Flipkart appoints Rajnish Baweja as its finance controller

India's largest consumer e-commerce company Flipkart has appointed Rajnish Baweja, a chartered accountant by profession as its finance controller, according to a The Economic Times report. The report further adds that this could be the first in a series of moves aimed at preparing the online retailer for an eventual public listing.

"They are building the (finance) team in preparation for the public offer for which they will start preparations soon," a consultant told the newspaper on the condition of anonymity.

Baweja has around 20 years of experience and had previously worked with Bharti Airtel International in various capacities including regional CFO, Netherlands; finance controller, Airtel Africa; and chief controller of its mobile business.

According to media reports, Flipkart has an IPO in the pipeline but an exact timeline for the same has not been drawn up by its co-founders Sachin and Binny Bansal (not related). Flipkart's rival Snapdeal.com is also targeting a US public float in the next 12-24 months, its co-founder Kunal Bahl had revealed earlier.

Recently, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd had filed for an IPO, in what would be the biggest tech firm public offer in the US after social networking giant Facebook.