Mumbai: The board of National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) has recommended P Santhosh for the post of managing director and chief executive officer of the state-owned bad bank, people aware of the matter said.
Santhosh has been interim CEO of NARCL since January, soon after N Sundar abruptly resigned as the CEO ahead of his term.
Santhosh is a former chief general manager of Canara Bank, which is one of the sponsor banks of the asset reconstruction company.
The board of NARCL has recommended a three-year term for Santhosh, the people cited above said. Over a dozen executives, including some senior State Bank of India officials, were in the fray for the post.
NARCL did not respond to ET’s request for comment until press time Tuesday.
The previous two MDs of NARCL – Sundar and Padmakumar Nair – were SBI senior officials.
In mid-April, NARCL invited applications from senior management with 10 years of experience in stressed asset resolution for the MD & CEO post. Inviting applicants, NARCL stated that it proposes to acquire about ₹2 lakh crore of stressed assets in phases.
NARCL actively acquired distressed assets soon after Santhosh took charge as interim chief, one of the persons cited above.
According to media reports, NARCL has acquired 18 accounts with outstanding loans of ₹92,500 crore until March 31, 2024. Most of the accounts were acquired in the last four months. This includes the ₹32,000-crore debt of bankrupt Srei Infrastructure Finance and Srei Equipment Finance under the insolvency and bankruptcy process.
NARCL is the only ARC that makes offers under the 15:85 structure wherein 15% of the consideration is cash and the balance 85% is security receipts (SR). The government guarantees any shortfall in the recovery of money promised by NARCL. However, only SRs worth ₹30,600 crore are guaranteed by the government, which can be invoked only if there is a shortfall in redeeming them.
