Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra on Tuesday issued a second open letter, in which he shared the details of the debt resolution process and the steps taken to pay off the lenders. Mr Chandra said that his company had settled over 91 per cent of the debt to 43 lenders, and the remaining dues were in the process of being paid. 

In his first open letter, issued on January 25, 2019, Mr Chandra had apologised for the “hardships faced by the lenders due to the liquidity crisis triggered by the IL&FS case”. 

“Chandra has managed to fulfil his promise. The asset-divestment process certainly took a setback during the pandemic, which slowed down the overall debt-resolution process. Dr Chandra aspired to release the mentioned second open letter after settling 100 per cent of the debt to the lenders. However, the unprecedented times led to a delay,” a company statement said. 

Sharing the debt-resolution details, Mr Chandra said: “We have come out of the financial stress situation by settling 91.2 per cent of total debt to 43 lenders in 110 accounts. Around 88.3 per cent amount has been paid, while the remaining 2.9 per cent is in the process of being paid.” According to the debt-resolution process, Essel has exited from infrastructure, financial services and print media businesses. 

Meanwhile, Mr Chandra also shared his next steps in terms of setting up a venture in the video segment in the digital ecosystem. “I have earned a fair experience in the video business; hence I am exploring new ways and business opportunities in the “video in digital space” as well as AI/ML (artificial intelligence and machine learning) in the video space, without getting into any conflicts with ZEEL in any manner.”