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Much was expected of it, but Vijay Mallya’s engagement with the media turned out to be a damp squib. While it was convened among expectations that Kingfisher, promoted by Mallya, would announce some kind of blueprint for revival, the colourful promoter, whose airline is steeped in debt estimated at a little over ₹ 7,000 crore, refused to accept responsibility for the airline’s poor showing. Instead, he put the onus of the airline’s flight into red on extraneous factors, including state governments for charging what he claimed was excessive VAT on aviation turbine fuel.