Mumbai, Sept 28: GE Commercial Finance, a unit of US-based General Electric Inc (GE), is in discussion with Indian Public Sectors Banks (PSBs) to forge an alliance, including a joint venture, for restructuring non-performing assets in the country. "We have spoken to several banks about a tie-up for asset restructuring and hope to have an alliance soon," GE Commercial Finance president (Asia-Pacific) Harjit S Bhatia told here today.
GE is also open to a joint venture arrangement for asset restructuring and other businesses like asset management company for stressed assets, he said.
The Indian market for non-performing loans (NPL) is in the range of US dollar 20-40 billion while the global market is valued at USD 3,000 billion, Bhatia added.
GE could acquire NPL portfolio from banks and financial institutions, extend recapitalisation assistance and financial engineering solutions to corporates, he said.
The company is also open to providing debt restructuring finance to select NPL focused funds, he said.
The Indian financial systems should have transparent provisioning norms with specific timeframe, he said adding, the ownership restrictions for asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) should be removed.
ARCs should be permitted to sell assets and not just the financial instruments, he added.
Bureau Report