Billionaire founders of IndiGo differ over ’one issue’

New Delhi: Billionaire founders of IndiGo, Asia’s biggest budget airline by market value, are debating “one issue,” the company’s chief executive officer said, days after local media reported the owners have fallen apart.

“There are absolutely no differences on strategy, no differences on international expansion, no differences on management selection,” CEO Ronojoy Dutta said in a conference call with analysts on Monday. “There is one issue that they are debating right now and we hope to resolve that in the very near future.”

Dutta didn’t elaborate on what the issue is.

The founders of IndiGo -- Rakesh Gangwal, a former CEO of U.S. Airways, and Rahul Bhatia, a former airline ticketing agent -- have sparred over control of the company, local media reported this month. A statement from Gangwal that followed said he has “no desire or interest” to take over the airline. While there are differences of opinion on certain matters between the two founders, the company has a track record of resolving issues, CEO Dutta said earlier.

Dutta’s statement on Monday comes after shares of InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., which operates IndiGo, dropped the most in a year earlier this month after the reports surfaced. Founded in 2005, IndiGo has quickly outpaced its rivals to grab almost half of the local market, making both founders billionaires.