SBI Aims To Maximise Recoveries As Court Permits Seizure Of Mallya’s U.K. Assets

State Bank of India is seeking to maximise its recoveries from loans to Vijay Mallya's now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines after a U.K. court granted an enforcement order allowing the search of his London properties.

The order allows seizure of Mallya's U.K. assets, and a significant amount of recoveries are expected to be made, SBI Managing Director Arijit Basu told reporters today in New Delhi. He added that the bank is working closely with its counsels, and hopes that it will be able to auction these properties soon.

“Going by the assets that we have, we feel that it will be significant amount of the debt if not whole amount,” Basu said. The consortium of banks have been able to recover Rs 963 crore from disposing off Mallya's assets in India, he added.

The court yesterday granted permission to the U.K. High Court Enforcement Officer to enter the 62-year-old tycoon's properties in Hertfordshire, near London. The consortium of 13 lenders, led by SBI, have the option to use the order as one of the means to recover the Rs 9,000 crore of loans granted to the beleaguered liquor baron's Kingfisher Airlines, newswire agency PTI reported yesterday.

Mallya, who is separately fighting extradition to India on fraud and money laundering charges worth an estimated Rs 9,000 crore, had recently issued a media statement condemning the charges against him as politically motivated. He filed an application before the Karnataka High Court on June 22, seeking approval to sell some frozen assets worth Rs 13,900 crore, making a fresh attempt to settle bank dues owed by Kingfisher Airlines.