Donald Trump's business in India: The roller coaster ride of Trump Towers

Donald Trump's business in India: The roller coaster ride of Trump Towers

Donald Trump came jetting into Pune way back in August 2014 to inaugurate the first of the Trump Towers in India.

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Gurbir Singh
  • Sep 6, 2017,
  • Updated Nov 10, 2017 5:48 PM IST

It was quite a public relations splash. Donald Trump came jetting into Pune way back in August 2014 to inaugurate the first of the Trump Towers in India. The super luxury residential towers were being developed by the Chordias of Panchshil Realty. Unfortunately, there was a small last-minute glitch. Nobody had figured that the 'T-Bird', as Trump calls his personal $100-million Boeing 757-200 jet, was too large for Pune's airport facilities, and he couldn't get off. After being stranded in the plane for an hour, the ground staff put together a special ramp, and Donald Trump descended to Mother Earth.

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The tycoon, someone reported, was nonplussed and after an hour of jovial bantering went on to open his first commercial franchise in India - two 22-storey towers in Pune's upscale Kalyani Nagar - at a gala dinner of the who's who of Bollywood and real estate. This was followed by The Trump Organization franchising a second 75-storey tower in Mumbai to the Lodha Group.

The Chordias, or for that matter the Lodhas, then didn't have a clue that their brand icon would run for US President; and what more, win handsomely. That did not stop them from cashing in when Trump went past the post on November 8 last year. The Lodhas in Mumbai, reeling under the paralysis of demonetisation, came out with huge billboards advertising the Mumbai Trump Tower with the larger-than-life image of the President, and the catch line "Trump is Back".

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A bigger drama played out in New York. Soon after his election victory, and much before Trump had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi or for that matter any world leader (with the exception of Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe), Trump was splashed across media shaking hands and celebrating with his Pune partners, Sagar and Atul Chordia, and The Trump Organization's India representative, Kalpesh Mehta, in New York's Trump Towers. What was thought to be a marketing coup boomeranged, with the US media and opposition seizing on the "conflict of interest" angle between Trump as President and Trump as Businessman.

Result: By February, soon after his January 20 inauguration as President, The Trump Organization had to throttle back and abort all new plans for Trump businesses the world over. The Chordias, caught in the cross-fire, had to abandon their second Trump-branded project in Pune.

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It was quite a public relations splash. Donald Trump came jetting into Pune way back in August 2014 to inaugurate the first of the Trump Towers in India. The super luxury residential towers were being developed by the Chordias of Panchshil Realty. Unfortunately, there was a small last-minute glitch. Nobody had figured that the 'T-Bird', as Trump calls his personal $100-million Boeing 757-200 jet, was too large for Pune's airport facilities, and he couldn't get off. After being stranded in the plane for an hour, the ground staff put together a special ramp, and Donald Trump descended to Mother Earth.

Advertisement

The tycoon, someone reported, was nonplussed and after an hour of jovial bantering went on to open his first commercial franchise in India - two 22-storey towers in Pune's upscale Kalyani Nagar - at a gala dinner of the who's who of Bollywood and real estate. This was followed by The Trump Organization franchising a second 75-storey tower in Mumbai to the Lodha Group.

The Chordias, or for that matter the Lodhas, then didn't have a clue that their brand icon would run for US President; and what more, win handsomely. That did not stop them from cashing in when Trump went past the post on November 8 last year. The Lodhas in Mumbai, reeling under the paralysis of demonetisation, came out with huge billboards advertising the Mumbai Trump Tower with the larger-than-life image of the President, and the catch line "Trump is Back".

Advertisement

A bigger drama played out in New York. Soon after his election victory, and much before Trump had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi or for that matter any world leader (with the exception of Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe), Trump was splashed across media shaking hands and celebrating with his Pune partners, Sagar and Atul Chordia, and The Trump Organization's India representative, Kalpesh Mehta, in New York's Trump Towers. What was thought to be a marketing coup boomeranged, with the US media and opposition seizing on the "conflict of interest" angle between Trump as President and Trump as Businessman.

Result: By February, soon after his January 20 inauguration as President, The Trump Organization had to throttle back and abort all new plans for Trump businesses the world over. The Chordias, caught in the cross-fire, had to abandon their second Trump-branded project in Pune.

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