Asset finance company Srei Infrastructure Finance has seen a steep decline in lending growth. The company&rsquo;s Vice-chairman and Managing Director Hemant Kanoria attributes it to the lack of availability of funds. He tells Niladri Bhattacharya in an interview the situation may not be a lot different next year.

'Next financial year will also be challenging'

Business Standard

IndusInd Bank Managing Director and CEO Romesh Sobti seems satisfied with what he has done with the Hindujas-promoted bank during the first year of his stint. At the same time, he tells Anirudh Laskar &amp; Sidhartha that improvement in performance indicators and fee-based activity need to be complemented with increase in scale.

'The days of unlimited capital are over'

Shrinking employment opportunities in the private sector due to the global meltdown have restricted the movement of workers from rural to urban areas. Creating job opportunities in the hinterland has become essential to absorb the surplus workforce in these areas. The role of various schemes refinanced by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) is seen as a tool to enhance the employment opportunities.

&#39;We have been able to mobilise people at grassroots level&#39;

Aegon Religare, the joint venture between Dutch major Aegon and Religare Enterprises, a financial services group promoted by the Singh family, the erstwhile promoters of Ranbaxy. The company&rsquo;s CEO Rajiv Jamkhedkar spoke to Shilpy Sinha about the new entrant&rsquo;s approach to garner business.

'Economic slowdown has not affected our strategy'

Tata Capital, which recently announced raising at least Rs 500 crore through non-convertible debentures (NCDs), hopes to revive the debt market with the issue. The company&rsquo;s Managing Director &amp; CEO Praveen P Kadle tells Pradeep Gooptu and Namrata Acharya that Tata Capital will come out with a buyback option and also provide loans to retail investors against the NCDs. This apart, the company will focus on mid-size companies, &ldquo;pre-dominantly in the Tata ecosystem&rdquo;, for its $250 million private equity (PE) fund.

'PE fund will focus on Tata ecosystem'

Aviva Life, a joint venture between the promoters of the Dabur group and the UK&rsquo;s largest life insurer Aviva, is working out a new distribution model after its tie-up with two banks ended, resulting in a 24 per cent fall in sales from new policies. Aviva India Managing Director &amp; CEO T R Ramachandran, who was until recently the head of retail at Citibank, spoke to Shilpy Sinha about the insurer&rsquo;s plans to check the fall in sales.

'Our thrust'll be on traditional covers'

After revising the sovereign outlook for India from stable to negative, Standard &amp; Poor&rsquo;s Director for Sovereign and International Public Finance ratings, Takahira Ogawa, says that the fiscal position holds the key to future course of action.

&#39;Fiscal consolidation gains wiped out&#39;

Reliance Life Insurance formally started operations three years ago after it acquired AMPO Sanmar. So far, the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group firm has managed to buck the downturn but Reliance Life President and CEO P Nandgopal tells Shilpy Sinha and Sidhartha that the company may scale down growth and focus on profitability in the coming years as it tries to break even in another two years.

'We are looking to break even in 2 years'

Companies funded by venture capital firm Sequoia have a sense of pride. They know that they are in safe hands as the VC firm has groomed many technology majors such as Google and Apple. Known for its strong technology focus, the VC firm has of late started funding companies in many non-tech areas.

'We can't expect explosive returns here'

Opening the pension fund business to private fund managers will be among the biggest reforms in 2009. Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Chairman D Swarup, who is in the midst of

'Fund management expenses will be less than 1 per cent'

The economic stimulus package from the government and the Reserve Bank of India with focus on affordable housing has put National Housing Bank, the apex housing finance regulator and funding agency,

'Home finance firms should cut rates'

The global financial crisis has not affected Standard Chartered&rsquo;s plans for India, which it says is the most valuable market for the bank. The group which injected $500 million (around Rs 2,500 crore) in 2008 may be the first foreign player to issue India Depository Receipts (IDR) but is waiting for the markets to improve. Standard Chartered CEO-Asia Jaspal Bindra spoke to Anirudh Laskar and Sidhartha about the bank&rsquo;s plans and his assessment of the situation.

'Markets need to be stable for IDR issue'

HDFC Bank Managing Director Aditya Puri tells Niladri Bhattacharya that he expects the banking industry growth to moderate as the economy is showing signs of slowing down. However, the health of the banking industry remains sound.

'The gloom and doom scenario is overdone in India'

Kolkata-headquartered Allahabad Bank is dropping low-yielding loans from its assets and high-cost deposits to improve its bottom line. In addition, it is increasing its focus on the fee-based business and plans to sell non-performing assets worth Rs 373 crore in the fourth quarter. Allahabad Bank Chairman and Managing Director K R Kamath tells Namrata Acharya that the bank will not seek additional capital from the government as the reworking of risk weights has pushed up its capital adequacy ratio to above 12 per cent.

'We won't need to seek capital from govt'

UK-based Standard Life, the joint venture (JV) partner in HDFC Standard Life Insurance and HDFC Asset Management Company (AMC), is entering the Indian private equity (PE) space. Gerry Grimstone, the chairman of the British insurance major, speaks to Shilpy Sinha on the impact of the economic slowdown and the company&rsquo;s investment plans.

'Profitability isn't a good measure for life insurance firms'

State Bank of Patiala (SBoP) is the only public sector bank with its headquarters in Punjab.

&#39;We may have to restructure loans to textiles, steel, real estate sectors&#39;

From 13 members and database on four million trades in 2004, when Credit Information Bureau of India (Cibil) was set up, the country&rsquo;s first credit information company now has 162 members and

&#39;Fraud repository will help banks&#39;

Despite the bearish industry and sluggish exports, Punjab expects to withstand the repercussions of the global financial meltdown.

&#39;Agriculture will insulate us from financial turmoil&#39;

With the Rs 7,000-crore refinance window, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will not face any fund crunch, says Sidbi Chairman and Manging Director R M Malla.

'We will ensure that banks pass on benefits to borrowers'

The international financial turmoil and the economic slowdown, which hit some large insurance giants like AIG, have also impacted the Indian insurance sector, which currently has 21 life and 20

'Client-friendly claim servicing need of the hour'

IDBI Fortis Life Insurance, a joint venture between IDBI Bank, Federal Bank and Fortis European Banking and Insurance Company, started operation in March 2008. The new participant in the insurance

Page 49 - Interviews