Cong seeks white paper on IL&FS, questions board’s credibility

Mumbai: Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam has demanded a white paper on the debt-ridden Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), and questioned the credibility of the government-appointed board. He claimed that the country was heading tow-ards a huge financial crisis owing to the Modi government’s “misgovernance”.

In the past one month, IL&FS and its subsidiaries, with a consolidated debt of over Rs 91,000 crore, have made a series of defaults in terms of repayment of loans, commercial papers and NCDs. This has also raised concerns over a liquidity crunch in financial markets. Demanding a white paper on financial irregularities in the functioning of IL&FS, Mr Nirupam lashed out at the government for its lackadaisical approach to the issue, which, he claimed, was “very serious”.

Despite being a 30-year-old giant, IL&FS had gone completely “bankrupt”, he said, questioning how the company’s debt had jumped by 44 per cent and its profitability declined by 900 per cent over the past three years. “The stock market is crashing. This is a clear case of financial mis-governance,” he said.  He also raised questions over reports that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was being roped in to buy out some of IL&FS’ assets.