Methodology, data caveats & who we are

Methodology

This primer follows Dart Consultants' standard first-principles method: identify the one real structural asymmetry inside the product (§2), derive the value ladder and scarcity mechanism from it (§4-5), then apply that framework to the listed companies (§9-11). Research was conducted via public sources only — company filings and investor presentations, credit-rating-agency press releases (CRISIL, ICRA, CARE, India Ratings), stock-exchange disclosures, company websites, industry trade press (CBRE and JLL India data-centre market research, Uptime Institute and TIA-942 standard documentation), and market-research summaries, in that order of preference. Screening-level research was conducted 19-20 September 2026; deep-dive company research was conducted 20-21 September 2026. Company financials and stock data are dated individually throughout each report, primarily to 18-20 September 2026 (screener.in).

Data caveats

• Constructed/indicative figures are labelled as such wherever used — specifically the catalog-vs-custom-engineering step counts (§4), the non-margin portions of the value-ladder chart (§5), and forward-EPS growth assumptions used in each company's valuation exhibit (Part 4). These illustrate a structural relationship or a stated assumption; they are not measured from a disclosed company forecast unless explicitly cited as management guidance.
• Reported (not indicative) figures used without a qualifier include: each company's disclosed revenue, margin and order-book figures, and the named data-centre order/contract evidence cited throughout — these are drawn directly from company disclosures and industry trade-press reporting, not constructed by this report.
• Derived figures are marked with a tilde (~) and explained in the source line.
• Undisclosed figures are shown as a dash or stated as "undisclosed," never estimated into a table. Several companies in this report (Blue Star, Voltas, Thermax, GE Vernova T&D India, L&T) do not disclose a standalone data-centre revenue percentage — this report does not manufacture one on their behalf.
• Market-size and forecast disagreements are shown as ranges or multiple bars rather than resolved to a single number — see §6's power-demand dispersion chart, which spans roughly a 3x range depending on source and scope.
• We do not model full balance sheets or cash-flow statements for companies that do not disclose at that granularity; company reports use a "selected disclosed metrics" format instead.
• Several company-level financial figures showed material, sometimes irreconcilable, disagreement between sources for the same period. This report handles each explicitly rather than silently reconciling: Sterlite Technologies' Q1 FY27 PAT is reported three different ways across screener.in (₹125cr), the company's own press release (₹197cr) and a third aggregator (a ₹17cr loss) — this report's valuation for STL is constructed specifically to avoid taking a side in that dispute (see its own company report); Siemens Ltd's reported quarterly PAT (₹2,122-2,143cr) appears to include a roughly ₹1,800cr unexplained exceptional item against an "ordinary activities" run-rate closer to ₹343cr/quarter — this report's valuation for Siemens Ltd departs from its usual two valuation methods specifically because of this; and Voltas's revenue is reported differently by Trendlyne (₹10,837cr) and screener.in (₹14,244cr), likely a standalone-vs- consolidated difference this report states rather than resolves.
• ABB India reports on a calendar fiscal year (January-December), not the April-March year used by every other company in this report — its own company report labels periods "CY2025," "Q2 CY2026," etc. throughout, never "FY," to avoid a dating error when comparing it against the other nineteen companies.
• Corporate-structure disambiguations that could otherwise mislead a reader are stated explicitly in the relevant company reports and summarised in §9: Schneider Electric Infrastructure Ltd (listed) versus Schneider Electric India Pvt Ltd (unlisted, holds the APC/UPS brand); Siemens Ltd versus Siemens Energy India (separate companies post-demerger); Kalpataru Projects International versus the unlisted "Kalpataru Limited" real-estate entity under the same promoter family; and Siemens Energy India versus the unrelated, similarly-named "SEIL Energy India Limited."

About Us

Dart Consultants is a market intelligence and technology service provider. We are not a SEBI-registered Investment Adviser or Research Analyst. This document, and the company reports that follow it, are educational material only — not investment advice, and not a recommendation to buy or sell any stock. BUY/HOLD/SELL labels used in this series are an educational device for summarising publicly available information, not a regulated recommendation. The analyst(s) preparing this report hold no position in, and have no banking, advisory or brokerage relationship with, any company named in it, and have received no compensation from any of them. Readers should note that several companies in this report carry above-average data-disclosure or data-reliability caveats independent of this report's eventual rating — most notably Sterlite Technologies (a genuinely unreconciled, three-way conflict in recent quarterly profit figures) and Siemens Ltd (a reporting-period transition and an unexplained exceptional item materially affecting reported profit) — both addressed explicitly in this report's Valuation methodology for each company rather than smoothed into a single confident number.