Meet UK's 'biggest bankrupt' Pramod Mittal who spent Rs 505 crore on daughter's wedding

Industrialist Pramod Mittal, who reportedly spent 60 million Euros (about Rs 505 crore) on his daughter's wedding, has claimed that he owes 2.5 billion pounds. This would make the steel tycoon, the younger brother of UK-based steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, Britain's biggest bankrupt.

Mittal, 64, was declared bankrupt this summer by the Insolvency and Companies Court in London with debts of over 130 million pounds, reported The Times. The scion of the steel dynasty now claims that he owes 2,549,089,370 pounds, including more than 170 million pounds to his 94-year-old father, as per the report. He also owes 1.1 million pounds to his wife, Sangeeta, 2.4 million pounds to his son Divyesh and another 1.1 million pounds to his brother-in-law Amit Lohia.

The businessman values his assets at just 110,000 pounds and claims to have no personal income and just 45 pounds worth of property to his name, near Delhi. 

The British daily reported that Mittal is offering to pay back his creditors just 0.18 of a penny for every pound he owes and hopes to resolve his bankruptcy. His biggest single lender is a British Virgin Islands company called Direct Investments Ltd, which claims to be owed 1 billion pounds.

Also Read: Lakshmi Mittal's brother Pramod Mittal released from Bosnia's jail after payment of 12.5 million euros

"I have no personal income. My wife is financially independent from me. We have separate bank accounts and I have very limited information regarding her income. My personal expenditure of approximately 2,000 pounds to 3,000 pounds per month is mainly met by my wife and family. The legal costs of my bankruptcy are being met by another third party," Mittal was quoted as saying.

Mittal, who heads the supervisory board and co-owns metallurgical coke producer Global Ispat Koksna Industrija Lukavac (GIKIL) in northern Bosnia, lost his fortune after he acted as a guarantor for the debts of the company. In 2006, he acted as a guarantor for the debts of GIKIL, one of Bosnia's biggest metallurgical coke producers, but the deal turned sour as the company failed to repay $166 million of financing in 2013.

Also Read: Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal's brother Pramod Mittal detained in Bosnia on suspicion of organised crime

Last year, Pramod Mittal was arrested in Bosnia, along with two of his company officials, on charges of suspected fraud. He also faces a money laundering probe in India in the alleged fraud of Rs 2,200 crore with the State Trading Corporation (STC). It was alleged that Mittal committed "criminal breach of trust" as he failed to make payments as per terms and conditions of the agreement with STC.

By Chitranjan Kumar