Speculation is rife that embattled industrialist and member of Parliament Vijay Mallya may have already left India, and may be in Geneva, Switzerland.
The plea by a consortium of 17 public sector banks, led by the country’s largest lender, State Bank of India, is slated for hearing in the Supreme Court today. The lenders had moved the apex court on Tuesday pleading that Mallya be restrained from travelling abroad, and the court had admitted the plea.
Early Upbringing
Famous for his flamboyant and flashy lifestyle. Vijay Mallya is the son of a famous industrialist Vittal Mallya. Mallya was born on December 20, 1955 in Kolkata and did his graduation from the University of Calcutta. He had a very ordinary upbringing and used to commute to college by trams and buses. After college hours he worked as a low-paid trainee in his father’s company for Rs.400 per month.
After his father Vittal Mallya passed away in 1983, it was all up to the young Mallya to guide his father’s legacy through rough waters. He aptly rose to the occasion and transformed the company into a multi-billion dollar conglomerate.
His flagship United Spirits is now a subsidiary of UK major Diageo.
The family legacy that Mallya talks about does not exist as he has lost control of the company which was his father’s acquisition.
In 2000, Vijay Mallya entered politics superceded Subramaniam Swamy as the president of Janata Party. Presently, he is a Rajya Sabha M.P.
Popular Properties
Mallya currently has 26 residences around the world. His main home is in Sausalito, California built on an area of 11000 square feet.
Mabula Game Lodge is set in one of South Africa’s finest private game reserves. Vijay Malaya owns this Mabula Game Reserve close to Johannesburg.
Billionaire Vijay Mallya continues to bedazzle others through his sheer sense of style and has purchased a unique piece of luxury real estate on the Island of Sainte-Marguerite, the largest of the four islands of Lérins., two of which are uninhabited.
Introduction of Kingfisher Airlines
In 2005, Vijay Mallya established Kingfisher Airlines. At a time when the aviation market was dominated by the state-owned Indian Airlines and privately owned Jet Airways, followed by the smaller Air Sahara, it was launched. In a short span of time Kingfisher Airline has carved a niche for itself. It was the first airline in India to operate with all new aircrafts. Kingfisher Airlines is also the first Indian airline to order the Airbus A380.
Kingfisher Airlines, which redefined air travel in India, hit financial turbulence in late 2011 due to mounting debt and a shortfall in expected revenue. Despite restructuring the debt with the help of creditors, the airline found it difficult to extricate itself out of its troubles.
Downfall
The airline, which had not made a profit since its inception, went through debt restructuring once in March 2011 in the form of a bailout package from a consortium of 13 banks that included State Bank of India and ICICI Bank.
Even after the debt restructuring and infusing of fresh capital in the form of an additional debt of Rs. 12.12 billion from the consortium of banks, the airline found itself unable to overcome the problem and reported a net loss of Rs. 7322.10 million during the first six months of the FY 2012.
For FY 2011, the airline had accumulated losses of 102.74 billion and more than fifty percent of its net worth had been eroded. The cash-strapped and bleeding airline cancelled 175 flights out of the 418 allotted for the Winter Schedule, which included four international flights to Bangkok.
Earlier last week the consortium of banks had sought the intervention of the Debt Recovery Tribunal to seize Mallya’s passport, and also the first right over the $75 million settlement that Mallya had reached with UK spirits major Diageo, in return for his stepping down from the chairmanship of United Spirits Ltd.
