One can also admire him for his obsessive drive (one of Goyal's friends once told me, "I have never known a man so persistent once he has made up his mind. If Naresh Goyal wants to talk to you, no matter which corner of the world you are in, he will get you").

People say that he has a phenomenal network across the world, is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to political contacts, and has a single-minded focus on bettering his airline and its bottomline.

But ego-driven businesses (and aviation, like cars, is certainly one) are notorious for trapping their owners into taking needlessly ambitious decisions.

Goyal's decision to buy Sahara, expand overseas in competitive markets and to focus on marketshare rather than on bottom line over the past year were serious errors of judgment -- for which he is now paying the price.

And yet, it is also true that his airline commands by far the highest value on the stock market (about four times as much as rival Kingfisher).

So, even if it is Vijay Mallya who has more of a cash cushion because of his liquor and beer businesses, it is Goyal who has by far the better aviation company.

Image: Naresh Goyal at a function in Mumbai. | Photograph: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images

Also read: How to make tax gains on stock market losses

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