The spouses of two senior SpiceJet (SG, Delhi International) executives have registered an entity called Sirius India Airlines Pvt. Ltd, flagging potential conflict of interest concerns.
India's Mint outlet reports that Meenakshi Kashyap, the wife of SpiceJet's Chief Operating Officer Arun Kashyap, and Ajay Bhatia, the husband of Chief Commercial Officer Shilpa Bhatia, registered the unlisted private company to a North West Delhi address in mid-August. According to Indian company records, Sirius India Airlines Pvt. Ltd has an authorised share capital of INR21 million (USD252,500) and a total paid-up capital of INR1 million (USD1,200).
The entity's stated primary business activity is warehousing and aviation support activities. However, the name has led to speculation in India-based media that it may be a potential airline startup. In a statement, a SpiceJet spokesperson saysid the airline was unaware of the incorporation until recently. "The company has remained inactive and has not undertaken any activity since its registration. Any future activity by the company will be carried out only with the consent of SpiceJet Ltd," the spokesperson said.
Arun Kashyap has been SpiceJet's COO since June 2023. Aside from 13 months across 2022 and 2023 working as the chief technical officer and director of engineering at Air India (AI, Delhi International), he has worked at SpiceJet since 2014. Aside from spending six months at IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi International) in late 2019, Shilpa Bhatia has also worked at SpiceJet since 2014. She has served as SpiceJet's CCO since February 2020. ch-aviation has approached Kashyap and Bhatia for comment.
