The swish set of Mumbai and Delhi were taken aback last December to receive an all-expense paid invitation from Vijay Mallya to celebrate his 60th birthday in Goa. Most of the invitees had written off the chairman of the UB group following the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines and the sale of his spirits business to Diageo.
At Panjim airport, one of the invitees said, ushers led them to waiting cars and then to Mallya's bungalow in South Goa, where the world's best wine was served and the party went on till the wee hours.
"No one could say Mallya had gone bust," said an invitee asking not to be quoted. "He was still the King of Good times. The party's budget could easily have run into a few crores of rupees."
It was this lifestyle that made many angry, especially Indian banks. Ask the head of an Indian bank and he will paint an entirely different picture. Mallya failed to repay loans worth Rs 7,200 crore, did not pay salaries, did not deposit provident fund, and did not pay income tax. It is still a mystery why banks led by IDBI Bank and State Bank of India continued to pour money into the airline when the airline was on life support. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing why IDBI Bank lent Rs 950 crore to the airline when it had almost shut shop.
08/03/16 Dev Chatterjee/Business Standard
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At Panjim airport, one of the invitees said, ushers led them to waiting cars and then to Mallya's bungalow in South Goa, where the world's best wine was served and the party went on till the wee hours.
"No one could say Mallya had gone bust," said an invitee asking not to be quoted. "He was still the King of Good times. The party's budget could easily have run into a few crores of rupees."
It was this lifestyle that made many angry, especially Indian banks. Ask the head of an Indian bank and he will paint an entirely different picture. Mallya failed to repay loans worth Rs 7,200 crore, did not pay salaries, did not deposit provident fund, and did not pay income tax. It is still a mystery why banks led by IDBI Bank and State Bank of India continued to pour money into the airline when the airline was on life support. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing why IDBI Bank lent Rs 950 crore to the airline when it had almost shut shop.
08/03/16 Dev Chatterjee/Business Standard
