G.N. Bajpai resigns from IL&FS’ new board
1 min read 01 Nov 2018, 05:28 PM ISTG.N. Bajpai's resignation comes a day after IL&FS' new board submitted its tentative revival plan to NCLT
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Mumbai/New Delhi: G.N. Bajpai, one of the seven directors of the government-nominated board set up to rescue debt-laden Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS), has stepped down, citing personal reasons. Bajpai’s decision to step down comes a day after the newly constituted board of IL&FS submitted its tentative revival plan to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
The six-member IL&FS board is chaired by Uday Kotak, managing director and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. The board includes ICICI Bank Ltd chairman G.C. Chaturvedi, former bureaucrats Malini Shankar, Vineet Nayyar, Nand Kishore and C.S. Rajan.
“I have said that I’m stepping down from the board of IL&FS because of personal reasons. The fact is that I cannot devote enough time (to IL&FS)," Bajpai said in an interview.
On the question of why he accepted the job as an independent director just a month earlier, Bajpai said: “Again, all the board members are spending a considerable amount of time, every day, in the affairs of IL&FS. I cannot devote much time and hence I have decided to step down."
“I have gradually been cutting down much of my work with other companies and will continue to do so," said Bajpai, on whether he would be stepping down from the boards of other companies as well.
Bajpai is currently a non-executive director and chairman of Future Generali India Insurance Co. Ltd.
In August, he had stepped down from the board of real estate firm Nitesh Estates after serving as independent director for more than eight years.
On 4 October, Mint reported that the choice of Bajpai in the government-nominated board set up to rescue IL&FS had come under scrutiny, with proxy advisory firms questioning the rationale behind his appointment.
On 1 October, the government dissolved the IL&FS board and appointed a new one.
