Vijay Mallya’s recent appearance on Raj Shamani’s podcast – a 4-hour spectacle garnering millions views – represents not redemption but refined deception. As the self-styled “King of Good Times” weaponizes charisma to whitewash his massive financial crimes. The reality: Mallya isn’t a victim—he’s the architect of India’s largest banking heist, a man who orchestrated the systematic looting of ₹9,000 crores from public coffers while sabotaging national interests. No polished podcast can whitewash these sins.
The Illusion Of “Good Times”
Kingfisher Airlines, once the poster child of luxury aviation, didn’t just fail—it was a fraud disguised as a business.
From Day One (2005), Kingfisher was a loss-making vanity project, burning cash while competitors like Jet Airways and even the much-maligned Air India turned profits. By 2011, Kingfisher’s debt hit ₹7,000 crore, its planes were grounded, employees went unpaid, and fuel suppliers filed lawsuits. Yet, Mallya lived the “King of Good Times” life—yachts, IPL parties, and vintage cars—while banks, taxpayers, and employees bore the cost.
The Scam Playbook: How Mallya Pulled It Off
The Bank Heist aka 2010 “Debt Restructuring”
When Kingfisher was drowning in debt, Mallya didn’t repay—he conned banks into a “haircut” scam:
- Banks converted ₹1,400 crore of debt into equity, valuing Kingfisher shares at ₹64.48—a 61% premium over the actual market price (₹39.90).
- This artificial inflation gifted Mallya ₹1,000+ crore of public money overnight.
- The stock soon crashed to ₹23, making the banks’ stake worthless. As of 2011, Mallya walked away with over₹1,200 crore of depositors’ money.
Who allowed this? The same banks (SBI, PNB, IDBI) that should have seized his assets instead rewrote rules to favor a failing airline.
How Other Airlines Were Sabotaged (Mallya’s Inside Help)
The spectacular rise of Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines was not just a story of flamboyance and branding—it was a carefully orchestrated ascent enabled by political patronage and deliberate sabotage of rival airlines. While Kingfisher itself was financially unsound from the outset, systemic decisions by those in power crippled its competition, clearing the runway for its dominance. Whether by blocking operational permissions, inflating acquisition costs for rivals, or burdening national carriers with unsustainable debt, Mallya’s path was paved not through market merit but through manipulation. The fallout of this favoritism was borne by the Indian taxpayer, as public money was drained to serve the ambitions of one private airline. Below are key examples of how major competitors were systematically dismantled to serve this end.
The Arrival Of Air Deccan
Air Deccan, a pioneer in low-cost aviation and a major player in the domestic market, was denied crucial landing and hangar facilities. Permissions to operate profitable routes were withheld, weakening its position. Meanwhile, a media campaign mocked it as a “flying Udupi restaurant” to damage its reputation. Despite being financially healthier than Kingfisher, Air Deccan was cornered and ultimately sold to Mallya, eliminating a major competitor.
Jet Airways (via Air Sahara bid)
Jet Airways was tricked into overpaying for the struggling Air Sahara. Mallya entered the bidding war only to artificially drive up the price, then backed out, forcing Jet to complete the inflated purchase. This severely weakened Jet Airways financially and strategically, giving Kingfisher temporary dominance in the full-service segment without having to compete head-on.
Indian Airlines & Air India
Kingfisher’s survival depended on killing its biggest competitor—Air India. Enter Praful Patel, then Civil Aviation Minister. Let’s understand how Praful Patel Grounded Air India while patronising Kingfisher.
Between 2004 and 2011, Praful Patel, as Minister of State for Civil Aviation, presided over what many call the slow-motion sabotage of Air India. Once a dominant public carrier, Indian Airlines (later merged with Air India), saw its market share nosedive from 42% to irrelevance under Patel’s stewardship. The merger he championed—between Indian Airlines and Air India—was a logistical and cultural disaster. Former COO Gustav Baldauf later revealed that key HR integration issues were ignored, leading to chronic internal dysfunction. The two airlines were forcibly merged in 2007, despite both showing signs of financial recovery. The merged entity was burdened with a massive and unnecessary order of 111 aircraft worth ₹32,000 crore, far beyond their actual needs. This led to unsustainable debt and interest burdens. Further, profitable international and domestic routes were cut and handed to Kingfisher, under political direction.
But the damage began even earlier, in 2005, when Patel chaired a board meeting that approved an unaffordable aircraft order—expanded from 28 to 68 planes—without a matching revenue or route plan. This single move saddled the airline with crippling debt of over ₹50,000 crore, while annual losses spiraled to ₹7,000 crore.
At the same time, Patel systematically ceded profitable Gulf and South Asia routes to private and foreign airlines.
In 2009, Air India abruptly withdrew from the lucrative Kozhikode–Doha–Bahrain sector, allowing Jet and Etihad to swoop in. Aviation experts cited clear conflicts of interest, as Patel’s decisions often undermined the national carrier’s competitiveness.
Adding insult to injury, Patel himself flew primarily on private airlines—mostly Kingfisher—despite a Finance Ministry directive requiring all government employees to fly Air India. RTI data revealed that 26 of his 41 Delhi–Mumbai trips between June 2009 and July 2010 were with Kingfisher. His family also reportedly enjoyed unauthorized business class upgrades on Air India flights. This deliberate sabotage gutted the national carrier’s competitiveness to benefit Mallya.
In the end, Patel’s tenure left Air India bloated, indebted, and crippled—while private competitors, including Kingfisher, benefited from his baffling generosity. His defence? “I am the Union Civil Aviation Minister, not the minister for Air India.“ India is still paying the price.
The Fugitive Playbook: Evasion, Opulence, Gaslighting
Luxury As Insult To Indian Justice
While 1.3 billion Indians footed his debt bill, Mallya’s lifestyle mocked their struggles:
- Yachts, private jets, and IPL teams are funded by unpaid worker salaries.
- Multiple London properties were purchased as banks scrambled to recover loans.
- 2016 escape to the UK using diplomatic passport privileges – a final middle finger to accountability.
His podcast performance continues this tradition: framing himself as a misunderstood entrepreneur while omitting 13,000 pending criminal charges1, including money laundering and fraud.
The Escape: How Mallya Fled (And Who Let Him)
Vijay Mallya fled India on 2 March 2016, just days after withdrawing $40 million from Diageo as a “severance package.” Despite a CBI lookout notice, he escaped because:
- The CBI weakened its October 2015 lookout circular in November, removing detention orders—allowing Mallya to travel freely.
- Diplomatic Passport: As an MP, he used his diplomatic status to breeze through immigration.
- Booked a Jet Airways ticket hours before departure, avoiding scrutiny.
- Reports suggest a bureaucrat warned him of impending arrest via a socialite.
After escaping the authorities in India, he lived lavishly in a £11.5 million UK mansion, bought months earlier while continuing to ignore court summons, claiming he couldn’t return due to a revoked passport. Additionally, UK courts granted bail in 2017 while India’s legal requests dragged for years.
Vijay Mallya managed to evade Indian authorities due to a combination of systemic failures and deliberate inaction. The State Bank of India, despite being the lead lender, delayed initiating strong legal action until after Mallya had already left the country. His well-established political connections across party lines further weakened the will to enforce accountability, creating an environment of leniency. Moreover, a crucial legal oversight allowed him to slip through the cracks—there was no non-bailable warrant issued against him at the time of his departure, making his exit technically legal and giving him a head start before the machinery of justice could react.
Vijay Mallya Still Owes ₹7,000 Crore, Say Govt and Banks
Despite Vijay Mallya’s repeated claims that he has repaid all his loans, the Indian government and banks have firmly countered this narrative, stating that the fugitive businessman still owes approximately ₹7,000 crore. Mallya has often asserted that he paid ₹14,000 crore against ₹6,200 crore borrowed by Kingfisher Airlines, but officials say he is misrepresenting facts by focusing only on the principal amount while ignoring accrued interest and penalties.
As per government and bank records, the total liability of Kingfisher Airlines stood at ₹17,781 crore as of April 10, 2025. This includes ₹6,848 crore in principal (non-performing assets), ₹10,933 crore in interest and other charges. So far, banks have recovered ₹10,815 crore—primarily by selling off assets such as Kingfisher Villa in Goa—which still leaves ₹6,997 crore outstanding.
Don't trust Podcasts!
Vijay Mallya still owes ₹7,000 crore to Banks.
Wonder why Congress is promoting Mallya? What's the deal?
Don't forget it was Congress which gave Mallya loans after loans. pic.twitter.com/mzv4q0Dt2P
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) June 10, 2025
Banks point out that all borrowers, including Mallya, are bound by the same repayment norms, and there is no question of bias or undue pressure as alleged by Mallya. The debt recovery process followed standard procedures, including recovery through the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) and asset sales permitted by the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) courts.
Some loans given to Kingfisher were restructured, but are now under scrutiny, with arrests like that of former IDBI Bank chief Yogesh Agarwal highlighting the alleged irregularities in loan disbursal. Meanwhile, Mallya, who fled India to avoid legal proceedings, continues to challenge efforts to bring him back, claiming persecution, but the financial institutions remain firm that significant dues are still pending.
Backstabbing Employees
Kingfisher owed ₹300 crores for over 3000 employees. The company left employees with unpaid salaries ranging between ₹25 to ₹50 lakh. Many still hope the courts or government will compel Vijay Mallya to pay up, believing he has the means. One former staffer recounts a painful memory—her father’s dialysis treatment revealed that KFA had quietly stopped paying for employee medical insurance. Forced to cover the expenses herself, she had to borrow money from friends. Some pilots, unable to find aviation jobs, were working in call centres just to pay back education loans. Instead of paying them, Mallya was buying players for his IPL team. Point here is, if he wanted to pay, he could’ve paid. but he didn’t.
Mallya’s scam wasn’t just bad business—it was a calculated looting of public wealth, aided by political patronage and banking collusion. Until he faces Indian courts and repays every penny, his “good times” remain a national disgrace.
The only “good times” Mallya created were his own—funded by a nation’s tears. His podcast is a hollow monument to audacity. India remembers the real story: a billionaire who chose to be a thief. India doesn’t need his rehearsed interviews. It needs him in Tihar Jail. Until then, no viral views can cleanse the stench of betrayal.
Subscribe to our channels on Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.
