Ex-IndiGo CEO Aditya Ghosh joins Tata Trusts, to advise on cancer care

Ghosh said the Tata Trusts Cancer Care Initiative is one of the largest health care programmes in the world

Former IndiGo Airlines CEO Aditya Ghosh has joined as a senior advisor of Tata Trusts and will advise the core team of its cancer care initiative.

The Tata Trusts has identified cancer as a key area of focus and is investing in building cancer hospitals across the country.

Ghosh, responding to a query, said: "India has nearly 1.5 million new cancer cases every year. Unfortunately, most cases are detected at a very late stage and treatment for patients is either expensive or simply hard to get.

"I have decided to dedicate 20 per cent of my personal time over the next several months.”

Ghosh said the Tata Trusts Cancer Care Initiative is one of the largest health care programmes in the world.

The goal is to create an extensive network of cancer treatment across hundreds of districts in India.

Ghosh, who has been instrumental in building IndiGo from the scratch to the country’s largest domestic carrier, however, left suddenly after promoters announced that the airline will now expand its international foray and fly to Europe and other middle-haul destinations.

The promoters of the company, including Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia, hired many expatriates at top management positions to give a new push to the airline's international foray.

Those in the know say that this was one of the reasons that many in the top management decided to call it a day, though Ghosh has denied any such reasoning.

The Tata Group also has investments in the aviation business through two joint ventures --- Vistara with Singapore Airlines and in Air Asia India.  Vistara is working on its plans to fly overseas, despite having a small share in the domestic market.

Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters