Letters: Limitations of S4A

This is in reference to "For companies debt recast still a long shot" (27 July).

Lenders, particularly public sector banks (PSBs) and the Reserve Bank of India have been struggling to recover non-performing assets stacked in various sectors.

RBI has drawn up several schemes towards this end and S4A (Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets) is one such. Other RBI schemes (5:25 and SDR) have had challenges which limited their application. The challenge with 5:25 was banks that structured loans by stretching repayment periods had to mandatorily protect the present value of loans refinanced. Under SDR, banks had to take majority stake in the stressed company along with management control and find a new buyer within 18 months. The S4A scheme partially addresses the challenges of both schemes.

But S4A has other limitations. For example, it does not allow for rescheduling of original tenure of repayment or repricing of debt. Sustainable debt under the scheme is derived based only on the ability of current cash flows to cover debt repayment. It cannot factor in incremental cash flows that could accrue as the external environment improves. Most highly leveraged companies in sectors such as infrastructure and iron and steel have significantly low level of current flows. Hence, they may not become eligible for the scheme.

K V Rao, Bengaluru

Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:
The Editor, Business Standard

Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Fax: (011) 23720201 · E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
All letters must have a postal address and telephone number