The Hindu Business Line : Verma joins rechristened Srei Inter

MR M.S. Verma, former chairman of State Bank of India, Telecom Authority of India and IDBI Bank, has joined Srei International Finance Ltd (Srei) as Chairman, replacing Mr Salil Gupta, the current chairman, who has been re-designated as Chief Mentor of the company.

Mr R. Sankaran, former CEO of the Merchant Banking Division of Standard Chartered Bank, has also joined the Srei board as additional director, taking the strength of the board to 10 from the earlier 8.

Mr Verma, a high-profile banker and former Advisor to the Reserve Bank, is now the Vice-President of the National Council of Applied Economic Resarch (NCAER).

Mr Hemant Kanoria, who has remained as Managing Director of Srei ever since its inception in 1989, will now be the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director.

Addressing newspersons here today, Mr Kanoria informed that because of Srei's strong involvement in the infrastructure sector, especially financing of major private sector projects like power plants, roads and ports, the company's name was being changed to Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd. He said necessary approvals would be sought from shareholders and authorities.

Mr Kanoria said "We are extremely excited about the future opportunities in the core area, and quite sanguine that Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd is geared up to capitalise on the tremendous growth in the infrastructure sector".

Commenting on the re-christening of Srei, after an enviable track record spanning a decade and half as a major player in the financial sector, Mr Verma said the name change was found necessary as this was the age of specialists and not generalists.

This would be in keeping with Srei's specialisation in infrastructure financing, and is significant as it has come in an era of positive double digit GDP growth.

"We aim to grow at a faster clip in the next four years and are well poised to create an asset base of Rs 1,200 crore in the next 4 years.

The areas of renewed focus would be power, roads, ports and transport."

Pointing out that Srei has now launched itself into a new growth trajectory, Mr Verma, who served SBI for nearly four decades, said "we now intend to emerge from the shadow of being a low profile company into a high profile one".

Srei now intended to participate in large infrastructure projects, and effectively leverage its expertise in project financing developed over the years.

Making the best use of capital will reduce the cost of even mega projects, he pointed out.

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