This Indian Businessman Who Spent Rs 550 Crore on Daughter’s Wedding, Faces Bankruptcy and Jail
This Indian Businessman Who Spent Rs 550 Crore on Daughter's Wedding, Faces Bankruptcy and Jail
Pramod Mittal’s lavish lifestyle and financial missteps lead to a dramatic fall from grace.
Pramod Mittal, once among the wealthiest individuals in the UK and brother to steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, captured global headlines in 2013 for hosting one of the most extravagant weddings ever. He spent an astounding Rs 550 crore on his daughter Shrishti Mittal’s marriage to Gulraj Behl, a Dutch-Indian investment banker, in Barcelona, Spain. However, this display of opulence was soon overshadowed by financial turmoil and legal troubles that culminated in bankruptcy and jail time.
Mittal’s financial downfall was marked by a series of unfortunate decisions. In 2013, he became the guarantor for a $166 million loan taken by GIKIL, a Bosnian metallurgical company where he served as co-owner and chairman of the supervisory board. When GIKIL failed to repay the loan, Mittal was forced to bear the liability, plunging him into severe financial distress.
By 2020, Mittal’s financial woes reached their peak. London’s Insolvency and Company Court declared him bankrupt, revealing debts of over 2.5 billion pounds (approximately Rs 24,000 crore at the time). Shockingly, the only asset he declared was a property in Delhi worth just 45 pounds. He claimed to have no personal income and relied on his wife Sangeeta and children to meet his monthly expenses, which ranged between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds. Reports detailed that he had borrowed substantial sums from his family, including 1.1 million pounds from his wife, 2.4 million pounds from his son Divyesh, and 1.1 million pounds from his brother-in-law Amit Lohiya, to repay creditors.
Mittal’s woes worsened in 2019 when he, along with two GIKIL officials, was arrested in Bosnia on fraud charges. His financial collapse starkly contrasted with his earlier flamboyance, including the Rs 550 crore wedding of his daughter, surpassing even the Rs 240 crore wedding of his elder brother Lakshmi Mittal’s daughter, Vanisha, in 2004.
The Vanisha Mittal-Amit Bhatia wedding, which spanned six days and was considered the most expensive wedding globally at the time, served as a benchmark of extravagance. However, Pramod Mittal outdid this with an even costlier celebration, which many now view as symbolic of his financial mismanagement.
