Pressure on India's Kingfisher baron dials up, trademarks seized

A group of Indian banks, seeking to recover more than US$1b in loans from Kingfisher Airlines, has taken possession of nine trademarks related to the defunct carrier as the mystery over the whereabouts of its chief, Vijay Mallya, deepens. Mallya, who built his fortune with Kingfisher Beer and is a guarantor to the debt, left the country last week, a lawyer for the lenders told the Indian Supreme Court on Wednesday. The banks have asked the court to demand his return and to impound his passport. The latest twist in Mallya's fortunes has come at a time when authorities have pledged to clean up bank balance sheets, with the industry saddled by an estimated US$120b in bad and troubled loans. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told parliament on Thursday that the lenders will take every possible action to recover the debt from Mallya and other defaulters. "As far as the government is concerned the clear instructions are that the banks must go all out to take every possible action," he said, adding there were some cases of "wilful default even bordering (on) fraud".<br/>