Shares of Protean eGov Technologies plunged nearly 20 percent on Monday after the company said it was not shortlisted by the Income Tax Department (ITD) for the prestigious PAN 2.0 project.
In an exchange filing, the e‑governance firm revealed that the ITD had informed it of the decision during the latest round of the request‑for‑proposal (RFP) process. The project involves a complete technology revamp—design, development, implementation, operations, and maintenance—of India’s Permanent Account Number (PAN) infrastructure.
Protean eGov explained that the setback must “have limited or minimal bearing” on its existing mandate of processing and issuing PAN cards under an existing ITD mandate. All the same, investors responded adversely, driving the stock to its lowest level since listing.
PAN 2.0 is seen as one of the most important digitization initiatives as the tax authority seeks to modernize databases, improve cybersecurity, and incorporate increasingly advanced verification tools. Players in the marketplace had anticipated that one of the incumbent vendors, Protean eGov, would maintain a leading position.
At 11 a.m., the stock traded at Rs XXX after touching an intra-day low of Rs XXX, lower by around 20 percent from Friday’s close. The volumes shot up to multiple times the average daily volumes.
Analysts indicated that the inability to advance in the tender process could negatively bear upon near-term sentiment, but the company’s current revenue lines through PAN issuance, GST Suvidha and various other government contracts stand unaffected.
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Source: Moneycontrol.
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