IndiGo shares surge on Indian airline's trading debut

Shares in India's largest carrier IndiGo soared almost 18 percent above their listing price on the airline's trading debut Tuesday, as investors bet on the country's growing appetite for air travel.

In early morning trade InterGlobe Aviation, IndiGo's parent company, touched 898.00 rupees ($13.54) -- up 17.38 percent from their 765 rupee listing price on the Bombay Stock Exchange  -- before tapering to 887.40 rupees by noon.

IndiGo's initial public offering last month was India's biggest in three years and raised almost $460 million for the budget carrier. 

Shares were sold at between 700 rupees and 765 rupees each, with the money raised to be used for trimming the airline's debt and paying for 250 Airbus planes it ordered earlier this year.

IndiGo also plans to use the IPO warchest to fund an expansion in services as increasingly wealthy Indians shun the country's creaking rail network in favour of cheap air travel.

In October, India's government unveiled a plan to make air travel affordable for millions of its citizens, with schemes to revive ailing airports and connect rural areas that it said would "take flying to the masses".