Vijay Mallya must pay in full: PNB chief Usha Ananthasubramanian

Zee Media Bureau/Rd. Alexander

New Delhi: Punjab National Bank MD Usha Ananthasubramanian on Wednesday dismissed Vijay Mallya's proposal to pay Rs 6,868 crore and stated that the beleaguered businessman should pay the whole amount and settle the dues.

Vijay Mallya's now defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes a consortium of 17 banks headed by the State Bank of India a loan of over Rs 9,400 crore which the company defaulted.

Under the scanner of investigation agencies, Vijay Mallya and his company had offered to pay Rs 4,000 crore by September towards settlement of his loan before the Supreme Court. His offer was, however, rejected by the banks.

He later revised the offer to Rs 6,868 crore to the Supreme Court which was also rejected by the banks.

Of the total amount, PNB has an exposure of Rs 800 crore to the Vijay Mallya promoted Kingfisher Airlines, which had to close shop under huge debt burden and payment defaults.

"Although we are not leader of the consortium, we want he (Vijay Mallya) should pay full," PNB MD Usha Ananthasubramanian said.

Kingfisher Airlines has defaulted on loans of over Rs 9,400 crore obtained from various banks and Mallya has left India for Britain where he is staying with his family.

Talking about steps taken by PNB on wilful default, Ananthasubramanian said many cases are pending before Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT).

The bank through the help of DRTs have impounded 250 passports of such wilful defaulters and 500 cases are before various courts.

As of December, PNB has a list of about 900 wilful defaulters who together owe close to Rs 11,000 crore to the lender.