Vinod Khanna (businessman)

Vinod Kumar Khanna (born 24 July 1934) is an Indian businessman. Khanna held business interests in various industries in his career through the K Group companies he founded, including mining, real estate, railways, power, infrastructure, consultancy, hotels, and electronics. He has been noted for his influence in India and his links to foreign companies.

Throughout his career, Khanna faced various controversies, including affiliations with foreign corporations, influencing Government of India contracts, issues surrounding offshore accounts and real estate investments. His ties to foreign corporations were scrutinized, although the allegations against Khanna were never proven, and the legal actions were dismissed. Khanna's business activities also extended to offshore financial arrangements and significant real estate developments in Bangalore, Karnataka, which led to further public and legal scrutiny.

Early life and education
Vinod Kumar Khanna was born on 24 July 1934 in Lahore, Punjab Province, British India. Born into a Punjabi Hindu family, he is the son of businessman Shanti Lal Khanna and Vidya Khanna, and a member of the Khanna family. Khanna had two older brothers, Ravi and Vipin. Following the Partition of India in 1947, Khanna and his family fled Lahore and subsequently resettled in Delhi, India. He hailed from a prosperous family in Lahore, but due to the Partition, the family lost their wealth and had to start afresh in Delhi.

Khanna attended Hindu College and graduated in 1954 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and economics. He later attended Delhi University and graduated in 1956 with a Master of Arts in political science and international law.

Career
Khanna began his business career in the 1960s and went on to lead the K Group companies, which he founded. In the 1970s, he entered the consultancy industry. Through his company, Concord International, which he founded in the 1970s, Khanna was a consultant for various foreign companies in India. In the automotive industry, he was a consultant for Saab-Scania, a Swedish vehicle company, and Tractoroexport, a Russian tractor manufacturer. In the engineering industry, Khanna was a consultant for Japanese companies Mitsui, Sumitomo and Mitsubishi; Mannesmann, a German company; and Technopromexport, a Russian company. In the 1980s, Concord International facilitated the export of chemicals and engineered products from India. The company also had an office in the World Trade Centre in Mumbai. In 1976, Khanna also became a consultant for businesses seeking to enter Bangladesh and for Bangladeshi companies seeking to do business in India. Indian companies that Khanna assisted in entering and doing business in Bangladesh include RITES and Bank of India. Bangladeshi companies that Khanna assisted in entering and doing business in India include Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation and Bank Asia.

Khanna further expanded his business interests in the 1970s and entered the real estate industry. In 1972, his company Concord India, where his son Sundeep was a director, purchased land in Bangalore, Karnataka. In 2020, Concord India was acquired by Embassy Group, a real estate company, and was renamed Embassy East Business Park. Khanna's K Group companies also had other real investments and provided real estate consultancy services, real estate financing, and real estate fund management.

Also in the 1970s, Khanna entered the hotel industry. In 1975, Concord International's subsidiary, Concord International (Mauritius) hotel ventures in Mauritius. In 1979, the company set up The Regent of Mauritius hotel, which was built by Jack Bertoli's Swiss company, Jack Vicajee Bertoli, and the hotel was managed by Regent Hotels & Resorts. In 1983, Concord International (Mauritius) entered a bid for a 150 room luxury hotel tender from the Government of Mauritius. In 1988, in collaboration with Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Concord International (Mauritius) opened the 300 room Khanna-Sheraton Hotel. In India, Concord International was one of the companies granted approval by the Government of India to establish hotel business joint ventures.

Through Concord International and Adomatrix, another one of his companies, Khanna maintained interests in the advertising industry from the 1980s until 2002. In 1986, Adomatrix was awarded a contract to supply electronic display boards, linking the communications of India's stock exchanges. One of Khanna's other companies, Multi Impact Electronic Systems, was involved in developing computer electronic display systems.

In the 2000s, Khanna entered the mining and exploration industry through joint ventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Brazil and Indonesia. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, his K Group companies, through joint venture corporate entities, received 47 diamond mining and exploration concessions, a oil sands bitumen extraction concession, and a copper mining concession. Khanna's K Group companies also had a joint venture entity for uranium mining in Tanzania. In Brazil, Khanna had a joint venture for an iron ore mining concession and the same concession also had reserves of cobalt, manganese ore and copper. Khanna also had a joint venture for a gold mining concession in Brazil. In Indonesia, his K Group companies sold a coal mine.

Khanna also entered the railways, power and infrastructure industries in the 2000s. His company, Transworld Enterprises, was involved in power and infrastructure industries in India, Bangladesh, and various African countries, and in railway projects specifically in Bangladesh. Transworld Enterprises collaborated with NTPC and Alstom Power Systems, a French company, for modernising old power plants in India. The company was also involved in turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction projects for infrastructure, railway tracks, and power plants in Bangladesh. In 2007, Transworld Enterprises facilitated a deal between Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and the Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCBL) for the supply of two 120 MW gas turbine power generating units in the Siddhirganj Peaking Power Project in Bangladesh, and the inauguration of the project happened in 2010.

In 2002, Concord International was among numerous prominent companies embroiled in a dispute with the Income Tax Department over claims that assessments from the department were erroneous or nonfactual. Over the course of his career, Khanna served as the Honorary Consul of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in India, was the founding Chairman of the Indo-Zaire Friendship Association, and was the Chairman of the Indo-Kenya Friendship Association.

Affiliations with foreign corporations
During his career, Khanna's affiliations with foreign companies were at times controversial in India. His affiliation with Saab-Scania became controversial in the aftermath of the Bofors scandal in 1987, despite Khanna not being linked to the allegations of corruption in the Indian Government's procurement of the Bofors howitzer that caused the scandal. Although the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) searched Khanna's Golf Links residence in New Delhi while he was in London, England, it was unclear whether any incriminating evidence was found, and the CBI took no further action against Khanna.

Khanna also faced allegations from the CBI of receiving information regarding the Indian Army's procurement requirements from Nirmal Puri, a retired Lieutenant General, in 1987. Allegedly, Khanna wanted to use the information to help secure military procurement contracts for defence companies that were collaborating with Concord International, a company he owned. During the investigation, Khanna was not present in India as, at the time, he had not been residing in the country since 1986. In 2015, the Indian Army stated that the information Puri had allegedly provided to Khanna consisted merely of handwritten notes by a retired officer, and that the information was not classified and was already part of the public domain. The Supreme Court of India dismissed the CBI's case in 2015.

In 1988, both houses of parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, alleged that Khanna influenced a contract in favour of Sumitomo to supply heavy electrical machinery to the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and GAIL for the HVJ Gas Pipeline project, which was India's first interstate gas pipeline. It was also alleged that he received substantial commissions from Sumitomo for winning the contract for the company. In the 1990s, British Aerospace, a British defence and aerospace company that became BAE Systems in 1999, was allegedly among the companies collaborating with Khanna to secure defence contracts in India.

Offshore companies and accounts
In 1988, it was alleged that Khanna channeled commissions from foreign corporations through a front company in Panama. This company then transferred the funds to a London-based company, ultimately directing the money to Khanna's offshore accounts in Mauritius.

In 2020, Switzerland's federal gazette published a notice listing the names of Indian nationals with bank accounts in the country. The Swiss authorities were in the process of sharing account details with Indian authorities due to allegations of tax evasion from the latter. Khanna was among the individuals who had a Swiss bank account through a complex structure of entities.

Real estate interests in Bangalore
In 1972, Khanna's company, Concord India, purchased a substantial tract of land in Bangalore, and the value of the land, along with the value of timber located on the land, substantially appreciated in price by 2020. In 2008, the Forest Department in Karnataka legally contested Concord India's decision to develop the land for commercial purposes, however in 2019, Concord India won the legal dispute against the Karnataka Forest Department. In 2020, Embassy Group acquired Concord India and renamed the company Embassy East Business Park. In 2022, the political opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council contested Embassy Group's acquisition of 78 acres from Concord India's total real estate holdings in Bangalore, alleging financial irregularities in the business deal.

Personal life
Khanna was married to Nirmal Kumari Khanna. Nirmal, born in 1938, was the daughter of Trilok Nath Shankardass and belonged to the Shankardass family, which was a Kenyan Indian business family in Nairobi, Kenya. Khanna and Nirmal had two sons, Sundeep and Rajesh, and a daughter, Shalini. Nirmal died in 2018. Sundeep and Rajesh both became businessmen. Sundeep and Rajesh took control of Khanna's various K Group companies and also started their own separate businesses.