Aditya Puri, managing director of the country&rsquo;s second largest private sector lender, HDFC Bank, believes raising of rates would not suffice to control inflation; instead, it may slow the growth of the economy. He tells Somasroy Chakraborty how HDFC Bank plans to sustain its growth in this period of elevated interest rates.

Q&A: Aditya Puri, HDFC Bank 

Business Standard

India Inc&rsquo;s powerful men appear to have developed a special fondness for big cats. If Mukesh Ambani is fond of the leopard&rsquo;s sharp predatory instincts, Rana Kapoor swears by the cheetah&rsquo;s agility. But the Yes Bank founder and CEO is no copycat, write Shyamal Majumdar and Somasroy Chakraborty.

Lunch with BS: Rana Kapoor

Despite an inflationary environment, Canara Bank hopes to increase its business by 25 per cent to Rs 6,25,000 crore in the current financial year. In an interview with Debasis Mohapatra, Chairman and Managing Director S Raman talks about the company&rsquo;s strategy for the future.

Q&A: S Raman, Chairman & MD, Canara Bank

Tata Capital, a Tata Group company, is strengthening its presence in the private equity space by raising $1 billion by the end of 2011 through its funds. The company has already received commitments for $800 million, with around $600 million from foreign institutional investors, primarily based in Japan. The company has invested $150 million in six companies, two of which, are Tata Group ones.

Q&A: Praveen Kadle, MD & CEO, Tata Capital

For a long time, the government maintained that inflation was a price the country had to pay for high growth. Over the last few months, economists have debated whether high inflation should become the new normal. But most of these theories are now coming to nought, since inflation has now become the dominant theme.

Q&A: Chetan Ahya, MD, Morgan Stanley, Research

It&rsquo;s not easy to single out Pratip Chaudhuri, the unassuming new chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), from the suit-clad crowd of delegates at the Asian Development Bank&rsquo;s annual meeting, held in Hanoi recently. In an interview with Devjyot Ghoshal, the helmsman of the country&rsquo;s largest lender outlines his strategy for keeping SBI ahead.

Q&A: Pratip Chaudhuri, Chairman, SBI

Rajnikanth Patel strongly believes that &ldquo;everything you come across in your life teaches you a lesson &mdash; whether it is food, a restaurant you visit or a hobby you choose.

Lunch with BS: Rajnikant Patel

Despite the motor pool losses, Tata AIG General Insurance grew by 35 per cent in 2010-11. The company, a joint venture between the Tata Group and American International Group, Inc (AIG), aims to grow its business by 28-30 per cent in the current financial year. Chief Executive Officer Gaurav D Garg, in an interview with Niladri Bhattacharya, says general insurance in India should reach the masses and that there is a need to introduce simple products.

Q&A: Gaurav D Garg, CEO, Tata AIG General Insurance

At six-and-a-half feet and dressed in a royal blue business suit, it isn&rsquo;t difficult to spot Stuart Davis, CEO of HSBC, as he strides down the gleaming marble alley of the Taj Mahal Hotel at the appointed hour for lunch. The Taj is like a second home for him.

Lunch with BS: Stuart Davis

Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao says its forward guidance on a pause in policy rate hikes is in tune with best practices. In an interview with Sumit Sharma, he justified action against the real estate sector, saying home prices in most metros have crossed pre-crisis levels.

Q&A: Duvvuri Subbarao, RBI Governor

Public sector lender Oriental Bank of Commerce is expecting credit growth to pick up in the next two quarters. In an interview, Chairman and Managing Director T Y Prabhu tells Vrishti Beniwal one worry, across the sector, is the lag in growth of deposits.

Q&A: T Y Prabhu, CMD, Oriental Bank of Commerce

Over the past week, there have been many questions about the Fed&rsquo;s new large-scale asset purchase programme (LSAP), or QE2. Below, Deutsche Bank Research lists three questions about QE2, and offers two or three perspectives on each. Peter Hooper writes from a US perspective, Thomas Mayer takes a European view and Michael Spencer an Asian (emerging market or sometimes Japanese) perspective.

'QE2 has good prospects of succeeding'

Mergers and amalgamations will grow and deal sizes increase as the Indian economy expands, Venkat Anantharaman, the managing director responsible for mergers and amalgamations, leveraged finance and equity corporate finance at Standard Chartered Bank in Mumbai, tells Sumit Sharma in an interview.

Q&A: Venkat Anantharaman, StanChart

With talk of South-South trade cooperation gaining ground throughout the world in the post-crisis period, Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), Washington, DC, states that progress of trade between India and Latin America is hindered by high tariffs on both sides. Moreno, who will release a report on integrating and enhancing trade between India and Latin America at the Summit, tells Devika Banerji that India is the next big thing for Latin America.

Q&A:Luis Alberto Moreno, President, Inter American Development Bank

Shikha Sharma, managing director and chief executive officer of Axis Bank, says the merger of the investment banking and equities businesses of Enam Securities will help Axis offer a whole suite of investment banking products. It will make the bank one of the strongest in corporate banking, she tells Sumit Sharma.

Q&A: Shikha Sharma, MD & CEO, Axis Bank

The Switzerland-headquartered global financial player, Credit Suisse Group AG, is gradually expanding its presence in India. From setting up its investment banking and wealth management divisions, the group is now in process of setting up a bank branch in the country, for which it got a licence from the RBI in August 2010. Mihir (Mickey) Doshi, India CEO at Credit Suisse, speaks to Shyamal Majumdar and Vishal Chhabria about his views on the markets and the group&rsquo;s plan for India.

Q&A: Mihir Doshi, India CEO, Credit Suisse

Every author loves a book launch. The Reserve Bank of India&rsquo;s (RBI&rsquo;s) former governor Yaga Venugopal Reddy, who was known for his low-profile persona in office, is now happy to follow the fashion among Indian policy makers and pundits of selling books with a gala launch.

Breakfast with BS: Y V Reddy

At a time when private life insurance companies are facing a decline in sales, IDBI Federal Life expects to grow by 35 per cent year-on-year in 2010-11. Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer GV Nageshwara Rao, in an interview with Niladri Bhattacharya, says the industry will take another six months to align itself with the new regulations on unit-linked plans which came into effect from September, 2010. Edited excerpts:
The life insurance industry had seen difficult times since

Q&A: GV Nageshwara Rao, MD & CEO, IDBI Federal Life

Both my lower limbs are polio-afflicted. However, I am sufficiently independent and the physical disability does not affect my mobility. Recently, I applied for a term insurance policy. A life insurer has stipulated a premium that is 60 per cent higher than the premium applicable for a person with no disability. I wish to know the reason behind the perceived higher risk for my life.

Life Insurance: V Philip

Punjab National Bank (PNB), the country's second-largest lender, saw total business of Rs 5.55 lakh crore at the close of financial year 2010-11. The bank feels a further rate hike may put asset quality under pressure. In an interview with Manojit Saha, Chairman and Managing Director K R Kamath says a reversal in the rate cycle is possible in the the third quarter.

Q&A: K R Kamath, CMD, Punjab National Bank

The government&rsquo;s move of raising its stake in Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) to 58 per cent has given the bank headroom to dilute government stake to raise equity capital. Chairman and Managing Director Nagesh Pydah tells Manojit Saha the bank may come out with a follow-on public offer this financial year.

Page 34 - Interviews