Protean eGov Technologies has strong balance sheet with net cash of ₹750 cr+. Buy for target of ₹2000 (45% upside): ICICI Direct Muted Q3; But Growth & Margin set to trend higher About the stock: Protean eGov Technologies Ltd. (Protean) is a play on digital public infrastructure (DPI) and e-governance initiatives taken by various governmental bodies in India. • The company has 3 core verticals including i) Tax services, ii) social security & welfare and iii) identity authentication. Further, it has ventured in new age businesses including Open Digital Ecosystem (ODE), Cloud & Infosec. Q3FY25 performance: Protean reported muted set of result with broadly flattish top line and bottom-line growth at ₹202 cr and ₹23 cr resp. Segmentally, Tax services was up 3% YoY at ₹99 cr. Total no. of PAN cards issued in Q3FY25 stood at 1.05 crore with market share improving from 52.1% to 59.2% on YoY basis. Pension service was up 12% YoY at ₹72 cr while Identity services de-grew 17% YoY on high base as last year was driven by events like Aadhaar-PAN linkage deadline and introduction of certain broad based government schemes.