Udupi : NRI entrepreneur and philanthropist B.R. Shetty said he was confident of emerging stronger and coming out of the economic crisis surrounding his empire while stating that he has not cheated anyone.

Though his healthcare empire has fallen over the charges of mismanagement, no one could imagine his personal worth. He has pledged half of his wealth for charity and he would continue to work for people, Mr. Shetty said.

He was speaking to media persons on the sidelines of celebrations of 10,000 newborns at the Koosamma Shabhu Shetty Memorial Haji Abdullah Mother and Child Hospital in Udupi, developed by his trust.

Mr. Shetty said he had no unpaid loans with banks in India; whatever was borrowed from foreign banks would be repaid soon. He said the media had launched a negative narrative against him as if he had become a pauper. In reality, his economic worth has not deteriorated so much as depicted in the media. He was a victim of deeds by his own people.

Stating that several States have invited him to build hospitals on the lines of the one in Udupi, Mr. Shetty said he was yet to take a decision on that.

At Udupi, he intends to build a statue of the late V.S. Acharya at Ajjarkad and develop the school where the late Udupi Pejawar Mutt Seer Sri Vishwesha Tirtha studied. Mr. Shetty said he would not take the income from the proposed super-speciality hospital in Udupi; instead the income would be used for running the Koosamma Shetty hospital.

Earlier, the first and the 10,000th child born at the Koosamma Shetty Hospital on July 2, 2018 and February 24, 2021, were felicitated.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Shetty recalled his time as the vice-president of the then Udupi municipality when Acharya was the president. It was his desire to improve healthcare facilities at his native place that made him to build the Koosamma Shetty hospital.