MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian business tycoon Vijay Mallya, under pressure from banks to repay more than $1 billion owed by his collapsed airline, has decided to not seek re-election as chairman of French drugmaker Sanofi's India unit, the company said.
Mallya, distracted by investigation into non-repayment of loans by his Kingfisher Airlines, has chaired the business since December 1983.
Sanofi India's board has recommended a resolution be passed at the annual shareholders meeting, likely to be held in April, to elect Aditya Narayan, former chief of the miner BHP Billiton India, as the new chairman of the board, the company said.
The company did not say when Mallya, whose UB Group companies also include India's largest brewer United Breweries, would step down from the board, neither did it give any reason for the move.
The collapse of Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines in 2013 left unpaid wages and many angry creditors. He left India early this month -- as banks sought a court order to confiscate his passport -- and has not disclosed his whereabouts.
(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in Mumbai; Editing by Keith Weir)