FlixBus sees India as its next global growth engine, eyes largest passenger market status by 2030

India's vast but fragmented intercity bus market is emerging as one of the biggest bets for German mobility platform FlixBus. The company believes that opportunity could eventually make India its largest market globally by passenger volume by 2030.

Having entered India in February 2024, the company now connects more than 340 cities through over 1,900 stops across North, West and South India, working with more than 60 local fleet operators under an asset-light model. Globally, FlixBus served 99 million passengers in 2025 and generated €2 billion in revenue, highlighting the scale of its operations.

India, however, occupies a special place in its ambitions. "India is expected to be Flix's largest market," Surya Khurana, managing director, FlixBus India, told Fortune India.

FlixBus plans to expand its network by 140% in western India this year. Southern India is expected to see more than 90% growth, while northern India is projected to grow over 50% compared with last year.

India is the world's second-largest bus market after China, but remains highly fragmented, with thousands of regional operators and no single nationwide brand, and so the company believes they are not late entrants.

"What we saw when we came in over here is that there is no one uniform service provider across different parts of the country," Khurana said. He believes that unlike airlines or ride-hailing, long-distance bus travel still suffers from inconsistent customer experiences and low digital penetration.

"There is no one app or website where I can go and know that the experience, cancellation policies and customer journey will be the same," he said.

Building a local product for India

FlixBus' strategy has been to combine its global technology platform with localisation. The company keeps operations with local partners while providing pricing engines, route planning, operational insights and a standardised customer experience.

"We live global but then we build as locally as we possibly can," said Khurana.

Several India-specific innovations have emerged from that approach. Pre-trip communication now happens primarily through mobile numbers and WhatsApp, helping passengers track buses and locate pick-up points. The company also introduced gender seating options, a feature absent from other Flix markets but tailored to Indian customer preferences.

The company has also invested in branded lounges and bus stops in locations such as RK Ashram, Kashmere Gate and Bengaluru's Madiwala, aiming to address one of India's biggest pain points around bus boarding infrastructure. Over the next three to five years, FlixBus plans to add more such facilities.

Despite rapid expansion, profitability remains secondary for now.

"India is a growth market. Profitability is obviously something which is top of mind for us and our investors as well. But right now, what India needs from a Flix point of view is to deploy a much larger network," Khurana said.

Alongside network expansion, the company is evaluating India as an innovation hub and a potential "nano GCC" to support global operations. Indian teams are already handling pricing operations and network planning for some overseas markets. The company plans to decide on a location later this year and is engaging with states including Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, each offering different strengths in talent, infrastructure and policy support.

"We've intrinsically internally decided that we are going to extend an innovation and a GCC hub in India by the end of the year," Khurana said.

For FlixBus, the ambition extends beyond simply transporting passengers. The company wants to export products and innovations built in India to the rest of its network. "We want the teams which are building the product for the market to be close to the market," Khurana said. "For India, from India and then exported globally."