City Limouzines may enter charter flights

Mumbai-based vehicle asset management company City Limouzines Ltd is planning to enter the 'city cab' segment and also intends to provide air-charter services to pilgrimage centres Shirdi and Tirupathi.

"We have already put our bids for the 'City Cab' services and we are hopeful of beginning operations by first quarter of next year with an initial fleet size of 600-800 vehicles," City Limouzines Ltd Managing Director, S M Masood said.

"The charter flights to Shirdi and Tirupathi will become operational within the next two-three months," he said.

The two piligrimage centres have been selected since "we already have our surface transport systems in place in Mumbai and Chennai."

The company has already placed an order for an 11-seater B-200 beach aircraft with a US firm and "we are currently engaged in obtaining the requisite clearances," he said.

On the company's vehicular fleet expansion plans, Masood said "another 10-15,000 vehicles will be added to our already existing fleet of 40,000."

City Limouzines, with a turnover of Rs 10-crore plus, plans to finance its expansion through an IPO of Rs 200-crore in three tranches, Masood said.

The first tranche is expected to be next month or December and the entire amount is proposed to be raised within the next 18 months, he said.

The company, which has two sister concerns, one a non-banking finance company (NBFC) City Money Ltd and the other, City Co-operative Credit Society, is a co-sponsorer of Indian Women's Hockey team and will continue with it till the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Masood added.