Sahara India Chief Subrata Roy Dies at 75: A Look Back at His Embattled Legacy

Subrata Roy was admitted to Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital on 12 November.

Sahara India group's founder Subrata Roy passed away at the age of 75 in Mumbai on Tuesday, 14 November.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Producer: Maaz Hasan

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Senior Editor: Tridip Mandal

Sahara India group's founder Subrata Roy passed away at the age of 75 in Mumbai on Tuesday, 14 November.

Roy, who was admitted to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital & Medical Research Institute (KDAH) on 12 November, died of cardiorespiratory arrest, the company said in a statement.

“It is with profound sadness that Sahara India Pariwar informs the demise of our Hon’ble ‘Saharasri’ Subrata Roy Sahara. Saharasri ji an inspirational leader and visionary, passed away on 14th November 2023 at 10.30 pm due to cardiorespiratory arrest following an extended battle with complications arising from metastatic malignancy, hypertension, and diabetes," the statement said.

"Details regarding the last rites will be communicated in due course," it added.

Politicians, Sportspersons Pay Tribute

Expressing his heartfelt tribute, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav said that Roy's demise was "an emotional loss for Uttar Pradesh and the country because along with being a very successful businessman, he was also a very sensitive person with a big heart who helped countless people and became their support."

"Great motivator, speaker and sports lover is no more," tweeted former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina.

"I knew him personally, he was a huge patriot, and the passion he had for the country was unparallel," filmmaker Akashdeep Sabir was quoted as saying by PTI.

Who Was Subrata Roy?

Born to middle class parents in Bihar's Araria on 10 June 1948, Subrata Roy was the eldest son of the family. With a keen interest in technical studies, Roy went on to earn a diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the Government Technical Institute in UP's Gorakhpur.

In order to support his family after his father passed away, Roy is said to have first set up a business called Jaya Products, where he supplied salted snacks in Gorakhpur on a scooter.

In 1978, he established Sahara India Financial which was reportedly a para-banking company at the time. His first clients were daily-wage workers who would invest 20 percent of their wages with Roy.

Over time, Roy managed to turn his humble business into a multi-billion dollar enterprise which had a presence in various sectors such as finance, housing, manufacturing, aviation, and the media. The group also used to employ close to 11 lakh people.

The group used to own the Indian Premier League's (IPL) Pune franchise and had a significant stake in India's first Formula One racing team called 'Force India'. Bollywood stars and famous sports personalities used to be regular visitors at most of Sahara’s functions.

But the business empire's first major regulatory woes emerged in 2008. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had directed Sahara Financial Corporation to stop raising fresh deposits in the same year.

Then came yet another blow. Two of Sahara’s companies that were engaged in the real estate sector were asked by markets regulator SEBI to stop issuing bonds to investors.

In 2012, the matter reached the Supreme Court and the apex court directed the Sahara group to deposit Rs 24,000 crore with SEBI within 90 days, to be returned to bonafide Sahara investors.

Besides failing to comply with the Supreme Court's order, Subrata Roy further failed to appear in a contempt case which eventually led to his arrest in 2014, along with two of his company's executives.

Two years later, Roy was out of jail on parole but his businesses continued to struggle.

During his time in Tihar Jail, Roy penned a book called Life Mantras about coping with the crisis in his life. He wrote:

"I, like any other human in confinement, could not contain my thoughts and at times felt an emotional outrage, ‘why me?’, ‘what have I done wrong to deserve this?’. Thoughts such as these often raced through my mind."