SpiceJet To Sell Cargo Business Shares In IPO

Indian budget carrier SpiceJet will sell shares in its cargo division in an initial public offering (IPO).

SpiceXpress could be listed on a stock exchange within 12 months, SpiceJet Chairman Ajay Singh said in an interview with Bloomberg. The business would still be owned by SpiceJet.

“We have a country of 1.3 billion people, one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and we have very few air logistics players,” he said. “We think that there’s a good space for us.”

Last year, one report even predicted that India’s eCommerce market could hit $150 billion by 2022 due to rising incomes and a boost in Internet users. The report by software industry lobby group Nasscom and consulting firm PwC India says that India’s eCommerce industry is expected to contribute 4 percent of GDP by 2022, and that during that five-year period, the size of India’s middle class will surge to 540 million from 380 million in 2017.

“A ‘Make-for-India’ solution approach along with conducive policy environment can potentially make eCommerce a $150 billion market by 2022 with a globally leading compounded annualized growth rate of 35 percent,” the report said.

In addition, the study estimates that the number of Internet users in the country will nearly double to 850 million in five years from 450 million in 2017. In addition, the growing e-tail market is expected to grow at a compounded rate of 30 percent each year to surpass $60 billion in market size by 2022.

Yet despite the boom, India is under-served when it comes to shipping, Singh noted, with just SpiceXpress and Blue Dart Express as the country’s major players. He added that SpiceXpress currently has four freighters and expects to receive another six by the end of the year. It currently flies to Hong Kong from Delhi, Kolkata and the Northeastern city of Guwahati, and also operates domestic cargo flights to Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.