Kishore Biyani, Future Retail and the ₹904-crore bank fraud case: What led to the Group’s collapse?

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more.

Unlock these with Subscription

The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.

First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.

Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.

Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in!

Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers

THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers

Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there

Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary.

The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.

Kishore Biyani.

File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

The Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) recent charges against Future Retail Limited (FRL) promoters Kishore Biyani and others, for allegedly defrauding the State Bank of India (SBI) of ₹904.32 crore, has turned the spotlight again on the beleaguered leaders.

Hailed as an industry leader in driving India’s consumption in retail sector, Mr.

Biyani’s leadership steered Future Group’s meteoric rise before mounting financial troubles pushed it into insolvency.

Amid such complexities, Mr.

Biyani’s role as FRL’s promoter was marred by a complex legal battle between Amazon and Reliance in 2022.

After Reliance backed out of the deal running into thousands of crores, Future Retail had no option but to file for liquidation before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in 2023.

The CBI conducted searches at multiple premises linked to the company’s promoters and directors in Mumbai on Friday (November 6, 2026), and seized documents relevant to the investigation.

The case was registered following a complaint filed by SBI’s Stressed Assets Management Branch-III in Mumbai.

The bank alleged that the company failed to utilise the sanctioned funds in accordance with the terms and conditions of the loan facilities.

Instead, portions of the funds were allegedly diverted to associate companies and related entities, raising suspicions of financial irregularities.

During the mid- to late-2000s, Future Group was firmly established as the country’s largest retailer and dubbed a “hypergrowth” company that would easily ride India’s consumption boom for years to come, as per a The Hindu Businessline report.

At the time, Mr.

Biyani felt a few more years of protection from foreign competition would allow Indian retailers to grow much bigger and command better valuations when FDI came in.

Read More : How wrong choices led to the dismantling of Future Group’s retail empire

However, according to the Businessline report, if the Future Group had pushed for FDI reforms, it would have attracted several global suitors.

A series of partnerships with global firms may have infused cash to sustain further in the market.

As e-commerce businesses quickly gained traction, Mr.

Biyani struggled with his retail business.

Doubtful about the financial sustainability of the prevailing e-commerce model, Mr.

Biyani opted instead to open hundreds of new small-format supermarkets.

By 2015, Future took a leap and operated 218 Bazaar stores, proposing that stores within a two-kilometre radius of every neighbourhood in cities would cater to the consumer’s needs better than e-commerce giants.

Mr.

Biyani offered Bharti a 10 per cent stake in the group and a seat on the board to Rajan Bharti Mittal.

Future hoped to tap into Airtel’s then 250 million subscribers with Future apps preloaded on Airtel SIM cards and crosspollinate customer loyalty programmes.

The company recorded staggering losses during the Covid-19 pandemic due to rising logistical price, warehouse management, and rent dues.

Amid this, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd’s (RRVL) announced the acquisition of Future Group’s retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing businesses.

As per an announcement made in August 2020, entities of Reliance were to acquire retail and warehousing assets of the Future Group for ₹24,713 crore.