Niira Radia (; born on 19 November 1960) is a former corporate lobbyist whose taped telephone conversations implicated her influence in the allocation of key ministries in the Government of India in 2009. Discussion of the tapes resulted in the "Radia tapes controversy", which was a media event that led to the uncovering of the alleged 2G spectrum scam involving former telecommunications minister A Raja. These events led to Raja's resignation and later acquittal by Special CBI court, and Radia's departure from corporate lobbying.
Early life
Niira Radia (née Nira Menon) was born on 19 November 1960 in Nairobi, Kenya in an Indian Punjabi Hindu family, her father was businessman Iqbal Narain Menon (the surname is a variant of Manan) and her mother was Sudesh Sharma. In the 1970s the family moved to London where she attended Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls followed by the University of Warwick. In 1981 she married Janak Radia, a Gujarati businessman, with whom she had 3 sons. In 1994, the Radias divorced and Niira moved to India as a Person of Indian Origin. On the advice of a numerologist, she added an extra letter to her name to make it "Niira".
Career
Travel agent
Between 1988 and 1993 Niira Radia incorporated a string of travel and aviation related companies in London, in which she and her family members were shareholders and held positions such as company secretary and director. By 1995 these companies had been liquidated, many of them after filing bankruptcy.
Aviation consultant
In 1994 Radia's father, Iqbal Menon, met an advisor to Sahara Airlines at a party in London who mentioned that the airlines was looking to lease Boeing 737-400 aircraft to expand the business. Menon, who was involved in Radia's aircraft lease business, sent Radia to New Delhi, India to meet Sahara Airlines CEO, Uttam Kumar Bose. Radia helped Sahara negotiate with International Lease Finance Corporation, a Los Angeles based company, for the lease of two Boeing 737-400 aircraft and spare parts.
In 1995 Radia rented an office in Vasant Vihar, Delhi. She was hired by the Sahara Group in New Delhi, India as an aviation consultant. Acting as a liaison officer, Radia used her expertise in the areas of travel, aviation, government policies and the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to resolve Sahara Airlines' issues with the commercial department at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi. During these negotiations, Radia met Rao Dheeraj Singh, a traffic supervisor with Sahara Airlines, and grandson of former Haryana Chief Minister Rao Birender Singh.
In March 1996 Radia persuaded Singh to quit Sahara Airlines and join her as a business partner in Mumbai. At the behest of part-owner Chandu Panjabi, Radia was to work on getting foreign hotel management companies interested in the restoration of Hotel Sea Rock, Bandra that had been damaged in the 1993 Bombay bombings. While in Mumbai, Radia also arranged funding for Agni Sakshi (1996), a Hindi film produced by Chandu Panjabi's friend, Binda Thackeray, Bal Thackeray's son.
In early 1997, Radia and Singh moved back to New Delhi. Acting as aviation consultants, they traveled to Bahrain with Sahara Airlines CEO, Uttam Kumar Bose, to negotiate the purchase of helicopters from Eurocopter. After a successful negotiation, Sahara Airlines placed a $25 million order for four helicopters - three AS-355Ns and one AS-365N Dauphin. The deal netted Radia and Singh a huge commission that they routed through Sofema, a company created the same year for guiding the foreign sales of large French aeronautic and defence groups. To bring the money into India, Radia and Singh made several trips to London and Dubai together.
Following the trip to Bahrain, Singh and his wife, Anjum, had an acrimonious divorce. Radia moved from a rented flat in Safdarjung Development Area to a residential estate in Asola. She arranged for her three sons and her sister to come from London and live in India with her. Singh also moved in with her and Radia began introducing herself as Singh's wife on social occasions. She also certified herself as Singh's spouse in legal papers.
After the 1998 Indian general election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition known as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) formed a government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for a year. On 19 March 1998 Ananth Kumar, representing the Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka, became the Minister of Civil Aviation. Radia became emotionally close to Anantha Kumar. Kumar introduced Radia to Swami Vishwesha Teertha, who became her spiritual guru.