Essel Group founder Subhash Chandra on Thursday said media reports on his personal insolvency proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had misrepresented the quantum of claims against him and stated that the relevant claims totalled ₹3,992 crore and not ₹22,000 crore.
“I have to state that certain vested media houses are spreading wrong information about my personal insolvency matter in NCLT,” Chandra said in a statement. He urged media organisations to publish the facts and remove information that had been “incorrectly interpreted from the Court order”.
Chandra said he had not personally borrowed money from the lenders involved in the proceedings and was facing the insolvency process only in his capacity as a personal guarantor for loans raised by companies associated with the Essel Group.
“There is no personal borrowing by Dr. Subhash Chandra from any of the creditors named in the order or from any other creditor/lender. He only signed personal guarantees,” the statement said.
According to Chandra, guarantees provided by him totalled approximately ₹22,000 crore and claims filed in the proceedings amounted to ₹22,006 crore, of which ₹21,696 crore were admitted by the resolution professional (RP). However, he said lenders who objected to the repayment plan had filed claims totalling ₹3,992 crore.
“Total claims in the case in point filed were totaling Rs 22006 Crores and admitted Rs21696 Crores,” Chandra said, adding that the figures being cited represented claims filed during the proceedings and did not reflect the current status.
Of the ₹3,992 crore claimed by objecting lenders, claims worth ₹620 crore had been settled, leaving ₹3,372 crore, according to the statement. Chandra said borrowing entities had offered approximately ₹1,113 crore to settle claims of multiple objecting lenders.
“The discussions are in progress,” he said, adding that lenders could accept the proposed settlement following the NCLT proceedings.
Chandra also said there were lenders whose claims totalled ₹16,386 crore who had either accepted the plan or had not filed objections. The admitted claims of this group stood at ₹16,201 crore. According to Chandra, the underlying borrowing entities were working towards settling these amounts.
He said companies for which he had provided guarantees had repaid approximately ₹43,000 crore since January 2019, against total outstanding borrowings of around ₹45,000 crore at the time.
“The borrowing entities for whom Dr. Chandra has provided Personal Guarantees have till date repaid Rs 43,000 cores,” the statement said. It added that the borrowers had assured him they would “settle any other amount which might have left.”
The repayment plan submitted before the NCLT had received 80.814 per cent approval from creditors, Chandra said. He added that the matter remained technically pending because the judge’s opinion had yet to be converted into a formal order.
“The opinion of the judge must be finally converted into an order, which is in the process,” he said.
Chandra also disputed reports concerning his net worth. He said one lender had cited a net worth of ₹45,888 crore in 2017, while his net worth submitted to the RP was ₹31.79 crore. He said his 2016 declaration to Parliament had placed his total assets at ₹39.08 crore.
“How could a bank take/accept his net worth of 45,888 cores in 2017?” he asked.
Chandra said his current assets included a residential property worth about ₹25 crore and that his repayment plan involved paying ₹6.5 crore from his available personal assets.
The insolvency proceedings have been pending since February 2022. In an annexure, Chandra reproduced his January 2019 open letter acknowledging the group’s financial difficulties. “I am not running away from the core issue and will do my best to repay each and every person,” he had said.
On Tuesday, the NCLT approved a repayment plan under Section 114 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), under which creditors will receive only ₹6.5 crore against admitted claims of around ₹22,006.57 crore. This amounts to a haircut of nearly 99.97 per cent for lenders.