IL&FS crisis: Govt to take action to avoid undue impact on system

The government is monitoring the situation of debt-ridden IL&FS and would take appropriate action to ensure that there is no undue impact on the financial system, Economic Affairs Secretary S C Garg said Friday.

Debt defaults by certain group entities of diversified IL&FS has triggered fears of liquidity crisis in the financial markets and the RBI has been taking steps to improve the overall cash situation.

Amid persisting concerns in the markets, the Finance Ministry Friday held a meeting with key shareholders of IL&FS -- LIC, SBI and Central Bank of India -- to discuss the current situation.

Stating that the government is monitoring the situation of IL&FS, Garg said it is a large company within the infrastructure space and there is a lot of connection with the government departments as it has executed a lot of PPP (Public Private Partnership) projects.
 

"Therefore it is an important, significant entity. The government would take appropriate measures to see that there is no undue impact on what happens in IL&FS. Government will ensure there is no undue impact on the system that this institution causes," he said.

The meeting, chaired by Garg, is believed to have discussed ways to sort out issues related to IL&FS so that contagion does not impact other sectors of the economy.

LIC Chairman V K Sharma, SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar and Central Bank of India MD Pallav Mohapatra attended the meeting.

In Mumbai, the Reserve Bank also met various shareholders of IL&FS.

About the IL&FS issue, Sharma said all options are open without giving specific details as to what the largest shareholder is going to do to save the company.

The annual general meeting is going to take place on Saturday and more details would emerge after it, Sharma said in the national capital.
 

The LIC chief expressed confidence that over Rs 600 billion worth assets can be recovered by IL&FS while trying to work out solution for the remaining Rs 300 billion.

IL&FS, where LIC is the largest shareholder with 25.34 per cent stake, has a debt burden of over Rs 900 billion.

Japan's Orix Corporation has 23.54 per cent stake in the company. Other shareholders include Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (12.5 per cent stake), IL&FS Employees Welfare Trust (12 per cent), HDFC (9.02 per cent), Central Bank of India (7.67 per cent) and SBI (6.42 per cent). These are the shareholding figures at the end of March.

Earlier this week, IL&FS Financial Services defaulted on interest payment and fixed deposits. This was fourth in the series of defaults by the group entity.
 

On Friday, LIC Mutual Fund said that IL&FS Securities Services has cleared its dues worth Rs 3 billion.

IL&FS -- credited for building the longest tunnel in the country (Chenani-Nashri tunnel in J&K) -- is sitting on a debt pile of over Rs 900 billion.