Search the Internet          Tips  Sites: Finance, Investment

One-time lottery king makes new start

Shuchi Bansal

Ashwani Khurana's life has been like a roller-coaster ride with a succession of thrills and spills. He was once on an underworld hit list with a 'supari' on his head.

At another time he had a run-in with the judiciary and was almost jailed for contempt of court. Worst of all, he was forced out of his Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) lottery business that had been a moneyspinner for over 20 years.

So, does the one-time promoter of the enormously successful Sikkim Lotteries seem care-worn and burdened with the troubles of life? He certainly doesn't betray any signs of worry. "I am very spiritually inclined," he says almost defensively.

Today, the man who was once India's top taxpayer and lottery king is building on new foundations: as a real estate developer. But Khurana isn't putting up a run-of-the-mill middle-class housing complex. He has created Karma Lakelands, a 7-star eco-tourism village project on the Delhi-Jaipur highway.

"It is my dream project simply because my passion has become my business," says Khurana, adding that he is now a zealous environmentalist. His conversation is peppered with throwaways about 'forest cover with 25,000 trees', 'water harvesting', 'bio gas plants' and 'lakes'.

"Karma Lakelands will be a no-pollution zone, so no polythene bags will be allowed. And a no-horn zone too, so that you do not interfere with the soundscape of the place," elaborates Khurana.

It will, of course, also be a super-premium project spread over 260 acres. In between the lakes and bio-gas plants there will be restaurants, a club, a five-star hotel and spa, a nine-hole golf course, luxury villas and condominiums overlooking either the golf course or the lake.

What's more, the master plan envisages a polo field, an equestrian centre and a horse riding trail. "Nearly 95 per cent of the complex will be green with only the remaining five being concrete," says Khurana.

The aim, he says, is to let people live in peace and harmony with nature - if they are rich enough to afford a place in this idyllic setting. "Each villa may cost upwards of Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million)," he says.

With such ambitious plans, why has Khurana been so quiet about his project?

"For the simple reason that no one knows me as a real estate developer," he says, matter-of-factly. So there was no point in releasing ads screaming about the place, he explains.

Therefore, he has handed over the marketing to realty firm Chesterton Meghraj. The company's mandate is to start marketing the complex to high net worth individuals as well as major corporates through a personal contact programme.

Khurana has worked out a slightly different business plan. There has been no booking or pre-sale of property within the complex. "We only intend to lease out the villas and apartments. These could be on lease for between three days and 99 years," he explains.

Interestingly, Khurana has also not borrowed any money to finance the project, though he's already sunk Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million) in the first phase.

"This does not include the cost of the land which was acquired many years back," he points out. On why he is self-financing the project, he says that he did not wish to service any debt.

"Also, if it does not take off, I shall still be sitting on real estate. I will not get wiped out," he says, probably with the caution of one who's been once bitten twice shy.

Though Khurana says he's never gone public about the closure of his profitable lottery business, he feels it was a case of justice denied.

During the '80s, Khurana shot into the limelight as the youngest personal income tax payee when he submitted a Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million) tax return. The year was 1989 and he was only 29.

His connections with the lottery business stretch back much further. In 1979 his father, Iqbal Chand Khurana, who ran a small lottery shop in Delhi's congested Sadar Bazar, set up a small lottery business for his son. Ashwani's business grew fast and he soon overtook his father.

Of course, he was greatly helped by the fact that the Sikkim government lottery business fell in his lap and stayed with him for two decades.

But it was between 1989 and 1999 that he made a killing. Between 1981 and 1999 the Sikkim government income from the lottery business grew from Rs 500,000 to Rs 600,000 in 1981 to Rs 46 crore (Rs 460 million) in 1999.

During the 20-year period, his company K & Co, made Sikkim Lotteries a formidable force in the business with a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion). At the time of closing down, Khurana printed 5 crore (Rs 50 million) lottery tickets per day under 77 different brands.

But, in '99, Khurana's lottery party ended abruptly. A rival lottery company, Martin Lotteries, filed a PIL challenging the Khuranas' exclusive rights to the Sikkim government's lottery scheme. For 20 years the Sikkim government had renewed its contract with Khurana's K & Co every four to six years.

Martin also filed a separate case challenging Khurana's claim over the 77 brand names it used under the Sikkim Lotteries schemes. Despite spending millions on hiring the country's best lawyers, Khurana lost both the cases.

He alleges that though the Sikkim government invited tenders to bid for its business again, the eligibility criteria was defined to suit only one player.

"We did not even qualify to apply. Though we could have tried the other state government lottery schemes, I was pretty disillusioned and decided to get out of the business completely," says Khurana.

As they say, every dark cloud has a silver lining. During one of his frequent trips to Sikkim, Khurana met his second wife Anky.

His first marriage ended in a bitter divorce and the raffleman paid a handsome Rs 7.5 crore (Rs 75 million) to his first wife for the custody of his three children: two daughters and a son.

Today, Khurana says that it is his wife who is driving the entire real estate business. Luckily for him, Khurana says he'd invested in buying up rural and suburban land which "came to my rescue when my lottery empire packed up".

Several of his farmhouses are now on rent to different embassies. "I lead a semi-retired life while my wife supervises the work at Karma Lakelands," he says.

Khurana's semi-retired life involves looking after the greens or worrying about the state of his water harvesting infrastructure at his seven acre office-cum-residence farmhouse. (A very private man he made it clear that if this article was about the lifestyles of the rich and famous, he would not be a part of it.)

Khurana's claims to being a genuine environmentalist are borne out once again when you step into his farmhouse. Only 10 per cent of his entire land area is constructed. The rest is all green and there's a canopy of trees, bushes and landscaped lawns.

"I am at peace in these surroundings and rarely go into town. I've discovered that I am a non-urban person," he says quietly.

Of course, Khurana does not need to go out - he goes to office three steps away from home, and swims or plays tennis at his tennis court for recreation. Or else there are 13 horses, seven dogs, five cows and numerous hens and roosters to worry about.

Powered by

ALSO READ:
More Money Headlines