Former KPMG managing partner Narayan Seshadri will take over as chairman of the India Debt Resolution Co Ltd (IDRCL), the agent to government-backed bad bank, after the board of the company approved the appointment on Friday, people familiar with the development said.
The IDRCL chairman position became vacant after Diwakar Gupta resigned earlier this week to take up a post at parent National Asset Reconstruction Co Ltd (NARCL), as ET reported in its Monday edition.
Seshadri, a chartered accountant, is a financial sector veteran with experience in buying and turning around distressed companies. He is currently an independent director in the company and will take over immediately.
Seshadri did not reply to calls and messages to his phone. IDRCL did not reply to an email seeking comment.
Meanwhile, Gupta, who was chairman of IDRCL, has resigned and will likely take over as chairman of the government-backed NARCL as early as next week, these people said.
Bankers are hoping that new faces at both the parent and IDRCL will quicken the pace of bad loan resolution.
NARCL is running behind schedule owing to delays in government guarantee renewal, lack of consensus with banks on the best price for assets, and over differences between NARCL and its primary agent IDRCL.
So far, NARCL has concluded the acquisition of just six companies since it started operations in January 2022. Total debt acquired by NARCL stands at ‘14,166 crore, a far cry from the ‘82,845-crore target set by SBI chairman Dinesh Khara in January 2022, of which, ‘50,335 crore was to be transferred by the end of 2021-22.
NARCL acquires bad loans from banks by paying 15% of the amount in cash and the rest in security receipts, which are to be matched with recovery over time. These security receipts are guaranteed by the government, valid for five years, to be invoked by banks in case of resolution or liquidation of bad loan.
