Winning Bizness Desk

Mumbai. Sahara India Group chief Subrata Roy passed away on Tuesday in a Mumbai hospital after suffering a long illness. He was 75 years old and was suffering from many ailments for a long time. His mortal remains were taken to Sahara city in Lucknow on wednesday where he was paid homage by performing last rituals. Roy is survived by his wife, two children, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. He left a distinct mark in the Indian corporate world. Subrata Roy was born into an upper middle class family in Araria district in Bihar. As a child, he was always considered a bright student. He did Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Government Technical Institute, Gorakhpur. Before founding the Sahara Group, he worked in the real estate business for 18 years. Apart from that, Roy had 32 years of business development experience. He is married to Swapna Roy having two sons. Sushan Roy is the Executive Director and CEO while Seemanto Roy is the Executive Director of the company.

Employing 11 lakh people

The Sahara group led by Subrata Roy tried their hand at various industries. The Sahara Group owned the IPL's Pune franchise and held a significant stake in Formula One racing team Force India. The group had plans to develop over 60 luxury townships across the country with a planned investment of Rs 90,000 crore. The land acquisition process for many townships was almost over. The conglomerate employed about 11 lakh people and had a presence in sectors such as real estate, financial services, insurance, media and entertainment, sports and healthcare. Bollywood stars and famous sports personalities are regular attendees at most of Sahara's events.

Had good political connections

Subrata Roy had close relations with Samajwadi Party's Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav. There were talks of Subrata Roy benefiting from his association. However, Roy had good relations with almost all the political leaders. He left a distinct mark in the Indian corporate world.

Sebi's action and takeover of Sahara

After a long legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Sahara chief was jailed along with two directors of his company on a Supreme Court order for allegedly defrauding investors. He was sent to Tihar Jail on 4 March 2014. Roy was released from prison on parole. Subrata Roy has been asked to return Rs 20,000 crore to investors with interest. He owns several real estate properties in India and abroad. Subrata Roy was accused of not returning the money given by his investors. Due to this, SEBI took action against him and the refund of 20 million dollars became a problem for him. After this, a series of troubles began for the Roy family. Roy had to go to jail and his business also suffered.