Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Vijay Mallya has brought terrible name to private sector entrepreneurs in the country.
Highlights
- The sooner Vijay Mallya settles his dues, the better: Finance Minister
- Mr Mallya, who is not in India, declared wilful defaulter by banks
- Mr Mallya's defunct Kingfisher Airlines reportedly owes banks Rs 9,000 cr
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said the behaviour of liquor baron Vijay Mallya, the chairman of grounded Kingfisher Airlines and who has defaulted on Rs 9,000 crore repayment to 17 banks, has brought the private sector entrepreneurs in India a "terrible name."
"He has not only brought himself a bad name, he has also brought a terrible name to private sector entrepreneurs in the country," Mr Jaitley said.
Participating in a public discussion, Mr Jaitley said, "The sooner he settles his dues to the banks the better it is for the private sector."
Mr Jaitley also said Vijay Mallya cannot be ignorant about what happens to banks because of his default as there are other heavily-indebted companies which are settling their dues by selling their assets, but not Mallya.
"How long can you lead a life like this?" the Finance Minister asked, in an apparent reference to Vijay Mallya's lavish lifestyle.
Hinting that VIjay Mallya's case was not a simple case of bad business environment, Mr Jaitley said it might not have been just a clean business failure.
"In a business failure, the whole sector suffers. In the same aviation sector, people who are in competition with him are surviving and some are even doing good. This shows there is a problem with the model (Mallya followed)," Mr Jaitley said, and asked him to come back and settle the dues.
"I think there are sensibilities involved. You can't now totally segregate your personal wealth away from your business and then lead a very lavish lifestyle and (say) as far as the public banking system is concerned, I am unable to settle.
Without going into the facts of this case, I have no doubt in my mind that I probably will be more inclined with what the RBI Governor is saying," Mr Jaitley said.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had recently said that people like Mallya could not lead a lavish life on borrowed money and continue to remain a defaulter, after the liquor baron threw a lavish party to celebrate his 60th birthday.
Vijay Mallya, who left the country on March 4 for London, has not responded to the first summons issued by the ED, which has now asked him to appear on April 2.