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Bring on the Boll ygarchs

n July a powerful entrepreneurs like Karan (now Lord) British delegation, Launching beers, Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer and adviser including David becoming peers, to Prime Ministers Blair, Brown and Cameron, George Cameron on India. Born in Hyderabad in Osborne and CEOs running NGOs and 1961, Bilimoria comes from a distinguished from BAE, Barclays military family. His great-grandfather, Bank, News dancing till dawn – Dhanjisha Bilimoria, was a senior police Corporation and officer who arrested Mahatma Gandhi on Vodafone, visited India. there’s no stopping three occasions. His grandfather, Nasservanji The Prime Minister’s ’s Indian Bilimoria, commanded the 1st Battalion message was that of the Madras Regiment; in 1947 he and the Britain was very keen billionaires. Mark battalion were posted to protect the great to trade with one of pacifist and nationalist. When Colonel the world’s thriving Hollingsworth and Bilimoria reported for duty, Gandhi asked economies. How him if he was related to Dhanjisha Bilimoria. fortunes have changed M A Nicholas meet When he said yes, Gandhi replied: ‘There in a mere century: 100 years ago, Britain was the new maharajas must be some mistake. Your father arrested the greatest of imperial powers and India me three times and you’ve been sent to was the jewel in the crown. When the protect me. I don’t feel very safe with you.’ of Wales visited Jaipur in 1876, the local word, according to his mother. He was given Lord Bilimoria’s father led Gurkha maharaja Ram Singh painted the entire town a battery-operated Ferrari when he was four regiments after the Second World War, but pink in honour of His Royal Highness. and now owns 260 vintage motors – notably the young Karan was never tempted by the IIn 1911, the city of Mumbai built a huge a 1913 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost – and the military, he told me in an exclusive interview triumphal arch by the sea to commemorate Force India Formula One team. Then there is with Tatler: ‘My father used to joke that the visit of King George V. the obligatory yacht, a 311-foot party boat the best way to persuade his children not While Britain burrows its way through an called Indian Empress. His four private jets to join the army was to show them his avalanche of debt, India’s economy is booming are notable for their impressionist paintings, paycheck.’ He was already influenced by with a growth rate of nearly nine per cent. granite bars and a walk-in wardrobe in his the renowned commercial grandeur of Many predict this will be India’s century. bedroom which allows him to emerge Hyderabad – which, after all, once boasted And many rich Indians are enjoying that fact dressed for that evening’s entertainment. the richest man in the world, the Nizam here in . And on the ground, there are homes in of Hyderabad, whose wealth in today’s terms Today there are 69 Indian billionaires, with Holland Park, Stowe Castle near Silverstone, was double that of Bill Gates. a combined worth of $221.1 billion. And as an estate in Berkshire and another castle in At 16, Bilimoria was despatched to Hebron Cameron attempts to woo India Inc, many Scotland. No wonder Mallya is known as School, a British-style boarding school near Bollygarchs have already embraced Britain the Richard Branson of India. This lifestyle Ootacomund in the south of India, and by moving to London and purchasing some has inevitably invoked comparisons with then graduated from Osmania University. of its grandest homes. Take Vijay Mallya, the Russian oligarchs. In fact, the Indian In 1981, aged 20, he moved to the UK and owner of Kingfisher Beer and Kingfisher super-rich have little in common with the qualified as an accountant, before reading Airlines. A glass of Ferrari Carano wine in Russian tycoons, many of whom made law at Cambridge, where he was captain one hand and a Café Crème cigar in the their fortunes by capitalising on the chaotic of the polo team. Lord Bilimoria built his other, he’s a flashy peacock, with sparkling privatisation of lucrative state assets in oil, commercial career from scratch. In 1989, diamond solitaire studs that once belonged gas and metals. The Bollygarchs have earned he moved into a small flat on Fulham to his mother in each ear, and an immense their millions and many are generous Palace Road and founded an import-export diamond bracelet protruding from beneath to charity. business, A&K International, with an old his bespoke French-cuff shirt. In fact, for every extravagant Bollygarch family Indian friend, Arjun Reddy. They Mallya also loves cars, and ‘car’ was his first like Mallya, there are more ascetic self-made imported polo sticks for £1 from India and

000 Tatler photographed by mark c o’flaherty o’neill dominic alan sam barker, davidson, pictures: research Bring on the Boll ygarchs

Clockwise from above, steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and his wife Usha, third and fourth from left, with their daughter Vanisha and son-in-law Amit Bhatia; Cobra Beer tycoon Lord Bilimoria, photographed for Tatler in his London offices, October 2010; Cyrus Vandrevala and his wife Priya; Vijay Mallya at Stowe Castle

Tatler 000 Clockwise from above, Reita Gadkari, photographed for Tatler at her London house, October 2010; Reita and Vilas Gadkari with their children Pia and Arjun in Umbria, 2010; Raj Gill and his wife Priyanka at the ARTiculate Gala chaired by Reita Gadkari, September 2010; artist’s impression of ArcelorMittal Orbit, Anish Kapoor’s steel tower for the London Olympics, towards which Lakshmi Mittal’s company is contributing £16 million; Usha Mittal at the Mittals’ house, photographed for Tatler, June 2010; Lord Bilimoria and his wife Heather

000 Tatler sold them to Giddens and for £15 show a substantial profit, he assures me Annabel’s in their Bentley. In 2010 the (polo sticks had originally been imported proudly and with a detectable note of relief. Vandrevalas again made generous donations from Argentina but a shortage had developed Lord Bilimoria typifies the Bollygarchs: at the Raisa Gorbachev Gala and also helped because of the Falklands War trade embargo). commercially focused, enterprising and fund the Elephant Family, a charity run by The young entrepreneurs also imported generous to charities. Another example is the Duchess of Cornwall’s brother Mark hand-embroidered silk jackets from Hyderabad the 37-year-old Cyrus Vandrevala, the Shand to save elephants in India – 261 and sold them for £500 to Harabels (owned dashing and urbane CEO of Intrepid Capital model elephants were positioned across by Tina Green), Princess Diana’s favourite Partners, a US-based private equity firm. London and their eventual auction raised boutique on Beauchamp Place, which His wife is the glossy Valentino-wearing £4 million. ‘It is essential to India’s heritage,’ promptly sold them for £1,000 each. Priya Hiranandani, whose father built a vast said the couple as they joked with Sarah, Later that year Bilimoria got the opportunity fortune from property development and, Duchess of York, and Goldie Hawn to realise his commercial dream – to produce later, call centres. at the party. a beer suitable for drinking with an Indian In early 2008 the Vandrevalas moved to Indeed, the Vandrevalas love a bash. Every meal. ‘I found most lagers very gassy, bland London and settled in Claridge’s for six year they throw a children’s Christmas party and harsh. Basically, they were difficult months while they looked for somewhere to at the Ritz. One press release read: ‘The to drink,’ he tells me. ‘The combination of live. Eventually they found a £20 million Vandrevalas are throwing a Seasonal Tea fizzy lager and spicy food bloated you, house in Holland Park and set up an office Party at the Ritz Hotel for their children and making it quite an unpleasant experience.’ He at 199 , the high-security their children’s friends. The children are approached Mysore Breweries in Bangalore, luxury apartment block. They got to know being collected by Mr Vandrevala’s liveried which agreed to develop his new beer for many of the British Establishment. Nicholas chauffeur in either his Bentley or his import, and called it ‘Panther’. But just two Soames – a confidant of the Prince of Lamborghini. We are not sure if Father weeks before the first shipment left India, Wales, grandson of Sir Winston Churchill Christmas is being collected by his chauffeur.’ the market research showed that customers Another renowned party lover is hated the name ‘Panther’ but loved ‘Cobra’. powerhouse Reita Gadkari, wife of one of After two years Bilimoria’s business was Later that evening, Europe’s top hedgefund managers, Vilas delivering more than 1,000 cases of Cobra a Gadkari, a partner at Brevan Howard Asset month to 100 restaurants in London. For the Management, overseeing a £27 billion fund. the Vandrevalas next 15 years there was rapid growth, and Gadkari was a founding partner of Rubicon, private joy – in 1993 he married Heather gave Dougray Scott a fund set up by eight former Salomon Walker, a South African graduate from Brothers traders (he was managing director Rhodes University who was a teacher at Hill a lift to Annabel’s of Salomon Brothers in the UK). House prep school in Knightsbridge when Dressed in designer jeans and cashmere they met. There were weddings on three in their Bentley from Brunello Cucinelli, Reita radiates continents: a Zoroastrian Parsi ceremony in positive energy when she meets us at the , an Anglican church wedding and a Conservative MP – was hired as a Connaught. Daughter of a Bihar physician in Chelsea, a blessing on Heather’s family ‘senior adviser on strategic issues’ to Intrepid who moved to New York, Reita graduated farm in South Africa and an Indian wedding Capital Partners. He is paid £25,000 a from Hunter College and married her in Hyderabad. When we meet him in his quarter for 25 hours’ work, according to his husband, Vilas, who was doing a PhD at discreet offices, he is dressed Parliamentary declaration. ‘The Vandrevalas Columbia. They moved to London as they in a smart but unshowy suit. ‘Billy’ (as he is have an eclectic group of friends,’ Soames wanted to be between their families in New known) is driven and public-spirited – he told Tatler. ‘They are a very impressive, York and Mumbai. Reita and Vilas’s passion calls us later that evening during a break in serious couple, great fun, generous and is Pratham UK, the British chapter of the debate at the Lords. In 2006 he became Lord very, very bright.’ largest children’s NGO in India. Pratham Bilimoria of Chelsea as a cross-bench peer Their philanthropic vehicle for that was established by Unicef and is dedicated and was increasingly influential in the generosity is the Vandrevala Foundation. In to eradicating illiteracy among India’s Labour government. He has also impressed December 2008, for instance, they made poorest children – Bill and Melinda Gates are David Cameron – he met privately with the a substantial donation to the victims of the supporters. Vilas Gadkari is chairman of Prime Minister shortly after the election, Mumbai massacre. The following June the Pratham UK; his university education in before the delegation to India. couple attended the 2009 Raisa Gorbachev Mumbai was funded by Unicef. It hasn’t all been plain sailing for Bilimoria Foundation Gala at Hampton Court – the This September Reita chaired ARTiculate, – the financial tsunami of September 2008 annual fundraising event to combat cancer the first of what is to be an annual art and hit Cobra hard. The company, part-owned by organised by Alexander Lebedev, owner design gala at Old market, a hedgefund, was drowning in debt. It was of the Evening Standard and The Independent, which raised £1.6 million for Pratham UK rescued by a joint venture with Molson and his son Evgeny. The Vandrevalas in one evening alone. It featured the Coors, the US brewing giant. Today Cobra successfully bid £75,000 for dinner in world’s largest paper chandelier, ‘The Light’, beer has recovered, its unsecured creditors Moscow with Mikhail Gorbachev and later hand-cut by some of the 133 million Indian research pictures:arup/rex features,alpha, dominic o’neill,stefano massimo,. photograph of reita gadkari: hair and make-up by tania courtney at mandy coakley, using mac, origins skincare and bumble and bumble and bumble skincare origins mac, using coakley, mandy at courtney tania and make-up by hair are being paid and its new accounts will that evening gave Dougray Scott a lift to children whom Pratham supports. Beneath it

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were 600 guests who included Britain’s fourth validation for rich Indians – many of whom richest man, steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, and now live in a grandeur that would make Lord his wife Usha and Lord Bilimoria. The glamorous Curzon, the ostentatious viceroy of a century evening marked a new, ambitious approach in ago, sigh with envy. ‘London is a status symbol – Indian philanthropy. For the gala dinner, the you make real money elsewhere if you’re an cheapest table – known as ‘Cotton’ – cost £15,000. Indian,’ a financial analyst told Tatler. As Anil Next up was the ‘Silk Table’, which cost £30,000, Agarwal, the London-based aluminium tycoon, followed by ‘Jute’ with a price tag of £75,000. Vilas candidly remarked: ‘I have to do things differently. Gadkari auctioned his services as a car-washer. I have to project myself. I have to own a Bentley, London-based pharmaceutical tycoon Hari the best of chauffeurs and butlers. All of these Bhartia bid £17,000 – clearly the highest price add to the confidence.’ ever paid to wash a motor. Agarwal owns a sprawling £30 million mansion In 2008 a black-tie dinner for Pratham UK on Hill Street in the heart of Mayfair, although was cancelled following the financial crisis. his properties are dwarfed by those of the Mittals. At the last minute the Gadkaris and their fellow Lakshmi Mittal has spent £273 million on houses trustees came up with an idea for a ‘No-Frills on Gardens, Curzon Street Party’ where guests wore jeans rather than in Mayfair and the Bishops Avenue in Hampstead. black tie. Held at Billingsgate, it was, says Reita, He also paid £117 million for a mansion on Palace laughing, a surprising success. Reita also got Green for his son Aditya – who is married to the lucky one gala evening when she was given a glamorous Megha, the new owner of Escada – napkin with a handwritten message. ‘It read, and another £70 million for a 16,000-square-foot “An anonymous donor would like to match your dwelling down the street for his daughter Vanisha. biggest donor.”’ Super-rich Indians’ house-buying power has, The Gadkaris galvanise Pratham’s fundraising of course, been enhanced by the weak pound and activities with a series of dinner parties at their their ability to purchase in cash. But more than elegant home in Pembridge Place, . that, they love London: Naresh Goyal, owner Guests at Reita’s soirées include of Jet Airways, India’s largest such longstanding Indian domestic airline, is so Londoners as the Hinduja Many Indians entranced by the capital that AD brothers and Usha Mittal, as well he virtually commutes to India as the younger generation of now live in a from his townhouse on GOING entrepreneurs. Reita enthuses Hamilton Terrace, overlooking about, among others, Raj Gill, of grandeur that Regent’s Park, which he bought whom more later. Reita’s own in 2003 for £5.1 million. Indians HERE children are, she says, also highly would make are formidable negotiators. motivated – her daughter Pia has ‘You need to have your wits moved to Mumbai to work for Lord Curzon about you,’ property consultant Thomson Reuters (after gaining Henry Pryor told Tatler. ‘They a first in history at Magdalen) sigh with envy can be particular but they and lives there with her brother like to negotiate and they need Arjun, who graduated from St Hugh’s College, vast space for their love of entertainment. They are Oxford, last year. Both work on projects with also unassuming, modest and have no entourage. Pratham. And with that Reita heads home It’s refreshing to deal with the buyer direct. They to get ready for a golfing trip at their house like a deal, whereas the Russians like a solution in Umbria. to a problem.’ London is now the most alluring of all cities And they sure are dealers. In the City of to the Indian super-rich because of its security, London, the dashing Raj Gill is renowned as the private schools, independent and impartial Square Mile’s most extraordinary lone trader. judiciary, mild climate and the ease with which Fresh out of LSE, he borrowed £7,000 from his they can manage their global empires from parents and traded it, using three computer here. It’s even more seductive compared to monitors set up on his mother’s London kitchen their homeland, where bureaucracy remains table. At the end of the year he had made cumbersome, corruption pervasive and taxes £7 million. Subsequent millions were lost to a complex, at best. conman before the High Court awarded him But it is also very important not to become an £20 million in damages that he has once again outsider in India itself, and so the Bollygarchs finessed into further untold millions. And in retain an umbilical link to the mother country true Bollygarch style, Raj and his glossy wife – Lakshmi Mittal is one of the few to have Priyanka spend it generously – on the one hand, accumulated his fortune outside of India. They lavishly supporting Pratham UK and, on the other, may own colossal townhouses in Kensington hosting a stupendous party at Claridge’s to but they also retain residences in their homeland. celebrate Diwali in November. And, boy, do the More than anything, as the city from which Bollygarchs have something to celebrate. Soon, their land was once ruled, London is the ultimate perhaps, they’ll be painting London pink. (

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