Rising borrowing costs, strained cash flow and delays in execution of projects have prompted many Indian companies to restructure their existing debts with banks. Punjab National Bank (PNB), the country&rsquo;s second-largest lender, has restructured nearly Rs 20,000 crore of loans in the last three and a half years. In an interview with Somasroy Chakraborty and T E Narasimhan, Chairman and Managing Director, K R Kamath, says a debt recast is needed to aid borrowers in servicing their loans.

Q&A: K R Kamath, CMD, PNB

Business Standard

Sanjeeb Chaudhur, Standard Chartered&rsquo;s consumer banking business regional head for South Asia and global head of marketing, plans to introduce new products and services for the bank&rsquo;s retail clients in India. In an interview with Somasroy Chakraborty, he outlines his plan.

Q&A: Sanjeeb Chaudhuri, Standard Chartered

SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri tells Abhijeet Lele while the downgrade per se will not hurt the bank so much, going ahead, there are concerns on mid-sized corporate loans and the agriculture portfolio.

Q&A: Pratip Chaudhuri, Chairman, SBI

Y H Malegam, chairman of the Reserve Bank of India&rsquo;s panel on the licensing of new banks in the urban co-operative sector, in conversation with Abhijit Lele, gives his assessment of changes in the sector.

Q&A: Y H Malegam, Chairman, RBI panel

Asset-liability mismatch is inherent in the banking business. All banks run on certain mismatch of funds. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) places certain restrictions on individual buckets and mandates not to have mismatches beyond a certain limit. All our mismatches are within the prescribed limits.

Q&A: Bipin Kabra, Dhanlaxmi Bank

Reliance Industries&rsquo; acquisition of Bharti&rsquo;s stake in insurance ventures marks the entry of India's most valued company into the sector. Sandeep Ghosh, chief executive of Bharti AXA Life Insurance, tells Dipta Joshi even though Reliance is expected to be involved in strategic decisions, the operating control would remain with AXA.

Q&A: Sandeep Ghosh, CEO, Bharti AXA Life Insurance 

In an email response, Life Healthcare Managing Director Michael Flemming tells Joe C Mathew on what the deal means to his company.

Q&A: Michael Flemming, MD, Life Healthcare

In an email interview, Max India Limited managing director Rahul Khosla, who is co-chairman of the operational task force of Max Healthcare, tells Joe C Mathew about the significance of Max-Life Healthcare deal.

Q&A: Rahul Khosla, Max Healthcare

Conventional products, which provide a regular flow of premium, is the lifeline for any insurer, says D K Mehrotra, acting chairman of the country's largest life insurer, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India. In an interview with Niladri Bhattacharya, he says allowing banks to sell multiple insurers' products would not prompt banks to act like brokers.

Q&A: D K Mehrotra, Acting chairman, LIC

HDFC vice-chairman and chief executive officer Keki Mistry discusses second-quarter earnings with Manojit Saha and says the Reserve Bank of India may increase interest rates for the last time before it takes a pause.

Q&A: Keki Mistry, HDFC

L&amp;T group&rsquo;s Mr Finance on life beyond work and his banking game plan.

Lunch with BS: Y M Deosthalee

The European Union Summit on Sunday would try to work out a plan to solve the region's debt crisis. Warren Hogan, chief economist and head (global markets research), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group tells Parnika Sokhi this would have an impact on India.

Q&A: Warren Hogan, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group

In an interview with Manojit Saha, RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao says he gave a long-term guidance on policy rates, so that investors can take informed decisions.

Q&A: Duvvuri Subbarao, RBI governor

T R Ramachandran, managing director and chief executive officer of Aviva Life Insurance Company, tells Niladri Bhattacharya the industry would see marginal growth during the rest of this financial year and feels the days of selling insurance as short-term products are over.

Q&A: T R Ramachandran, MD & CEO, Aviva Life

The growing Indian diaspora and the increasing presence of Indian companies in Canada have resulted in many Indian commercial banks planning to scale up their presence in Canada. In an interview with Abhijit Lele, Tiff Macklem, senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, talks about banking relations and the state of the global economy.

Q&A: Tiff Macklem, Sr dy governor, Bank of Canada

SHARE Microfin was one of the worst affected microfinance institutions after the Andhra Pradesh government passed an ordinance last October to curb micro-lenders. In an interview with Somasroy Chakraborty, managing director Udaia Kumar shares his views on the funding environment and plans to emerge from the crisis.

Q&A: Udaia Kumar, MD, SHARE Microfin

With changes in the regulatory landscape, productivity and profitability have become the new engine for growth for Tata AIG Life. Suresh Mahalingam, CEO, Tata AIG Life Insurance Company, tells Niladri Bhattacharya the life insurance industry is going through a phase of introspection and consolidation and once that is over, expansion will happen automatically. But for this year, there will be no expansion.

Q&A: Suresh Mahalingam, Tata AIG Life

The rupee slipped to a near two-year low against the dollar, as the euro zone crisis worsened, weakening the euro and emerging market currencies.

Q&A: Mitul Kotecha, Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank 

Health insurance portability is poised to be enforced in India next month. It does have its merits, but a switchover of your insurer should not be guided simply by an apparently attractive pricing and loading claimed by a competitor. Sanjay Datta speaks to Puneet Wadhwa about the nuances of the paradigm shift in the waiting.

Q&A: Sanjay Datta, ICICI Lombard GIC

The size of the Indian microfinance sector is shrinking fast, following the crisis the sector saw in Andhra Pradesh, the largest market for micro-lenders in the country. Micro Finance Institutions Network chief executive, Alok Prasad, in an interview with Somasroy Chakraborty, talks about the current state of affairs in the sector.

Q&A: Alok Prasad, CEO, MFIN

Global risk aversion and asset sell-offs have put emerging markets like India in a fix. Economies the world over are facing different sets of challenges. Gerard Lyons, chief economist and global head of research at Standard Chartered, tells Malini Bhupta what's in store for markets and economies in the current climate of uncertainty.

Page 38 - Interviews