I’ll come back: BR Shetty at Udupi

Team Udayavani, Mar 1, 2021, 5:18 PM IST

Udupi: Industrialist and philanthropist BR Shetty said that he was betrayed by those whom he had blindly trusted adding that he has never cheated anyone and is confident to get out of all the problems he is presently facing.

He was speaking at an event at the Kusamma Shambhu Shetty Memorial Haji Abdullah Mother and Children’s Hospital here celebrating the birth of the 10,000th baby at the hospital.

“I went to Dubai with a loan from Syndicate Bank and paid it after earning there. I do not have debt in India and I have given away 50% of my wealth to the Melinda Gates Foundation,” he said.

“I promoted to the post of CFO a person who was an accountant in my company. The case is in court so I can’t speak much on it. I believe that Jana seva (public service) is Janardhana seva (holy service). I will come out of all these problems with the blessings of the people. I will come back,” he added.

“At one point in his life, Donald Trump was refused a credit card by many American banks. Such a bankrupt man become the president of the United States. I am confident too. I have not cheated anyone. When I was in Udupi I didn’t have a rupee in my pocket. I borrowed money to buy petrol for my bike and repaid all of it,” Shetty said.

“It was deeply saddening to see the news that BR Shetty’s empire has been destroyed. By god’s grace, my financial situation has not deteriorated. I am more financially stable than one can imagine. My business abroad are gone but my assets in India are safe,” he added.

Shetty claimed that the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha had requested him to build a hospital similar to the one at Udupi in view of the excellent service of the Udupi hospital.

To a query, whether he has contacted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for help he replied that he has not and asked, “Do you want my name to feature with Neerav Modi and Vijaya Mallya?”