Another tycoon who has been quietly making his way up the ladder is Arvind Kumar Shah. Armed with his Chennai-based Arvind Remedies Ltd he has chalked out some really big plans to hit the US and Europe with his sophisticated herbal products, within the next three years. He has set up a manufacturing plant in Thiruvallur, Tamil Nadu for this very purpose, and has already invested Rs 50 crore into it. Shah’s company produces over 80 products yet he plans to play it safe and come out with only five herbal products at the moment. Out of the five products planned, three are under development right now. The first is meant for the treatment of coronary artery diseases and vascular problems, and will be ready by year-end. The second one is for patients undergoing dialysis and the last is in dermatology, and is an extension of one of its previous products. Can Arvind’s Ayurveda actually make a dent in the new areas it is targeting? It’s too early to say. Deja vu for Deccan The tycoon behind Air Deccan N. S. Narahari has always appeared rather cool and comfortable. Ever since the tycoon started his low cost, no frills airlines, Air Deccan last month, he has been getting himself big time limelight. But he would have rather avoided some publicity until what happened during Air Deccan’s inaugural flight to Vijaywada which was carrying precious cargo, like the Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy and the BJP president Venkaiah Naidu. A technical problem led to a fire breaking out in one of the engines. The occupants heroically led by Rudy himself headed for the emergency exit, thus giving the impression to the media that it was indeed a serious affair. Rudy no doubt was just putting into practice the drill his air-hostess wife has taught him in the past. While Rudy tried to appear cool and calm, the outburst of others should not be laughed off. It was in Narahari’s Deccan Aviation helicopter crash in Andhra Pradesh in which the then Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi had lost his life. The tragic incident at that time didn’t generate too much bad publicity for the tycoon. So perhaps this time too he feels it will all blow away. But it is clearly time he pulled up his socks, and realised that having a no frills airlines doesn’t mean that it has to be a no safety one. Genie in that bottle Whenever it seems like the Chhabria-Mallya battle will settle down things have turned out otherwise. There have been so many highs and lows, in this quarrel that most people have lost interest in it. For those who still want to know, the SAT (Securities Appellate Tribunal) had recognised Chhabria’s 43 per cent stake in Herbertsons, and asked him to make a public offer. While Chhabria quickly began his preparations, Mallya who was thoroughly disappointed, decided he could not take this lying down, and thus he got the tribunal to stay the implementation of its order and announced a public offer of his own. Meanwhile, all sorts of conflicting messages are doing the rounds. Sometimes the word is that they are mutually arriving at a settlement. While on the other hand lawyers say they have filed petitions. Mallya seems to be rather cool for a tycoon whose stake seems to be at risk. Instead of getting involved, he seems to be keeping his mind more on both matters in his home, his State and of course parliamentary legislation. The one thing that’s certain though is that for Kishore, this battle is really the big one since unlike Mallya this is the one genie in the bottle, that Kishore cannot afford to let go of. (Dilip Cherian runs a public relations firm Perfect Relations. Send your insider dope to dilipcherian@hotmail.com)
