"There Is No Question Of Me Not Meeting The Deadline"

Punit Goenka, the 43 year old Managing Director and CEO of Zee Entertainment, is fondly called 'Mr Positive' by his colleagues. Goenka has lived up to his positive and calm image even during the toughest phase of his professional life when the company has to repay a Rs 6,776 crore debt by September 30. The promoters of Zee (part of Essel Group) recently sold 11 per cent stake for Rs 4,224 crore to financial investor Invesco Oppenheimer in a bid to reduce their total debt of Rs 11,000 crore. "It is life as usual," says Goenka as he stresses that he is confident of repaying the debt. In a conversation with BT's Ajita Shashidhar, he talks about how he has been approaching the debt crisis and his plans after he gets done with the repayment. Edited excerpts:

Last few months must have been a roller coaster ride for you, not just from a business point of view but also emotionally. What did you tell yourself?

It's not so much emotional for me, (but) it's been a learning process. It