Vijay Mallya's sole regret: Kingfisher not flying when oil is cheap

New Delhi With banks going after him to recover unpaid loans given to longgrounded Kingfisher Airlines beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya remains defiant and says the only regret he has that the carrier is not flying when the oil price has dipped so lowI have no regrets as such Perhaps the only regret is that Kingfisher Airlines is not flying today when the oil price is so low Mallya saidVijay MallyaGlobal crude oil prices have fallen by almost 75 per cent from the peak seen in mid2014 While airlines in India still complain that the fall in crude prices has not got translated fully in the aviation fuel prices their fuel cost has still come down by 3040 per centMost airlines reported better financials in the last quarter on account of low oil pricesMallya widely known as the King of Good Times in his heydays had to quit recently as Chairman of United Spirits a company founded by his family in which he sold majority stake to UKbased liquor giant Diageo As part of the deal that also ended a yearlong boardroom battle at United Spirits Diageo has agreed to pay Mallya USD 75 millionThe settlement was sealed even as at least three banks including staterun giant SBI declaring Kingfisher Mallya and his group holding firm UBHL United Breweries Holding Ltd as wilful defaulters to recover unpaid loans amounting to thousands of crores of rupeesOnce billed as the most luxurious airline Kingfisher had to be grounded in October 2012 after it landed in a major financial crisis with huge loans and payment defaults including to the oil companies and airportsWhen asked about his long professional journey Mallya who inherited the UB Group from his father as a young 28yearold said he has got nothing to prove I built Indias biggest beer company I built Indias biggest spirits company Okay Kingfisher Airlines went wrong But there is a whole list of reasons why it went wrongMallya told PTI in an interview days after Diageo settlement Aisa nahi ki bewakoofi se band ho gaya it did not shut down for some stupid reason There were genuine reasons It did not go well You experience ups and downs in life but in the end I have enough to be proud of he saidMallya known for his flamboyance and lavish parties also brushed aside the criticism about he deciding to spend more time in England after Diageo deal I have had my residence in England for a long time So what is new All I have said is that I would like to spend more with my family he saidState Bank of India yesterday approached the Debt Recovery Tribunal seeking action against the UB Group promoter for defaulting on loans including his arrest and impounding of his passportSBI which heads the consortium of 17 lenders to Kingfisher has moved the Tribunal in Bengaluru against the airlines chairman Mallya in a bid to recover over Rs 7000crore dud loans from himBesides SBI Punjab National Bank and United Bank have also declared Mallya his group holding company UBHL and Kingfisher Airlines wilful defaultersAs part of Diageo deal Mallya has also relinquished his position to control IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore However he has been appointed Chief Mentor of the team and his son Siddharth has become a directorWhile he has already asserted that remains in charge of his other sporting interest the Force India Formula 1 team Mallya said he will remain actively involved in the running of RCBMy son is a director and I have been appointed Chief Mentor What does that mean If I am going away why should I be Chief Mentor I will be part of the planning and I will be around during the tournament In my statement I have said that I want to win the IPL trophy If I am not associated at all why would I make that statement Mallya saidThe lenders are now eyeing the Rs 515crore bounty sealed by Mallya as part of a sweetheart deal with Diageo to exit United Spirits Diageo has in return agreed to absolve Mallya of all his personal liabilities with regard to alleged financial irregularities relating to dealings with UB Group entitiesDiageo is the majority shareholder of USL with a 5478 per cent holding excluding the 238 per cent owned by the USL Benefit Trust Mallya personally held a small stake of 001 per cent in USL at the end of December 2015 while his group firms owned further 399 per cent stake However more than half of these shares are pledged with banksIn case of Kingfisher the trading in its shares have been suspended for long due to its noncompliance to various listing requirements including its failure to make timely disclosure of shareholding data and other detailsAs per the latest shareholding data disclosure till September 2014 it had over 233 lakh small retail investors over 6200 HNIs 13 banks and other domestic financial institutions as also five promoter entitiesIronically the number of public shareholders across all categories is higher than the levels before the airline was grounded in October 2012 The total number of public shareholders has gone up during this period from 21 lakh to over 24 lakhThe company now commands a market cap of just about Rs 110 crore as against that of close to Rs 10000 crore before it landed in financial mess leading to its grounding