Virgin lands in Mumbai

Branson evinces interest in telecom, healthcare & music

The last time Virgin group chairman Richard Branson was here in India in July 2000, he rode an elephant. That was in Delhi. This time, in Mumbai, he was in an Indian outfit.

Dressed in a dhoti and kurta, Branson told a packed press conference that he "would love to invest in a domestic airlines in his personal capacity, if I am allowed to." The press conference was called to mark group flagship Virgin Atlantic Airways' inaugural flight to Mumbai.

Branson also evinced interest in investing a host of other sectors, including healthcare, telecom and music. Surrounded by women dressed in the group's trade mark red, Branson uncorked a bottle of champagne to mark Virgin's arrival to Mumbai.

He also celebrated his company's 21st birthday by cutting a huge cake. The birthday celebration was, however, two months early as it is due in May.

Branson hinted that he might invest in a low cost carrier, without divulging its name. "I am sorry that I can't comment on specifics. The potential of the domestic airlines industry is huge and it requires investment," he said.

About six months back, Branson had announced that his group was in talks with India's Air Deccan on a joint venture. Today, he made it clear that he, as an individual (and not his company), wanted to invest in a domestic airline.

"The rules governing investment in domestic airlines are a bit murky," he said referring to the law that allows foreign individuals and institutional investors and not foreign airlines to pick up equity in a domestic airline.

Branson hoped that Virgin Atlantic would fly three daily services to India. In addition to its daily flight to Delhi, it plans to fly once a week to seven more cities, including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Amritsar. Besides, it plans to operate a daily flight to Mumbai instead of the present schedule of three flights a week.

He, however, did not indicate any time frame for the flights to other cities as this would depend on the frequencies foreign airlines are allowed.

He urged the Indian and UK governments to adopt an open sky policy. Commenting on the highly populated domestic low-cost airlines segment, Branson said cost-conscious companies would survive in the long run and a spate of mergers and acquisitions may also take place.

"The low-cost carriers are now competing with trains. Competitive pricing and the quality of services would be the deciding factors in the industry," he added.

Branson, whose Virgin empire encompasses planes and trains, vodka, mobile phones and music, said the group "was discussing investments in the Indian telecom sector."

On healthcare, the Vrigin group may set up a chain of health clubs, as it did in South Africa and the UK. These plans may seem ambitious but they come from a man who has set his sights on building hotels in the moon and launching spaceships as well. For him, even sky is not the limit.