Rakesh Gangwal
$1.6 bln
Rich List rank: 70
It is hard to avoid the public gaze when you are in the aviation business, but Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder of India’s biggest (by market share) and most profitable airline IndiGo, has managed to do it for all these years. The US-based billionaire, who was the former president and CEO of US Airways, holds approximately 45 percent stake in InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of IndiGo.
In September, IndiGo received Sebi approval for its Rs 2,500 crore initial public offering (IPO), the largest in India’s civil aviation industry. According to a July article in Forbes, the IPO values IndiGo at over $3 billion. Rahul Bhatia, the other co-founder, holds about 55 percent stake in the domestic carrier.
Launched in 2006, IndiGo has been the only flagbearer of profitable growth in India’s aviation industry, which has seen the death of many brands such as Kingfisher Airlines and Paramount Airways. For the financial year ended March 2015, IndiGo posted a net profit of Rs 1,304 crore, reporting a four-fold increase over its previous year’s numbers. At present, IndiGo operates a fleet of 97 planes with 648 daily flights connecting 38 destinations.
(This story appears in the 29 October, 2015 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
I think some of these people might be eligible to debut on the rich list. Ryuko Hira (Kamlesh Punjabi), Japan Bicky Chakraborty, Sweden Murli Kewalram Chanrai, Singapore Bob Singh Dhillon, Canada Anurag Dikshit, Gibraltar Vikrant Bhargava, UK Lord Swraj Paul, UK Gope Hathiramani, France Sant Singh Chatwal, USA Harish Fabiani, Spain Ram Bhavnani, Spain Shyam Aswani, Spain Hari Harilela, Hong Kong Niraj Goel, Singapore Pramod Agarwal, UK B S Abdur Rahman, UAE Raam Punjabi, Indonesia Allana Brothers(Feroz,Irfan and Shiraz), UAE Vidya Chhabria, UAE Tony Jashanmal Jhangiani, UAE LT Pagarani, UAE JP Kalwani, UAE JR Gangaramani, UAE Harshad Mehta, UAE Dilip Mehta, Belgium Paras Shahdadpuri, UAE Amit Dhamani, UAE Maghanmal Pàncholia, UAE Nilesh Ved, UAE Kabir Mulchandani, UAE Rajen Kilachand, UAE Shaji Ul Mulk, UAE Shamsheer Vayalil, UAE Ramesh Prabhakar, UAE Ashish Thakkar, UAE Lakshmi Shivdasani, UK Suresh Chellaram, Nigeria Kishinchand Chellaram, Hong Kong
on Oct 23, 2015