Indiabulls buys 11-seater Cessna

NEW DELHI: The bull run on the bourses, it seems, has helped many realise their cherished dream. And for business barons, they look all set to indulge in this festive season.

Latest in this splurge list is one of the leading financial services and real estate development company, Indiabulls which has just bought a new private jet, a 11-seater Cessna. And even before they could think of what to do with their existing Hawker Beechcraft 850 XP, they received an offer from the Ruias of the Essar group, who lapped up the sizzling beauty.

"We wanted to upgrade our existing jet. And the 11-seater Cessna was suitable as per our needs. We received the offer from Essar and some other players," said an Indiabulls official confirming the deal.

An Essar group official, however, dismissed the deal as speculation, stating, "Yes, we’ve got a new Beechcraft but that’s not from Indiabulls. They’ve sold it to some other financial firm and we’ve not bought it, it's on lease." Both the companies declined to provide further details on the sale or the lease part.

Indiabulls, which reported a 82.1% YoY growth in profit after taxes for the quarter ending September 2007, already boasts of an exotic yacht, which the company bought last year. During the second quarter of FY08, it consolidated its total revenues, which went up by 83.2% to Rs 495.3 crore from Rs 270.4 crore in Q2 FY 07.

"The company’s performance speaks for our growth and the recent inclusion (of the private jet) has been done viewing our demands for the future," said the Indiabulls official.

According to Nigel Harwood, CEO, InterGlobe General Aviation, which is the exclusive representative of Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) for its business and executive aircraft in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives and Myanmar, the cost of an old aircraft will depend on how many years it has been used.

"It also depends upon the two companies on what price they’ve agreed upon. Internationally, even a second-hand Beechcraft can fetch you good prices," he noted.

A brand new Beechcraft 850XP is priced around $13 million. In fact, already many business houses have corporate jets made by companies such as Bombardier, Gulfstream, Hawker, Cessna, Embraer, Boeing or Airbus in their hangar.
According to industry estimates, there are around 130 private jets in the country and in the coming decade, India may be home to the largest number of private jet owners.

All major corporate houses and some top CEOs such as Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, Vijay Mallya of the UB Group, G Mallikarjuna Rao of GMR Industries, Anil Ambani of Reliance ADAG and K P Singh of the DLF Group have more than one private jet in their stable.