Indian conglomerate, Reliance Industries has said it stepped into the aviation sector as a “strategic investor” by picking up over 26 per cent stake in Captain GS Gopinath-founded cargo airline, Deccan 360. Indian media reports speculated the investment to be in the US$20-30 million range.

Reliance said one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries would provide the growth capital for the new cargo airline which is aimed at helping RIL secure a logistics support to its retail network. Reliance Retail Ltd, an arm of the Reliance group, operates 900 stores in 80 cities across 14 states in India and the air cargo investment would help the company in its perishables business that it runs through the ‘Reliance Fresh’ brand of stores.

In a statement, Reliance’s chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said: “We believe that our collaboration with Deccan 360 will see a transformation in the logistics domain in India.”

The investment will also help Deccan 360 increase its air and surface network across the country. Deccan 360 was launced in 2009 and hubs out of Nagpur. The carrier has 300 employees and a network of 60 franchises with an additional workforce of 1,500. It is present in 50 cities and is aiming to expand to 100 cities in the next 12-18 months.