Subhash Chandra

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Indian billionaire media baron

title: "Subhash Chandra" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["indian-mass-media-owners", "indian-billionaires", "living-people", "1950-births", "marwari-people", "people-from-hisar-district", "indian-television-executives", "indian-television-company-founders", "international-emmy-directorate-award", "businesspeople-from-bihar", "rajya-sabha-members-from-haryana", "independent-politicians-in-india"] description: "Indian billionaire media baron" topic_path: "geography/india" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subhash_Chandra" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Indian billionaire media baron ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Subhash Chandra
image	Dr. Subhash Chandra.jpg
birth_date
birth_place	Adampur, Hisar, Haryana, India
residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra
occupation	Chairman of Essel Group
nationality	Indian
office	Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
term_start	2 August 2016
term_end	1 August 2022
constituency	Haryana
predecessor	Suresh Prabhu
spouse	Sushila Devi
children	Punit Goenka
Amit Goenka
amogha harsha
website

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| signature = | honorific_suffix = Subhash Chandra Goenka (born 30 November 1950) is an Indian billionaire media baron. He is the Chairman Emeritus of ZEE and Chairman of the Essel Group, an Indian media conglomerate and founded Zee TV in 1992. He was also the chairman of Zee Media but resigned as Director and Non-Executive Chairman of the company on 24 May 2016. He was elected to the Upper House of the Indian parliament for the Haryana state in the 2016 Rajya Sabha election, as an independent candidate supported by legislators from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

On 31 May 2022, Subhash Chandra filed his nomination from Rajasthan for elections to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent candidate backed by the BJP, but he lost the election.

Early years

Subhash Chandra was born in an Agarwal Bania family in Adampur, Hisar district, Haryana. Forbes India notes that Chandra was born in Rajasthan, and moved with his family to Hisar during his childhood. His family had a debt of , which he had to repay. His family could not afford his higher education, and in 1965 he dropped out of school to join the family business of commission agents and traders who procured and supplied rice to the Food Corporation of India.

In the 1980s, he started manufacturing flexible packaging (mainly plastic tubes) for fast-moving consumer goods such as toothpaste under the brand name Essel Packaging. He followed it up with a leisure park Essel World in north Mumbai.

In 1992, he launched Zee TV, the second private commercial television channel in the country in association with Star TV in Hong Kong, and in 2003, Dish TV, the first satellite television provider in India.

Business

Chandra established Essel Propack (now known as EPL Ltd) in 1981; India's 1st company to introduce laminated tubes in the country. The company was acquired by Blackstone in 2019.

Chandra launched Essel World, India's 1st amusement park and Water Kingdom, Asia's largest theme water park in 1989.

Chandra set up Siti Networks in 1994; one of India's 1st multi system operators and Dish TV in 2003.

Chandra launched India's first satellite TV channel, Zee TV, in 1992. The channel competes with, among others, Sony Entertainment Television and STAR Plus. Currently, the Zee TV network consists of up to 90 channels, reaching 1.3 billion people spread over 174 countries.

In 2005, in collaboration with the Dainik Bhaskar group, Chandra launched an English-language daily newspaper, DNA, in Mumbai to challenge the well-settled The Times of India. The competition was one of the biggest newspaper battles in Mumbai. Sustaining earlier losses, the newspaper eventually turned around. However, by October 2019, DNA was defunct and completely shut down.

On 25 November 2019, Chandra had to resign as chairman of his company Zee Entertainment Enterprises, as per the SEBI Listing Regulations. However, he still continues as a non-executive director of the company.

In his autobiography ‘The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the right time’, Chandra has written about his association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of the BJP, in his younger days. Chandra claimed the support of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators and said he had others across party lines.

On 22 May 2020, Essel Group defaulted ₹616 Crore secured NCD Bonds with a standstill agreement along with Subhash Chandra Personal Guarantee thus affecting 3,00,000 investors.

In August 2020, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) appointed promoter Subhash Chandra as chairman emeritus, following his resignation as non-executive director of the firm. Subhash Chandra, who was previously chairman, would now continue to be associated with the business in an honorary fashion.

Awards

[Entrepreneur of the Year (Ernst & Young) 1998]
[Businessman of the Year (Business Standard) 1999]
[Enterprising CEO of the Year (International Brand Summit) 1999]
[Global Indian Entertainment Personality of the Year by FICCI 2004]
[Lifetime Achievement Award at the CASBAA Convention 2009]
Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration by the University of East London (2013)
Hall of Fame for continuing contribution to industry in Entrepreneur category at the INBA (2010)
International Emmy Directorate Award (2011)
Canada India Foundation, Chanchlani Global Indian Award

References

(12 June 2016). "Subhash Chandra wins RS seat as 12 Cong votes were rejected due to 'wrong pen'". [[Hindustan Times]].
(4 August 2016). "Dr Subhash Chandra takes oath as Rajya Sabha member". dnaindia.com.
"Subhash Chandra steps down as Zee Media chairman". indiatimes.com.
"Zee group: Each brother to own 70–80% of business".
"Dish TV posts Q1 net profit of Rs 54.21 crore". Economic Times.
(June 2016). "Subhash Chandra bets on BJP support for Rajya Sabha entry". Business Standard India.
(9 September 2014). "हरियाणा: निर्दलीय उम्मीदवार डॉ. सुभाष चंद्रा राज्यसभा चुनाव जीते".
"MSN".
(October 2021). "Today In History: Dr Subhash Chandra launched India's first private satellite channel 'Zee TV' in 1992".
"How Some Gather Silver In The Fog".
(14 March 2014). "At The Zee Group, Son Punit Has Taken The Baton From Subhash Chandra".
(25 March 2015). "40 Years Ago... And now: Subhash Chandra's chutzpah shaped his media business". Business Standard.
"At The Zee Group, Son Punit Has Taken the Baton From Subhash Chandra".
(25 May 2014). "Passing the Baton". business today.intoday.in.
(11 May 2019). "Forbes – Subhash Chandra". Forbes.com.
(14 March 2014). "At the Zee Group, Son Punit has taken the baton from Subhash Chandra". Forbes India Magazine.
(27 July 2021). "Who owns your media: How Subhash Chandra's zeal for diversification wrecked his Zee empire".
(25 November 2019). "Subhash Chandra Resigns as Chairman of Zee Entertainment Enterprises". [[News 18]].
(25 November 2019). "Zee Entertainment board accepts Subhash Chandra's resignation as chairman". [[Livemint]].
(2016). "Subhash Chandra bets on BJP support for Rajya Sabha entry". [[Business Standard]].
Laghate, Gaurav. "Subhash Chandra to take role of chairman emeritus at ZEE, steps down as non-executive director". The Economic Times.
(6 January 2011). "Zee TV's Subhash Chandra to Receive Emmy Honor". The Hollywood Reporter.
(3 February 2016). "Dr Subhash Chandra to receive Canada India Foundation (CIF) Chanchlani Global Indian Award". Zee News.

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