Subhash Chandra says personal insolvency claim is ₹3,992 crore, not ₹22,000 crore

MUMBAI: The numbers, Subhash Chandra says, need a second look. Amid reports surrounding his personal insolvency proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Chandra has issued a statement disputing what he calls a misleading portrayal of the matter and said the current claim against him as a personal guarantor is ₹3,992 crore, not ₹22,000 crore.

In a press release issued from his office on August 27, 2026, Chandra said he has not personally borrowed money from any lender and is involved in the proceedings only as a personal guarantor for borrowing entities that were associated with the wider Essel Group. 

He said the ₹22,006 crore figure being reported relates to the total claims filed in the proceedings, of which ₹21,696 crore was admitted by the resolution professional (RP).

According to Chandra, these figures represent claims filed in the case and do not reflect its current status.

The matter has been pending since February 8, 2022, he said, adding that the court proceedings are still technically pending as the judge’s opinion is yet to be converted into a formal order.

Chandra disputes ₹22,000 crore interpretation

Chandra said the total guarantees he signed amounted to approximately ₹22,000 crore. However, he pointed to the substantially smaller claims made by the lenders that have objected to the repayment plan.

According to his statement, these objecting lenders account for 19.251% of the total claims and filed claims totalling ₹3,992 crore. Of this amount, claims worth ₹620 crore have been settled, leaving ₹3,372 crore.

The borrowing entities, he said, have offered approximately ₹1,113 crore to multiple lenders in this group. The statement says the ₹620 crore already settled forms part of this amount and thatdiscussions over the remaining settlement are continuing.

Chandra also disputed the underlying amounts cited by the borrowing entities. According to the figures provided in his statement, the lenders released ₹2,856 crore, while borrowers have repaid ₹1,633 crore, leaving ₹1,223 crore against which lenders have claimed ₹3,992 crore.

A second group of lenders, comprising those that either accepted the repayment plan or did not object to it, had total claims of ₹16,386 crore, of which ₹16,201 crore was admitted by the RP.

Chandra said the borrowing entities are in the process of settling amounts with this group as well. He argued that this explains why the reported ₹22,000 crore figure should not be treated as the amount currently payable by him personally.

Chandra’s statement also puts the broader debt figures into context. He said the borrowing entities had outstanding liabilities of close to ₹45,000 crore as of January 24, 2019, of which approximately ₹43,000 crore has since been repaid.

He added that the borrowing entities have assured him that they will settle any remaining amounts.

The repayment plan was approved by 80.814% of creditors when it was put to a vote by the RP, according to Chandra. He said several creditors who did not support the plan either did not vote during the voting period or subsequently joined the objections before the NCLT.

Another point disputed in the statement is a reported ₹45,888 crore net-worth figure attributed to Chandra in 2017.

Chandra said his total assets were declared at ₹39.08 crore in Parliament in 2016, which he described as a matter of public record. He questioned how a net worth of ₹45,888 crore could subsequently have been attributed to him.

According to his statement, his net worth was recorded at ₹31.79 crore in 2024, including a residential property valued at close to ₹25 crore. He said the ₹6.5 crore repayment plan was arrived at based on the assets available to him.

Chandra further said some of the personal guarantees were signed after January 24, 2019, when the group defaulted in the financial system. He said that lenders had appealed to him to provide guarantees and that the borrowing entities had assured him they would repay their borrowings.

Chandra points to 2019 open letter

The latest statement also includes an open letter Chandra issued on January 24, 2019, when he publicly acknowledged the financial difficulties facing the group.

In that letter, he cited losses of ₹4,000 crore to ₹5,000 crore from infrastructure projects and identified the acquisition of D2H from Videocon as another major financial setback. He also attributed further pressure to the IL&FS crisis, which he said affected the group’s ability to roll over borrowings.

Chandra said at the time that he had taken responsibility for the family’s debts and intended to repay lenders, while seeking time for the group’s stake-sale process.

The latest statement reiterates his position that the personal insolvency proceedings relate to guarantees rather than personal borrowings, and that the headline ₹22,000 crore figure does not represent the current claim against him.

The NCLT proceedings remain pending, and the figures and positions outlined above are Chandra’s account of the matter, rather than a final adjudication of the disputed claims.