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.
Comments
Best Decision?? how do u know ?? How can you tell that??
Happy Married Life
hahaha.. sorry yaaro odihodlu antha burnol and itch guard haakolllodakke naavenu jihadi gala ... we are now enjoying surgical strikes on mini pakistanis ... kushi ge yenne hodeyodralle busy weekend nalli ... saw indian channels , in almost all channels ...Jihadis and burqas ninthonkondu modi na baiyyodu nodidre gottagate ,burnol and itch guard yelli jaasthi agide antha gottu ...
neo converts are used by ISIS to wage Jihad , namge worry irodu ashte ... its two way process kanree ... even last week i saw 2 muslim gals leaving piece ful religion towards hinduism and christianity ...
abbu beary samadhana kanappa ... nin kashta artha agatte ... rashtradrohi kelasa nodi ... police and NIA involve age agatte ...yevano jayanthi anthavne kanrappo ... jayanthi annodu hoge haaksi kondavrige kanappa ... swalpanadru general knowledge beku .. madrasa product antha gottagi biduthe ...hhahaha...adakke bere 6 liikings , it proves madrasa education yaav level ge antha ...
Naren Kotian
You have mistaken Sanathan Dharma. We are the true followers of Sanathan Dharma which prohibits Idol Worship.
We recite Gayathri mantra 17 times in our prayer. Rigveda 3-62-10
It is the first chapter of the Quran.
It has to be logically from One Supreme Creator who has no Image. Creator who is unlike His creations. Understand the Truth. Study your scriptures learn sanskrit come back to the Truth.
Because Truth is going to succeed and falsehood is bound to perish
She has come back to the Sanatan Dharma
Happy married life for couple. Burnol+ itch guard to naren Singapore.
Best decision from her side, congrats
Naren bhai ... u have mistaken !!!! The picture what cd published here is her old picture when she was a piece , in sha allah we can see a peacefull picture of her in the future with the hijab
MADHUVE JAYANTI FOR BOTH...AND BURNOOL JAYANTI FOR CHADDIS.
If Muslim girl elopes with Hindu boy, police intervene to unite them. Here, the case is vice versa and the same police are separating the couple. What a tragedy.
her t shirts speaks alot she left peaceful religion( sanatan dharma) and joined piece piece religion :) hahaha ... not a loss,its two way process ... but NIA must track these guys becoz converts are used in ISIS .We know 21 neo converts joined ISIS from kasragod . there is chance of waging jihad against own country
This love, staying with a girl before marrieage, and dont know the islam , Quran and hadith. Simply enjoying in duniya is not the behaviour of true muslim. They are spoiling their life here and here after even took birth in muslim family and have a name of muslim. and also they are spoiling the name of our muslim community. Our prophet Muhammad(PBUH) Said, a Muslim sweeping lady is better than other non muslim girls to marry.
made for each other.
let them lead their life. good or bad finally they are the one who suffer.
giving birth , giving education , love and everything by the parents and finally the girl is saying that i don't want parents and the boy who poses like Salman Khan is her choice.
she will repent one day.
at the moment let them both enjoy....
Wher is my comment?why you do not posted my comments?is there any mistake is there? please CD dont show double standeard becouse im one of the reguler reader..
This is the result of advanced tech. Parents has to check their all mobile no.s which has fake names i.e real boys name as girl's name (dummy) and incoming calls blocked by lovers. Only user will unlock during parents absence.
parents are not much educated enough to the effect of Facebook and whatsapp. If you want to provide phone to your children give them simple phone where they can not download illicit apps
May Allah (SWT) guide the couple with hidaayah!!! We should not blame them. Islam is not dependable. Enough preacher for Islam.
Congratulations Girl for the best decision.
Police dept to call both both parents with them and discuss face face and try to solve with in their limit and both elders satiso actiso action.
Interference of any dirty criminal groups, anti Indian groups or any communal mind political leader or their organized goonda group department must take strict action and send them behind bar at least for one year period for igniting communal tension.
Trust this will spoil all trouble makers intention and their political benefit gains.
irrespective of religion all middle class citizens are suffering with present red currency exchange procedures. In between communal mind politicians creating problem and planning communal tension is not faith.
God will never accept thought.
Jai Hind!
Well she should not be blamed it is bcoz of unproper teaching if she know teachings it would not had happened
Congratulations to the couple, leave in peace, take care of each other.
we respect all the religions, but above all it's love. loving each other is more important than anything else. They have won the love, may god bless you, LOVE IS GOD.
Cute Couples, happy married life to both.
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