After nearly a decade of silence, fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya has spoken out publicly for the first time since 2013, offering his side of the story on the fall of Kingfisher Airlines. In a nearly four-hour-long podcast with entrepreneur and influencer Raj Shamani, released on Friday, Mallya defended his actions, denied misuse of funds, and claimed he made genuine efforts to settle his debts.
Speaking candidly from the UK, where he has been residing since 2016, Mallya claimed, “I made four settlement offers to the banks between 2012 and 2015. All were rejected because they wanted the full ₹14,000 crore.” He added that he even met the chairperson of the State Bank of India (SBI) at a training academy and personally attempted to negotiate a deal — one that never materialized.
Refuting the image of him as a willful defaulter, Mallya said, “Does any thief ever give a personal guarantee?” — pointing out that he had given both personal and company guarantees for the loans taken by Kingfisher Airlines. According to him, 17 banks loaned money to Kingfisher after conducting their own independent risk assessments.
Mallya reiterated that he never used airline funds for his lavish lifestyle or ventures like Formula 1 racing, a claim often made in the media. He asserted that he had invested ₹3,000 crore of his personal wealth to keep the airline afloat. “I never took a single rupee out of Kingfisher for myself,” he said.
Touching on the political angle, Mallya stated that he had approached the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to downsize operations, but was advised to continue at full scale. He also clarified that Kingfisher did not initially borrow directly from SBI — the bank became involved after Kingfisher merged with Air Deccan, which had existing loans from SBI.
In February this year, Mallya’s legal team told the Karnataka High Court that the banks had already recovered ₹6,200 crore, contradicting the government’s claim that ₹14,000 crore was still outstanding.
The former liquor baron is facing several charges in India, including cheating, criminal conspiracy, and money laundering. Kingfisher Airlines and his other companies are also under scrutiny for alleged corporate and financial violations.
During the podcast, Mallya also highlighted public support he received from fellow entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, who had earlier remarked that Mallya “put everything on the line to save his airline.” He lamented that such support is often ignored in the face of public criticism.
