East India Company goes bankrupt, shuts down again after 170 years
India Today
The East India Company, once ruler of vast Indian territories, has closed for the second time. Relaunched in the 2000s by Indian entrepreneur Sanjiv Mehta as a Mayfair luxury brand, which sold high-end teas and fine foods. It owed over £950,000 and entered creditors' voluntary liquidation.
The East India Company, the once-powerful British trading firm that ruled large parts of India and heralded the British colonisation of the country, has closed down, again, this time as a luxury retailer in London. The original East India Company went dormant nearly 152 years ago, but was revived by a British-Indian businessman in 2010, by buying the rights to the name. That East India Company project has now ended, after going bankrupt.
The East India Company's rule in India was taken over by the British government after the 1857 Indian Rebellion, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny. The British Crown took over its control in 1858, which marked the start of the direct British Raj in India.
The East India Company's legacy is mostly seen in negative connotations because of its large-scale exploitation in India and the rest of Asia. It changed global trade, but caused great suffering for Indians, through violence and the Great Bengal Famine that killed 30 million people.
When Indian entrepreneur Sanjiv Mehta bought the rights to the East India Company name in 2010, it was seen as a revenge of the colonised. That a company that ruled India was now being ruled by an Indian was celebrated in headlines across the world.
However, the modern version of the company has gone into liquidation.
The East India Company Limited appointed liquidators in October 2025, The Sunday Times reported. It owed more than £600,000 (Rs 6.3 crore) to its parent group, registered in the British Virgin Islands, £193,789 (Rs 2.03 crore) in taxes, and £163,105 (Rs 1.71 crore) to employees, according to the British newspaper. Several related companies with "East India" in the name, connected to owner Sanjiv Mehta, have also been dissolved, it reported.
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