MakeMyTrip Eyes India IPO as Home Market Growth Gets Hard to Ignore

MakeMyTrip has officially said it is exploring a possible listing of its India business, giving the market its clearest sign yet that a domestic IPO may be part of the company’s long-term plan.

The announcement came in a March 16 filing, where the Nasdaq-listed travel company also said it had moved redBus India into MakeMyTrip India.

This is important because MakeMyTrip is already one of India’s biggest online travel companies. While it has been listed on Nasdaq since 2010, India remains its main market.

Why MakeMyTrip is considering a local listing

The company said an India listing could help it raise capital from domestic institutional and retail investors. It also said India-listed shares could be used in future growth initiatives, such as partnerships, investments, or acquisitions.

MakeMyTrip also said a local listing could strengthen its brand in India and support longer-term growth. That argument makes sense. The company’s customer base, brand recognition, and supplier relationships are heavily concentrated in India, so a domestic listing would bring its financial story closer to its operating base.

The company is building on strong travel demand in India

MakeMyTrip said travel demand in India remains strong over the long term, supported by a growing middle class, rising spending on travel, and wider digital adoption. That backdrop is a big part of the story. India is a large and still-growing travel market, and more consumers are booking trips online, which continues to support major travel platforms.

The scale of MakeMyTrip’s business also helps explain why a domestic IPO could attract investor interest. The company said it has more than 87 million lifetime transacted retail customers, over 549 million app downloads, more than 32.5 million hotel room nights sold, and over 104 million bus tickets sold.

The IPO idea fits a wider growth strategy

The possible listing comes as MakeMyTrip is expanding beyond core bookings. The company recently acquired a majority stake in Flamingo Transworld, which strengthens its holidays business, and it also invested in Atlys to support visa-processing services. At the same time, it is increasing its focus on artificial intelligence. MakeMyTrip said its AI trip planner, Myra, now handles more than 55,000 daily conversations in multiple languages.

These moves show that the company wants to play a bigger role across the full travel journey, not just the booking stage. That is increasingly important in online travel, where growth depends not only on transactions, but also on planning tools, customer support, and added services that keep travelers inside one ecosystem.

MakeMyTrip is not the only major travel company looking at India’s public markets. OYO parent Prism filed draft IPO papers in India at the end of 2025, targeting up to INR 66.5 billion ($750 million), highlighting how local listings are becoming a more serious option for large travel and hospitality groups. That makes MakeMyTrip’s latest move look like part of a wider shift in the sector.

Photo by Raj Rana on Unsplash