Who is Arun Bhatia?

Arun Bhatia’s son Amit is married to Vanisha Mittal, the only daughter of LN Mittal, owner of ArcelorMittal

Delhi-based Arun Bhatia of Telstra Tradeplace Pvt Ltd is picking up a 21 per cent stake in the Air Asia-Tata Sons joint venture airline.

Arun Bhatia’s son Amit Bhatia is married to Vanisha Mittal, the only daughter of LN Mittal, owner of ArcelorMittal.

Air Asia founder Tony Fernandes owns a 66 per cent per cent stake in the Queens Park Rangers Football Club, where Amit Bhatia is a board member. The Mittals own 27 per cent of the club.

Arun Bhatia also runs Delhi-based Hindustan Aerosystems, but no public information is available on the company’s operations.

Both the Tatas and the Bhatias are expected to give local support to the joint venture, which will be run by Air Asia.

The airline is expecting the Foreign Investment Promotion Board’s clearance within a month and plans to fly within a year.

Amit Bhatia tweeted about the venture, saying it was hugely exciting “involving my family, Tata Sons and the coolest guy around – Tony Fernandes.”

A statement by Air Asia says Telstra Tradeplace is an investment holding company of Arun Bhatia.

Hindustan Aerosystems, a Telstra group company, manufactures and supplies precision components for the aerospace industry.

Arun Bhatia has two sons, Aneesh Bhatia and Amit Bhatia and a daughter, Ayesha Bhatia. Aneesh Bhatia serves as a director in Hindustan Aerosystems.