities and a complete rewrite of the gaming rulebook in India.
Why the numbers are bleeding right now
The recent Q3 FY26 earnings report, which hit the desks on January 15, was... well, it wasn't great. Net profit plummeted roughly 60% compared to the previous year. We’re talking about a drop to ₹14.28 crore from over ₹35 crore. That’s a massive haircut.
Revenue also took a 14% hit, sliding down to ₹160.28 crore. When the earnings hit the wire, the market reacted exactly how you’d expect: the stock tumbled another 4%.
The main culprit? It isn't that people stopped liking casinos. It’s the 40% GST on the sale of gaming chips.
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The government basically reclassified online real-money gaming and casinos as "sin goods." By taxing the entry or the chip purchase rather than the net commission, they’ve squeezed the margins until they've almost popped. Delta’s EBITDA margins, which used to be a healthy 25%, have been crushed down to about 15%.
The ₹23,207 crore elephant in the room
You can't talk about the Delta Corp share price without mentioning the tax notices. For those who haven’t kept up, the company is facing a cumulative GST demand of over ₹23,000 crore.
To put that in perspective, the entire market cap of Delta Corp is currently around ₹1,875 crore.
The tax demand is more than 10 times what the whole company is worth on the stock exchange. It’s absurd. The legal argument boils down to whether GST should be charged on the "gross bet value" (every rupee put on the table) or the "gross gaming revenue" (what the casino actually keeps).
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Management has been very vocal about this. They haven't set aside money for it because they believe the demand is "arbitrary." The case is now sitting with the Supreme Court. Until that judgment drops, the stock is basically trading with a sword of Damocles hanging over its head.
The online gaming "Death Blow"
2025 was the year the music stopped for Delta’s digital dreams. The enactment of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 essentially banned real-money online games.
Delta Corp didn't just lose revenue here; they had to write off their entire investment. We saw a ₹459.52 crore impairment at the consolidated level. They basically admitted that their stakes in Deltatech Gaming (the folks behind Adda52) and other platforms are now worth zero.
It’s a brutal reality. A whole segment of the business—one that was supposed to be the future growth engine—was deleted by a legislative pen stroke.
Is there a "Buy the Dip" case here?
If you’re a contrarian, you might be looking at this and thinking it’s the ultimate value play. The stock has lost over 50% of its value in the last two years. It’s cheap. But cheap for a reason.
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There are a few things that could flip the script:
- The Demerger: Delta Corp has filed with the NCLT to split into two entities. One for gaming (casinos) and one for hospitality and real estate. This is a classic "unlocking value" move. If you separate the volatile casino business from the solid hotel assets in Goa and Alibaug, the market might value the hospitality arm much higher.
- The New Ship: They are almost done with a massive new casino vessel for the Mandovi River in Goa. It’s expected to start commercial operations around April 2026. More capacity usually means more revenue, assuming the 40% GST hasn't scared off the high rollers.
- The Supreme Court: If the court rules in favor of the industry on the GST issue, this stock will likely hit an upper circuit within minutes. That’s the "moonshot" bet.
Realities for the retail investor
Right now, the public holds about 61% of the shares. Promoters hold about 33%. Institutional investors (FIIs and DIIs) have largely fled the scene, holding only tiny single-digit percentages.
When big money leaves, the price becomes incredibly sensitive to news. Any rumor of a tax settlement or a legal win sends it up 5%, and any bad quarterly result sends it down just as fast.
The hotel side of things is actually doing okay. They have over 750 rooms in the pipeline under the Deltin brand. But let’s be real: nobody buys Delta Corp for the hotels. They buy it for the gambling. And right now, the regulator is holding all the aces.
Actionable insights for your portfolio
If you're holding or looking to enter, you need to treat this more like a court-case play than a business-fundamentals play.
- Watch the NCLT updates: The mirror split demerger is the most likely catalyst for a short-term price correction. If you get one share of a "pure" hotel company for every Delta share you own, that hotel share might actually be a safe haven.
- Set a hard stop-loss: The 52-week low is around ₹65.31. If it breaks that support level, there isn't much of a floor underneath.
- Diversify the "Sin" play: If you want exposure to the sector, look at international operators or diversifying into hospitality-heavy stocks that don't have the legal baggage.
The Delta Corp share price reflects a company in a defensive crouch. They are fighting the government, the courts, and a changing social stance on gambling. It's a high-stakes game where the rules are still being written.
Monitor the Supreme Court's daily cause list for the GST matter, as the final judgment is the only thing that can truly clear the air for this stock. Pay close attention to the April 2026 induction of the new casino vessel; if revenue doesn't spike significantly after its launch, the "capacity growth" thesis for the Goa operations may be fundamentally broken.