Cars24, one of India's largest online platforms for buying and selling used cars, expects to complete its move from Singapore to India by April 2027, a step that would allow it to file for an initial public offering on Indian stock exchanges. Chief financial officer Shivanshu Makkar outlined the timeline in an interview with the Press Trust of India, reported on 28 September 2026.
The company has received approval from Singapore to re-domicile and is filing the necessary papers in India, Makkar said. He expects the process to take six to nine months.
"So, by April, we would be eligible to file a DRHP," he said, referring to the draft red herring prospectus, the offer document that companies submit to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) before listing. Once filed, he estimated that regulatory approval, pricing and book-building could take another three to four months.
Why companies are flipping back
Cars24 was incorporated in Singapore in 2015, a common choice at the time for Indian start-ups seeking access to foreign venture capital and a familiar legal system for global investors. Over the past few years, that logic has reversed. India's public markets have become one of the most receptive in the world for technology listings, with high retail participation and valuations that often exceed those available to comparable companies overseas.
Listing in India, however, generally requires an Indian parent company. That has prompted a wave of "reverse flips", in which start-ups move their holding structure from Singapore or the United States back to India. Makkar compared Cars24's process to the moves made by Flipkart and Myntra. Several recently listed Indian technology companies completed similar restructurings before going public.
Reverse flips are not simple. They can trigger tax liabilities for shareholders, require approvals from courts and regulators in more than one country, and need consent from investors with varying rights and preferences. The time and cost involved are part of the reason many companies wait until they are close to listing before starting the process.
A war chest for India's car market
Makkar was clear about the purpose of the eventual listing.
"The primary purpose of the IPO would mostly be to create a war chest to go deeper into India and make sure we are able to ensure that the next 20 crore Indians are able to buy a car," he said.
Cars24 currently has a retail presence in 25 Indian cities. It plans to use primary IPO proceeds, if the offering includes a fresh issue, to expand that footprint to as many as 200 cities and potentially build inventory of around 50,000 cars. It is also continuing to expand in the Gulf region and Australia.
The market logic rests on low car ownership. According to the company, just five in 100 Indians own a car. As incomes rise, many first-time buyers turn to used vehicles, which offer affordability and faster availability than new models. Organised players such as Cars24 argue that they can bring standardised inspections, financing, warranties and after-sales service to a market that has long been dominated by informal dealers and brokers.
Governance as well as capital
Makkar said the company is not planning the IPO because it urgently needs external funding. Cars24 has not raised fresh primary capital since its $400 million Series G round, which valued it at $3.3 billion. It has raised more than $1.3 billion in total from investors including SoftBank, Alpha Wave Global and Peak XV Partners, and says it has no immediate fundraising plans.
He framed the listing partly as a matter of credibility.
"If I go truly for an IPO, I get that stamp on my governance and a check also," Makkar said.
For a company that handles customer finance, vehicle title transfers and large volumes of inventory, public-market disclosure can reinforce trust with consumers, lenders and partners. It can also provide liquidity to long-standing investors and employees holding stock options.
He added that the company does not have a specific valuation target for the IPO.
A crowded road to listing
Cars24 will not be alone. Its rivals in India's organised used-car market are also preparing to go public. Spinny has confidentially pre-filed for an IPO of ₹2,500 crore to ₹3,000 crore, with a potential listing in 2027. CarDekho is also preparing for a listing.
That creates both opportunity and pressure. Multiple listings could help public investors understand the sector and establish valuation benchmarks. But they also mean competition for the same pool of investor attention, and the first company to list may set the tone for those that follow.
The used-car business has a mixed history with investors. Companies that hold inventory face working-capital demands and the risk of price declines on unsold vehicles. Refurbishment, logistics and quality control are operationally complex. Several global players, notably in the United States, have seen sharp swings in their share prices as rising interest rates and volatile used-car prices squeezed margins.
Indian platforms have spent recent years focusing on profitability, pulling back from loss-making cities and categories, and adding higher-margin services such as financing and insurance. Their public-market reception will depend heavily on whether they can show consistent profit rather than only growth.
What to watch
The immediate milestone is the completion of the reverse flip, which requires shareholder approvals, tax clarity and regulatory processes in both countries. Any delay would push back the April 2027 target.
After that, the key details will be in the offer document: the size of the issue, the split between fresh capital and shares sold by existing investors, and disclosure of revenue, contribution margins, cash burn and inventory turnover. Those figures will allow investors to compare Cars24 directly with Spinny and CarDekho for the first time.
The bigger picture
Cars24's plans are another sign of the "homecoming" trend reshaping Indian start-up finance. A decade ago, the ambition of many Indian founders was a listing on Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange. Today, Indian exchanges are the destination of choice for most consumer technology companies, and founders are willing to undertake complex restructurings to get there.
For India's car-buying public, the outcome of this competition could be a more transparent, better-financed used-car market spread across hundreds of cities. For investors, it will be an important test of whether India's used-car platforms can combine growth with durable profitability.
