US co buys 49% stake in TruJet Airlines

Hyderabad: US-based investment firm Interups Inc has picked up a 49% stake in Turbo Megha Airways Pvt Ltd, which operates regional carrier Trujet, through the foreign direct investment (FDI) route.

The funds raised will be used to expand TruJet’s operations pan-India and explore newer opportunities in the civil aviation sector, Interups Inc chairman Laxmi Prasad and Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL) group director KV Pradeep said in a joint statement.

However, neither Interups Inc nor MEIL which owns Turbo Megha Airways, disclosed the quantum of FDI the deal entails. “We will finalise the exact final amount at a later stage,” they said.

With this deal, Hyderabad-based MEIL’s stake in Turbo Megha Airways comes down to 51%. TruJet currently operates flights to 21 destinations, including tier-2 cities, under the UDAN scheme with a fleet of seven ATR aircraft.

These include destinations like Hyderabad, Mumbai, Aurangabad, Chennai, Goa, Bangalore, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Kadapa, Rajahmundry, Ahmedabad, Porbandar, Jaisalmer, Nashik, Jalgaon, Cooch Behar, Buranpur, Tezu, Mysore, Bidar, Belagavi, Vidyanagar, among others.

A consortium led by Interups Inc was one of the bidders for ailing national carrier Air India as well. Interups, which is headed by NRI chartered accountant Laxmi Prasad, had submitted an expression of interest for the airline along with 209 Air India employees but had later pulled out of the race.

TruJet has ferried over 28 lakh passengers to different parts of the country since its inception in July 2015.