The largest airline by market share, IndiGo, is likely to file IPO papers with the Sebi by May to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore, industry sources said.
"IndiGo is likely to file the IPO documents with Sebi by May and may mop up around USD 400 million or about Rs 2,500 crore from the process," a source in the investment banking industry told PTI.
The airline, which has 37.1% market share, operates about 600 flights a day with 91 aircraft. It is understood to have roped in six merchant bankers --Barclays, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Kotak Investment Banking, Morgan Stanley and UBS Securities-- for the issue, sources said.
When contacted, IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh said there was no any new development on the IPO front. "No new developments there," he said.
Sources, however, said the date for IPO is yet to be fixed.
The privately held IndiGo is one of the two domestic carriers making profit. The other profitable airline is GoAir.
Analysts expect the airline to log in record profit this fiscal on the back of a sharp fall in oil prices, which constitute nearly 50% of an airline's operating costs.
IndiGo had posted Rs 317 crore net profit last fiscal, which though was nearly half of Rs 787 crore it had reported the year before.
Low-cost model using a single type of narrow-body planes is one of the contributing factors in IndiGo's profitability.
IndiGo was founded in 2006 by travel entrepreneur Rahul Bhatia and ex-US Airways chief executive Rakesh Gangwal.
