Tale of two men: Even as Vijay Mallya is forced back to India, Naresh Goyal looks for a way out

Their paths have crossed many a times, especially when Vijay Mallya joined Naresh Goyal in the aviation sector with the launch of Kingfisher Airlines in 2005.

Perhaps there is a chance for one more, in the offices of the Enforcement Directorate, or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The possibility has increased after a UK court on April 20 dismissed fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s plea against an earlier order clearing his extradition to India.

Mallya, the self-proclaimed king of good times, is wanted in India under charges of financial fraud worth around Rs 9,000 crore that was borrowed by Kingfisher Airlines from several Indian banks. The airline ceased operations in 2012.

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Goyal finds himself in similar circumstances. It's been just over a year since his Jet Airways suspended operations, and chances of a revival, by all means, has evaporated because of the disruption wrecked by novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, on the aviation sector. The airline, once the toast of the industry, owes banks nearly Rs 9,000 crore.

Goyal himself faces investigations from several central and state agencies, mainly on money laundering allegations. Interestingly, if he had been able to pull off his plans, Goyal would have very well been in London today. In July last year, he was detained at the Mumbai international airport while trying to leave the country.

Despite the similar situation both entrepreneurs find themselves in, their careers were a contrast.

Naresh Goyal, Jet Airways (Image: Reuters)

The twoThe two businessmen came from different worlds.

One was an inheritor who ably shouldered the family business after the untimely death of his father and built it into the largest liquor business in the country. And Kingfisher Airlines, after its launch in 2005, seemed like a successful diversification.

Goyal, who was now wary of Jet's fast-growing competitor, was an antithesis of Mallya.

Instead of models, Goyal loved to be photographed with ministers and politicians and hosted them in Jet Airways' latest aircraft. His easy access to the power corridors helped Goyal see off many a competition, including the grounding of Tata Sons' aviation dream in the 1990s.

While Mallya lived his life under public glare, especially after becoming a Member of Parliament, Goyal, a former travel agent, was away in London, after having turned an NRI. Even as he networked with the who's who of global aviation industry, Goyal preferred to let the professionals in the company brief the media or address analysts.

Ironically, downfall of both the entrepreneurs has a similar trajectory.

Bad acquisitions (Kingfisher Airlines bought Air Deccan and Jet Airways acquired Air Sahara) and a few poor decisions led to both their companies piling on debt. And then a combination of high fuel prices and a weaker rupee squeezed the two companies of their last penny.

For a moment though, in 2019, it looked like Goyal may have managed to rescue Jet Airways after banks allowed a two month's grace period for the airline to get a new owner. And Goyal was allowed to retain a stake.

The rescue deal, not surprisingly, infuriated Mallya. In a series of tweets, the former liquor baron criticised banks for 'double standards' and said, "Only wish the same was done for Kingfisher."

The deal hasn't come to much. Perhaps in the coming days, if they do cross each other's path, they may share a not or two, on what they could have done differently.