'I Will Earn Again': Subhash Chandra To Work With Swiss Investors After NCLT Settlement

Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra has said he plans to take up investment work with associates in Switzerland and may borrow money from his family to fund start-up ventures, days after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved a repayment plan that leaves creditors with only a fraction of their claims.

In a video statement, the 75-year-old businessman said he was not someone who had "lost everything," despite being left with just ₹6.5 crore, which he will have to use to pay creditors under the tribunal's approved plan. He said he owns a small residential house, part of which he has rented out to cover his living expenses.

"I am not talking about a person who has lost everything. The last ₹6.5 crore I have left with will have to pay according to the plan. 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," Chandra said.

He also spoke about his next professional step, saying he intends to work with friends based in Switzerland who are involved in investment work. "I have a plan to work with my friends in Switzerland who do investment work. I will give you the details in the next one to two weeks," he said, adding that he may also take a loan of ₹2 crore to ₹4 crore from his family to invest in some of the group's start-up ventures.

NCLT Order

Chandra's remarks came days after the NCLT approved a resolution plan under which he will pay around ₹6.5 crore against admitted creditor claims of approximately ₹22,006 crore, a recovery of roughly 0.03% for lenders. The plan has drawn sharp criticism from creditors over the scale of the shortfall, often described as a 99.97% haircut.

Chandra pushed back against this framing, saying the ₹22,000 crore figure needed to be understood in the context of his role as a personal guarantor for loans taken by companies linked to the Essel Group, rather than as money he had personally borrowed.

Chandra Recounts 2019 Crisis And Repayments

Chandra said the group's financial troubles began on January 24, 2019, triggered by an asset-liability mismatch. He recalled publicly acknowledging his mistakes at the time and said he had since worked to ensure the group's borrowing entities met their obligations. "I said that I had made some mistakes," he said.

According to Chandra, the group owed around ₹45,000 crore when the crisis surfaced, of which about ₹43,000 crore has since been repaid. "We sold our family's assets, we sold our assets, we almost sold company, we did not keep anything, we even sold our house, but we paid everyone's money," he said.

He said around ₹2,000 crore remains tied to companies where asset-liability mismatches have delayed repayment, and that his current financial standing was far removed from the wealth associated with him at the peak of his career.

Chandra also disputed how the ₹22,006 crore figure has been reported, saying it reflected claims arising from personal guarantees he provided for loans taken by group-linked companies, not loans he had taken himself. He separately said lenders objecting to the resolution plan had claims totalling around ₹3,900 crore, of which about ₹620 crore had already been settled, while the borrowing entities had offered roughly ₹1,100 crore more to these lenders.

He noted that the NCLT proceedings relate specifically to his obligations as a personal guarantor, while the underlying loans were raised by Essel Group-linked companies, a distinction he said was central to understanding the case.

HDFC Bank is reportedly exploring a challenge to the NCLT order before the appellate tribunal.

Chandra called for an independent audit of the group's borrowings, repayments and outstanding liabilities to settle the ongoing dispute over the figures. He appealed to the banking system, the Finance Ministry and senior banking officials to appoint an independent auditor to examine the group's financial records.

"How much was the borrowing when the group first defaulted in the financial market and how much has it paid till now? The truth will become clear," he said, adding that such an audit would establish exactly how much the group had borrowed at the time of the crisis and how much it has repaid since.

He also rejected any comparison between himself and businessmen accused of misusing the country's financial system, saying he had publicly owned up to his mistakes and worked to repay the group's obligations.