New IL&FS board meets, appoints Vineet Nayyar as vicechairman

MUMBAI: The government-constituted board tasked with reviving debt-laden Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) said it is “committed to an objective process to make a fair assessment of facts, acting in the interest of different stakeholders with a view to rebuild trust”.

Uday Kotak, chairman of the newly formed board, however, did not say how IL&FS would repay its immediate debt obligations. He was addressing a news conference after a five-hour-long board meeting.

The board also appointed Vineet Nayyar as the managing director and vice-chairman of IL&FS. IL&FS, the parent company of the infrastructure and financing group, will see maturity of ₹835 crore of commercial paper (CP) by March 2019, out of which ₹250 crore of CPs will come up in December, according to a private placement prospectus issued by the company in May.

Kotak said IL&FS is an extremely complex corporate with 348 entities that are part of the group, far higher than the initial estimate of 169 subsidiaries. “At this stage, we are not taking a view,” he said. “We’re listing options that are available as the next step. We have several options available and you will see them unfold,” he said.

Kotak sought to assure stakeholders that the board is committed to rebuild trust, bring clarity on the road ahead and take decisions in an open, fair and objective manner.