For many Indian tycoons, 2019 turned woeful as lenders -- empowered by the nation’s recent bankruptcy law and desperate to clean up soured debt from their books -- started seizing assets of delinquent firms or dragged them into insolvency.
Indian banks wrote off a record $39 billion of loans in the 18 months through September in a bid to repair their balance sheets as they battled the world’s worst bad debt pile. Making matters worse, a shadow banking crisis led to a funding squeeze, crushing debt-laden businesses that were critically dependent on rollover financing.
“Life has come a full circle for tycoons that had enjoyed debt-fueled growth,” said Nirmal Gangwal, founder of distress and debt restructuring advisory firm Brescon & Allied Partners LLP. “Many firms collapsed like a house of cards. The downfall was rather unprecedented.”
The government has also been cracking down on economic crime to assuage public anger over absconding businessmen. It’s even barred some from traveling overseas if they were deemed a flight risk.
Here are some of the country’s biggest and most-storied businessmen who saw their fortunes fade. Spokespersons for none of these tycoons, except Essar, immediately replied to emails and text messages seeking comments.
Anil Ambani
The chairman of Reliance Group, which makes movies to metro lines, had a close shave with jail time in March before his elder brother and Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, bailed him out at the last minute. The woes of the ex-billionaire came to the fore when India’s top court asked him to pay Ericsson AB’s India unit about $77 million of past dues or go to jail since Anil Ambani, 60, had given a personal guarantee. His telecom carrier slipped into insolvency this year, while unprofitable Reliance Naval & Engineering Ltd. faced a cash crunch. Reliance Capital Ltd. is selling assets to pare debt. Ambani is also fending off Chinese lenders in a London court.
Malvinder & Shivinder Singh
Karma caught up with ex-billionaires and brothers Malvinder Singh, 47, and Shivinder Singh, 44, and how. Scions of a prominent business family, they once helmed India’s top drug maker and second-largest hospital chain. In October, the two were arrested on charges of fraudulently diverting nearly $337 million from a lender they controlled. India’s market regulator found in 2018 that the brothers had defrauded their hospital company of about $56 million. The collapse of the $2 billion empire turned brother against brother, prompting their mother to broker a peace deal that was short-lived. In February, Malvinder accused Shivinder and their spiritual guru of fraud.
Shashikant & Ravikant Ruia
After a hard-fought battle to keep their flagship steel mill, the first-generation entrepreneurs finally saw the bankrupt Essar Steel India Ltd. pass on to ArcelorMittal last month. The $5.9 billion takeover was almost two years in the making with multiple legal wrangles. The group, controlled by Shashikant Ruia, 76, and Ravikant Ruia, 70, were also reprimanded by a U.K. judge in March this year for concealing documents. Started in 1969 as a construction firm, Essar Group diversified, investing about $18 billion between 2008 and 2012, and piled on debt. In 2017, the group had sold another prized asset, Essar Oil.
Selling an asset to pare a liability shouldn’t be seen as a “lost asset,” an Essar spokesman said, adding that the group remains a diversified conglomerate.
VG Siddhartha
Before jumping off a bridge into a river in July in an apparent suicide, the founder of India’s biggest coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day had penned a letter that spoke of pressure from lenders, a private equity firm and harassment by tax officials. He had spent much of the last two years pledging ever more of Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd. shares to refinance loans for ever shorter periods, at ever higher interest rates. “I would like to say I gave it my all,” V.G. Siddhartha, 60, wrote in the letter. “I fought for a long time but today I gave up.”
Naresh Goyal
The former ticketing agent who built India’s largest airline by value, stepped down as chairman of Jet Airways India Ltd. in March, caving in to pressure from banks who took over the company. Cut-throat price wars and surging costs pushed Jet deeper into loss. The airline stopped flying in April and went into bankruptcy two months later as lenders failed to find a buyer. In July, an Indian court barred Naresh Goyal from flying overseas after the government said it was investigating an alleged $2.6 billion fraud involving Jet Airways.
Rana Kapoor
The founder of Yes Bank Ltd., which became India’s fourth-largest non-state lender, tweeted in September 2018 that his shares were invaluable and requested his children never to sell them upon inheritance. But trouble was brewing. The nation’s banking regulator, which found the lender had repeatedly under-reported its bad loans, refused to extend his tenure as chief executive officer. This forced Rana Kapoor, 62, to step down by end-January. Kapoor, who has pledged some of his Yes Bank shares in July, sold almost his entire stake in the lender by October.
Subhash Chandra
The rice trader-turned-media mogul, 69, who brought cable television into Indian homes in the early 1990s with his ZEE TV, resigned as chairman of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. in November and lost control of his crown jewel. Subhash Chandra has been selling stake in Zee Entertainment in the past few months to repay group’s debt.
Gautam Thapar
A default by Gautam Thapar, founder of the paper mill-to-power transmission Avantha Group, on pledged shares made Yes Bank Ltd. the biggest shareholder in CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd. In August, the firm was hit by an accounting scandal forcing the board to remove Thapar, 59, from the chairman’s post. A month later, the market regulator ordered a forensic audit of the firm and barred Thapar from accessing securities market.
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Inna lillaahi wa inna ilaihi Rajioon.Visited him on Eid day,was very cheerful.
He was a great visionary known for his clean image, integrity and his concern for the society and the Community.
May Allah grant strength to his family and friends to over come this moment of grief
May Allah Grant him Jannat
Aameen........
Real Wonderful Man he was. RIP
As a politician he had sacrificed his life for the people and party. But his party leaders sacrificed him for their selfish gains.
ಲೋಕಾರ್ಪಣೆಗೊಳ್ಳುವ ಮುನ್ನವೇ ಅಲ್ಲಾಹನ ಕರೆಗೆ ಓಗೊಟ್ಟು ಇಂದು ನಮ್ಮನ್ನಗಲಿದ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಕಂಡ ಸರಳ, ಸಜ್ಜನ ಮತ್ತು ನೇರ ನಡೆ ನುಡಿಯ ಪ್ರಾಮಾಣಿಕ ಮುಸ್ಲಿಮ್ ಸಮುದಾಯದ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಯ ರಾಜಕಾರಣಿ......
ಇವರ ಮರಣವು ಸಮಾಜಕ್ಕೆ ತುಂಬಲಾರದ ನಷ್ಟ ಇವರು ಶಿಕ್ಷಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವ ರೀತಿ ಕ್ರಾಂತಿಯ ಅಲೆ ಎಬ್ಬಿಸಿದ್ದರೆಂದರೆ ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಕನ್ನಡ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾತ್ರವಲ್ಲ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ರಾಜ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣದ ಅಲೆಯನ್ನೇ ಎಬ್ಬಿಸಿ , ಹಗಲಲ್ಲಿ ಖಾಲಿಯಾಗಿರುವ ಮದರಸಾಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಆಂಗ್ಲ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮ ತರಗತಿಯನ್ನು ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸಲು ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಒತ್ತು ನೀಡಿ , ಅಲ್ಪಸಂಖ್ಯಾತ ಸಮುದಾಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣದ ಕ್ರಾಂತಿ ಮೂಡಿಸಿದವರು. ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ಸಚಿವರು ಆಗುವ ಮೊದಲು ಮತ್ತು ನಂತರವೂ ತನ್ನ ಜೀವನವನ್ನೇ ಈ ಸಮಾಜದ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣದ ಸಬಲೀಕರಣಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಒತ್ತೆ ಇಟ್ಟ ಸರಳ , ಸಜ್ಜನ, ಪ್ರಾಮಾಣಿಕ ನಾಯಕ ..ಇವರ ಅಗಲುವಿಕೆಗೆ ಇಂದು ಬೆಳಗ್ಗೆ ಎಸ್.ಡಿ.ಪಿ.ಐ. ಜಿಲ್ಲಾ ಕಛೇರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಜಿಲ್ಲಾ ಸಮಿತಿ ಸಭೆ ಕರೆದು ಸಭೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ತೀವ್ರ ಸಂತಾಪ ಸೂಚಿಸುತ್ತಾ , ಸರ್ವಶಕ್ತನು ಅವರ ಸೇವೆಯನ್ನು ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸಲಿ ಮತ್ತು ಇವರ ರಾಜಕೀಯ ಮತ್ತು ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಜೀವನವು ಜನಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಮಾದರಿಯಾಗಲಿ .
تَمَزُّق
Allah yarhemuhu
RIP. He was anyway inactive in politics for a long time. But his departure from the active politics was a tragedy. We should not forgive Poojary, Moily, Oscar for cheating this rare politician.
ಮುತ್ಸದ್ದಿ, ಹಿರಿಯ ರಾಜಕಾರಣಿ, ಜಾತ್ಯಾತೀತ ಸಿದ್ದಾಂತದ ಪ್ರಬಲ ಪ್ರತಿಪಾದಕ ಬಿ ಎ ಮೊಯಿದ್ದೀನ್ ರವರ ನಿಧನ ದುಃಖಕರ. ಜಾತ್ಯಾತೀತತೆ, ಪ್ರಾಮಾಣಿಕತೆ, ಸರಳತೆಗಳು ರಾಜಕಾರಣದಲ್ಲಿ, ಸಮಾಜದಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಧಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಮರೆಯಾಗುತ್ತಿರುವ ಕಾಲಘಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಸಂಕೇತದಂತೆ ನಮ್ಮ ನಡುವೆ ಬದುಕಿದ್ದ ಶ್ರೀಯುತರ ನಿಧನ ನಿಜಕ್ಕೂ ಸಮಾಜಕ್ಕಾದ ಬಹುದೊಡ್ಡ ನಷ್ಟ.
ಓರ್ವ ಉದಾರವಾದಿ ಮುಸಲ್ಮಾನರಾಗಿದ್ದ ಮೊಯಿದ್ದೀನ್ ರವರು ಇತ್ತೀಚೆಗೆ ಯುವಜನರು ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಮತೀಯವಾದದತ್ತ ಆಕರ್ಷಿತರಾಗುತ್ತಿರುವುದರ ಕುರಿತು ಆತಂಕಿತರಾಗಿದ್ದರು. ಶಿಕ್ಷಣಕ್ಕೆ ಅಪಾರ ಮಹತ್ವ ನೀಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಅವರು ಶೈಕ್ಷಣಿಕವಾಗಿ ಹಿಂದುಳಿದಿದ್ದ ಬ್ಯಾರಿ ಸಮುದಾಯ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಂದಕ್ಕೆ ಬರಬೇಕು ಎಂಬ ತುಡಿತ ಹೊಂದಿದ್ದರು. ಆ ಕುರಿತು ಪ್ರಾಮಾಣಿಕವಾಗಿ ತನ್ನ ಕೊಡುಗೆ ನೀಡಿದ್ದರು.
dyfi ಸಂಘಟನೆಯ ಹಿತೈಷಿಯಾಗಿ ಯುವಜನ ಚಳುವಳಿಯನ್ನು ಪ್ರೋತ್ಸಾಹಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಬಿ ಎ ಮೊಯಿದ್ದೀನ್ ಅವರ ಅಗಲಿಕಗೆ ಡಿವೈಎಫ್ಐ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸಮಿತಿ ಭಾವಪೂರ್ಣ ಸಂತಾಪ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸುತ್ತದೆ .
Rest in peace. He passed away today peacefully. But the release of his autobiography will kill three more giants from coastal Karnataka
A rare statesman indeed. Probably, he was the only non-corrupt politician from coastal Karnataka. Rest in peace
Shocking news. May allah grant him jannah
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