E-commerce firm Meesho is set to shell out $288 million (approx. ₹2,400 crore) in taxes as it redomiciles from Delaware, US, to India, people familiar with the matter said. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has cleared the Bengaluru-based company’s proposal to shift its holding entity to India, in a move that comes ahead of its planned public market debut.
The tax outgo makes Meesho’s domicile flip one of the most expensive among Indian start-ups in recent years — second only to fintech major PhonePe, which paid nearly $1 billion to move from Singapore to India last year. Other start-ups that recently shifted base to India include stockbroking platform Groww ($160 million in taxes) and payments firm Razorpay ($150 million), both aiming to tap the Indian public markets in the near future.
Meesho is expected to file its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) soon. Ahead of the IPO, it has renamed its parent entity from Fashnear Technologies Private Ltd. to Meesho Private Ltd, and approved the issuance of 411.4 crore bonus shares to existing shareholders, according to regulatory filings.
On the financial front, Meesho has significantly narrowed its losses in FY24, reporting a net loss of ₹304.9 crore, an 82 per cent reduction from ₹1,675 crore in the previous year. Operating revenue rose 33 per cent year-on-year to ₹7,614.9 crore, driven by improvements in operational efficiency and margins.
The company’s move to shift its headquarters back to India underscores a growing trend among Indian tech start-ups realigning their corporate structures to meet domestic listing requirements, gain regulatory clarity, and appeal to Indian retail and institutional investors.