British tycoon Richard Branson late Wednesday flaunted his "Indian roots" at an event to mark Virgin Atlantic's new route from London to Mumbai, triggering a mixed response on social media with many questioning his true intentions and the timing of the revelation.

The Virgin Group founder claimed DNA tests and family records revealed that a part of his ancestral origin was traced to the South Asian country with his great-great-great grandmother hailing from Cuddalore city in India's southern Tamil Nadu state.

"A few years ago I traced my roots and was thrilled to discover that I'm actually part Indian. I loved finding out how some of my ancestors on my father's side moved to India in search of fortune and started their own successful businesses," the Virgin Group founder said in his social media posts.

"So, it turned out that from 1793, we had four generations living here in Cuddalore and one of my great-great-great grandmothers was an Indian named Aria who was married to one of my great-great-great grandfathers," Branson told the media after attending the launch of the new route in Mumbai.

"Every time I meet an Indian, I'm proud to say we may be related," he quipped.

At the Mumbai event, Virgin Atlantic also unveiled a new icon for its India operations, named "Aria" after the tycoon's Indian ancestor. "I wanted to celebrate my heritage and was thrilled to unveil our newest flying icon Aria – named after my great-great-great grandmother, who was Indian," he wrote in his blog.

Branson's mention of his India ties timed with the launch of a Virgin's London-Mumbai route and a new icon for its India operations was criticized by many in the backdrop of Britain's troubled "colonial" legacy in South Asia.

"Sorry Richard. Like many others I am huge fan of yours. However, this post of yours was highly inept. Your ancestors came to oppress, repress, divide and loot and the whole world knows that. Hopefully this is not you writing but someone far less competent writing on your behalf," Sambit Pal stated in response to Branson's post on professional networking platform LinkedIn.

Echoing similar sentiments, Gindi L. remarked: "It's just way too vague, sounds like a celebration of colonial connection during the British Raj which I cannot celebrate or applaud... not quite humble beginnings. Sorry if I've interpreted the vague post incorrectly."

A few social media users even accused Branson of exploiting his ethnic/racial connection to expand his business empire in India.

"It's all about cash. Just be honest. And new markets waiting to be exploited who may buy such cynical rubbish. The man who lives on an island in the middle of nowhere and hangs out with other super rich hedonists. Yawn. Modern day slavery through cynically exploiting race as a clever control tool. Follow the money – it's very undiverse," James P. remarked.

"Richard Branson, you've been a great marketer always... Won't be surprised if tomorrow you launch some new business in India and appeal to your Indian brothers & sisters to prefer buying that because of your Indian roots," Amit Aggarwal wrote.

However, there were many others who praised the billionaire for embracing his ethnic diversity and welcomed him to do business in India.

"Dear Richard, I have always been a great admirer of yours. Delightful to know that you have an Indian connection. So for that, welcome back Home. Would be interesting to have Virgin enter the Indian domestic aviation market," Nilay Khatri posted.

"It is truly amazing to research our family roots. You never know until you start the valuable research of finding our family history what ancestry you might belong to today. Thanks for the amazing story Richard!" wrote Rod Morrison.

In an older blog three years ago, Branson had chronicled how he traced his family history to discover his Indian connection. "My father's family left a paper trail that traced back to Madras (now known as Chennai), India in the 1700s. In 1793, my third great-grandfather, John Edward Branson set sail from Britain to India," he wrote in the blog titled "Finding my roots" and dated February 2016.

"What's more exciting is that the Madras archives combined with analysis of my DNA uncovered a very surprising family secret. The baptismal record of my second great-grandmother Eliza Reddy strangely didn't list her mother. Analysis of my DNA revealed that the reason for this was because my third great-grandmother was Indian," he said.

The 2016 blog had no reference to Aria, but it could be concluded that she might be Eliza's mother who wasn't previously listed in the Branson family records.