Force India`s loss races to 33.4 million pounds

London: Losses of the Force India Formula One team, owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, has increased by 21

million pounds to 33.4 million pounds post-tax in 2008, media reported quoting recently-filed accounts on Monday. In 2008, Mallya and the team`s co-owner, former Spyker Cars chief executive Micheil Mol, gave Force India a loan of 27.6 million pounds to keep it on track. The duo bought the Northamptonshire-based team in October 2007 and the following year its turnover increased 27.3 per cent to 37 million pounds. However, this boost was far exceeded by the 74.4 per cent rise in total costs of 69.6 million pounds, reported the Daily Telegraph. The team`s bank loans increased by 14.9 million pounds to plug the gap but even this was not enough with Mallya`s Kingfisher airlines also directly investing 2.5 million pounds in sponsorship and a further one million pounds coming from Whyte & Mackay, his scotch whisky company. Despite the increased spending, the team finished 10th in 2007 and ended in the penultimate place in the standings the following year. Force India`s 2009 accounts are unlikely to be rosier as it lost sponsorship last year from ICICI bank and Kanyan Capital -- two firms believed to have been paying a total of USD 6 million. This year, the loss of Indian conglomerate Reliance from its sponsorship roster will also put a big dent in its revenues and may mean it needs even more fuel from its owners, the report said. PTI