RBI Appoints V Ramachandra As Member Of Advisory Committee Of SIFL, SEFL

The Reserve Bank on Tuesday appointed V Ramachandra, former chief general manager of Canara Bank, as a member of the Advisory Committee of Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited (SIFL) and Srei Equipment Finance Limited (SEFL).

After superseding the boards of SIFL and SEFL in October 2021, the RBI had appointed a three-member advisory committee to assist the administrator of the two crisis-ridden firms.

"Consequent upon the resignation of Shri Farokh N Subedar from the Advisory Committee with effect from January 31, 2023, it has been decided to appoint Shri V Ramachandra as a member of the Advisory Committee with immediate effect," the central bank said in a statement.

The Advisory Committee shall advise the Administrator in the operations of SIFL and SEFL during the corporate insolvency resolution process, it added.

The other two members of the committee are -- Venkat Nageshwar Chalasani, former deputy managing director, State Bank of India; and T T Srinivasaraghavan, former managing director, Sundaram Finance Limited.

In October 2021, the RBI had filed applications for initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process against SIFL and SEFL at the Kolkata Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

Following admission of the petitions by the NCLT, the RBI had decided that the three-member committee "shall continue as the advisory committee" constituted under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Insolvency and Liquidation Proceedings of Financial Service Providers and Application to Adjudicating Authority) Rules, 2019.

Srei Group, which mainly caters to the MSME and infrastructure sectors, owes around Rs 18,000 crore to around 15 lenders, including Axis Bank, UCO Bank and State Bank of India, besides nearly Rs 10,000 crore of external commercial borrowings and bonds.

In a regulatory filing earlier this month, Srei Equipment Finance had said its administrator has received a report from the transaction auditor about certain fraudulent transactions in 2019-20 and 2020-21, bearing a monetary impact of over Rs 3,025 crore on the Srei group.

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