Former GoJavas CEO Ghadge quits Snapdeal's captive logistics unit Vulcan

Vijay Ghadge, chief operating officer at Snapdeal's in-house logistics arm Vulcan Express Pvt Ltd, has quit with immediate effect barely four months after joining the firm.

Vulcan Express CEO Hardeep Singh informed the company staff via an email about Ghadge's exit citing a personal exigency.

A spokesperson for Vulcan confirmed Ghadge's resignation. Attempts to reach out to him failed. The news surfaced through social media as two pseudonymous twitter handles tweeted about it.

Ghadge was previously chief executive officer at the troubled e-commerce logistics firm GoJavas, in which Snapdeal held a significant stake. He joined Vulcan as Snapdeal abandoned its move to acquire GoJavas and decided to strengthen its own captive logistics arm Vulcan.

GoJavas was spun off from online fashion retailer Jabong as an independent company in 2013 and was sold to Delhi-based courier service operator Pigeon Express earlier this year.

GoJavas was in the eye of a storm earlier this year after allegations emerged of financial irregularities from the time when it was part of Jabong. The logistics firm's talks with Snapdeal for a buyout reportedly fell through due to differences over valuation.

Ghadge's abrupt exit comes amid Snapdeal's efforts to reduce dependence on third-party logistics services by sprucing up its own delivery wing and raises questions on the company's strategy. Its rival Flipkart, meanwhile, has strengthened its logistics arm EKart and launched courier services for third-party clients.

Snapdeal recently initiated a top-level reshuffle in which functions such as category management, market development and brand alliances were consolidated into one team under senior vice president Vishal Chadha. The rejig also saw head of category management Saurab Bansal moving to head Snapdeal Instant, a service to deliver orders within 90 minutes which was launched a few months ago.

Snapdeal, which recently faced a markdown on its valuation by key investor SoftBank Group Corp, is trying various measures to boost growth. Co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl recently said the company would invest $100 million to boost fashion retailing.