Elon Musk-owned X’s India arm sees profit fall in FY25 as costs bite

X Communications India Pvt Ltd, formerly Twitter Communications India Pvt Ltd—the Indian subsidiary of Elon Musk-owned X—reported a 52% decline in net profit for the year ended March 2025, largely driven by a rise in employee benefits expense.

Net profit fell to Rs 1.5 crore from Rs 3.2 crore in the prior year, filings with the Registrar of Companies showed.

Employee costs rose by about 65% to Rs 10.2 crore in FY25 from Rs 6.2 crore in FY24. The increase reflected higher salaries, wages, bonuses, and staff welfare, and was amplified by accounting changes related to share-based compensation and conversions of restricted stock units (RSUs) granted to Indian employees. The RSU conversions did not alter the vesting terms. The workforce remains small at 12 employees.

Operating revenue was broadly stable. The platform recorded operating revenue of Rs 20.5 crore in FY25, marginally down from Rs 21.2 crore last year. Total revenue edged up slightly to Rs 21.4 crore on account of exchange gains.

Expenses rose modestly to Rs 19.3 crore in FY25 from Rs 18.8 crore in FY24, while lower depreciation and tax charges helped partially offset the profit decline.

Twitter India’s net worth grew marginally to Rs 62.3 crore, largely through retained earnings.

Revenue mix shifted within the reporting segments. Marketing support revenue increased to Rs 11 crore from Rs 4.1 crore in the previous year. Revenue from R&D fell to Rs 8.1 crore from Rs 16.3 crore. User support services generated Rs 1.4 crore compared with Rs 0.8 crore previously.

The company lists its principal activities as marketing support, business planning to build and expand the internet user community, and supporting R&D assignments for group entities such as X Internet Unlimited Company in Ireland and X Asia Pacific Internet Pte. Ltd. in Singapore.

There are contingent tax matters that remain unresolved. The company is contesting two GST demands totalling Rs 11.4 crore, related to differing interpretations of licensing and service provision, and those appeals were pending final orders after hearings in 2025.

In late March 2025, Elon Musk’s AI venture xAI and X were restructured under a new holding arrangement, effectively bringing X within the xAI group through an all-stock transaction. This group-level restructuring is reported to have included the conversion of certain employee RSUs as part of the organisational changes. 

The wider group has also seen leadership and product changes through 2024 and 2025 that have affected revenue dynamics and advertiser confidence. High-profile operational issues and safety concerns have continued to draw scrutiny, including criticism over moderation and misinformation handling during international crises. 

Linda Yaccarino, the chief executive appointed after the 2022 acquisition, left the company in mid-2025 amid controversy following problems with Grok, the group’s chatbot, and public scrutiny of platform moderation. 

This period has seen continued experimentation with product features and monetisation models, including paid verification and subscription adjustments in markets such as India. The company also reduced subscription pricing in India in mid-2025, a change that will have consequences for local revenue mix and monetisation strategy.

Musk, the billionaire-entrepreneur, closed his $44 billion acquisition of the social media firm in October 2022 following a long, drawn-out deal that took several months to close.