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Chakrabarti, A.B. (2022). Indian Oil Skytanking Pvt Ltd: Reaching for the Skies, Case Centre.

Indian Oil Skytanking Pvt Ltd (IOSL) is a 50:50 joint

venture between Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and
Skytanking Holding GmbH (Skytanking). The parent
company of Skytanking Marquard & Bahls is based

in Germany. The joint venture was set up in 2006 and

started operations in 2008 at Bangalore International
Airport. It quickly gained credibility in the aviation fuel
industry as having lean, efficient, and cost-effective

operations. By 2020, IOSL was managing operations at

23 airport locations in the country with a manpower of
fewer than six hundred employees. In a short span of were planned in the country. Infrastructure at existing
twelve years, IOSL had become the country’s largest airports was being modernized. This unprecedented

independent service provider in the aviation fuel expansion provided enormous opportunities for growth

management industry. However, in 2020, the company to IOSL. However, they needed funds for this growth,
faced some challenges. On the one hand the aviation and neither of the parents was in a financial position to
industry was going through a downturn due to COVID provide it. Hence, the option was to seek debt from the

pandemic. Passenger and cargo traffic was at an all- secondary market or go for an Initial Public Offering to

time low. Jet Airways had already filed for bankruptcy in raise funds. If they didn’t take a decision soon, it would
India, and many other airlines were facing a similar fate. provide opportunities for rivals to enter the industry and
On the other hand, the aviation sector in India was in the threaten their dominance.

middle of an expansion spree spurred by Government

of India initiatives. More than a hundred new airports

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