India's IL&FS cuts staffing costs in effort to tackle debts (updated)

IL&FS Engineering and Construction

12/10/2018 14:21

(Adds details from board meeting, background)
    By Promit Mukherjee
    MUMBAI, Oct 12 (Reuters) - India's ailing Infrastructure
Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) said on Friday its
newly-appointed board had begun cutting cost in staffing and
unspecified operations as the first step in their efforts to
revive the company.
    The Indian government replaced the entire IL&FS board
earlier this month after defaults on some of its debt triggered
sharp falls in stock and debt markets, sparking fears about
contagion in the country's financial sector.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1WK34U
    Often referred as a quasi-sovereign entity because India's
state-owned Life Insurance Corp Ltd holds a 25 percent stake in
it, the other large investors in IL&FS are Japan's ORIX Corp
 8591.T  with a 23.54 percent stake and Abu Dhabi Investment
Authority (ADIA) with 12.56 percent. 
    India's biggest lender by assets, State Bank of India
 SBI.NS  also owns a 6.42 percent stake.
    IL&FS said in a statement that its new board had also
approved the formation of an operating committee under vice
chairman and managing director Vineet Nayyar and "had detailed
deliberations in relation to the road map ahead".
    The new six-member board was formed to revive the financier
and infrastructure developer, which has 348 subsidiaries and 910
billion rupees ($12.4 billion) of debt, after the government
intervention.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1WH20Z urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1WK34U
    IL&FS said the new board will also conduct a full audit of
the standalone and consolidated accounts up to Sept. 30, 2018,
adding that it had replaced the nominee directors of IL&FS at
its subsidiaries and nominated new ones from the board.
($1 = 73.5600 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Promit Mukherjee
Editing by Euan Rocha and Alexander Smith)
 ((promit.mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com; +91-22-6180-7516;
Reuters Messaging:
promit.mukherjee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))