IndiGo appoints Rahul Bhatia as Managing Director

The Board of Directors of InterGlobe Aviation Limited, the company that operates India's largest domestic airline IndiGo unanimously agreed to appoint co-founder and promoter Rahul Bhatia as its Managing Director. 

The company said in a statement that Rahul Bhatia has been appointed for five years effective from February 4, 2022, not liable to retire by rotation and is subject to the approval of the members of the company.

The change in management comes after the recent confrontation between promoters Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal. The airline had called for an extraordinary-general meeting (EGM) on December 30, to amend its Articles of Association and remove restrictions on the transfer of promoter shares. Gangwal and Bhatia collectively hold 74.44 per cent of the equity share capital of InterGlobe.

The dispute started in May 2019 when Gangwal accused Bhatia of indulging in related-party transactions. Gangwal also raised complaints about Bhatia's rights over the board leading to governance failures. 

The two promoters had also gone to the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) to settle their differences after a resolution proposed by Gangwal in 2019 to amend the company’s Articles of Association was defeated by shareholders.

Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal founded IndiGo as a low-cost airline back in 2006. Bhatia worked in the hospitality sector, while Gangwal was a senior executive at United Airlines.

Rahul Bhatia is also the Vice Chairman of InterGlobe Enterprises. He holds a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

In 2011, Bhatia was awarded as the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ by Ernst & Young. In 2016, he was featured on the Forbes’ Global Game Changers List.