New Delhi, June 20: The government may have to bail out the country's largest mutual fund operator for a second year running because of a shortfall in the value of guaranteed return schemes, analysts said on Thursday.
They said state-run Unit Trust of India (UTI), which stunned investors last year when it froze redemptions from its flagship fund, may now face problems with maturing assured return schemes hit by bad debt and plunging stock markets.

UTI Chairman M Damodaran promised investors they will get their money. "The investor has been given an assurance and that will be honoured," he said. Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has delivered a similar pledge.
But analysts are debating whether UTI, which manages nearly half the fund industry's $20 billion of assets, will be able to find the money for the redemptions or whether the government will have to bail out the fund again.

The schemes, favoured by retirees and safe-haven investors, boast returns of 9.25 per cent to 14 per cent -- generous against a backdrop of falling interest rates and a sliding stock market.
UTI's new woes centre around its 16 assured monthly income plans (MIPs) and a fixed-return scheme. Two MIPs and the fixed-return scheme mature on June 30 and three more MIPs mature later this year. Bureau Report