Skip to main content

VG Siddarth: Once a ray of hope to coffee growers who were on the brink of disaster​

VG Siddarth was an iconic figure during his lifetime for multiple reasons apart from being a ray of hope and inspiration for many a Coffee grower who was on the brink of disaster due to falling prices of the crop in the international market.

Thanks to his dream concept of Cafe Coffee Day(CCD), many a coffee grower had a big sigh of relief for their produce. It was a period of the early Nineties when the coffee growers of the state were literally on the crossroads.Cafe Coffee Day, within a short span of its launch, not only witnessed a meteoric rise but developed into a global brand in a time frame unheard of till then.
ImageSource:indiatoday.in
From a typical middle-class coffee grower's family, VG Siddarth plunged into a business venture by borrowing a handful of lakhs from his father.This small amount of seed money was enough for the once small-time coffee grower to develop into a big entrepreneur running a huge business to the tune of a few thousand crores.He also had a unique distinction of owning 1,510 acres of coffee plantations in Chikkamagaluru district and setting up of around 1,500 Cafe Coffee Day outlets across the globe.

Perhaps there is no parallel in recent years of anyone coming close to such distinguished performances. Even providing employment opportunities to more than 50,000 people through CCD and Mindtree software company and other allied industries is a spectacular performance.But what is intriguing is the letter perturbed to be written by him and the accusations made against the Income Tax department officials for taking the extreme step.

The Income Tax department in a press communique has refuted all allegations made against it by the coffee and software industry baron.It has clarified that the department had revoked the provisions for buyback of 20 per cent of shares in Mindtree company to L&T. In the alleged letter said to be written by the coffee magnet, it laments about the hands being tied for not being in a position to make use of the 2,000 crores by way of disposing of 20 per cent stake in the Mindtree software company.

It's already more than 18 hours that the CCD MD is found missing but so far there have been no clues nor proper indications about his fate or whereabouts.Back in Bengaluru, the house of SM Krishna, VG Siddarth's father in law had a stream of visitors from all hues and parties to console him at such troubling times.

The incessant rains and adverse wind conditions have made the rescue operations a challenging one while the Mangaluru district authorities have stalled the measures for the day. However, lighting arrangements are being made to carry out the efforts during the dark hours.Whether such artificial light will suffice to track the missing businessman or not, a dark cloud has already engulfed the giant chain of coffee outlets. The share value of the company has collapsed by 20 per cent!

-Manohar Yadavatti

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When Punjab Chief Minister's Son Was Paraded On Underwear

Year, 1959, Place Amritsar. Some Indian Army Officers & their wives went to the Railway Station to see off one of their colleagues. Some goons made lewd remarks against the women & tried to molest them. The Army Officers chased the goons who took shelter in a nearby Cinema Theatre. The matter was reported to Commanding Officer Col Jyothi Mohan Sen. On learning about the incident, the Col ordered the Cinema Hall to be surrounded by troops. All the goons were dragged out, the leader of the goons was so heady and drunk with power; he was none other than the son of Chief Minister of Punjab, Pratap Singh Kairon, a close associate of the then PM, Jawahar Lal Nehru. All the goons were stripped to their underwear, paraded in the streets of Amritsar & later interned in the Cantonment. The next day, the Chief Minister became furious & tried to release his son from Indian Army's incarceration. Do you know what happened? His vehicle was not allowed to go into the Cantonment a...

Countries with Surplus Budgets

*By Dr. Devan A budget surplus is one of the clearest signals of fiscal discipline, economic prudence, and long-term stability in governance. While many nations run chronic deficits, there remain countries that stand apart, demonstrating to the world that living within one’s means is not only possible but advantageous. A budget surplus occurs when a government’s revenues exceed its expenditures over a fiscal period. This provides room for investment in infrastructure, health, education, and sovereign wealth funds, while also acting as a shield against future economic downturns. In this essay, I will explore which countries currently maintain budget surpluses, why they succeed in doing so, what structural characteristics enable this, and what lessons deficit-ridden nations may derive from their example. Defining the Budget Surplus A government raises money primarily through taxes, duties, royalties, and state-owned enterprise dividends. Against this revenue, it spends on public wages, d...

World-renowned Cartoonist BG Gujjarappa says: My Best is Yet to Come

Many people are in the fond practice of complaining every now and then that they hardly get any time to pursue their passions. Maybe, they could be genuine in their own ways, but never ever in the case of the veteran artist, political cartoonist, caricaturist, children’s illustrator, and also into multimedia, Banagere Gangaiah Gujjarappa. Perhaps BG Gujjarappa or Gujjar as he is popularly well-known is a household name to readers of Newspapers, Tabloids, Periodicals, and a variety of books for several decades. Hemavathi connection: Sexagenarian BG Gujjarappa (03 June 1955), belongs to Doddabanagere village in the hitherto drought-prone Sira Taluk of Tumakuru district. Doddabanagere also happens to be the last village of Sira Taluk bordering Hemavathi village, an artist’s paradise in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. The Siddeshwara Temple is renowned for the four famous Shiva shrines as Lord Shiva appears in the human form, like in seated yoga posture, deep in meditation etc. q...