The founder of Sahara Group Subrata Roy died late Tuesday in a Mumbai hospital following prolonged illness. A statement from the company confirmed that Roy died at Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai. He was 75.
“It is with profound sadness that Sahara India Pariwar informs the demise of our Hon’ble ‘Saharasri’ Subrata Roy Sahara, Managing Worker and Chairman, Sahara India Pariwar,” the statement said.
The statement added that Roy died due to cardiorespiratory arrest on November 14 at 10.30pm. It also said that he had been battling complications arising from hypertension, diabetes, and metastatic malignancy. He was admitted to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital & Medical Research Institute (KDAH) on November 12.
“His loss will be deeply felt by the entire Sahara India Pariwar. Saharasri ji was a guiding force, a mentor, and a source of inspiration for all who had the privilege to work alongside him” it concluded.
Born in Bihar, Roy completed his engineering degree at Government Technical Institute Gorakhpur before taking over Sahara Finance in 1976. Soon, he took Sahara to new heights and the group companies worked in various sectors including finance, real estate, media, and hospitality.
Once hailed as India’s largest employer after Indian Railways, Sahara India Pariwar and Roy’s troubles began a decade earlier when he was detained upon orders from the Supreme Court of India for failing to appear in connection with a dispute with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). He even had to serve jail time and was eventually being released on parole. The case revolved around SEBI’s demand for Sahara to refund billions to investors.
In March 2023, the Supreme Court allocated Rs 5,000 crore out of Rs 24,000 crore deposited by the Sahara group with SEBI to repay its depositors.
Earlier this year, producer Sandeep Singh had announced a biopic on Roy. The film is to be directed by The Kerala Story fame director Sudipto Sen.
Titled Saharasri, the film is written by Rishi Virmani, and will be shot across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharastra, Delhi, Kolkata and London. Gulzar wrote the lyrics for the film which has music by AR Rahman. Parts of his story were also explored in Netflix original Bad Boy Billionaires.