Godfrey Phillips' Samir Modi Questions The Company's Decision To Sell The Popular Retail Outlets

In an exclusive interview, Samir Modi, Executive Director of Godfrey Phillips India, addressed claims regarding the accumulating losses of up to ₹700 crore in the 24Seven retail business. Samir clarified that he cannot be held responsible as he is not the Managing Director and reports directly to the board of Godfrey Phillips India (GPI). He questioned why the business was not shut down five years ago if the board felt it was not sustainable. Samir further pointed out that similar scrutiny should be applied to the company's Managing Director, Bina Modi, who presided over a 2% loss in market share and has overseen accumulated reserves of ₹3,000 crores that have not been distributed to shareholders. He expressed concerns, emphasizing that the board was informed of the company's numbers regularly but chose to remain silent until now when he began asking questions on behalf of shareholders. Samir suggested that the recent actions against him were motivated by his decision to question the declining performance of the company, which has led to attempts to remove him from the board. He also disputed claims that there was any formal recommendation by the Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) to shut down 24Seven, asserting that no such report exists in the public domain and that the claims against him are baseless.