• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

C.R. Sukumar

HYDERABAD, May 23

BANK of Maharashtra (BoM), the Rs 28,500-crore public sector bank that is planning to tap the capital market shortly with its initial public offer, is not keen on taking advantage of the Securitisation Act and attach the assets of its defaulters for early recoveries.

The bank is of the view that it does not have adequate expertise in managing or disposing of those attached assets to recover its dues from the defaulters. Instead, it prefers to utilise the provisions of the Securitisation Act to bring its defaulters to the negotiations table and execute compromise deals towards early recovery of non-performing assets, the BoM Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Sukmal Chandra Basu, told Business Line.

"We prefer to go for more compromise deals than for attachment of defaulters' assets. We expect to bring down our gross NPAs significantly with the help of compromise deals. The target is to bring down gross NPAs to below the nine-per cent mark," he said.

As on March 31, 2002, the bank's gross NPAs stood at Rs 906.43 crore, up from Rs 876.64 crore in the previous fiscal. However, with the gross advances improving significantly from Rs 8,841 crore to Rs 9,909 crore, the gross NPAs in percentage terms have come down to 10.44 per cent from 12.35 per cent. The net NPAs, which stood at Rs 497.67 crore during 2000-01, were brought down to Rs 479.71 crore by March 31, 2002. In percentage terms, the net NPAs have come down to 5.81 per cent (7.41 per cent).

Mr Basu declined to disclose details on the proposed IPO stating that the board would shortly decide the IPO size, the premium, if any, and the timing.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Rupee steady; bonds gain

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line