Vijay Mallya the delinquent borrower on the run from several agencies of the government, now wants to strike a deal, but the banks remain wary.
The Vijay Mallya affair continues, like a B-grade Bollywood potboiler in which the villain smartly eludes a bunch of bumbling cops. The flamboyant businessman, whose airline company made a spectacular crash in 2012, is wanted by a clutch of law enforcement and regulatory agencies, and banks and financial institutions whom he owes in excess of Rs.9,000 crore—Rs.6,963 crore being the principal and the remainder being the interest on the accumulated borrowings. But there are others too waiting for the prodigal son to return, among them his erstwhile employees, to many of whom he owes unpaid salaries. Then there are suppliers such as the fuel companies, component suppliers, airport operators, caterers and many others to whom Mallya’s companies owe substantial sums.
After playing hide-and-seek for so long, suddenly, out of the blue came Mallya’s recent offer, from a faraway location, to pay a not-so-insubstantial sum of Rs.4,000 crore. As always in such cases, the devil lay in the details. For one, the offer of a one-time settlement, to be made over six months, would imply that banks would get only about 40 per cent of what he owes them, and that too with all the uncertainties associated with Mallya. But even more serious are the precedents that such a heavily discounted settlement would set for the many more such cases that saddle the loan books of banks. The third question that Mallya’s offer poses is, Why should the banks accept his offer when his “net worth” in the four companies in which he has significant holdings—United Breweries, Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers, UB Holdings and the defunct Kingfisher Airlines— amount to more than Rs.7,000 crore?
Denne historien er fra April 29, 2016-utgaven av FRONTLINE.
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Denne historien er fra April 29, 2016-utgaven av FRONTLINE.
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How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
