Mallya's interests range from property and politics to racing and fertilizers
Though rarely seen in Bangalore, UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya is a representative of Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, having been elected by members of the Legislative Assembly, first in 2002 and again in 2010. Interestingly, in both elections, he registered a higher margin of victory than candidates representing major political parties. If his business rivals look at him as a “takeover specialist,” so do his political rivals, who are aware of his ability, aided by his considerable financial clout, to upset their political calculations.
Apart from his liquor and airlines businesses, Mallya owns landmark buildings in the city centre, particularly the well-known UB Mall — a 55:45 partnership with the Prestige group at an estimated cost of over Rs. 300 crore — and Kingfisher towers spread over 11 acres of land adjoining Cubbon Park. In the vicinity of this structure is the Mallya Hospital, one of the first corporate hospitals in Bangalore established in 1990 in association with the Apollo Hospitals of Chennai.
This apart, he is a major donor for the Mallya Aditi International School, and also runs Karnataka Breweries and Distilleries Ltd at Nelamangal, which brews his signature Kingfisher beer. Another major brewery is also under construction at Nanjangud near Mysore.
He first made inroads in the government sector by acquiring Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers, with a turnover of over Rs. 2,200 crore.
Yet another prime government property Mallya took over in 1991 is the 500-acre Kunigal Stud Farm, about 70 kilometres from Bangalore. An ardent racing fan, this property was leased to him. He set up United Racing and Bloodstock Breeders Ltd in 1988 to bring under a single banner his rapidly growing interests in horse racing and breeding. While he started owning race horses at the age of 21, in 1985 he started purchasing quality horses in numbers to compete at the highest levels of the sport.
From horses, car racing was a logical step: the Force India team which he acquired in 2007 now has the participation of the Sahara group led by Subroto Roy and the team has been renamed Sahara Force India. Prior to the Delhi Grand Prix last month, it was widely reported that the Formula India team was up for sale.
The liquor business is, however, his mainstay. United Breweries was bought by his father, Vittal Mallya, in 1947. Its original headquarters was at Armenian Street in Madras, where it was set up in 1915. Apart from business takeovers, Vijay Mallya is also known for purchasing Tipu Sultan's sword at an auction in London in 2004, and subsequently bidding in another auction in New York to get back some of Mahatma Gandhi's belongings.
Keywords: Kingfisher bailout, frequent flyer club, Vijay Mallya, Ministry of Civil Aviation, UB Group management
15 years experience in brewery as ashift brewer
''there is no parallel''to 'THE HINDU'in as far as the reporting of any matter including the
articulation, presentation and polling opinion about the same is concerned.A normal, law
abiding patriotic citizen with a meagre level of education can also evaluate a news or a lead
by reading 'the hindu The articles under the captions "lenders continue talks-,"beyond
liquor and flying-, "raise and fall of castle", when read in conjunction with each other along
with other related news items shall definitely enlighten anybody.Flamboyancy of Mr Malaya
or no profit even in a single year cannot be of any concern to the public other than the
shareholders. Govt., bailout will turnout or will pave way for that of something like Mr
Poojaris loan melas of yesteryears.Alternatively a schemed plan something like the one
meted out for the scam.ridden-satyamcomputers of recent times(apparently there is no scam
in KF -AIR) will definitely be a solution forK F ,lenders&industry.JAIHIND.
Hey All!! I have read through the comments and figured everybody is jealous of the fortune he has and thus should not be bailed out. The point is however that the aviation is not going for profit until steps necessary are not taken. I would consider Kingfisher and Air India as just 2 similar Airline companies which needs better policy from the governement
If he really concerned about Kingfisher, he should invest his own money instead of taking taxpayers money.
Vijay Mallya is the god of glamour. His only reason to start KF airline was to gift his son Siddharth something glamourous on his 18th birthday. Today, SBI investors are paying the price. Capt Gopinath should acquire KF back, rename the airline to Air Deccan and create history, Steve Jobs style.
Richest corporate owners never contest an electoral battle to get elected to the Lok Sabha
as there could easily acquire the required votes from the electoral college in the State
Legislatures. Mr. Vijay Mallya has been elected from his State Karnataka. Another Richest
corporate owner from Tamil Nadu , Who also owns race horses, had also been elected to the
Rajya Sabha from Karnataka. Anil Ambani had also been elected to Rajya Sabha from U.P.
courtesy Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh. Ram math Goenka who contested the Lok Sabha
Election in 1957 or 1962 from Villupuram Constituency of Tamil Nadu was defeated by one
great Tamil Scholar " Thirukkural Munusamy ". Till recently just because they are the Richest
Corporate Owners they could not become members of the Rajya Sabha but at present the
Rajya Sabha Seat could be easily acquired by them. Gone are the days when these Richest
corporate owners were at the mercy of politicians , now it is vice versa. Political parties
should introspect .
RTE has now come up after 63years of Independence! Will this or any other government dare bring a law similar to it, "Right To Health" in respect of another article of the Indian constitution(Article 47:Duty of state to raise level of.... {prohibition of} consumption except for medicinal purposes of(of liquor) INTOXICATING drinks and drugs which are injurious to health, and come out of the clutches of liquor barons and their dictates. Then perhaps we need not encounter sights of impoverished, drunk, unconscious, men lying in drains, foot paths or roads, much worse than Tharoor's "cattle". No SUBSIDY or DONATION for King-fisher. Better rise up the Air India.
Helping the kingfisher airlines of a man who is one of the richest MPs, who owns F-1 team, luxury yachts, controls a flourishing liqour business and who makes all efforts to showcase his lavish lifestyle, should the last thing on the agenda of govt of India. This will be too harsh specially when the 60% of country is BPL.
It is informative to know, that the UB was bought by Vithal Mallya in 1947, and it's heaquarters was in Madras, which was set up in 1915. It would have been more informative, had the erstwhile owner's of the breweries is also mentioned.
This is what happens when a liquor barron hold the memorobilia of a great man Mahatma Gandhi, who was against liquor. Who knows he may be facing the curse of that great man and this is the begining of his end. Why does he poke into every business. what happened to his royal challengers cricket team. he can ask his players to bail him out. He can make the whole nation to drink more his beer and destroy families and it fabric. may be he is facing the wrath of the women whose lives have been disrupted because of his beer. What is that he want to do with F1 racing. he can ask his drivers to bail him out. He is member of parliament. may be most of voters must have voted him in a druncken state without knowing who they are voting for. "AASMAN MEIN VOODHNEH WALAE MITTI MEIN MIL JATHE HAIN" has been sung by Manna dey long time ago in the movie "UPKAR". We may see an example ourselves.
A colourful and most pampered businessmen, especially by civil servants, media and of course the ministers. See the alacrity with which the governmetn responded to the KF crisis; compare it to the languishing tale of Air India, the merger case which only saw just’ file pushing’ by the minsitries. Yet, the KF questions the very policy framework on which he has been licensed to oepratre an airline. Elsewhere, the communist party secretary has pointed out relevantly the varying attitudes of the government in dealing with two identical airlines cases, one in the public and the other in the private sector. BJP has also reservations on giving assistance to the KF at the cost of public funds. This case appears to be a rare instance of both right-left converging in their views. And an issue on which we could see some interesting debates in the Parliament when it assembles a week later.
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