MUMBAI, Nov 15: Sahara India group chief Subrata Roy Sahara, who had been battling multiple health issues, passed away at a private hospital in Mumbai late Tuesday, November 14 night.
A business baron who started off with a chit fund business in the late 1970s, at the peak of his success, Mr. Roy prevailed over an empire that included an airline, Air Sahara, television channels, finance and real estate, including the ambitious Amby Valley project near Lonavala in Maharashtra.
The Sahara group was once considered India’s second largest employer after the Indian Railways, with a professed employee base of around 1.2 million, but ran into trouble with financial sector regulators over the business model of its finance entity that involved raising deposits worth thousands of crores from small-ticket investors.
On Mr. Roy’s demise at the age of 75, the Sahara India Pariwar said: “It is with profound sadness that Sahara India Pariwar [group] informs the demise of our Hon’ble ‘Saharasri’ Subrata Roy Sahara. Saharasri ji an inspirational leader and visionary, passed away on 14th November 2023 at 10.30 pm due to cardiorespiratory arrest following an extended battle with complications arising from metastatic malignancy, hypertension, and diabetes.”
While Air Sahara, that began operations in 1993, was eventually sold off to the erstwhile Jet Airways, the Sahara group’s finance business’ troubles with the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had led to Mr. Roy spending some time in prison before being released on parole. The group’s battle with SEBI continues to fester.
Mr. Roy, who preferred to call himself the Managing Worker and Chairman of the Sahara India group, was admitted to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital & Medical Research Institute (KDAH) on November 12, following “a decline in his health”, the group’s spokesperson said.
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