Chandra disputes ₹3,900 cr NCLT claim, says ₹43,000 cr of group debt repaid

Subhash Chandra has disputed the ₹3,900 crore claim filed against him in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), saying the bulk of the debt raised by his group has already been repaid. In his first detailed reaction to the proceedings, Chandra said the matter relates to personal guarantees he gave to certain lenders and questioned the basis of the claims.

Speaking in a video message, Chandra said his group originally borrowed around ₹45,000 crore, of which about ₹43,000 crore has been repaid. That leaves roughly ₹2,000 crore outstanding from companies whose assets and liabilities, he said, were mismatched.

"I had signed some personal guarantees to some lenders. And I don't know why, but some lenders' entire money was also repaid. But they also entered their claim in NCLT," he said.

Chandra said about ₹2,000 crore of the ₹3,900 crore claim came from lenders who had never invoked a personal guarantee. He added that the Resolution Professionals appointed by the court accepted the claims submitted by the lenders.

Claims amounting to around ₹620 crore have been settled, Chandra said, while the borrowing entities of his group have an offer of around ₹1,100 crore with lenders.

"The borrowing entities still have an offer of ₹1,100 crore with the lenders," he said, adding that the entities remained committed to repaying creditors.

The NCLT approved a ₹6.5 crore repayment plan by assessing Chandra's personal assets, which were significantly lower than the creditors' claims, and concluded that rejecting the plan could lead to even lower recoveries. HDFC Bank plans to appeal the approval, arguing that the total claimed amount of ₹22,006.57 crore should not be resolved with just ₹6.5 crore, which represents 3.2% of the total claims.

Chandra pushed back against what he described as a misconception that he had a personal net worth of ₹45,000 crore when he borrowed money. He said the figure was created by treating the group's market capitalisation or net worth as his personal wealth.

He contrasted that with the wealth declaration he said he made when he became a Rajya Sabha member in 2016.

"In 2016, when I became a member of Rajya Sabha, I had to give a declaration and declared that my net worth was ₹39 crore some ₹70 lakhs or something," he said. "So, in 2017, how will it become ₹45,000 crore?"

Chandra said his current financial position leaves him with around ₹6.5 crore, which he would use to meet his obligations under the plan. He said he has a small residential house, partly rented out, and manages his expenses from the rental income.

Defending his record on repayment, Chandra said he acknowledged mistakes after his group's financial problems emerged in January 2019. He recalled writing an open letter on January 24, 2019, saying he had made mistakes and would repay the money owed by the group's borrowing entities.

"We sold our family's assets, we sold our assets, we almost sold Company Z, we did not keep anything, we even rented our house, but we paid everyone's money," he said.

Chandra also said some money due to the group remained stuck with state governments and that the family was pursuing those payments. He added that some properties still needed to be sold to meet outstanding obligations.

Despite the financial setbacks, Chandra said he had no regrets and intended to rebuild his business career. He said he has a friend in Switzerland involved in investments and plans to meet him in the next one to two weeks to explore investments in India and elsewhere. He added that he may borrow around ₹2–4 crore from his family and invest it in businesses.

"I am a successful pioneer who started new businesses in this country and gave employment to 8,000 families and contributed to this country," he said.

Chandra said that over his 50–52 years of working life, he believed he had contributed at least ₹70,000 crore to the financial system while building and expanding his businesses. He ended his message by asking people not to rely on what he described as misleading messages on social media.