The Sahara group, whose legal battle with market watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) continues in the Supreme Court over refund of over Rs. 20,000 crore to investors, has made a surprise announcement of plans being afoot to hire over 56,000 new employees this year along with investments to the tune of nearly Rs. 32,400 crore.
In three-page newspaper advertisements, the group has invited applications for senior positions across business verticals within and outside the country and said that these more than 56,000 new jobs need to be filled by the end of 2014.
At the same time, it has also claimed that the group is “committed to creating four lakh salaried positions in next three years”.
The businesses for which job applications have been invited include FMCG & retail, dairy, poultry, luxury real estate & lifestyle, food factory, low-cost housing, CSR, education and cruises (Sahara Water Homes).
Besides job details, the group also disclosed specific investment targets for at least four business verticals and these investments total to an amount of Rs. 32,394 crore.
For its ‘Luxury Retail: Sahara Global Mastercraft Ltd’ business, the group said that an investment of Rs. 1,400 crore would be made over five years, while Rs. 5,172 crore would be invested in Food & Beverages and Entertainment: QSR (Quick Service Restaurants).
The ‘International Business: Macedonia (Europe)’ business is expected to see an investment of Rs. 13,922 crore in dairy project and Rs. 9,600 crore in hospitality project.
Further, healthcare would see an investment of Rs. 2,300 crore for 5-7 years, according to the public notice.
The group also claimed a huge asset base with a market value of “Rs. 1,52,518 crore” and a land bank of 36,631 acres.
This massive recruitment drive comes at a time when the group is caught in a legal battle with Sebi, which had charged it of raising over Rs. 24,000 crore through various “illegalities” in issuance of certain bonds through two firms.
These two firms – Sahara India Real Estate Corp Ltd (SIREC) and Sahara India Housing Investment Corp Ltd (SHIC) – were asked to refund the money to investors, while the Supreme Court also asked the group to comply with Sebi orders.
