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
Aditiya Anand is a Hard core communal Hindu terrorist working under the shelter, protection and with the support of BJP. Second one is shakshi maharaj. They are not the saints or Sadhus but are the goons only to terrorize the minority classes as well as scheduled castes and backward classes.The government is keeping a blind eye toward these anti social elements.They must be controlled and debated from anti-social activities at the earliest possible. otherwise government of India will have to face the revolt from within the party folds. As there are people who are against such elements and do not want to set these bhagwa/saffron dressed miscreants free from the clutches of the law and order. The ministry of HOME Affairs must turn the cannons of law and order towards these anti-social...anti religious....anti law....anti humanism people.
Fake yogi
Put him in jail
AIMMM must file a case (nirbhaya a Ct?)
The trails and full investigation should in camera and identity of the victims shouldn't revealed.
Dear coastal digest my humble request with you please do not post PSYCHIATRISTS comments.
Naren potian can you send your sister to this place?
#RUC taken many action on it with their team
first of belated happy new year wishes for ultra nationalist Indian s ,who thinks nation first and religion second ...hahaha Look at the frustration among Itch guard users from one particular community ... all fake news .sorry to say CD is not at all posting news in which islamic millitants committing henious crimes and terrorists acts , be it in malda or in Bihar or pathankot ... even papa al quaida terrorist sikkagle in bangalore, chummah antha ummah kottu , chumma chumma dede antha ummah ge hurt agbardu antha news ne haakalla ..this shows the maturity of this news media , fake victimisation is new found technic by muslims but everybody knows the truth mama.. One particular religion on daily basis kidnaps 1000's of non muslim gals based on instruction from headless and rapist preachers , who scream for jihad ... we know how these piece piece religion sells women in petrol pumps of raqqa,syria on USD basis ... hahaha .
Ley fairman , we are not living in ISIS controlled or saud family ruled rogue nation to behead democratically elected person .. India mama idu ... sorry Hindusthan kano .. acha kannadali bharatha khanda mams idu ..yenne haakidya henge guru ... mostly local haakirbeku ... filter less agi , olagade iro true attitude aache bandide ... hahaha
anyways long live RSS , Jai bajrangdal ... Jai yogi adithya nand ...we must learn from Israel to counter anti national terrorists , Intifada maadthini anno munde maklanna shivana paada kke seristha iro israelis are really great .. avarigu jai andu bidona ... hara hara modi ... jai jai modi ... bholo bharath mata ki jai ... bholo sangh parivar ki jai ...
Is Judiciary exist in the country and vigilant on the rule of law and feels its responsibility to protect the minorities
Are these girls Sunni or Siya.?
How some young men becoming nexalites, terrorists, decoits???
because of \gomuka vyagra\" criminals existing in our places.
To take revenge youngsters are becoming terrorists to teach a lessons to these anti nationals.
This man along with his groups should be banned and arrested.
But the Government is supporting these goons because the Government is governed by RSS ( who are the God father for all these criminal terrorists)."
ALLAH will allow to cross the limits to Evil doers ,,,then he will catch them in their necks, but the time will be over to repent........................but we have to work hard to bring back glory of Muslims not ISLAM,..........ISLAM will prevail as ALLAH will take care of it
Be honest
Be vigilant if Religion or Women comes under attack
Be Prayfull
Dont sit at home and think that Duaa is enough...if its true then Allah created Humans when Angles were there already...its a test to all of us
This guy deserves to be beheaded immediately and his daughters to be just kidnapped and treated good, so that he and his followers learn well.
Ya it is true. yogi should be banned from india
seriously, AIMMM dont have any work to do.
what non sense it is,
YA ALLAH save us from Such human devils.
Oh Ummah, please be alert because devils are roaming freely.. because the Word of ALLAH is kept in the SHELF ...
& also
Our prophet said be UNITED
Groups say : Don't UNITE by adding their own version to TRUE ISLAM.
Think which Group is asking U NOT to GET UNITED?
ALL types of devils will run away when we act upon the word of ALLAH...
Lets not be a MUSLIM only by name... We should act as a MUSLIM. U just need to take the step... ALLAH will help U fight such devils in ins & jinns. There is no POWER nor MIGHT except with ALLAH.
one more allegation, what are we. what are we hearing, seriously we common people are not understanding.
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