'Will work with friends in Switzerland': Media baron Subhash Chandra reveals next course of action after NCLT order

Media baron Subhash Chandra said in a recent video message that he is planning to work with his friends in Switzerland, who are into investment work. Chandra added that he may even take a loan from his family to invest in start-ups that can move forward. 

His statement came days after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved a repayment plan under which creditors will get only a fraction of the ₹22,006 crore they claimed from him.

The media baron, whose business empire spans from media to amusement parks to infrastructure, said that he will repay the "last ₹6.5 crore I have left" according to the NCLT repayment plan. 

"Today I'm talking in a very simple way. I am not talking about a person who has lost everything. The last Rs 6.5 crore I have left with me, I will have to pay according to the plan. I have a small residential house, which I have given on rent, and I am running my expenses with that income. I have no regrets. I will earn again. I am a pioneer. I know how to do good and new things. I will continue to do so," Subhash Chandra said in a video statement. 

Later in the video, he talked about his next career and investment move. 

"Right now, I have a plan to work with my friends in Switzerland who do investment work. I will give you the details in the next 1-2 weeks.  Might also take a loan of Rs 2-4 crore from family and invest it in some of our start-ups that can move forward," he said.

NCLT approves Subhash Chandra's ₹6.5 crore payout

The NCLT recently cleared a repayment plan under which the media baron has to pay around ₹6.5 crore against creditor claims of ₹22,006.57 crore in his insolvency case, translating into a haircut of 99.97% and a recovery of around 0.03% of the admitted claims. 

NCLT Member (Judicial) Nilesh Sharma, appointed as the third member after a split verdict by the earlier two-member bench, approved the plan under Section 114 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

The order rejected objections raised by LIC Housing Finance and other dissenting creditors. LIC Housing Finance argued the proposed recovery was too small and the plan was "unviable and unlawful". LIC Housing Finance had an admitted claim of ₹1,322.39 crore but was offered only ₹38.09 lakh, around 0.028% of its claim. 

Other lenders who opposed the plan included HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank, RBL Bank and Union Bank. Despite objections, the plan had received 80.81% voting support from creditors. The NCLT said that Subhash Chandra's personal estate was worth way less than the amount proposed under the repayment plan. It added that creditors could potentially recover more from the principal corporate borrowers if Chandra's personal insolvency case was resolved. 

It further said that it could not substitute its own commercial judgment for that of creditors. Once approved, the repayment plan is binding on all creditors, including those who voted against it. The resolution professional has been asked to prepare a revised final list of creditors and redistribute the approved repayment amount. 

Was Subhash Chandra's NCLT order misread?

Government sources said that the ₹22,006 crore figure is not simply a ₹22,000-crore bank loan written off at 99.97%. They explained that the amount represents claims admitted against the media baron in his capacity as a personal guarantor and not loans personally borrowed by him. 

Only around ₹2,574 crore of the admitted claims pertain to the loans where Chandra's personal guarantee was given at the time of the original borrowing and most guarantees were subsequently provided as additional security. Chandra's presently disclosed net worth is nearly ₹31.79 crore compared to the figures cited by lenders: ₹45,888 crore in 2017 and ₹40,562 crore in 2018, as per government sources. 

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Citing Chandra's case as an exceptional resolution involving a personal guarantor, government sources said that it shouldn't be seen as representative of corporate insolvency recoveries under the IBC. Creditors have recovered around ₹4.32 lakh crore through approved resolution plans up to March 2026. These recoveries amounted to 116.85% of liquidation value and 94.56% of fair value.

Subhash Chandra on the ₹22,006 crore figure

While disputing reports of ₹22,006 crore liability, Subhash Chandra's office said that select media houses spread “wrong information” about his personal insolvency matter and urged platforms “to publish the facts and to remove any misinformation, that is incorrectly interpreted from the Court order.”

According to the statement, objecting lenders filed claims totalling ₹3,392 crore. Out of this, ₹620 crore was already settled, whereas borrowing entities offered around ₹1,113 crore to multiple such lenders. 

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He said that the ₹22,006 crore figure represents total claims filed in the insolvency case instead of his current outstanding liability. The media baron stated that ₹21,696 crore of those claims were admitted but added it does not represent the current status of his debt. 

Chandra said that borrowing companies had an outstanding debt of around ₹45,000 crore as of January 24, 2019, of which roughly ₹43,000 crore has been repaid since. He added that the ₹6.5 crore repayment plan reflects what he personally has available to pay. 

While addressing claims of his net worth being ₹45,888 crore in 2017, Chandra said that the figure was based on the market capitalisation of Essel Group entities instead of his personal wealth. He stated that his declared total assets were 39.08 crore in 2016 and his personal net worth fell to ₹31.79 crore in 2024, including a residential house worth roughly ₹25 crpre/ 

He also said the judge’s opinion was yet to be converted into a formal order. “Hence the matter is still (technically) pending in NCLT court,” he said.