A Fiat Padmini was enough !
A Fiat Padmini was enough !
Behind the closed doors of India’s biggest industrial finance bank , has been worked out what could be also India’s biggest financial scam. Away from the prying eyes of hacks and couched in unintelligible financial gibberish, a mega loan settlement deal has been scripted in which the largest Oriya corporate has been given relief worth a couple of thousands of crores!
Every Oriya who has grown up during the last 4 decades in the state has heard about the indomitable IMFA group. The company which manufactured ferro silicon and ferro chrome flourished in the sixties, seventies and even in the eighties since competition was absent and sale prices quoted were non- negotiable. It was touted as a successful Oriya enterprise which did the state proud. Ofcourse, now the profits have plunged to a meagre 9-10 crores a year !
However, a dirty secret pooped up and spoiled the party! The company had been a regular defaulter of their power dues ! As everyone knows, ferro alloys consume humungous quantities of electricity and the key to profits is to minimize the cost of electricity. The Pandas always ensured that the power minister and the OSEB guys were in their pockets. The buzz was that any Chief Engineer who joined as the Chairman of the OSEB was gifted with a new Fiat Padmini. A bribe worth the grand sum of Rs.40,000 in those days!
However, with electrical reforms on, power utilities could no longer be silenced with lollipops. Officials zealously pursued the oustandings once OSEB became GRIDCO. From that date, the company’s fortunes nose dived !
The second chapter unfolded in the eighties. After the elder son of the patriarch completed his foreign education he returned with grandiose plans. The group bought the shut down Kalinga Tubes unit at Choudwar (owned by Biju Pattnaik a really close family friend) and set up a 100 % EOU charge chrome unit by borrowing huge funds from a consortium of foreign banks.
Unfortunately, this gamble also failed for two reasons. First, the rupee was devalued in a major way in 1991 to tide over balance of payments crisis. Overnight the loans just doubled. Secondly, there was a sudden surplus in the international charge chrome markets as South Africa and Phillipines entered the fray. ICCL was in a real bad soup.
A lifeline was thrown by the Tatas when they agreed to use the plant for purely conversion. However, soon trouble broke out because of the Sukinda Chrome mines. Both companies were locked in a pitched battle over the mines lease and the uneasy marriage failed .
The foreign banks wanted their money back. For some years, the Pandas could stave them off with generous court orders by using their well oiled connections since the son in law was a relative of a top Oriya judicial functionary. However, the firangi banks had a real good case and the stay orders were a temporary reprieve.
It became an international embarrassment for the Indian government since the respective embassies relentless pursued the matter like pack of foxhounds. The government of India had to step in and bail out the group. A consortium lead by IDBI took over the loans and saved the company from sure liquidation.
Blame it on a combination of faulty management policies and just plain bad luck, the company continued to flounder. Insiders blame it on the elder son’s ham headed American management ideas which just did not work in Bharat. The Bada bhaina was also quite a party animal and was reputed to have an eye for PYTs. He maintains a huge farmhouse in Delhi to which the rich and famous were invited for grand parties thrown by the rich industrialist (rather biggest debtor) from Orissa.
As soon as the young scion returned from the States, he breathed a sigh of relief as he quietly handed over the reins and started courting the Queen for a Rajya Sabha seat. Joining politics was de rigueur if he wanted to save the company from sure oblivion!
The loans had shot up to Rs.3,000 crores with Rs.2,300 crore owned to IDBI alone and the group acquired the infamy of being the largest debtor to public sector banks. What a combination, a bankrupt state government and the biggest corporate defaulter!
Since 1996-97, the auditors of ICCL had categorized it as a “sick company within SICA provisions which means that the company had to be restructured with a possible change in management control or had to be liquidated.
In 2002-03, IDBI offered to settle their dues for a measly Rs.500 crores as final payment, though they could have taken to the Securitisation Act which empowers the Bank to acquire the assets of the company. The only condition was that the family jewel i.e., IMFA where the Pandas control 99 % of the shareholding has to be merged. Being an MP in the ultra corrupt NDA regime did help. The largesse of Rs.1,800 crores could have financed two KBK plans for 5 years ! What a mega gift of public funds !
As per the terms of the merger, each shareholder will get 1 share for every 14 shares held in the ICCL. Shareholders cried foul and demanded a swap ratio of at least 4:1.Right now a court case has been filed in the Orissa High Court challenging the swap ratio by disgruntled shareholders.
And the elder brother who can never win a seat in his life prefers to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha , backdoor style and spouts pious speeches about the state’s poverty and development .
Why doesn’t he pay off the total dues of IDBI and others before he mouths such BS! He also keeps the local media happy by throwing a grand party every year where booze literally flows like Mahanadi in full flood!
I guess the Panda boy is another e.g. of the Queen’s double faced policy. Lock up BDOs and Tehsildars when they stretch their hands for a couple of thousands, but send crooks who loot Rs. 1,800 crores to Parliament !
Long live the Queen and his band of crooks!
posted by Kalinga Sandha at
11:35 PM
29 Comments:
Dear Kalinga Sandha,
I wonder how the Pandas can ever pay that kind of money. The whole idea behind this business was surely jinxed (if one had to exclude electricity cost to make profits). If they are forced to pay, what happens to a few thousand people who work for them. I have a friend who works for them, who has not had a growth in his job profile or salary in the last 10 years or more. I think IMFA is in deep shit. Can anyone bail them out ?
Dear Kalinga Sendha
Wah Wah ! What A Great post !
Here's a piece that tells you more
about the Pandas and their companies.
Did the Queen get a share of the booty ? That's something we will all know when the Clean and Transparent Raj comes to an end.
It's time for a revolt.
Let all bank loanees ignore reminders for repayment of dues
until a clarification comes from the Finance Minister, Govt of India as to how such a huge fraud
was brushed under the carpet.
After all IDBI money is public money. Or is it not ?
THE ARTICLE
The millstone of bad loans weigheth by Sankar Ray
Sankar Ray on the need for corporate disclosures to be transparent in the matter of
loan waivers
ABOUT two years back, the former Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, had described the non-performing assets of some Rs 83,000 crore in banks as "loot, and not debt", while replying to a query in the Rajya Sabha.
Though the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) law helps banks and FIs recover NPA, it is often given the short-shrift.
A glaring example of bypassing SARFAESI was the suppression of the waiver/concessions of around Rs 2,300 crore by IDBI favouring Indian Charge Chrome Ltd (ICCL). The write-off amounted to 16.5 per cent of IDBI's aggregate NPA of Rs 16,000 crore.
But IDBI's huge loss was attributed mainly to bad investments in ventures and debenture papers.IDBI's annual report for 2002-03 makes no mention of this giveaway.
It merely talks of having initiated steps for recovery from non-performing assets. According to the then IDBI Chairman, Mr P. P. Vora, 41 borrowers with an aggregate principal outstanding of Rs 1,459 crore were served notice under SARFAESI. "Your bank conveyed its consent to the lead institution for taking action under the Act in respect of another 29 borrowers, with principal outstanding amounting to Rs 882 crore," he added. But there was deliberate silence about the Rs 2,300 crore waiver that harmed the bank immensely.
In the ICCL annual report for 1996-97, the auditors categorised the company as "a sick industrial company within the meaning of clause (O) of sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985. Again, during the five years ended 2002-03, ICCL's losses crossed Rs 2,600 crore, which was more than 45 times its paid-up capital.
If it is strange why the company was not referred to the BIFR earlier, it is because ICCL obtained legal opinion that the company "falls outside the purview" of SICA and, hence, reference to the BIFR was not a must.
There was no reason at all for IDBI to accept guarantee for Rs 297 crore from ICCL associate Indian Metal and Ferro Alloys (IMFA), whose net worth was one-thirteenth of this sum in 2000-01. According to IMFA's books of accounts, the total corporate guarantee for ICCL was Rs 2,915 crore on March 31, 2003 — 124 times IMFA's net worth.
During the recasting of IDBI — by way of merger with its subsidiary IDBI Bank — in August 2003, Mr Vora had said that this would reduce the costs of deposits and facilitate various diversification schemes.
But the fact is, the merger was a mandatory compliance of an RBI directive. It seems remote that costs would be reduced when banks deviate from the norms of good business.
The legacy of T. T. Krishnamachari, undoubtedly one of the most innovative of finance ministers, lingers in the headquarters of most of the financial institutions and major banks in Mumbai, including the IDBI.
While introducing the Bill for the formation of IDBI 40 years back, his vision of the new FI "as a central co-coordinating agency", effectively dealing with various "problems or questions relating to long- and medium-term financing of industry and to being in a position to adopt and enforce a system of priorities", has been belied.
Between 1998-99 and 2002-03, IDBI's assets fell from Rs 69,143 crore to Rs 63,115 crore. Its gross NPAs grew nearly two-fold from Rs 8,236 crore in 1999-2000 to Rs 16,006 crore in 2002-03. And this unabated rise of NPAs has happened when public sector banks witnessed negative NPA growth with better monitoring.
(The author is a Kolkata-based freelance writer © Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu Business Line )
It is loot no doubt.
If the Pandas were actually doing bad, then they would not be able to afford the lavish lifestyles they lead.
Since it is public funds, they are not bothered! And I am sure the Queen must have put in a word to bail out his dear friend!
Somebody should award the Pandas with the "largest crooks of India" prize at the annual CII meet.
Shame on Baijayant and his family for looting public money and behaving like wise statesmen of the state.
I suggest the family should beg outside Lingaraj temple for the rest of their lives as atonement.
Oh what a royal gore! Shandha you have made my day. The Pandas are without any doubt the most duplicitious family on Earth.
The suave fart called Jay Panda and his family members can never pay off the loan taken from the banks in their lifetime. It's not just the banks that have been ripped off by the Pandas. For years together the family has been looting the customers of their cable network in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack with subscription rates shooting through the roof. The network never airs channels which the viewers want to see.
Kalinga Ka Sandha
Does this ring a bell ? How come
Pandas are into Big Time and Big Investments ?
Read This.
Cable operator eyes Orissa telecom pie
Surajeet Das Gupta / New Delhi September 22, 2006
A cable operator offering you a landline connection at rock-bottom tariffs, where you don’t pay for calls within the network, and fork out only a fixed monthly bill to call friends on other networks?
Sounds too good to be true? Well, Orissa-based Ortel Communications, which operates cable TV services in nine cities, is amongst the first cable companies in the country to apply for a licence to offer telecom services in the state.
The move is significant as cable companies are facing tough competition from direct to home technology, which offers cheaper tariffs, and need to offer value-added services (besides cable TV) to battle it out.
Jaggi Panda, managing director of Ortel Communications, pointed out: “We already offer cable TV, as well as broadband; now, we will offer telephony using the same infrastructure, but at much cheaper tariffs than what telecom companies offer. The reason is simple; our revenue streams come from cable TV and broadband.”
The strategy was not to make money from voice telephony services, only to offer it as an add-on to the bouquet. The fee for an Orissa licence was Rs 5 crore, he added.
Customers within the Ortel network will not have to pay for voice calls. For calls outside the network, the operator will recover only the interconnect charges, which it pays to other operators, from customers.
So, the tariffs will be far lower than what BSNL or other telcos charge. That is why the company is also thinking of offering calls outside the network at a flat monthly charge.
Ortel runs services in nine cities, including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Balasore, and Sambalpur. It has over 2 lakh cable subscribers.
The company has laid fibre optic backbone in the nine cities, with coaxial cable last-mile connectivity. It is also trying out Wimax as an alternative to reach the last mile to its customers.
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=105562&leftnm=3&subLeft=0&chkFlg=
panda pua ku sabadhan
Kalinga The Sendha
Did you read a report in Sambad about how the Pandas were about
to grab hundreds of acres of land in Choudwar ? And how the Queen stepped in time to prevent the great land robbery ? I am most amused to learn that Pyari M
( M for Mean ) was the one who alerted the Queen against the Panda conspiracy. Pyari knows quite a lot about land-grabbing moves...Haven't we heard stories about Pyari M's noble efforts in buying up land belonging to adivasis in Koraput for peanuts so that he could re-sell those to the Railways at a premium ?
Chor ko pehchantaa hai chor...
Main sacchi bolta hoon re
I agree with Oriya Paika.
The cable TV service run by the daughter in law of the senior Panda is a total racket.
Many channels are not aired and further, the quality is poor. Same for the internet service which is touted as the fastest broadband service. The connection speed is slow and there are regular disruptions! Yet they turn up to collect the monthly bills.
The family has turned into cheating to survive in the modern world !
Nice posting KS!
Was stunned to know about the amount of debt relief they got ! Rs1,800 crores is some money, man !
That crook Baijayant who calls himself Jay in Delhi behaves as if has been born to liberate Orissa from the chains of poverty.
I have seen his pompous interviews broadcast by dear wifey's channel about he has been fighting for Orissa in the Rajya Sabha.
The bastard must be lobbying with the Finance Ministry to put in a word to IDBI to write off the loans.
Skyview cable service run by the panda bahu is one big racket! They have been looting us since the last 7 years. I hope after DTH comes in, we can be freed from their bondage.
The transmission is terrible and the good channels are not shown.
The broadband internet service is another big rip off!
The line is down most of the times and even if it is on, the speed is miserably slow!
I think the sole aim of the Pandas is to loot and loot us!
The Pandas are the greatest Oriyas today. How can you berate their great contributions to all-round development of the state's culture, sports and industrial development ? Jay Panda is a real saint like Naveen Patnaik and he too is not after worldly riches.
People like Jay Panda and Naveen
Babu are here to liberate the Oriya race. You must salute them and not raise a hue and cry over
petty matters.Why don't you raise
questions over how Naveen Babu got close to 200 crores from Anil Agarwal and Jindals to fight elections ? Because you know he got the money not for himself but a larger cause of winning the elections so that he can liberate the state from darkness, poverty and lead it to the No. 1 slot in the country and if possible the world.
Jay Ho.
Hey, it's very easy to write shit about people without knowing facts...
Do you know that :
* ICCL is going to repay over Rs 1000 crores as part of the settlement with IDBI and other banks ?
* The restructuring deal worked out for ICCL is NO DIFFERENT from other companies in the steel industry like Essar, Ispat, Jindal, etc ?
* IMFA/ICCL have won several cases in High Court and Supreme Court relating to unfair claims for electricity ? Surely the judicary cannot be bribed each and every time...
* 99.50% of ICCL's shareholders supported the merger with IMFA ? Only 2 persons -- obviously with vested interests -- holding 0.1% of the Company's shares have objected to the merger...
It's fashionable and chic to criticise people -- especially those from the State... Why don't you have a word to say about the Tata's who have looted Orissa for decades by exporting iron ore & chrome ore whithout value addition while only talking about putting up a steel plant ?!!!
I work for IMFA and happen to think that it is a decent Company which made some decisions that did not turn out right... It happens all the time in the business world but only in Orissa do we find motives and blame the Government !!!
He IMFA staffer,
Yes, ICCL is going to repay Rs.1,000 crores, but you forgot to mention that the Banks have written off Rs. 1,800 crores.
That is public money which could have been used to finance two KBK plans and bring smiles to the faces of millions of impoverished tribals of these western Orissa districts.
And yet you say that ICCL is a good corporate group and the Pandas are the saviour of Orissa!
In my mind, if a company goes under due to large loans, then the first thing which should happen is that the management should be changed. But nothing of that kind happened. Due to their political connections , the Pandas have been allowed to continue with managing or rather mis managing the affairs.
On an aside, you will agree that 99 % of the consumers of the sister group or rather daughter in law group ORTEL will abuse you if you ever say what a great service they are getting. Everyday, the internet breaks down, the TV channels blur and they cut off prime channels like HBO and BBC news which were promised initially.
Isn't this plain cheating ?
If you remember,I had given the judicial connection which is enjoyed by the Pandas. A son in law is directly related to a senior judicial person who also harboured political ambitions.
With such wonderful links, do you think any court will ever disfavour the Pandas ?
By loot they have been surviving in this state and they shall do so in the future. A bright e.g. is the ORTEL network !
And by the way,do not think that I am a Tata stooge or admirer. You should read my previous post in this blog on the Tata crooks who also loot Orissa.
At least ICCL will repay Rs 1000 crores which is a lot more than can be said about many other NPA's which were fraudulent companies which simply went under and stayed under... Also, as I said in my first posting, the debt restructuring for ICCL is NO DIFFERENT from any of the similar deals for other companies like Essar (Ruia), Jindal, Ispat (Mittal), etc.
By the way, no where have I said that the Pandas are the saviour of Orissa and nor do I believe the Pandas themselves claim any such thing...
Coming to your point about courts favouring ICCL, I think it is very cynical of you to believe that every single case won by the company -- and, believe me, there are many because they has been persecuted by successive governments contrary to your belief that it is mollycoddled !!! -- is through connections.
Please keep in mind that it took the wonderfully connected Pandas 14 years of legal battles to finally get a mining lease, lack of which was the reason why ICCL faced difficulties in the first place !!! If the political / judicial connections were so fantastic and favourable then care to take a guess why it took so long ?!!!
IMFA is not perfect but neither is it the crook you make it out to be... I am, of course, biased but I believe so are you when you paint the company in such negative light !!!
Finally, I will admit that I went through your other posts and realised that you have mentioned about the misdeeds of the Tatas in Orissa. So, I owe you an apology on that one...
Please do take the trouble to go in to some further details of just how much the Tatas make from Orissa and how little they give in return.
Just to give you an idea, their 2005-06 Balance Sheet shows an investment Rs 12,000 crores in the steel business which gave a profit before tax of Rs 4800 crores. The Ferro Alloys & Minerals Division on the other hand has an investment of Rs 189 crores and profits of Rs 572 crores !!! The bulk of this by the way comes from iron ore and chrome ore exported from their mines in Orissa.
Page 3 - Paisa Power Politics describes J&J (Jay & Jaggi).
Satyameva Jayate!!
Kalinga Sandha,
Daddy is good rey! Sala beta 2 & beti 2 ..... Do numbri nikle rey!!
It has been heard in P3 parties that Pami Panda wanted to have a ideal wife....so she got....Raje Maharani. Connections u See. She does all the He works outside home & He does all the She works indside home. Must say Raje looks more pretty ....uuummmm what a sexy masala bomb on bed!!
Sandha Bhai,
Bada Bhauja ta Bada Bhaina ra prema rey Landi heleni. Modelling...Paris rey ti...chadi asigaley.
Bada Bhauja & Bada Bhaina ra publicity columns are mere repititions. There was once a news published in Oriya paper that:
What keeps Jaggi motivated?
Yoga, Tennis, Pet Dogs & Jay. Good idea; atleast dogs courtship can give them their Gen Nxt.
Sandha Bhai,
What are you doing? Blogging against giant Pandas. Beware of being scrathched at your back.
Anyways, I would like you to post something on Bada Bhaina winning MTV style awards & dedicating to Landi Mata Jagi.
You can refer this news article:
Baijayant “competes” with Naveen: Sponsors Jannmat interview, MTV award
Bhubaneswar
Wednesday November 08, 2006
Discuss | Email | Print
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Panda, who has fallen from the grace of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the all-powerful Pyari Mohan Mohapatra, has been desperately trying for the past six months to show that he is also a leader worth the name.
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By InsightOrissa Bureau
Some people get recognition because they deserve it. And, some others stage-manage things to get recognized. “Estranged” Biju Janata Dal MP from Rajya Sabha and industrialist Baijayant Panda, it seems, belongs to the second breed. After attempting to grab attention through a sponsored interview on Hindi channel Jannmat, Panda recently managed to get an award from MTV as the stylish Member of Parliament.
Except for exploiting business opportunities by using political clout, he and his family have in no way contributed anything to the State or the nation that would invite laurels. Then, why a national TV channel would air a long interview of Panda? According to information available with insightorissa.com, Baijayant Panda sponsored the airtime that Jannmat spared for the interview. Anyway, why Panda did this?
Panda, who has fallen from the grace of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the all-powerful Pyari Mohan Mohapatra, has been desperately trying for the past six months to show that he is also a leader worth the name. When national TV channels show interview him, Panda thinks, people would get a message that he is a politician who cannot easily be dismissed. Panda’s idea, perhaps, is also to showcase that he is a leader at par with Naveen Patnaik. Another reason behind his publicity stunt, many in the ruling BJD believe, is to draw the attention of the Congress leadership. Panda’s recent inclination towards the Congress is known both to the CM and Pyari Babu.
Sources close to Baijayant also believe another theory to the Jannmat interview. Skyview Cable Network, owned by Panda and managed by his wife Jaggi Mangat, had an understanding with Jannmat to waive carriage fee in lieu of an interview. That, precisely, means Jannmat aired the interview because Sklyview has put the channel in the primary band of 16 channels. And, Skyview did not charge the carriage fee for putting Jannmat in the primary band.
And, about the MTV stylish MP award, it is said that Panda paid a heavy amount besides the promise of permanently putting the music channel in the primary band. “There are so many stylish MPs like the Jindals and the Scindias. It’s strange that Panda managed an award from MTV,” said a senior leader. Tathagat Satpathy of BJD is also branded as a stylish MP.
Hmmm....Andar Ki Baat hai!
O Priya Priya....Kyun Bhula Diya???
Looking out for an opening in the Congress, Baijayant is banking on his sister-in-law Shefali’s acquaintance with Priyanka Gandhi.
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By Prakash Rao
Frustrated with repeated failure to realize mega business dreams as a member of the ruling Biju Janata Dal, Rajya Sabha MP and heir apparent of the IMFA-ICCL group Baijayant Panda is understood to have started parleys with the All India Congress Committee leadership. Looking out for an opening in the Congress, Baijayant is banking on his sister-in-law Shefali’s acquaintance with Priyanka Gandhi. Shefali is wife of Baijayant’s younger brother and managing director of Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys (IMFA) Subhrakant Panda.
Baijayant made his desire to join the Congress obvious when, few months ago, he and his model-turned-industrialist wife Jagi Mangat were found in the company of Congress leaders during inauguration of a shopping mall in Gurgaon. The chief guest at the inauguration function was none other than Priyanka Gandhi. Reports received from Delhi also suggest that Baijayant and Jagi Mangat managed a brief meeting with Priyanka Gandhi through their sister-in-law Shefali. However, Priyanka reportedly told Baijayant that he could join the Congress if he comes along with few MLAs.
Realising that he could get a berth in the Congress if only he garnered the support of some BJD legislators, the Rajya Sabha member is trying his best to convince few MLAs. However, Baijayant is yet to get any support. And, what has added more his his woes is fact that both Naveen and Pyari Babu have been thoroughly briefed about the BJD MP’s recent moves.
Bewafa Ya Berahem....Kya Kahoon Tujhe Sanam??
Dear Sandha,
Can you please highlight some remarkable achivements of Jagi Panda.
In the following news clipping she claims to have secured MBBS admission and a degree from IIM-A! Hey, can she please let us know her GMAT score if at all she graduated a management degree from IIM-A. Or is Jagi confused and does not notice the difference between a Degree, a 2-3 weeks Certificate programme?
Times of India - Life is beautiful for Jaggi Panda
Divya Vasisht
[ 19 Feb, 2003 0601hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
At five feet nine inches, a body that would give today's models a run for their money, an impeccable demeanour, and a pretty head resting firmly on her slender shoulders, Jaggi Panda belies the stereotypical image of an Indian politician's wife.
But Rajya Sabha MP and Orissa BJD representative Jay Panda's biwi is all this and more. A successful broadband entrepreneur in Orissa today, Jaggi has dabbled in many careers. "I come from a very open-minded Punjabi business family from Hyderabad. After school, I got through the MBBS entrance exam but opted to do BSc instead. Post this, I joined Air India and plunged into modelling on the side," says India's first ever Gladrags supermodel.
Does she miss being in the limelight? "Right after college, I participated in the Miss AP contest and won. After that, I spotted an ad in the newspaper about vacancies for an Air India air-hostesses, went there for fun and got the job. Then, modelling happened and soon I was walking the ramp in Paris. When I look back, I feel I have done it all. And I don't miss it," Jaggi says.
It was during a flight to Paris, which was stalled in Turkey for eight hours due to a bomb hoax, that Jaggi met Jay,"In true filmi style, we met and hit it off very well but didn't even exchange telephone numbers. A chance meeting two days later at the Heathrow airport made us think that it was more than mere coincidence," she offers. Jaggi dated Jay for two years before finally marrying into Orissa's biggest business family.
Today, she shuttles between her home and husband in Delhi and her work in Bhubaneshwar. Does the distance prove to be a bother? "After being married for eight years, it's the quality of time you spend with each other that ultimately counts. We respect each other's space," says Jaggi. With a 500-employee strong organisation under her, Jaggi has little time for anything else. "My company is my baby. I am so involved in my work that we have opted not to have children. We might adopt at a later stage," she adds.
When it comes to relaxation, it's yoga and tennis that help Jaggi unwind. "I try and catch a game every other evening, but right now there's work, work and more work. Everything else can wait," says the woman who also holds a degree from IIM (Ahemdabad). Optimism is what keeps her going. "Destiny made me meet Jay, I'm sure everything else will fall into place too," she says. Jaggi Panda has miles to go. And she's on the right track!
Hi Kalinga Sandha,
You have said "Jay finally started courting the Queen". In the Queen's blog someomne has suggested you a spot to earn extra cash.......Lucky Jay.....must be earning a lot by now, Extra Ass to handle....you see.
LUNCH WITH BS: Jay & Jaggi panda
Obsessed with Orissa
Kishore Singh / New Delhi January 09, 2007
Orissa's power-couple discuss the state's turnaround and their aspirations for its future over salmon steak and fish fillet.
She’s a fishitarian, he loves seafood but is minding his cholesterol. She’s lived in Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Paris, he’s studied in Bhubaneswar and Kodaikanal before jetting off to the US for his degree. Together, they’re eye-candy for the soul, and like many of the beautiful people on Simi Garewal’s television chat show Rendezvous, they seamlessly finish conversations for each other, writes Kishore Singh.
But when you meet them at one of their favourite restaurants, Ploof, in New Delhi’s Lodi Market for lunch, it’s isn’t the Page 3 Pandas that readers might be more familiar with, but astonishingly level-headed people doing their own thing at work (often in two different cities, she in Bhubaneswar, he in Delhi), while trying to set time apart for meetings — and meeting each other.
Even that wouldn’t be so astonishing if they weren’t a married couple based out of Bhubaneswar (where’s that, did you say?) whose lives have taken widely odd turns. She has been an airhostess and a model who turned entrepreneur and now runs a Rs 100 crore “new economy company”. He is a scion of the Panda family (promoters of Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys in Orissa’s Rayagada district) who gave up wearing his executive suit for a politician’s band-gulla.
And right now, she’s murmuring little mews of satisfaction over her lemon grass scented broth, and his eyes wear the happy glaze of a man who has found his squids to his satisfaction. I am taking notes.
They met — for this is as much a love story — overseas, got married in 1994, and set up home in Bhubaneswar the same year. “Jay came back bubbling with ideas,” says Jaggi Panda. “I wanted her to handle one of two projects, aquaculture or communications,” he responds.
“I had left Paris to come to Bhubaneswar, and didn’t want to leave that to work in the interiors on aquaculture,” she says. “Besides, communication was my passion,” he reminds her. (I have been coaxed into trying some squid, and it is excellent.)
The long and short of it is that while he got on with running the family company, she handled the group’s HR for a bit, then took Rs 20 lakh and rented “a shabby little place” to start a broadband company that grew, and grew, and grew — so she’s the entrepreneur in the family now, while he brings “the voice of Orissa” to Parliament.
It makes them sound very boring, but their parties in Delhi (and probably in Bhubaneswar for all I know) have A-list invitees only, and though they keep the riff-raff out, the Page 3 photographers target them often. She’s got the model’s chameleon-like quality of standing out in company, he’s regularly written of as a “dapper politician” and — embarrassingly for him — won MTV Style Awards’ “most stylish” label recently.
They’re both robust eaters. He’s now moved on to his main course of teriyaki glazed salmon steak, she’s having fillet of fish, and between them (actually us) there’s stir-fry of broccoli and mushrooms. (I am, for the record, left with my Singapore chilli crab, which is spicy and makes my nose run, and is the best thing to happen to me that week — apart from having lunch with the Pandas two days in a row, though the first time doesn’t strictly count since I was officially a guest of Jay’s younger brother, Subhrakant, at a family occasion.)
Jaggi is being obsessive of her success. And Jay is obsessive of her success too.
Jaggi: “I wanted to start a satellite channel but in Orissa, ad revenues were so slow it made sense to start a distribution network, but on a modular scale, so we had returns from day one.”
Jay: “She ran a local channel with fibre optics for almost seven years with very local news for urban audiences.”
Jaggi: “But we provided people with hi-speed internet access and voice-over-IP, so we were very high-tech in our backyard.”
Jay: “So she’s now thinking of going satellite, with TV as a separate company from the one that does distribution.”
Jaggi: “I’m technology-agnostic and adapt newer technologies very fast. Starting from the bottom up (in distribution) has helped.”
Jay: “In 2007, hers will be a multi-regional company with two-three circles.”
All this, mind you, in Orissa, which— and despite Biju Patnaik — no one seemed to much care for till his son and now chief minister for a second term, Naveen Patnaik literally changed its fortunes around. “In 13 years, I’ve seen Orissa grow,” says Jaggi. It was very different when Jay returned from the States to work there and found it so frustrating, he would spend a lot of time complaining about extraneous issues like government clearances. The Patnaiks were family friends, and when Biju Patnaik started the process of forming a regional party, he found a ready volunteer in Jay Panda. “I got pulled in more and more,” he says, and when the Naveen Patnaik juggernaut took off, “what I thought would take years in public acceptance happened in weeks”. And Panda became one of India’s idealistic young who quit industry (“luckily, my younger brother took over the company seamlessly, and is doing a superb job”) to embrace politics.
But what would he, with his penchant for foreign cars and seafood, know of the real India? “My concerns are the same as any other, middle-class, educated Indian’s —of laws that hold you back. But after sustained reforms for 15 years, there’s huge improvement, and not just economically. Today, Indians are more confident as a people and as a country. They’ve opened up to the world and started making a dent in it.”
As for differences in running a business and being a politician, Panda is categorical: “In a corporate environment, decision making is rational. In politics, we have to work with 1 billion people, 29 states, different languages, cultures, so it is an emotional process and consensus building is slower. But there is younger talent in their twenties and thirties and forties in politics with whom I share my vision of making change happen faster. The younger lot are still not empowered enough, but by the next elections they will have critical mass to take decisive decisions.”
Of the kinds that have been happening in Orissa perhaps, which he says is a result of “political stability, good governance and policy based rulings”. No wonder hotels in Bhubaneswar are full, the taxis are booked — “It has all the mentality of a boom time,” gloats Panda.
We exchange notes on our food — everyone seems to be delighted, and Panda asks for a copy of the takeaway menu — and Jaggi asks if I knew there are over 18 types of saag in Orissa, and says that her channel is doing its bit to promote Oriya art and culture, and Jay says some time this year he would like to host a festival of Orissa in Delhi, and then Jaggi says she must leave and takes the sun away from the room with her.
And over herbal tea, Jay speaks of major changes that will follow from concrete roads, telephony and irrigation in the hinterlands, and even more, when corruption is eliminated from rural areas and women become economically empowered. As I ask for the cheque, he’s talking of a renaissance in Orissa that goes beyond just industrial growth, and I’m feeling really, really good, and it can’t all be on account of the excellent lunch we’ve had.
Hey sandha bhai,
this anon is really tracing good time-pass stuff about the only surviving panda - JJ.
"with 20 lakhs rented a shabby place".........okay so now J&J are trying to convince people that they are much more happening than Newton, Einstein, Stephen Hawkings, Hewlett and even our own Sabeer Bhatia.
Eureka.....Orissa will never die of poverty....J&J are the two multi IQ assests of Orissa.
Hi Sandha Bhai,
Today I read in Times of India that Founder Director Jaggi Mangat Panda has been chosen as Young Global Leader 2007 Award.
I thought of clarifying that she has only filed her Nomination (done by a close friend....Panda's are known for it, anyways). The selection has to yet to be done. Well, i am thinking of nominating Lakhan, the vegetable grocer down my street. Excellent entrpreneur since the age of 15. And he is below 40 years too. And he is founder -chairman of his grocery shop too!!
Young Global leader 2007 : WEC: http://http://www.younggloballeaders.org/scripts/index.aspx?idd=314
About the Process
Selection Process
The Forum of Young Global Leaders has established a comprehensive selection process for identifying and selecting the most exceptional leaders 40 years of age or younger.
Every year, thousands of possible candidates from around the world are proposed and assessed according to rigorous selection criteria. Only the very best candidates are selected and all efforts are extended to create a truly representative body.
The shortlisted candidates are evaluated by the Selection Committee, which is chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and includes eminent international media leaders. The Selection Committee aims to assemble a group of nominees that is diverse, geographically balanced and representative of a wide range of professions, talents and perspectives.
Reflecting the diversity of stakeholders, the Young Global Leaders include leaders from the worlds of politics, business, civil society, academia, and arts and culture across the seven geographic regions. Together they form a unique community that can dramatically affect the lives of future generations and craft innovative responses to address global and regional challenges.
Selection criteria
Potential candidates for The Forum of Young Global Leaders
are 40 years of age or younger at the time of nomination (to be eligible for the 2007 nomination process, the candidates must have been born on or after 1 January 1967);
have a recognized record of extraordinary achievement and substantial leadership experience. Typically, the candidate would have 5-15 years of outstanding professional work experience and a clear indication of playing a substantial leadership role for the rest of his or her career;
have demonstrated a commitment to serve society at large through exceptional contributions;
are ready to invest time and energy in the organization’s purpose and activities.
Nomination Process
Nomination Deadline
31 July 2007
To qualify for the 2007 selection process, all nominations must be received in the Foundation’s office by 31 July 2007, at:
The Forum of Young Global Leaders
World Economic Forum
91-93 route de la Capite
CH – 1223 Cologny/Geneva
Switzerland
All applications received after that date will enter the 2008 selection process.
Nomination Form
Nomination forms can be completed online or downloaded in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
Eligible nominations are submitted from nominators who are wellacquainted with the nominated leader and can attest to his or her qualifications. The nominator must be someone other than the nominee or a family member. Nominators do not need to collaborate with the nominee in putting forth the nomination package, neither do they need to keep the submission confidential.
Please note that only complete nomination forms will be considered.
Supporting Documents
To complete the nomination package, please include a current CV of the candidate as well as a confidential letter of recommendation, which outlines the reasons for supporting the nomination of the candidate and provides information on the candidate's commitment to serve society at large. Please feel free to also include optional information such as a recent photo, citations, articles and dated newspaper clippings of the candidate.
Notification
The 2008 nominees will be invited to join The Forum of Young Global Leaders in January 2008. Given the large number of applications, we will only notify the candidates who have been selected by the Selection Committee. The complete list of Young Global Leaders 2008 will be announced through a global media launch in April 2008
http://thecompulsiveconfessor.blogspot.com/2005/05/aruba-jamaica-ooh-im-gonna-take-ya-to.html
Interesting Think alike blog post Jay&Jagi......do visit.
Sandha Bhai namaskar.
Did you notice the interesting photo on www.bj.panda.name
Please do so; Jay Panda enjoys "Raasa Lila"
"Mohe chedo na nand ke lala ke main hoon brijwala nahi main radha tori"
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