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Sixteen Lenders Come Together To Set Up India's Bad Bank

National Asset Reconstruction Company takes shape. Sixteen banks agree to invest.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>Indian rupee bank notes in a container at a grocery store in Bengaluru. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)</p></div>
Indian rupee bank notes in a container at a grocery store in Bengaluru. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

All twelve public sector banks and four private lenders have agreed to invest in India's long discussed bad bank. The structure of the organisation, announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is starting to come together with an expectation that the entity will be operational later this year.

Sixteen lenders have agreed to infuse capital into the National Asset Reconstruction Company of India Ltd., two people in the know said. Together they will contribute Rs 6,000 crore in equity capital, the people said.

Canara Bank, with a 12% stake will be the sole sponsor for the NARCL, the people quoted above said. As per existing regulations, an ARC must have at least one sponsor. State Bank of India will be the second-largest shareholder, holding 9.9% stake in the company.

Four private banks, including HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd. and IDBI Bank Ltd. will together hold 15% in the NARCL, the people cited earlier said.

All lenders have either given an in-principle nod or received approvals from their respective boards to participate, the people said.

NARCL was registered as a company with the Registrar of Companies last week, the people cited earlier said. Currently, the NARCL board consists of shareholder nominees of banks where all necessary approvals are in. The asset reconstruction firm will now begin appointing independent directors on the board, the first of the two people cited earlier said.

Currently, the activities at NARCL are being managed by a five-member committee headed by Rajkiran Rai, chairman of Indian Banks' Association. The committee has already nominated Padmakumar Nair of SBI as the NARCL's chief executive, which will be confirmed by the company's board once it is fully appointed.

With the structure coming together, the company will soon apply to the Reserve Bank of India for an ARC licence, the first person said.

Government-owned Power Finance Corporation Ltd. and Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd., which were earlier expected to join banks in taking up stake in NARCL, are yet to finalise their plans, the first person said. These companies would need to get approvals from the Power Ministry and other departments of the government before they can invest in the ARC, he said.

Once the NARCL has received the RBI's license, it will start with buying the 22 stressed accounts shortlisted by banks for sale in the first phase. The total banking sector exposure to these accounts stands at over Rs 82,000 crore.

These are accounts are fully provided for, which will help banks sell them without any haircuts or further provisioning. Banks are in the process of finalising accounts which will be sold to the NARCL in the second phase, the two people said.

The government, meanwhile, remains in discussions over the extent of guarantee it will provide. In informal discussions, a guarantee amount of Rs 31,000 crore has been discussed but approvals are pending, the first person cited earlier said.