Rahul Bhatia
Founder and MD, IndiGo
Age: 54
Rank in the Rich List: 5
Net Worth: $1.9 billion
The Big Challenge Faced in the Last Year: Rising cost of aviation fuel and weaker rupee were big challenges for the aviation sector, but IndiGo has stayed on course
The Way Forward: Rahul is unperturbed about competition from AirAsia and Vistara. He is keen on making a name in the hotels business
In early October, InterGlobe Enterprises, a $2.6 billion (revenues) travel and hospitality group, best known for its efficient budget airline IndiGo, will have completed 25 years. No huge celebrations are in store to mark the milestone. Group managing director Rahul Bhatia will address an all-staff meeting broadcast from InterGlobe’s headquarters in Gurgaon, near Delhi, and then it will be business as usual. “Why spend all that money?” shrugs Rahul.
Fanatical cost-consciousness has lifted IndiGo, a rank newcomer eight years ago, to the top of India’s airline market. As per August data tracked by India’s airline regulator, the privately held carrier that has carried 84 million passengers to date has a third of all domestic passengers (Rahul and dad Kapil Bhatia, InterGlobe’s executive chairman, own 51 percent). Media baron Kalanithi Maran’s SpiceJet, lately a discount warrior, is a distant No 2 with close to one-fifth share. Airline tycoon Naresh Goyal’s 21-year-old Jet Airways, co-owned by Etihad Airways, trails in the third spot. While SpiceJet and Jet have been racking up losses, IndiGo makes money and has been doing so since 2009. In the fiscal year till March 2013, the latest for which official numbers are available, it reported net profits of $130 million on revenues of $1.6 billion.
Founder and MD, IndiGo
Age: 54
Rank in the Rich List: 5
Net Worth: $1.9 billion
The Big Challenge Faced in the Last Year: Rising cost of aviation fuel and weaker rupee were big challenges for the aviation sector, but IndiGo has stayed on course
The Way Forward: Rahul is unperturbed about competition from AirAsia and Vistara. He is keen on making a name in the hotels business
In early October, InterGlobe Enterprises, a $2.6 billion (revenues) travel and hospitality group, best known for its efficient budget airline IndiGo, will have completed 25 years. No huge celebrations are in store to mark the milestone. Group managing director Rahul Bhatia will address an all-staff meeting broadcast from InterGlobe’s headquarters in Gurgaon, near Delhi, and then it will be business as usual. “Why spend all that money?” shrugs Rahul.
Fanatical cost-consciousness has lifted IndiGo, a rank newcomer eight years ago, to the top of India’s airline market. As per August data tracked by India’s airline regulator, the privately held carrier that has carried 84 million passengers to date has a third of all domestic passengers (Rahul and dad Kapil Bhatia, InterGlobe’s executive chairman, own 51 percent). Media baron Kalanithi Maran’s SpiceJet, lately a discount warrior, is a distant No 2 with close to one-fifth share. Airline tycoon Naresh Goyal’s 21-year-old Jet Airways, co-owned by Etihad Airways, trails in the third spot. While SpiceJet and Jet have been racking up losses, IndiGo makes money and has been doing so since 2009. In the fiscal year till March 2013, the latest for which official numbers are available, it reported net profits of $130 million on revenues of $1.6 billion.
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