Vijay Mallya, the embattled liquor baron and founder of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, has once again spoken out about the airline’s dramatic downfall. In a recent podcast with Raj Shamani, Mallya claimed that his efforts to save the company by downsizing operations were blocked by then Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
During the conversation, Mallya pointed to the 2008 global financial crisis as the turning point. “You remember Lehman Brothers? The whole world was affected. Even India wasn’t spared. The money dried up, sectors crashed, and the rupee lost value,” he said. According to Mallya, Kingfisher’s business was no exception to the economic downturn.
Launched in 2005 with the promise of redefining air travel in India, Kingfisher Airlines quickly earned a name for premium service but struggled financially. Mallya revealed that in the face of mounting losses, he had gone to Pranab Mukherjee with a proposal to cut costs by reducing fleet size and laying off staff. But instead of support for the plan, he was reportedly told to continue operations, with assurances that banks would back him.
“That’s when the real trouble began,” Mallya said. “I couldn’t afford to run a full-service airline in a broken economy, but I was told not to downsize. The company kept bleeding, and eventually, we had to suspend all flights.”
The airline never recovered. Mallya left India in 2016 and has since remained in the UK, fighting extradition while facing charges of financial fraud and money laundering worth over ₹9,000 crore.
Addressing the public perception of him, Mallya pushed back against being labeled a “thief.” “Yes, I left in March 2016, but it was a scheduled departure. I didn’t flee. You want to call me a fugitive—fine. But where’s the theft? What’s the ‘chori’?” he questioned during the podcast.
Earlier this year, Mallya told the Karnataka High Court that the money owed to banks—reportedly ₹6,200 crore—had already been recovered “multiple times over.” He requested a detailed breakdown of the recoveries made from him, United Breweries Holdings Ltd (now under liquidation), and other associated entities.
While Mallya continues to stay out of India, his version of events adds yet another layer to the long-running saga of Kingfisher Airlines’ collapse and the legal battles that followed.
