Speaking to The Financial Express, SK Chakrabarti, IDBI deputy managing director who now holds charge as chairman, outlined that four committees - on strategy and policy, risk management, product innovation and human resource development - have been formed to implement the Artheriya Committee recommendations in this regard.

While three committees will be headed by executive directors of the institution, Mr Chakrabarty himself will head the committee on policy and strategy. Each committee will have members from the board of directors.

"Implementing the committees' recommendations is an immediate necessity," Mr Chakrabarti said, adding that he would expedite the implementation of their recommendations to arrest the fall in the IDBI's performance.

Mr Chakrabarti, who will be retiring in April-end, said, "I know my time is short, but that would not deter me from achieving something for the institution," which is in need of motivation and product innovation with business re-engineering processes "to regain its stature."

IDBI as a central co-ordinating agency is concerned, directly or indirectly, with all the problems or questions relating to the long- and medium-term financing of industry, and will be in a position to adopt and enforce a system of priorities for promoting industrial growth, he said.

IDBI's strategic objective is to position itself as India's premier wholesale bank through a full range of products - lending, capital markets, advisory and risk management - through an integrated group structure.

IDBI's future business growth would be built upon its core competencies, including project-financing, complemented by an aggressive entry into other `compatible' business operations. Asset growth of acceptable quality through client-driven business deals would help maintain IDBI's market shares along with enhanced profitability.

IDBI's future strategy would be not only to maintain its premier position in the Indian financial system but to gain prominence among the top DFIs of the world, Mr Chakrabarti added.

Earlier, going by the recommendations of Booz, Allen and Hamilton, IDBI had restructured its operations. It had decentralised the corporate structure for quicker decision-making and treated various business divisions and branches as separate independent profit centres.

Though IDBI's traditional strength has been project finance, future plans include increased focus on fee-based activities, and expansion of its retail resource base to create a stable source of funding. It is also in the process of creating a more significant presence in short-term financing.

IDBI, at present, has assets to the tune of Rs 69,100 crore. Its market share, which used to be 50 per cent in sanctions and 55 in disbursals in 1991, has fallen considerably to 37.3 and 37.5 per cent in FY99 respectively.

The institution is also undertaking a major capital restructuring exercise to improve its languishing share valuation as also to enable it to come out with an American Depository Shares (ADS) issue. In July 2000, the government converted 247 million equity shares to preference shares, reducing government stake to 58 per cent.