Sahara India Pariwar

Sahara Pariwar ltd.
Privately held company
Industry Conglomerate
Founded 1978 (1978)
(Lucknow, India)
Founder Subrata Roy
Headquarters Lucknow, India
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Subrata Roy (Chairman)
Products Financial services
Construction
Mass media
Retailing
IT services and outsourcing
Website www.sahara.in

Sahara India Pariwar is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Lucknow, India with business interests in multiple sectors including finance, infrastructure & housing, media & entertainment, health care, education, hospitality and information technology.[1] The group has been a major promoter of sports in India and was[2] the title sponsor of the Indian national cricket team, Indian national hockey team and many other sports.

Businesses

Sahara India Pariwar was founded by Subrata Roy.[3][4] In 2004, Sahara group was termed by the Time magazine as ‘the second largest employer in India' after the Indian Railways. The group operates more than 5,000 establishments spread across pan India[5] with the employee strength around 1.4 million under the Sahara India umbrella.[6]

Real estate

Sahara India Real Estate Company and the Sahara Housing Investment Corporation, subsidiaries of the conglomerate, buy and develop land for residential housing projects across India. The company has projects in Kanpur, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Kochi, Coimbatore, Gurgaon and Pune.[7][8] Sahara has a collaboration with Turner Construction, an American building company, in some of its projects.[9]

Sports

Sahara owns several professional sports teams in India in a variety of sports. In badminton, it owns the Awadhe Warriors of Lucknow, one of the eight teams in the Indian Badminton League'.[10] It owned the Pune Warriors India, a franchise cricket team that played in the Indian Premier League (IPL).[11]

The company launched the Sahara Warriors Polo Team in 2012.[12] From 2005 to 2014 Calcutta Football League is also sponsored by Sahara. In July 2012, Sahara India Praiser picked up the Lucknow franchise of the Hockey India League, the Uttar Pradesh Wizards.[13] It is also the sponsor of the Bangladesh Cricket Team since 2012.[14]

Media and entertainment

The Plaza Hotel in New York City

The group owns the national Hindi news channel Samay and 36 city specific regional news channels Sahara Samay. It also owns Sahara One, a general entertainment channel; Filmy, a Hindi movie channel; and Firangi, an entertainment channel. Sahara Samay received the "Broadcast Engineering Excellence Award" in 2008 for its network newsroom technology.[15]

The group owns publishes and sells one magazine in English, seven editions of the Hindi daily newspaper Rashtriya Sahara, nine editions of Urdu Daily Newspaper Roznama Rashtriya Sahara and one International Urdu Weekly, Aalmi Sahara.[16]

Sahara had produced, marketed, and distributed Hindi and other regional language films. Well known films produced by the company include Bewafaa, Page 3, Sarkar, No Entry, and Wanted.[17] In September 2010, the company was in talks to acquire MGM Studios, but the deal collapsed.[18][19] Sahara is willing to try again to take over MGM.[20]

Hotels

Grosvenor House Hotel, 1920s postcard illustration

Sahara owned a controlling stake in New York City's Plaza Hotel and Dream Downtown Hotel, New York.[21][22] Sahara entered into an agreement to sell the Plaza Hotel to Shahal M. Khan and Kamran Hakim for $600 million in May 2018.[23]

In India, the group owns the "Sahara Star" hotel near Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

Finance

Sahara has interests in insurance and asset management. Sahara India Life Insurance Company Ltd. (SILICL) is a life insurance company in the private sector Sahara Asset Management Company Pvt. Ltd. manages 16 equity and debt mutual funds. Sahara Banking & Financial Services Fund has been adjudged the Best Performing Banking Sector Fund over a three-year performance by the international agency "Lippers" in 2012.[24]

Other financial activities associated with the company have come under significant legal scrutiny, including a savings program with the stated intention of selling savings products to the poor, which government officials claim may be exploiting its customers.[25]

Retail

On 13 August 2012, Sahara India announced the opening of their retail FMCG business named 'Q shop' (Quality shop) with an initial investment of Rs. 30 billion. Sahara also announced hiring 600,000 sales personnel and 3000 customer care executives.[26] At its launch, Subrata Roy said that Sahara had been planning for this venture for the last two years and was opening 'Q shops' in major cities across the country to provide adulteration-free consumer merchandise including processed food and beverages to buyers.[27] The group said it would set up 305 warehouses in 285 cities in a phased manner.

Sahara India Pariwar’s Sahara Q Shop entered into the Guinness World Records when it opened a record 315 outlets in 10 states of India, just at one time on 1 April 2013.[28]

Power

Sahara India Power Corporation has plans to develop Solar and Wind Power Plant of the capacity of 200 mw which will be developed in 1 to 4 phases with the investment of Rs 10 billion at Titlaghar, Bolangir district, Odisha.[29]

Health care

The group owns a hospital in Lucknow. This hospital became operational in February 2009 and is currently operating with approximately 350 beds, including 120 bed Critical Care Infrastructure which is expandable to 554 beds.[30]

Other businesses

Under the name "Sahara Next", the company offers information technology consulting services in banking, finance, media and entertainment, chemicals and CRM.

Subrata Roy has been planning to foray into online education in India, which is targeted at small towns and villages. He has put in place a team which consists of members from top universities and colleges across India and abroad.[6] The route map of the program has been prepared, and 14,000 hours of lectures have been prepared for this.[31] The group also announced on 1 July 2018, that it is entering into new businesses which are at different levels of development, and will be launched one after another in the year.[32]

Former

The group owned an airline, Air Sahara, which it sold to Jet Airways in 2007.

Under the name "Sahara Global", it offers integrated travel and tourism services for domestic as well as international customers.[33][34]

In October 2011, Sahara purchased 42.5% of the Force India Formula One team.[35] [36] The team finished as best 4th in the constructors championship in 2016 and 2017.

British driver Paul di Resta driving the Force India VJM05 carrying Sahara branding

The team went into administration in mid 2018 and was later sold and renamed Racing Point Force India F1 Team.

The group runs a school in Pune, the International School Aamby – Aamby Valley.[37]

Criticism

Being a largely unlisted company Sahara India Parivar's activities have in recent times come under criticism.[38] This includes allegations of unknown sources of capital, favorable treatment by political parties. In June 2014, the book Sahara: The Untold Story written by an eminent Indian journalist Tamal Bandyopadhyay highlighted some of these issues.[39]

On 26 February 2014, the Supreme Court of India ordered the arrest of Subrata Roy, Chairman and founder of Sahara India Pariwar, for failing to appear in connection with the Rs.24,000-crore deposits his company has not refunded to its investors. He was eventually arrested on 28 February 2014 by Uttar Pradesh police on a Supreme Court's warrant, in a dispute with Market Regulator - SEBI.[40] In a statement after the arrest, his lawyer said Mr. Roy's 92-year-old mother was in poor health and needed "her eldest son" by her side, and hence he failed to appear at the court.[41] He was granted interim bail by Supreme Court of India for the same on 26 March 2014 on condition of depositing Rs 10,000 crore with the market regulator SEBI.[42] Till May 2016, Roy was in Tihar jail, albeit with air conditioned facilities,[43] awaiting trial, and is trying to sell some of his hotel properties.[44]

Sahara claims that the company's fundamentals are intact and assets substantially exceed liabilities.[45] and so far deposited more than 19,000 crores which will come back to Sahara India as it has already repaid 95% of its investors.[46] The Securities And Exchange Board of India has repaid only Rs 64 crore to the investors since 2012 to the investors.[47]

It is also been reported that Sahara has paid Rs 725.97 crore as TDS (tax deducted at source) to the Income Tax Departments on the interest which along with investment was repaid to 95 percent of the investors, between 2009–10 and 2012-13. The income tax authorities had found that the beneficiary investors were existent and accordingly confirmed the repayments made in those particular years. One of Sahara’s arguments in the apex court revolves around the fact that if one government body has found investors, why can't the other.[6] Sahara India Pariwar also said that it is confident that the money in Sebi-Sahara account will be re-credited after documents about the investor repayments are verified, as it had already repaid majority of its investors.[48]

Charitable work

The Sahara Welfare Foundation, the social development unit of Sahara India Pariwar, runs social welfare projects.[49][50][51] The company assisted the families of Indian soldiers killed in the Kargil war with a commitment of 500 million (USD 10.65 million )[52][53] [54] The company claims to have assisted families whose homes were damaged in the 2006 Gujarat earthquake. Other welfare activities include water purification systems and education resource systems in Indian villages.[55][56][57]

In 2013, Sahara contributed to the relief efforts in flood hit Uttarakhand region wherein one lakh bottles of drinking water, juice bottles and food packets along with candles and match boxes were said to be provided by them. There were 25 medical health unit vans equipped with doctors and free medicines made available and It was said by the group that, they will contribute to the rehabilitation program by constructing 10,000 pre-fabricated houses.[58]

Guinness World records

  • Sahara holds the record for the most people singing a national anthem simultaneously. 121,653 employees of the company sang India's national anthem on 6 May 2013 in Lucknow, India.[59]
  • Sahara India Pariwar's Sahara Q Shop entered into the Guinness World Records when it opened record 315 outlets in 10 states of India, all at once on 1 April 2013.[28]

See also

References

  1. ↑ India, Sahara. "Sahara India Pariwar:: Commitment - World's Largest Family". www.sahara.in.
  2. ↑ "India Cricket News: Sahara Group mulls sponsorship re-bid for Indian team". ESPN Cricinfo. 8 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "Owner of Pune Warriors runs Sahara India Pariwar as managing worker". THE AUSTRALIAN. 6 May 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  4. ↑ "Subrata Roy Sahara". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  5. ↑ Tamal, Bandyopadhyay (June 2014). Sahara: The Untold Story (1 ed.). Delhi, India: Jaico Publishers. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 http://www.firstpost.com/business/saharas-subrata-roy-is-planning-a-comeback-and-high-on-his-priority-is-online-education-4161227.html
  7. ↑ Sahara Group enters real estate, The Economic Times, 5 February 2008
  8. ↑ THE GOOD LIFE, INDIA TODAY, 15 February 2008
  9. ↑ Sahara launches construction JV with Turner, rel="nofollow",REUTERS, 9 February 2012
  10. ↑ Sahara buys IBL's Lucknow franchise, The Times of India, 16 July 2013
  11. ↑ 2 New IPL Team, The Times of India, 22 March 2010
  12. ↑ "Sahara India Pariwar launches Polo team Sahara Warriors". 22 November 2012.
  13. ↑ "Sahara to own hockey franchise". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 24 July 2012.
  14. ↑ "Sahara set to become Bangladesh sponsor". IBNLive. 2012-05-30. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  15. ↑ Samay bags international honour, The Economic Times, 6 April 2005
  16. ↑ Sahara plans three weekly newspapers, Rediff.com, 1 February 2003
  17. ↑ Sahara One Motion Pictures – a banner in the right direction, IndiaGlitz.com,5 September 2006
  18. ↑ Indian Congolomerate In Talks About MGM Bid, Reuters, 18 September 2010
  19. ↑ Sahara Says MGM Studio Creditors Reject $2 Billion Bid, Google, 24 September 2010
  20. ↑ Sahara Still Committed to Finalizing MGM Bid, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 September 2010
  21. ↑ "Sahara checks into iconic New York hotel". Hindustan Times. 31 July 2012. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  22. ↑ Sahara buys UK hotel for Rs 3,275cr, The Times of India, 31 December 2010
  23. ↑ "Deal Is Reached to Sell the Plaza Hotel". 3 May 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
  24. ↑ "LIPPER FUND AWARDS 2012 INDIA WINNERS LIST, "cafemutual.com"" (PDF).
  25. ↑ Antony, Anto (2 December 2013). "India Shadow Banker Fights to Keep Empire Built on Poor, "Bloomberg.com"".
  26. ↑ Sahara enters retail, to launch 800 'Q' Shops, Business Today, 16 August 2012
  27. ↑ Sahara in Rs. 3,000-cr ‘Q Shop’ retail foray, Hindustan Times, 13 August 2012
  28. 1 2 Ahadion, Ayat (June 5, 2017). "Sahara Q shop makes it to the Guinness World Records" (Press release). Good Herald. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  29. ↑
  30. ↑ Nawabi Entry in Healthcare, Express Healthcare, 1 April 2009
  31. ↑ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ranchi/sahara-eyes-slice-of-online-education-sector/articleshow/61792105.cms
  32. ↑ "Sahara confident of getting out of financial constraints by FY19". Deccan Chronicle.
  33. ↑ "Sahara Global launches travel show". 6 August 2008 – via The Economic Times.
  34. ↑ "Sahara Global launches 'Celebrate Life'".
  35. ↑ "Sahara Group takes 42.5% stake in Force India Formula One team". The Guardian. London: The Guardian. 12 October 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  36. ↑ "Sahara buys 42% stake in Mallya's Force India F1 team". The Times of India. The Times Group. 12 October 2011. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  37. ↑ "International school aamby :: Educationworld.in". Educationworld.in.
  38. ↑ Bandyopadhyay, Tamal. "Excerpt from the book "Sahara: The untold story"". Business Today. Jaico Publishers. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  39. ↑ Bhattacharya, Barsali (20 June 2014). "Controversial Sahara book reveals 'untold' story of Subrata Roy's company". London: Mail Online. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  40. ↑ "Subrata Roy Sahara surrenders before Police in Lucknow". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  41. ↑ Roy, Subrata. "Profile of Roy". Profile. BBC. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  42. ↑ "SC grants conditional bail to Sahara chief Subrata Roy". Times of India. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  43. ↑ "Subrata Roy gets AC room, phone, laptops at Tihar jail". Rediff.com. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  44. ↑ "From Tihar jail, Sahara chief Subrata Roy tries to sell the New York Plaza". Times of India. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  45. ↑ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/assets-of-sahara-exceed-liabilities-says-subrata/articleshow/61715038.cms
  46. ↑ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/sahara-has-repaid-95-investors/articleshow/61744486.cms
  47. ↑ https://www.bloombergquint.com/law-and-policy/2017/10/06/subrata-roy-says-sahara-had-to-make-double-payment-for-a-single-liability
  48. ↑ "Sahara says confident of getting out of financial constraints by next fiscal, entering new businesses - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
  49. ↑ Sahara to put in Rs1000 crore in welfare foundation, DNA, 5 February 2012
  50. ↑ Sahara Welfare Foundation, Sahara India
  51. ↑ , Sahara Welfare Foundation
  52. ↑ Sahara to pay martyrs' families 5 times salary for 10 yrs , The Indian Express
  53. ↑ Sahara will pay salaries of Mumbai martyrs , The Economic Times
  54. ↑ Sahara to pay martyrs' families , DNA
  55. ↑ Sahara India to adopt 1,000 villages for all round development , The Economic Times, 10 June 2013
  56. ↑ Sahara flags off prog to adopt 1,000 villages, The Economic Times, 12 June 2013
  57. ↑ Subrata Roy Sahara Announced to Adopt 1000 Villages in 7 States Under CSR , India CSR, 1 April 2013
  58. ↑ "Sahara joins Uttarakhand relief work -". The Times of India. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  59. ↑ "Sahara's national anthem feat gets Guinness honour", The Times of India, 7 May 2013
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