CIEL HR aims 3-fold rise in revenue

CIEL HR, India’s fourth largest staffing firm, aims to increase its revenue to Rs 6,000 crore by 2030 from nearly Rs 2,000 crore in FY2026.

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The company has rolled out the strategic roadmap “CIEL 3.0: Vision 2030” to build an integrated AI-led workforce infrastructure platform for the future of work.

The company’s revenue from operations grew 32 per cent in FY2026 from Rs 1,504.5 crore in the comparable period last year.

“The largest company in the sector, which is listed and has Rs 21,000 crore revenue, has grown only 3 per cent. The second-largest listed company, with Rs 11,000 crore revenue, has grown by 6 per cent. We have outperformed the industry growth,” K Pandiarajan, Executive Chairperson, CIEL HR Group, said at a media interaction.

“Over the last five years, our compounded annual growth rate has been around 35 per cent, while the industry has grown at around 10 per cent over the same period,” he said.

“That is why, in Vision 2030, we believe that within four years we can cross Rs 6,000 crore revenue with the highest profitability among listed companies in this industry,” Pandiarajan said.

“When we started in 2015, we said we would touch about Rs 1,000 crore revenue in 10 years, but we did that in nine years. And in the next two years, from Rs 1,000 crore, we have come near Rs 2,000 crores. So, that’s the kind of trajectory on which we are,” he said.

Pandiarajan said the main driver for the company’s growth was the major push towards HR outsourcing.

He pointed out the other driver would be the anticipated positive impact expected from the labour codes whicwas a push towards an organised workforce.

A major portion of 2.5 crore of gig workers would  move into organised flexi staffing, Pandiarajan said.

He said the company was building “intelligent, integrated and future-ready people solutions.”

IPO in abeyance:
Meanwhile, CIEL HR has kept its proposed Rs 303-crore initial public offering which was planned for early 2026 in abeyance.

Pandiarajan attributed it to current unfavourable market conditions.

He said the company might revisit its listing plans and file a fresh Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) in the third quarter of FY2027.

In February this year, the company raised Rs 30 crore in a pre-IPO round from 88 marquee investors, including institutions, industry leaders and entrepreneurs.

Pandiarajan said the company had enough cash flow to achieve the Rs 6,000-revenue mark.

“As far as the IPO is concerned, we currently see three possible paths ahead,” he said.

“The first option is to grow entirely through internal resources and still achieve Rs 6,000 crore revenue with strong profitability, without raising any external money,” Pandiarajan said.

The second option was to raise funds selectively for acquisitions in the HR tech space that strengthened the people operating system strategy, he said.

“The third option is to proceed with the IPO. If by Q3 the market conditions improve and our industry segment becomes favourable again, we may revive the IPO process and potentially target a Q4 listing,” Pandiarajan said.

“We have grown 32 per cent in an industry that has grown around 10 per cent,” Aditya Narayan Mishra, Managing Director and CEO of CIEL HR Group, said.

“We are currently among the fastest-growing companies in the HR services space,” he said.

 

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