Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia says Rakesh Jhujhunwala will be remembered for giving India its new airline Akasa Air

New Delhi: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala will be remembered for giving India its new airline Akasa Air after more than a decade, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Sunday while expressing condolences on the ace investor's demise.

Veteran stock market investor Jhunjhunwala, often referred to as India's Warren Buffett and whose net worth was USD 5.8 billion (about Rs 46,000 crore), died in Mumbai on Sunday morning. He held 40 per cent shares in Akasa Air.

Scindia had on August 7 inaugurated Akasa Air's first flight, which operated from Mumbai to Ahmedabad. The airline had on July 7 received air operator certificate from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Scindia said on Sunday: "Shri Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Ji was not only an astute businessman, but also passionately invested in India's growth story." 

"He will be remembered for giving India its new airline Akasa Air after more than a decade. My deepest condolences to his family and loved ones," he mentioned. 

Jhunjhunwala was present at the Mumbai airport on August 7 for Akasa Air's inaugural flight. 

Jhujhunwala had then said in his speech: “I must thank you (Scindia) because people say that India has a very very bad bureaucracy but the cooperation that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has given us, it is unbelievable.” 

Nowhere in the world has an airline been conceived and born in 12 months, he had added.

“Normally a child is born in 9 months, we took 12 months. It would not have been possible without the cooperation of the Ministry of Civil Aviation,” he had noted.