Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Wednesday appealed to various Indian banks to accept his offer to pay back 100 per cent of the principal loan amount he owes to them, days ahead of a UK court's decision on his plea not to extradite him to India.
The 62-year-old former Kingfisher Airline boss, who has been on bail in the UK on an extradition warrant since his arrest in April last year, is fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crores.
In a series of tweets, the embattled businessman said that the huge loans he took from banks went into keeping his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines afloat despite high jet fuel prices.
"Airlines struggling financially partly because of high ATF prices. Kingfisher was a fab airline that faced the highest ever crude prices of USD 140/barrel. Losses mounted and that's where Banks money went . I have offered to repay 100 per cent of the principal amount to them. Please take it (sic)."