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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anubhav Plantations | 1/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anubhav_Plantations | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T14:10:55.825330+00:00 | kb-cron |
Anubhav Plantations was an Indian Chennai-based plantation company founded in 1992. It sold shares in teak plantations on guaranteed interests and later diversified to other schemes through four principal companies: Anubhav Agrotech, Anubhav Green Farms & Resorts, Anubhav Plantations, and Anubhav Royal Orchards Exports. The company suddenly closed down in 1998 when it could no longer pay its depositors, leaving its thousands of investors in the lurch and unpaid. Its chairman, C. Natesan, went underground and the other directors claimed ignorance and innocence. The incident became a major financial scandal in India. The company was subsequently revealed to have been a scam based on fraud, as teak, being an agriculture-based commodity, could not promise sure returns. Anubhav was found to have defrauded its depositors of nearly ₹400 crore (equivalent to ₹18 billion, US$190 million or €190 million in 2023) through Ponzi schemes. The Anubhav case is often termed by the Indian media as "The Great Plantation Scam of the 1990s".
== History == The Anubhav group of companies was founded by C. Natesan, a commerce graduate from Chennai's Vivekananda College and a chartered accountancy course dropout. Natesan started his career in 1983 by launching a consultancy firm called Yours Faithfully Consultancy. In 1984, he started a construction company with three partners. Three years later, in 1987, he closed this venture and set up the Anubhav Foundation, which became the mother company of his future enterprises.
== Formation == In 1991, as part of its post-liberalization process, the Indian government allowed firms within India to be formed as financial entities. Investment in agricultural commodities, which previously had only been permitted to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), was opened up to the private sector. In this environment, Anubhav Plantations Ltd. (Anubhav) was floated by Natesan as a listed public limited company in 1992. Over the next six years, the Anubhav umbrella expanded to include various other companies including Anubhav Homes Ltd., Anubhav Resorts Ltd., Anubhav Finance & Investments, Anubhav Communications & Advertising (Pvt.) Ltd., Anubhav Royal Orchards & Exports, Anubhav Hire Purchase Ltd., Anubhav Green Farms & Resorts (Pvt.) Ltd., Anubhav Agro, Anubhav Security Bureau, Anubhav Interiors and Anubhav Health Club. Under these companies, the Anubhav group owned and operated 254 finance firms, including 95 firms of Anubhav finance investments, 169 firms of Anubhav dhan varsha and one firm each of Anubhav Agro and housing developers. Furthermore, the plantation companies themselves had several companies under them. For example, Anubhav plantation had six companies operating under it, including Anubhav Good Earth Unit II, Anubhav Teak Deposit and Anubhav India Limited. By 1998, Anubhav group was worth ₹250 crore (US$26 million), and, apart from its teak-plantation schemes, was involved in other enterprises including finance, real estate and timeshare – a popular enterprise in the recently liberalized Indian economy of the 1990s. These companies were well-structured and backed by a nationwide infrastructure of 91 offices and over 1,800 employees. This included a young, aggressive and highly effective sales force.