On September 1, United Bank of India declared Kingfisher Airlines promoter Vijay Mallya a wilful defaulter along with three other company directors. Eight days later, State Bank of India repeated the gesture. All told, Kingfisher Airlines owes Rs 7,600 crore to 17 banks.
That's a pretty enormous amount of money. Here are nine things you could get for that sum.
380,000 toilets
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a grand plan to construct toilets in every household by 2019. According to contractors, “constructing a basic toilet will cost between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 per toilet, including the price of bricks, cement, sand, roof, door, sanitary ware, plumbing, septic tank and labour.” Taking in the upper estimate, Mallya's debt could build 380,000 toilets.
1,250 parking spots in SoHo, New York
SoHo is an artsy neighbourhood in Manhattan with a variety of shops and upscale boutiques. Parking in the congested neighbourhood is so difficult, one new building at 42 Crosby Street will have 10 underground parking spots that will cost more per square foot than the apartments being sold upstairs, according to the New York Times. They're selling for $1 million each. You could get 1,250 of them with Mallya's money.
76% of Subrata Roy’s bail
Sahra Group chief Subrata Roy’s bail has been set at Rs 10,000 crore. Mallya’s debt could get him nearly three-fourths of the way there (and save him the trouble of selling the three hotels he owns abroad).
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s weekly salary for the Chennai Super Kings team of the Indian Premier League is Rs 302.5 lakhs. For Rs 7,600 crore, you could get Dhoni to play for just over 419 IPL seasons. If he was to play them all in one go, that would be 2,508 weeks.
Top-of-the-line pizza
Late in September, 2012, Qube, an all-day diner at Delhi's Leela Palace Hotel, introduced the High Life Pizza that cost Rs 10,000 and has only eight slices. Rs 7,600 crore would fetch you 60.8 lakh slices of this pizza. The wood-oven-baked pie has Canadian lobster, thyme-scented mascarpone and is topped with 28 grams of caviar.
1,664 bottles of Macallan 1926 Fine and Rare
The oldest single malt in Scottish firm Macallan’s collection was distilled in 1926 and bottled 60 years later. Only 40 bottles were produced. Each sells for $75,000.
The Leela Palace, New Delhi
New Delhi's Leela Palace, home to Qube restaurant, is India's most expensive hotel in India. It cost Rs 1,700 crore to build. Mallya's debt could buy four hotels like this, and leave you change to contribute to Subrata Roy's bail fund.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
That's a pretty enormous amount of money. Here are nine things you could get for that sum.
380,000 toilets
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a grand plan to construct toilets in every household by 2019. According to contractors, “constructing a basic toilet will cost between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 per toilet, including the price of bricks, cement, sand, roof, door, sanitary ware, plumbing, septic tank and labour.” Taking in the upper estimate, Mallya's debt could build 380,000 toilets.
1,250 parking spots in SoHo, New York
Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images North America/AFP
SoHo is an artsy neighbourhood in Manhattan with a variety of shops and upscale boutiques. Parking in the congested neighbourhood is so difficult, one new building at 42 Crosby Street will have 10 underground parking spots that will cost more per square foot than the apartments being sold upstairs, according to the New York Times. They're selling for $1 million each. You could get 1,250 of them with Mallya's money.
76% of Subrata Roy’s bail
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Sahra Group chief Subrata Roy’s bail has been set at Rs 10,000 crore. Mallya’s debt could get him nearly three-fourths of the way there (and save him the trouble of selling the three hotels he owns abroad).
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Photo: Olly Greenwood/AFP
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s weekly salary for the Chennai Super Kings team of the Indian Premier League is Rs 302.5 lakhs. For Rs 7,600 crore, you could get Dhoni to play for just over 419 IPL seasons. If he was to play them all in one go, that would be 2,508 weeks.
Top-of-the-line pizza
Photo: Bookyourtable.in
Late in September, 2012, Qube, an all-day diner at Delhi's Leela Palace Hotel, introduced the High Life Pizza that cost Rs 10,000 and has only eight slices. Rs 7,600 crore would fetch you 60.8 lakh slices of this pizza. The wood-oven-baked pie has Canadian lobster, thyme-scented mascarpone and is topped with 28 grams of caviar.
1,664 bottles of Macallan 1926 Fine and Rare
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The oldest single malt in Scottish firm Macallan’s collection was distilled in 1926 and bottled 60 years later. Only 40 bottles were produced. Each sells for $75,000.
The Leela Palace, New Delhi
Photo: hotelbookingonline.in
New Delhi's Leela Palace, home to Qube restaurant, is India's most expensive hotel in India. It cost Rs 1,700 crore to build. Mallya's debt could buy four hotels like this, and leave you change to contribute to Subrata Roy's bail fund.
