'Mallya has enough assets to sell for repaying loans'
Bengaluru, June 26: Fugitive Vijay Mallya has enough assets to sell and replay loans he raised from banks to fund his now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, an official said on Tuesday.
"The value of Mallya's assets seized by the authorities concerned is estimated to be nearly Rs 13,960 crore, while he owes about Rs 9,500 crore to a consortium of banks," a law enforcing agency official told IANS here.
On a petition in February 2016 by the consortium of 17 banks for recovery of their dues from the airline, the Debt Recovery Tribunal recovered and transferred to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) assets valued at Rs 7,529 crore.
In a petition to the Karnataka High Court on June 22, Mallya offered to sell under judicial supervision his fixed assets and shares valued at Rs 8,423 crore to repay the outstanding dues to creditors, including banks.
"As most of fixed assets valued at Rs 1,700 crore and shares (pledged/unpledged) worth Rs 4,978 crore, totalling Rs 6,678 crore) have been seized and attached, the ED has to release them for sale," said the official, preferring anonymity.
The Tribunal has so far recovered Rs 198 crore in fixed deposits and balance amount in the bank accounts of the defaulters (Mallya and United Breweries Holdings Ltd) and Rs 73 crore from the sale of the sprawling Kingfisher Villa at Candolim in Goa in April 2017.
As stated by Mallya in a statement to the media earlier, he had deposited Rs 1,280 crore with the high court on its direction in 2013.
In addition, Mallya is ready to sell other assets worth Rs 2,650 crore.
Mallya's six other entities are also willing to sell shares worth Rs 2,888 crore, held in the group companies such as United Spirits Ltd, United Breweries Ltd and McDowell Holdings Limited.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Karnataka fast-tracks investment approvals, cuts red tape across key clearances: Minister Patil
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister M B Patil on Saturday said the state government has fast-tracked approvals for investment projects and taken measures to cut red tape.
He said that since 2022, Karnataka has approved 2,028 projects worth Rs 5.11 lakh crore, which could create 7.16 lakh jobs.
Of these, Rs 69,564 crore has already been realised, generating 1.06 lakh jobs, he added.
“Karnataka fast-tracks approvals, cuts red tape,” the Minister for Large & Medium Industries said.
“Clear results of our government’s push to speed up approval processes are now evident. Not only have investment agreements been secured, but effective implementation is also underway,” he said in a post on X.
He added that simplified and swift approval processes are boosting investor confidence and providing greater impetus to industrial growth across the state.
“Karnataka’s investment-friendly environment is further strengthened by its culture of ease of doing business,” he said.
Noting that Karnataka is fast-tracking approvals and aligning departments and districts for on-ground delivery, the minister said: “We have overhauled 18 key approvals, cutting land use change clearance time from 120 to 45 days, fire NOC from 60 to 21 days, factory plan approvals from 30 to 14 days, and electrical approvals to just 10 days.”
In a competitive landscape, Karnataka is acting decisively to ensure faster decisions, fewer delays, and a truly pro-industry ecosystem, he added.
