The United Western Bank stock tumbled nearly 50 per cent this morning on big volumes. 22,00,000 shares were traded. The stock tumbled from Rs22 to Rs11 in five minutes flat.
Vijay Kalantri, CMD of the Balaji Group who was once keen to take over this bank says that he is still keen to take over United Western Bank.

Kalantri says that his company had planed to pump more than Rs200-crore equity in the bank. Kalantri further states that the RBI's decision on the bank is a loss for depositors and shareholders. CNBC-TV18 shares with domain-b its exclusive interview with Kalantri:

You were actually seeking to buy that bank? Did you know it was in so much trouble?
No. We knew there were NPA's to the tune of about 40 per cent. We had made a complete restructuring plan. We made about five presentations to the bank in five different meetings.

We had proposed that we would pump in Rs200 crore by way of equity, about 36 per cent holding, which we would acquire and there were plans to bring in another Rs250 crore-Rs300 crore in the bank to make it more viable. Besides this, there were plans to structure various types of instruments with which the economical viability of the bank would have improved in three to five years. We had submitted all these proposals to the United Western Bank management.

Having looked at this moratorium now, do you think the trouble is more than what you had anticipated and this bank is in serious balance sheet trouble now?
I don't think it is the way it is shown. I think NPAs in the last six month have grown more than what it was earlier.

But when the management is weak and when the management is not able to restructure in time, this happens with any company or any bank.

But, as far as Maharashtra is concerned, this is a good bank with a good network of more than 200 branches. And the way ICICI Bank and Federal Bank are interested in this bank, it means there is something worth in this bank.

In terms of financials, apart from their NPAs which are at a very high level indeed, what other details did you have of UWB when you were making a bid for it? What else do you know about their net loss, their capital adequacy ratio, etc?
We knew that Rs600 crore was wiped out. We gave a proposal on what the bank needed and therefore, we had said that we will hold 36 per cent stake with four representative directors who were all professionals and whom were would have nominated.

There were no plans of me being on the board. We had also told the bank our plans on how we would bring in further Rs250 to Rs300 crore to take care of the liquidity aspect. We also spoke about plans to use different type of instruments, which the bank did not have and in which they were not doing business in to increase the profitability as well as the economic viability of the bank.

You wanted to buy this bank, today it is half its market value, Rs22 has come down to Rs11. If you were a shareholder in the market would you buy it?
Finally, the Reserve Bank's action is a loss for depositors and shareholders for the time being. It is inconveniencing account holders and even companies who have a current account and deposits with the bank; it is all at a standstill.

But I still think, even today, one can again be a bidder for this bank. I have sent a letter to the Reserve Bank and the Board of the bank's management stating that I am still interested in this bank.