Videocon promoter Venugopal Dhoot declared insolvent against SBI's ₹12,668 crore dues

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Mumbai has declared Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Nandlal Dhoot insolvent. The tribunal passed this order on Thursday following a claim of ₹12,668 crore dues made by the State Bank of India (SBI). In its order, the NCLT Mumbai Bench clarified that Venugopal Nandlal Dhoot is being declared insolvent in his capacity as a personal guarantor.

The tribunal has appointed Ashis Narayan as the insolvency trustee and directed Dhoot to submit details of his financial position within seven days. The trustee has been instructed to invite claims from creditors and submit a preliminary report within 90 days. According to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the assets of Dhoot's insolvency will remain with the trustee, who will manage the assets and distribute the recovery among the creditors.

This action has been taken after the ₹600 crore repayment plan proposed by Dhoot failed. Dhoot had submitted a plan during his personal insolvency resolution process, which proposed to repay creditors within 36 months using funds from a real estate project in Siliguri. However, the creditors rejected this proposal. The creditors expressed concerns that the plan was entirely dependent on the project and carried uncertainties regarding regulatory approvals and future cash flows. The plan also did not include any kind of upfront payment.

The NCLT had rejected this repayment plan on 17 July and terminated Dhoot's personal insolvency resolution process, thereby allowing creditors to initiate insolvency proceedings. The tribunal had previously noted that the proposed payment method was based on future developments, approvals, and cash flows, which could not be verified.

The entire dispute originated during the period between 2010 and 2012, when Videocon Industries and Videocon Telecommunications had availed various loans and working-capital facilities from SBI and other banks. As a promoter, Dhoot had provided personal guarantees for these loans through guarantee deeds. Following the failure of the Videocon companies to repay the loans, SBI invoked Dhoot's personal guarantee in February 2018. Subsequently, on 6 June 2018, Videocon Industries was brought into the corporate insolvency process.

SBI had issued a notice to Dhoot on 23 July 2020, demanding approximately ₹6,157.57 crore. As the amount was not paid, SBI applied to NCLT Mumbai in September 2020 to initiate insolvency proceedings against Dhoot under Section 95 of the IBC. SBI's total claim of ₹12,668.06 crore consists of ₹9,322.10 crore from the Rupee Term Loan (RTL) facility, ₹1,437.76 crore from the Videocon Telecommunications Limited (VTL) facility, and ₹1,908.19 crore from working-capital facilities including interest and penalties.

Dhoot had challenged this action on grounds of limitation and argued that one guarantee was in favour of SBICAP Trustee Company, but the NCLT dismissed these objections. On 8 April 2026, the NCLT accepted SBI's application and initiated Dhoot's personal insolvency resolution process, appointing Ashis Narayan as the Resolution Professional.

The Videocon Group was one of India's leading consumer-electronics brands. The group had expanded into telecom, oil and gas, direct-to-home TV, and other businesses, for which large-scale funding was raised on a debt basis.