SBI identifies some Kingfisher Airlines properties for attachment
7 March 2013 5:04 AM IST
SBI, the lead banker in the 17-lender consortium to Kingfisher Airlines, has identified some properties for attachment, according to a top SBI official. ‘Efforts are afoot to make some recoveries. Already certain properties have been identified towards attachment by the bank as against loans disbursed to the airline. Allocations have been made in the bank’s NPA which stood at (around) Rs 22,000 crore as of Dec 2012,’ informed SBI MD and Group Executive (National Banking) A Krishnakumar.
A sub-committee has also been formed, involving about four banks to examine availability of assets of the borrower and will also solicit needful legal advisors before the next stage of opting for litigation, he said. It was last year reported that lenders to debt-ridden Kingfisher were consiering selling the carrier’s two properties in Mumbai and Goa worth Rs 120 crore to recover a part of the loans worth over Rs 7,500 crore.
Krishnakumar said that SBI is poised to improve services by inducting about 1200 staff this year itself and by imparting adequate training. With over 40 per cent of staff leaving SBI due to superannuation in the next three to four years, SBI has already initiated a recruitment drive. In the last five years, 40,000 employees in clerical, officers and specialist cadre had been inducted. At present, its total headcount was around 2.2 lakh, he said. The customer base is expected to surpass 230 million, he said, adding SBI hopes to expand it to 250 million before year end.
In a lighter vein, he said 20 million savings accounts are added each year, equivalent to the population of Australia. Krishnakumar said efforts are on to increase technology deployment. SBI has 25,000 ATMs which was being ramped up at a significant pace. In a couple of years, all branches will have onsite ATMs.
Over 600 cash depositing machines have been installed and the number is expected to increase to around 4,000 in 2014 and to 5,000 CDMs by end of 2014.
A sub-committee has also been formed, involving about four banks to examine availability of assets of the borrower and will also solicit needful legal advisors before the next stage of opting for litigation, he said. It was last year reported that lenders to debt-ridden Kingfisher were consiering selling the carrier’s two properties in Mumbai and Goa worth Rs 120 crore to recover a part of the loans worth over Rs 7,500 crore.
Krishnakumar said that SBI is poised to improve services by inducting about 1200 staff this year itself and by imparting adequate training. With over 40 per cent of staff leaving SBI due to superannuation in the next three to four years, SBI has already initiated a recruitment drive. In the last five years, 40,000 employees in clerical, officers and specialist cadre had been inducted. At present, its total headcount was around 2.2 lakh, he said. The customer base is expected to surpass 230 million, he said, adding SBI hopes to expand it to 250 million before year end.
In a lighter vein, he said 20 million savings accounts are added each year, equivalent to the population of Australia. Krishnakumar said efforts are on to increase technology deployment. SBI has 25,000 ATMs which was being ramped up at a significant pace. In a couple of years, all branches will have onsite ATMs.
Over 600 cash depositing machines have been installed and the number is expected to increase to around 4,000 in 2014 and to 5,000 CDMs by end of 2014.
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