On the verge of bankruptcy: How Cafe Coffee Day ground to a halt

After group company Sical Logistics was sent to NCLT, the listed company is next in queue

When V G Siddhartha, a low-profile but well-connected entrepreneur from Karnat­aka, committed suicide in July 2019, cor­porate India was shocked. Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd (CDEL), a listed entity, was the most successful coffee ch­a­in in India and investments by VGS, as he was known in corporate circles, in real estate and technology firm Min­d­tree were making waves. Café Coffee Day, the branded coffee retail stores, was what Starbucks is to the rest of the world.

But behind the success story, as Siddhartha’s suicide note said, was a business house built on shaky foundations. VGS began to default on payment of