Photo Credit: Cordelia Cruises' vessel MV Empress on sail. Waterways Leisure Tourism
By 2028, Cordelia will have transformed from a single-vessel operator into a three-ship fleet. The challenge is whether India's still-nascent cruise market can generate demand quickly enough to support a near-tripling of capacity.
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India’s only domestic ocean cruise operator starts its IPO process this week, hoping to raise INR 5.85 billion ($62 million) to fund its next phase of growth, particularly the expansion of its fleet.
Shares of Waterways Leisure Tourism, the parent of Cordelia Cruises, are tentatively scheduled to list on Indian exchanges July 1.
India's cruise market is tiny but growing quickly: It was INR 8.3 billion ($9 million) in fiscal 2025 declined further to INR 7.3 billion ($77 million) in fiscal 2026 due to geopolitical disruptions. The company expects INR 18.2 billion ($19 million)-INR 22.5 billion ($24 million) by fiscal 2031.
For now, Cordelia operates just one vessel, MV
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Tags: asia monthly , cruise lines , india , IPOs
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